The ability to express ideas fluently and intelligently is a crucial skill to acquire in order to have a successful professional career. A class in oral interpretation can help hone that skill. Oral interpretation deepens students understanding of many forms of literature that they might otherwise find inaccessible. Oral interpretation projects also can be an enjoyable form of learning, offering ample opportunity for creativity in the choice of materials.
Biography
Choose an historical figure whom you admire, or with whom you feel a sense of identification. See what he or she wrote about his or her life, and read that piece aloud. Your feeling of kinship with the original author will give your oral interpretation feeling rather than being a boring recitation of written words.
Poetry
Think of poetry as rap music before people had the technology to make recordings. Use oral interpretation class as an opportunity to experience poetry as an art form related to sound and rhythm. Read a poem aloud, hearing it come alive as you speak it. If you don't know any poems you like, ask a teacher or librarian to make personalized suggestions of poets whose work will resonate with you.
Drama
Drama is another art form that can seem inert on the page, but acquires power when spoken. Explore famous speeches from Greek drama, Shakespeare, Ibsen, Shaw and more modern playwrights. In oral interpretation classes, your voice alone conveys the sense and energy of the play's words, unlike drama classes or productions where actors use props and costumes.
Humor
Rather than playing the class clown, students can learn to inject laughs into class in a more suitable way by choosing a humorous story to perform. Learn how your voice can either enhance or flatten the humor in the author's words.
