Preparation
In order to teach this unit, I need to answer several questions: What is interpretation? What is improvisation? How does interpretation relate to performance? The following material addresses these questions and includes examples of how they can be applied to Hinton's The Outsiders.
Interpretation Strategies
The word interpretation is synonymous with the act of finding meaning. But, what is meant by meaning? How does one find meaning within a text and why does any of this matter, anyway?
Teaching students how to interpret a complex text matters because the act of interpreting is a rigorous task, and rigorous tasks, according to the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, are necessary to keep U.S. schools from falling farther behind. (2) There is, however, a difference between simply comprehending a text and the act of interpreting a text. A top-down reading process, which includes moving from meaning and big ideas to details and language forms, is the most recently-accepted 'best practice'. (3) The Pittsburgh Public School District supports the use of this sequence in what has been dubbed Disciplinary Literacy; Patterned Way of Reading, Writing, and Thinking. The pattern includes reading to get the gist; rereading to find significant moments; interpreting ideas within the text; and analyzing the author's methods. Students are encouraged to read each portion of a text at least four times.
Adequate oral reading fluency, reading comprehension, and interpretive or critical analysis skills are not necessarily co-existent, even among high-ability readers. In my classroom, such students often struggle with oral reading fluency and comprehension. They can quickly decode phonetics and memorize the meaning of new vocabulary when it is presented to them in isolation from a text, yet they often fail to find the contextual evidence needed to tackle an unknown word within a text. Furthermore, they fail to consider that one word, when repeated in the text or placed within several different texts, may have a different meaning each time it appears. This inability does not; however, preclude them from taking part in higher order thinking activities, such as interpreting a text. Such skills can be taught simultaneously. A line of questioning that moves systematically higher and higher on Bloom's Taxonomy can be used. Consider what words are both significant and need to be defined in this portion of Hinton's novel:
"You know, the only thing that keeps
Darry from being a Soc is us."
"I know," I said. I had known it for a long time.
In spite of not having much money, the only reason Darry
couldn't be a Soc was us. The gang. Me and Soda.
Darry was too smart to be a greaser. I don't know how I knew, I
just did.
And I was kind of sorry. (4)
How can a reader define the terms Soc and greaser? One can simply pick up a dictionary and find a meaning for greaser, but one cannot do the same for Soc. In the case of Soc, the reader must move away from Bloom's level 1, knowledge, and move into level 4 and 5, otherwise known as the first two stages of higher order thinking, or analysis and synthesis. Analysis requires a student to "make inferences and find evidence to support generalizations" (5) and synthesis requires a student to "[c]ompile information together in a different way by combining elements in a new pattern." (6) Both happen to also be components of interpretation, which I'll expand upon later. Students could be led to extrapolate a definition for the words through presentation of a question like, "What evidence can you find that could lead you to a text-based definition of these words?" and "What is the relationship between these words?" Text-substantiated student responses could be, but are not limited to, 'Greasers are poor, unintelligent gang members. Being a Soc is more desirable, so it might mean the opposite of those traits.' Moving toward Bloom's next highest order, 'Synthesis,' the question, "What predictions can you make about the storyline from just these definitions?" could be used. A possible answer could be, 'The speaker must care about Darry. He says he feels sorry that the gang holds them back.' Note that the answer gives both an interpretation and a text-based substantiation for the answer—a key combination for objective interpretation. Interpretation requires evidence. It also requires the reader to eliminate possibilities. "The interpretative process is essentially a restricting of the possible ways in which a sign, such as a textual element (letter, word, sentence, etc.) can mean or point our attention to something other than itself. This restriction is accomplished by conventions of relevance, or more formally, by selective contextualization." (7)
Alongside the ability to use clues to define new vocabulary, the students also have a hard time looking for significant portions of the text that can lead to an understanding of the text. In a general manner of speaking, comprehension requires students to be able to use clues from within the text to understand the text as a whole. Comprehension is on the lower order of Bloom's Taxonomy, yet it is an essential skill necessary for gaining a basic understanding of a text as a whole. Taking a close look at significant sections of a text, like the one mentioned above, gives students the opportunity to practice comprehension skills.
To illustrate this, reread the excerpt and connect it to the opening excerpt in the Overview. What can you now tell about the story? Since the characters in the first passage are referencing Robert Frost, can you still maintain your belief in the definition of greaser as unintelligent? What might this suggest about the character's sense of self? When these sorts of connection are made, the student is moving toward Bloom's highest level, evaluation. Evaluation is defined as the ability to "[p]resent and defend opinions by making judgments about information, validity of ideas or quality of work based on a set of criteria." (8)
Like Bloom's Taxonomy, the components of interpretation vary in definition, but for purposes of this unit, I will follow Laurence Perrine and label the parts of interpretation as meaning, intention, and context. (9) Interpretation takes into account all of the factors above that contribute to the construction of a text—the parts of the whole. Interpretation aims to look critically at these parts as they relate to the overall text. In order to arrive at a collective agreement about an author's intention, a reader must interact with the text in a critical manner. Goethe's three questions for "constructive criticism" of authorial intention are, "What did the author set out to do? Was his plan reasonable and sensible, and how far did he succeed in carrying it out?" (10) In this unit, only the first question will be addressed. Though it may seem that speculation would be a part of answering Goethe's first question, the question actually aims at objective interpretation—using text-based examples to arrive at the part-to-whole relationship of a text.
To illustrate this, re-read the excerpt above from The Outsiders. What do you notice about the defining words for the character groupings? Why is it that Hinton chose to capitalize Soc and de-capitalize greaser? Did she intend to give the reader a hint? These questions lead to the concept of authorial intent. "Intention is design or plan in the author's mind. Intention has obvious affinities for the author's attitude toward his work, the way he felt, what made him write." (11) Hinton certainly made choices, but 'why' she made those choices is extrinsic to the text. It is not of concern when meaning is being made by the reader. Interpreting why an author made a particular choice is too subjective. Some conclusions are better substantiated than others, but for the purposes of this unit, that form of criticism will be left out because young readers need to find evidence.
Both the writer and the reader of a text can be influenced by historical and cultural context. If a reader is tackling a non-contemporary text, the reader must subtract the conclusions that are muddied by his own preconceptions and simply see the text either as it is, or the reader must consider the historical and cultural context in which the text was written. Consider that The Outsiders was published in 1967. Hinton was 15 years old when she wrote the draft. Audra Bull, a public school educator from Tulsa, perceives the actual area in which Hinton's book was set as still being eerily similar to the texture of the novel—divided by class.
Improvisational Strategies
Improvisation is a form of dramatization that is scriptless. An actor is given all or part of the who, where, and what just as the skit is beginning. This aligns well with literature: character (who), setting (where), and plot (what). Just as a reader creates meaning as he or she reads, an improv-ist creates meaning in motion. He or she creates the act during the performance. This stands in opposition to the way an actor would prepare for a scripted performance, such as predetermining a way to portray a character, while memorizing a script. There is both freedom and restriction in improv, too, as an actor needs to eliminate, in the moment, what does not 'make sense' to the audience.
Improv, like interpretation, is a continually renewing experience. Each reading of a text in interpretation can provide new insights and challenge or change ideas, as does each performance in improv. There is no wrong way to do either. In asking students to physically demonstrate their understanding of a text, you are asking them to come prepared to the show, so to speak. It's an informed version of improv. Physical interpretation of a text allows the reader to express things that he or she may not be able to manage with language. In "A Method to the Madness: Laughter Research, Comedy Training, and Improv," Bynane stated, "Language is but one code in a frayed tapestry of codes." (12) Though he was specifically speaking of the connection between laughter and comedy, his greater point concerned interpretation. One cannot be taught to be funny, just as one cannot be taught to laugh genuinely. According to this theory, neither interpretation nor improvisation can be directly taught. Both are cyclical processes that involve the actor, the character, the substantiating idea, and the audience. This is one of the many connections between interpretation and improvisation. Using improv in the classroom is a way to engage students, but when applied to a literary situation, it becomes a way to gauge understanding. "Concepts such as multiple perspectives benefit greatly from role plays and scenarios that make different viewpoints integral to the performance." (13). When applied to literature, improv can help students see, hear and feel the thinking of a character.
In Improvisation for the Theater: A Handbook of Teaching and Directing Techniques, Viola Spolin identifies ways in which a teacher can help students to be successful when 'playing' with improvisation. She discusses how the expectation of judgment prevents free relationships within the acting workshop. She wrote, "All words which shut doors, have emotional content or implication, attack the student-actor's personality, or keep a student slavishly dependent on a teacher's judgment are to be avoided. Since most of us were brought up by the approval/disapproval method, constant self-surveillance is necessary on the part of the teacher-director to eradicate it in himself so that it will not enter the teacher-student relationship." (14)
Another mode of driving success, according to Shady Cosgrove, is use of a common language. "In order for improvisation to succeed in workshop discussion, everyone needs a common language...Only with a common language could students communicate effectively about the prose work being examined." (15) For this reason, I plan to use terms like quiet on the set, cut, reset, freeze, and recast. Cut means that an actor must cease all action. Reset means that they will mentally prepare to take on another role. Freeze will be used like stop-motion in animation so that a still can be seen, discussed, and then continued. Recast means that a new group will redo the same scene. In order to help the students feel as if they have a stage, I plan to use black sheets and sticky, two-sided velcro strips to create a 'black box' in the corner of my classroom.
Spolin also urges that teachers 'play' along with students to help students become the act, rather than a mere member of a classroom. She refers to improv as "problem-solving games." (16) In this regard, part of the 'problem' for students will be to interpret specific parts of The Outsiders adequately enough to show their understanding. Bynane suggests, in order for this to happen, moving from simple, guided improv games, to audience-suggested roles, finally to text-driven roles. (17) Improvisation games are innumerable, as are the ways that each can be modified. Below is a description of the varieties of improvisation that will be used in this unit. They are listed in the order that they are to be used with the students. Note that after any chapter, the preceding improvisations for the completed chapters can be applied.
1. Silent Stills are completely motionless, statuesque portrayals of an emotion or character trait.
2. Pantomime is when an actor moves, but does not speak.
3. Mirroring is when one or more actors move exactly in the same way as the person facing them.
4. Frozen Actor is when the actor is only allowed to speak, not move, as a character. He or she must remain still and emotionless. Another actor molds him, through quiet prompting, into the physical shape that demonstrates the emotion needed in the scene.
5. Tableau is a still group scene, like a photograph, that portrays a brief, but significant moment.
6. Vignette is a moving group scene that portrays a brief, but significant moment.
7. The Way it Is is when two characters talk while a small group performs silent actions that reflect a change or shift in what is going on in the speaking actors' part from the preceding chapters.
8. Soliloquy is when an actor talks to his or herself.
9. The Road Not Taken is when an actor gets into character, but must react to the opposite of the actual storyline event as the character's personality and habits dictate.
10. Written Scene is when characters know and stick to the complete storyline, but are still not reading from a script.
11. Unwritten Scene is when characters know the complete storyline and are still not reading from a script, but are given a 'what if' scenario and must apply it to the story line, demonstrating evaluation of a character's personality and habits.
12. Montage is a collection of scenes. For purposes of this unit, the students will pick only the most significant scenes, one per chapter, and perform them.
13. Truth or Lie is a trivia-based activity in which actors collaborate to answer text-based questions while choosing to either be true to the text or to falsify an answer. The audience must determine if the answer/act is true or false.
14. Interview is when an actor, pretending to be a specific person, answers question posed by the audience. In this unit, students will take turns being S.E. Hinton.
15. Cast Party is when the whole group interacts as self-chosen characters in a party-like setting.
In a dramatic performance, a triangle strategy exists: the actor's comprehension of the character, the actor's portrayal or interpretation of character, and the audience's reaction to both. These three stages align with the upper tier of Bloom's Taxonomy-Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation, hence they also align with the art of interpretation. Interpretation and improv come together when an actor examines a character for a role in which a parameter is missing. For example, though students will have read the chapter in which I will be blocking the scene, they will not know the type of improv activity or scenario beforehand.
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