INTRODUCTION TO MORAL

Moral 

A common mistake novices make is choosing literature only because it is funny, emotional, or popular. While those qualities can help a performance, they shouldn't be the only reason you select a piece. Instead, look for literature that has something important to say. The strongest performances are those that combine entertainment with a meaningful message. When you are leafing through potential literature, ask yourself, what is the deeper meaning behind this piece? For some pieces, it'll be obvious. For others, it may take more thought. The moral is important because it is what makes a piece relatable to your audience. While judges may not share your characters' exact experiences, they can often connect with the emotions and lessons behind them. A strong moral allows audiences to see themselves within a story, even when the circumstances are entirely different from their own lives. For example, your piece could be about an economics professor at NYU who is struggling to fit into an ultra-rich Asian society. Chances are, your judge can't relate to that. But they could more than likely sympathize with that desire to change to fit in. 

One way to find a strong moral is to examine the story's development. If you've chosen a good piece, there should be some type of character development where your protagonist experiences some kind of growth. How does the protagonist change? What lesson do they learn? What does the author want the audience to take away? The answers to these questions often reveal the deeper message of the piece. The moral need not be explicitly stated, but it should be evident throughout the literature. Once you've found your moral, keep it in the back of your mind, or write it down somewhere. This will come in handy when you are writing your introduction. This is where the moral or the message of your piece is most commonly outlined and explicitly stated to the audience. 

Below are three pieces, along with a potential message you could connect them to. Remember, this is interpretation, so there isn't necessarily a "right" way to interpret a piece. The way I interpret a piece could be entirely different from the way you will. 

Speech and debate are often described in the forensics community as two fundamentally different entities. On the surface, this is true. However, the primary goal of every event, whether it is the Lincoln-Douglas Debate or Dramatic Interpretation, remains the same: advocacy. That is the beauty of speech and debate. In a world where opinions and voices are increasingly silenced, we must learn how to use our voices and speak. Because of this, the pieces we choose should do more than entertain. They should advocate. Regardless of the interpretation event, competitors should strive to select literature with meaningful messages and strong morals, using their performances to amplify ideas that matter. At the end of the day, the most memorable performances are not just the ones that make an audience laugh, cry, or feel something. They are the ones that leave the audience with something to think about.

For a deeper dive into the importance of advocacy in performance, check out this Equality in Forensics article.

Good luck!