Factors to Consider When Finding a Piece

1. Factors to Consider When Finding a Piece

2. “Finding the PERFECT piece is HARD!” • Adrielle Munger, LHS class of 2009

3. Individuality: When literature has individuality, the writer’s choice of words, images, method of organization and overall style provide a fresh approach to a universal subject. Questions to ask yourself: Does the work seem to speak in a new or different way? How will this piece stick out from other pieces in a round of competition?

4. Universality: When literature has universality, you will be able to call on your own experiences to respond to it. While you may not have had an experience identical to that provided in the work itself, you may well have experienced (to some degree or other) similar emotions. Examples: joy or sorrow, fear or yearning, hope or love, which are evoked in the material. Questions to ask yourself: Does the piece express ideas that are potentially interesting to all people because of the way they touch on common human experience? How would every person in a round of competition relate?

5. Suggestion: When literature has suggestion, the writer has left readers (and interpers) with something to do. We are not told everything on an immediate, purely logical, level. This doesn’t mean that the writing is obscure. Rather it means that the author has selected language and references that allow the reader opportunities for enrichment. Questions to ask yourself: Does the selection allow me to imagine new possibilities? How will others in a round of competition relate to my selection or how will my selection spark their imagination?

6. Suitability for Audience: When literature is suitable for the contest setting, it will “play” for PG or PG-13 audiences of fellow students and judges. Here, you need to think about the subject matter and language used in the text. NOTE: This requirement changes from state to state as well as local to national competition. Ask yourself: What are your community standards?

7. Suitability for Performer: When literature is suitable for you as a performer, it offers you challenges that lie within your range of capability. Can you, for example, identify somehow with at least one major character? Are the characters interesting? Do they have some depth? Can they have interesting shapes and looks? Consider the vocal, physical, and emotional range provided by the material. Is there room for physicality in the material? Is its setting interesting and something you can envision? Do you feel that you can meet the challenges the material provides?

8. Personal Preference and/or Taste: It simply is not worth anyone’s time and effort for you to perform material that you do not like. You will not do the material justice, and it will not showcase your abilities effectively. Be sure, though, that you do not discard material quickly or lightly – make an effort to get to the essence of each piece before rejecting it.

9. If you follow these factors, you will be able to say… “I LOVE my piece!” • Adrielle Munger, LHS Class of 2009

10. Information compiled from the following sources: Cox, Martin R. (ed). “Guidebook for Interpretation Events.” The University of Texas National Institute in Forensics. 6/24/2006. Lee, Charlotte I. and Timothy Gura. Oral Interpretation (10th edition). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company. 2001. Hagg, Bryan. 2010.