OVERVIEW INSTRUCTIONS EXPLORING EMPHASIS AND MEANING

EXPLORING EMPHASIS AND MEANING OVERVIEW How we say things can massively change the meaning of the words we use. In a social context young people are often incredibly sensitive to the complexity of meaning that can be expressed by subtle changes of tone. This exercise will develop the skills and practice of exploring meaning through performance.

OBJECTIVES • To realise that the tone we use affects the meaning of the words we speak • To apply our understanding of tone in everyday life to the performance of texts

INSTRUCTIONS Split the class into groups of 4 or 5. Give the whole class one of the simple sentences below (or come up with your own). The groups have to try and come up with as many different meanings from the sentence as they can. For each one to count they must write down both how they would deliver it and what meaning this delivery gives to the sentence. Ways of finding different meanings might include changing the stress on different words, using different tones and emotions, adding pauses and other punctuation, and whatever other creative ideas students can think of. For example, “I didn’t say I love you” suggests there’s an unspoken love in play, whereas “I didn’t say I love you” appears to be a pretty brutal misunderstanding. After 5 or 10 minutes see how many each group have collected. Have each group perform some of their lists and explain the meanings to the class. Discuss the different techniques and how they have been used. I didn’t say I love you Oh wow is that what we’re having for dinner We are actually planning to go over there I can’t believe you decided to wear that outfit today

Next mix up the class into new groups of 4 or 5. Give each group a different short section of a line or two of Shakespeare. You can may use extracts from a familiar text and use this to explore alternative interpretations and performances. Alternatively you can use texts unknown to the students to emphasise the exploratory element of the activity. As before the group should experiment with different deliveries and possible meanings of their text, brainstorming lots of different possibilities. Their goal is to come up with 2 different deliveries that they like. Once they have chosen their favourite 2 from their brainstorming the groups should practice the delivery and explanation of the meaning. Go round the groups and have each perform and explain their alternate interpretations to the rest of the class. Other groups should provide feedback on which interpretation they prefer, and why.