voice and role in reading and writing

Introduction to Voice and Role in Reading and Writing

The experience of writing poetry can bring newfound perspectives in voice and role.
Myra Barrs discusses her exploration of different voices in poetry, inspired by famous writers.
Key influences discussed include:
- T.S. Eliot - Known for orchestrating multiple voices.
- Doris Lessing - Noted for using different roles in her work "Canopus in Argos."

Drama and Language Learning:
- Drama grants children a broader range of language not typically found in daily life.
- Experiencing different voices in drama connects to writing and reading roles.
- Role-taking is accessible to everyone, creating connections between everyday experiences and dramatic experiences.
Dorothy Heathcote's Influence:
- Highlights how children easily assume and abandon roles during dramatic play.
- Distinguishes between role-taking and acting, emphasizing retaining one's personality while in role.
- Emphasizes that reading is a form of drama — we enact stories, immersing ourselves in different worlds.

By dramatizing, readers become engrossed in the narrative:
- Emergent literacy includes reenactment, as shown in examples like a two-year-old child enacting a story beyond their linguistic capacity.
- Georges Poulet asserts that reading involves adopting the consciousness of the writer, experiencing the text's life.
- Children report strong emotional responses while reading, enhancing the enactment experience.

Writing involves creating texts intended for performance:
- Writers craft their texts with reader engagement in mind, akin to a dramatist guiding an actor.
- Punctuation serves as a guide for interpretation, similar to stage directions in a play.
An example of a narrative written by a thirteen-year-old illustrates genre imitation and punctuation awareness:
- The narrative combines humor with sophisticated construction, showing the child’s genre awareness and experimentation.

Role-Taking in Childhood:
- Children’s play allows access to linguistic resources often underutilized in formal education.
- Example of a group of ten-year-old children incorporating dramatic elements in their writing shows how they harnessed their experiences in a playful context.
- This experience enhances their understanding of narrative structures typical of comics and action stories.

Heathcote's Influence on language acquisition through drama is profound:
- Children's exposure to diverse linguistic registers during drama can transcend everyday communication patterns.
- Written work derived from dramatic experiences retains the richness of language learned through performance.

Imagination in drama extends learning beyond simple verbal expression, as seen in exercises reminiscent of child’s play:
- Vygotsky's Theory: Emphasizes that children's imaginative play is foundational for learning and expression.
- Children learn through enacting roles that connect to physical actions in imaginative play.

Role-taking activates latent linguistic knowledge, making formal registers more accessible:
- Example of a student creatively translating a dialect into standard English demonstrates engagement with language mechanics.
- The process reflects the child’s newfound understanding of language forms as influenced by role.

Writing 'in role' provides children with a framework to express themselves through diverse perspectives:
- Offers insight into the broader applications of language and writing beyond personal expression: writing as a historian, scientist, or storyteller.
- This practice also addresses the challenge of audience, as role gives a focus that writing directed solely at a teacher often lacks.

The integration of role play in reading and writing enhances linguistic skills and comprehension:
- Encourages exploration of genre and dynamic language use.
- Demonstrates the potential for drama to elevate literacy practices in education.