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Scripture, and works of original writing, can be presented to an audience in ways that can help open peoples ears.
Written/Spoken Word Performance
Performance types:
1.
Spoken Word Poetry
2.
Scripture Reading/Spoken Word Performance
3.
Dramatic Performance
4. Song
5. Screenwriting/Film
6. Storytelling
Some differences between hearing spoken word performed and reading poetry from the page:
1.
Tone, pacing and emphasis are all controlled by the voice of the reader. While you can rely on traditional poetry structures to control the flow through the poem, much of how the words will be perceived is
based upon how the poet delivers the poem.
2.
Your connection to the audience matters. Making eye contact and getting a feel for the room
is important if youre to gauge how your performance is impacting your listeners. You may change your
pacing and your emphasis at key points depending on your audience. The same poem read for different
audiences may be read in a completely different way.
3.
Meter and word choice are more important, because youre relying on the words to build up
a specific rhythm, cadence and feeling as you perform the piece. Be careful you dont build yourself a
tongue-twister in your poemunless thats your intent and you can practice the tongue-twister until you
can flawlessly perform it every time.
4.
How a poem looks on the page is less important than how it sounds when its performed. Sometimes poetry in books uses specific visual structuresfor example starting with short lines, building to
longer lines as the poem goes along, to visually build to a crescendo. In performed poetry, you may also
want to vary line lengths and the number of syllables in words being used, but its usually done to speed
up or slow down the pacing at key points in the reading.
5.
Other senses can be drawn in to the performance, to add to the mood of the work. Using music,
lighting, scenery, costume or incenseall could be used to change the feel of the room as the poet reads.
Lesson 17
Scene or setting; description Anchor your listener in the scene playing out before them.
The experience of a third-party observer What does this mean to a bystander witnessing this event
during their own lifetime? What emotions are they experiencing? What surprises them?
The perspective of a participant Choose a character who is personally involved in the action, and
write the supporting text from their perspective. This may just be perching the camera on that persons shoulder. Or, it may be text written looking through that persons eyes.
The action playing out What is the main action you see from your third-party perspective? Whats
happening on the fringes? Based upon the historical setting, what does this action mean in the larger
cultural context?
Theological discourse What is the spiritual significance of this part of Gods larger story? What does
this passage mean to your audience theologically?
Lesson 17
Lesson 17
Your Assignment:
1. First, pray, asking God to help you choose the scripture passage for this assignment.
2. Find a Bible passage that speaks to you, either in the Old or the New Testament. Read it thoroughly. If
there are multiple versions of this story recorded in other books of the Bible, read those as well. Try to
get a sense of the event being shown.
3. Do some searches, online or in history books, for the context of what is happening in your passage.
If any buildings, or people, or places or environments are included, try to dig up sensory information
about how things would have felt, smelled, sounded, etc. Take notes.
4. Once youve internalized the passage and the details surrounding it, write a few brief pieces of text
arranged around that scripture passage. Pay specific attention to giving your audience a sense of place,
or use a couple of suggestions from the section When Writing Your Own Supporting Material Around
Scripture (in this handout, page 2).
5. Think of some visual or verbal cues that could distinguish which sections are scripture, and which
sections are your own words. In Travis and Kathys example, Travis reads the supporting material, and
Kathy reads scripture. What other methods could be used to let your audience differentiate between
Gods Word and your own words? (Examples: pausing; holding up the Bible so its visible when reading
scripture; standing in a different position or location; reading each in a different volume or tempo; etc.)
6. When youre ready, record yourself on camera reading the scripture and the material youve written.
7. Finally, upload the video of your performance in Step 6 of your lesson.
If you do not have the technical capability to upload a video, then upload an audio recording of your reading.
If you cant upload video or audio, then upload the text youve written.
As You Do the Assignment Some Guidelines for Performance:
Be sure youre in prayer as you create your work and before you perform it.
Performance is about connecting to an audience through story, so your storytelling is very important.
As you create the text for a performance piece, working on things important to fiction is useful:
dialogue, description, action, plot, pacing, etc.-- all become important when youre trying to tell a story
through performance.
As you create your work, make sure to read it aloud. Though your content is important, how it sounds
is almost as important. If your words dont hold your audiences interest, your message will be less likely
to reach them.
Pacing Slower is better. Dont rush your words, even when youre trying to read with emphasis. If your
audience cant understand what youre saying, your message will fail to reach them.