Gumtang1

Gumtang, Melissa
Professor Buckley
THE 337-01
5/7/14
Bringing Literature to Life through Drama
Theatre has been around for over thousands of years, it is said to have started around the
6th century BCE and to have many types all over the world. There have been many different
kinds of theatre that have come to pass, for example: Greek theatre, Roman theatre, Transition
and early Medieval theatre, High and late Medieval theatre, Commedia dell'arte, Golden age
theatre, Renaissance theatre and many more. Just looking back at the ages and eras that theatre
has been around, it just shows how important it was and is today. Theatre is everywhere, whether
its Broadway, movies, television, plays and even books. We learn through it as we watch and
listen to those that perform a story in front of our very eyes. Theatre may not be known to be
introduced into literature, but it certainly is. It is important for literature, it addresses education, it
can relate to education standards for literature, and it can help children in many different ways in
school, and as well in their everyday lives.
Theatre is an important way of bringing literature to life in the classroom because it gives
students a different perspective on the story that they are going over in class. For example when
it comes to different types of activities to do in the classroom that involve using drama for
literature teachers can use readers theatre, story theatre, and as well as oral interpretation. These
three types of ways can really help to explore literature through theatre.

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Readers theatre is a style of theater in which the actors or students do or do not memorize
their lines. Readers use only vocal expression to help the audience understand the story rather
than visual storytelling such as sets, costumes, intricate blocking, and movement. Many people
dont know it, but readers theatre is used almost every day and all around us, its used in
television, movies, in our households and in the classroom. For example, whenever someone
does a voice over in a movie or someone is reading dialogue or reading a book with some sort of
emotion being expressed, thats readers theatre. It may not seem like its readers theatre, but
technically it is. As an audience we are able to picture what the reader is trying to put in our
heads through the emotion in their voice.
Story theatre is told by a narrator while others perform it through mime or while speaking
the dialogue; or the narration is provided by those who are acting out the characters, animals and
inanimate objects. So when it comes to this type of activity we tend to also see it everywhere as
well, for example we always hear the narrators in movies, in plays, and even in television shows
besides just seeing and using this activity in the classroom.
Oral interpretation is the expression and sharing of literature with an audience. The
function of the interpreter is to establish oneself as a liaison between the author who created the
literature and the audience which responds to it. It can not only be used in the classroom while
reading a book, but it can also be used at home with parents to also help their children experience
more learning in the household. So with these three activities or strategies of reading literature,
students will be able to experience the story in a different way and these activities can show how
important drama can be towards literature because they are able to give a broader view on the
characters, the plot, the scene, and the message that the writer might be wanting to give to the
audience.

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Stated by J. Lea Smith, Student dramatizations can provide teachers with promising
alternative for instructing students. Drama is a natural approach to content instruction for middle
level students. Learning involves constructive activity that changes perspective through
reflection and interaction with others. Heathcote also states that drama puts students into other
peoples shoes by using personal experience to help them understand other points of view while
confronting situations that may change them because of the issues and challenges they face in the
dramatic playing. So drama can address education very clearly because students will learn
different ways at looking at characters and the story just how Smith and Heathcote have stated.
Even looking through books from the past and now, we see drama being used in literature all the
time. For example books like The Wizard of Oz, Romeo and Juliet, To Kill A Mockingbird,
Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Pride and Prejudice, The Color Purple and many more. Drama
is always being used for literature, it just doesnt get that much recognition. So bringing literature
to life through drama can address education all the time, because if it can address the books that
are being looked over in the classroom, then its addressing whats being learned in the class. For
example, I remember when I was in high school my English teacher actually brought the class on
a field trip to the local performing arts theatre in a local city where we watched To Kill A
Mockingbird which was based on the book we were reading in the classroom. Even though as a
class we read the book, we were able to see the characters from the book come to life. I was able
to see a different perspective of the characters. I was able to experience their experiences from a
real eye catching perspective. So I can say that through that experience I was able to look at the
book in another light.
By using drama with literature Jennifer Catney McMaster states drama encompasses all
four of the language arts modalities and is an effective medium for building decoding,

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vocabulary, syntactic, discourse, and metacognitive knowledge. Drama activities encourage the
affective aspects of reading and emergent literacy, accomplishing this within q valuable social
context. Drama can not only address education, but it can also fit certain standards that
literature needs children to learn. Students will be able to develop fluency through repeated
exposure to text, increase comprehension, integrate reading, writing, speaking, listening in an
authentic context, engage students, increase reading motivation, create confidence and improve
the self-image of students, provide a real purpose for reading, and provide opportunities for
cooperative learning through using drama to bring literature to life.
Looking back at what drama can do to help students bring literature to life, drama can
really help the students use it with communication skills and be more open with one another,
they can be able to feel more comfortable, because being able to be another character from a
story gives them freedom to imagine and experience another characters story. Drama helps
children express the character and can late show the students that they can also express
themselves. Students will become less shy and have a better understanding of themselves.
So Overall I can honestly say that bringing literature to life through drama can really be
as important as just reading stories and plays in class. It addresses education through the
activities like oral interpretation, story theatre, and readers theatre. Using drama in literature can
also help with certain standards trying to be met in English. And most of all it can help the
children with their reading, interpretation skills, communication skills, and social skills. Drama
can bring literature to life and also bring children to be more open human beings.

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Work Cited
Drama in the Middle Level Classroom: Bringing Content to Life
J. Lea Smith and J. Daniel Herring
Middle School Journal, Vol. 26, No. 1 (September 1994), pp. 30-36
Published by: Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE)
Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23023188
"Doing" Literature: Using Drama to Build Literacy
Jennifer Catney McMaster
The Reading Teacher, Vol. 51, No. 7 (Apr., 1998), pp. 574-584
Published by: Wiley on behalf of the International Reading Association
Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20201964
"History of Theatre." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 05 July 2014. Web. 07 May
2014.
"What Is Readers Theater." Scholastic.com for Librarians | What Is Readers Theater.
N.p., n.d. Web. 07 May 2014