Expressive Reading or Acting Assignment

Great Works of Literature – ENG 2800 Baruch College, Spring 2020
Expressive Reading or Acting
Dear Class,
originally this was supposed to be a last assignment that would give you the opportunity to work
in groups and create some sort of collective class performance for everyone’s entertainment at
the end of the semester. Given these unprecedented times, the entire world of performance has
retreated to online video platforms such as Zoom. Thus, we follow suit, but still try to share our
work through an expressive reading or acting of a short piece from the course readings.
What “expressive” means is really up to you: change of voice, volume, or rhythm; gesture;
pauses; the attempt to create mystery or wonder as a storyteller; the addition of sound effects or
music; costume or props – my main goal is that you demonstrate how a text is not just a
monotonous (= one tone only) flow of words in a reader’s mind, but instead something that can
be shared with additional qualities because your voice can be heard and your presence as
performer adds to the overall artistic value of the piece for the audience.
As I repeated several times in class, I am not looking for you to be professional actors – at the
same time I value this exercise a great deal as it would normally be the culmination of
understanding of what literature was for the period covered by the course.
While I tend to be quite liberal with grading this type of work,
you must perform this assignment or your participation grade will go to 0.
Make sure you understand this detail before you’re tempted to skip this task.
For this assignment you are asked to:
1. choose a short piece from this semester’s readings that can be read/performed in between two
and three minutes if the project is individual. If the project is collaborative, just multiply the
duration by the number of people.
You want to choose a piece short enough that does not need to be rushed to fit in the time
allotted, and yet long enough that you don’t need long pauses just to pass time.
As usual, this is a deceptively simple task, but you will have to give some thought to your
choice: which text will allow you to be the most expressive?
2. Rehearse reading or acting out the piece with an audience in mind (or with an actual audience
of family, your cat or fish, etc. it works!).
The words should be those written in the text, not an improvisation; however, small
changes/variants are expected as you perform. In other words, stay close to the actual text, but
don’t worry if a few words are different in performance.
3. Video record your performance.
4. Write a 5-line paragraph (not shorter, not longer) that explains your artistic intentions: why did
you choose this piece and what were your communicative/performative/storytelling intentions in
performing it?
5. Go to the Blackboard course page, click on the Discussion Board link in the left navigation
pane, and create a reply to my post that includes:
a. your “artistic statement” paragraph (if a collaboration, everyone should have their individual
statement and create a separate post). An artistic statement without a video won’t be graded.
b. an attachment with the video file (if the size is supported by Blackboard) or a link to
YouTube/Vimeo or other platform to watch your performance online.
The deadline for this assignment is May 13 by the start of class time
I will accept late work until 5 days later by the start of class time with a 20% grade reduction.
Grading Rubric (100 points)
1. Does the post include a 5-line artistic statement by the individual student? (20 pts.)
2. Does the video clip last at least 2 full minutes and up to 3? A shorter than 2 minutes clip will
also proportionally decrease the overall grade (10 pts.)
3. Does the reading / acting add value to the text? Is it expressive beyond the text? (60 pts.)
4. Does the clip enhance the reading with additional elements such as music, costume, props, etc.
(10 pts.)
Good luck preparing your expressive piece!