AIDPSC Interpretive Reading

 

Overview

Interpretive Reading requires you to read a passage from a novel, short story or poem. The overarching purpose of your reading is to convey a legitimate and authentic interpretation of the author’s intended message in writing this text. Your aim is to bring this piece of writing to life.

However, this is not a dramatic reading. Facial expressions and slight gestures are allowable, but dramatic actions or excessive movement will detract from your reading and will be penalised. For example, reaching up with one hand when reading or grasping a dagger may be acceptable, but miming a sword-fight would be unacceptable. If gestures are used, they should be used sparingly.

The reading is not meant to be memorised, and there are no extra marks for memorisation. However, familiarity with your reading is essential, and making some eye contact with the audience is highly recommended.

 

 

Text Selection

You must select and present a passage from a novel, short story or poem. The story may be serious or humorous. However, it cannot be a script, either in the form of a speech, play or dramatic monologue. The text must have literary merit.

You may present a single passage or select two or more related passages. However, if you select multiple passages, you will need to explain the links between them. The selection of passages should enhance the reader’s ability to convey the author’s intention.

Whatever text and passage you select, it must stand out from what other people may choose. There should be an element that makes it unique: it should be particularly emotional, confronting, frightening, uplifting or humorous. Your reading must connect with the audience on an emotional level if you want to rise above the crowd and be remembered.

The following advice is meant as a general guide only. These are not rules, but are instead observations about what generally works best in a text for an interpretive reading:

  • Choose a piece with 2 or 3 characters. Having more than three characters makes it difficult for the audience to follow the passage.
  • Choose a piece with dialogue, but which is not entirely comprised of dialogue. As a general guide, between one-third and two-thirds of the passage should be dialogue.
  • Multiple extracts can work better than a single extract.
  • Males should pick extracts where the main speaking roles are male, and vice versa for females.
  • Avoid poetry, as it will normally not score as highly as a prose-reading. If you do choose poetry, pick something lengthy with a clear narrative (i.e. the poem should be telling a story).
  • Do not pick a book intended for children (i.e. under 13 years old or primary-school readers).

Examples of texts that have worked well in the past include:

  • The Book of Negros by Lawrence Hill
  • The Wars by Timothy Findley
  • Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
  • Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Berniéres
  • The Day the Voices Stopped by Ken Steele
  • Politically Correct Bedtime Stories by James Garner
  • Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
  • Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
  • The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
  • The Fault in our Stars by Jonathan Green
  • To This Day by Shane Koyczan

 

 

Speaking Times

The reading must be between 5 and 11 minutes in length. Any deviation from this time will be met with a marking penalty.

The reading must begin with an introduction that can last a maximum of 1 minute. This introduction is included in the time permitted.

 

 

Writing an Introduction

You will need to give a one minute introduction before your reading. This introduction should give an indication of the context of the reading and convey the reasons why it has been chosen. The introduction should be a direct address to the audience, personal and informal. You should aim to memorise your introduction, although you can have it written down with your passage.

Your introduction should aim to establish three things:

  • Context of the piece: you will need to establish the title and author of the work, and locate your extract within the wider context of the text.
  • Literary merit: literary merit is interpreted quite broadly, and it seems to be designed to exclude unpublished works or personal writings (i.e. you cannot read something that you or a friend wrote). For a famous text or a text written by a well-known author, literary merit can be implied and covered very briefly.
  • Personal reasons for choosing the extract: personalise your introduction and explain why you chose this text above all others. This may be linked to its literary merit, but you can also give more personal reasons to explain why you feel it is important.

 

 

Scoring

The overarching criteria that you will be judged against will be how effectively you have interpreted the author’s intention, and how effectively you have enthralled your audience. In doing so, you will be marked against the following criteria:

  • Quality and Helpfulness of Introduction: have a strong, succinct introduction that does something a bit different to try and grab 9 or 10 marks in the first minute of your speech.
  • Clarity of Diction and Vocal Modulation: treat these as two different things. Clarity of diction refers to how fluently and clearly you have presented the speech (i.e. no one in the audience should ever be wondering what word you said). Vocal modulation refers to the variance in your voice, changes in tone, and riding the ‘peaks’ and ‘troughs’ of the passage.
  • Pace and Timing: you must have variations in the pacing of your reading, and they should reflect the flow of the author’s writing. Careful attention to punctuation and paragraphing will be important, as will your own judgment regarding where stresses and pauses will be required. Your reading should not remain at the same speed, and the considered use of pauses will be essential.
  • Understanding and Communication of Author’s Intent: you are not just reading a passage. Rather, you are trying the channel the author and what you believe they intended people to focus on and take away from their writing. You must know the author of you work and the work as a whole in a high degree of detail, as there is no easy way to gain these marks: they are the ‘x factor’ that sets some readings above others.

The best way to approach an interpretive reading is to pretend that the book you have reading from is an unpublished manuscript, and you are at a stall in a publisher’s convention. You reading must be able to convince any passer-by, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this book must be published.

You are aiming for the type of reading that, if it were an audio-book, would carry a warning-label that you should not listen to it while driving because you are likely to crash because of the emotional impact it will have on you. This is the aim of interpretive reading at the AIDPSC.

You can download a copy of the AIDPSC Interpretive Reading Ballot here: Interpretive Reading

 

 

Examples of Interpretive Readings