Interpretive Theme Writer's Field Guide
How to Craft Strong Themes from Big Idea to Presentation
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Publishing:16th Apr '26
£33.99
This title is due to be published on 16th April, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
The Interpretive Theme Writer’s Field Guide builds on Sam Ham’s 30-year thematic interpretation research legacy by offering writers strong theme examples, worksheets, exercises, inspirational quotes, andtechniquehighlights.
The interpretive theme is the most important sentence an interpreter inks on paper. Despite its centrality to thematic interpretation, no single work has dedicated itself entirely to the art and craft of strong theme writing until now. The Interpretive Theme Writer's Field Guide builds on Sam Ham’s 30-year thematic interpretation research legacy. While leaving communication theory to his books, this companion offers writers strong theme examples, updated theme writer´s worksheet, inspirational quotes, technique highlights, and exercises, including the use of AI generators to craft themes. The second edition also includes new chapters on development psychology, presentation structures, a glossary, an essay on ChatGPT and theme writing, and much more. With contributions from Ham, Ted Cable, Shelton Johnson, Thorsten Ludwig, Don Enright, Judy Fort Brenneman, Kylie Christian, Michael Glen, and other voices from around the English-speaking world, this Field Guide serves at the desk, in the museum exhibit hall, on the park trail, or at an archeological site. It recognizes that teams, even communities, create natural-cultural heritage themes, and introduces the Interpretive Framework methodology to facilitate consensus community-based theme writing.
With this impressive volume, Jon Kohl has extended thirty years of my research and practice to new and promising places… he has illuminated the potential of thematic interpretation, if delivered at a high level of competency, to achieve its most fundamental outcome—to provoke audience thinking and to make a purposeful difference in support of heritage preservation. I could not be more pleased. May heritage interpreters across the world magnify their impact by following his sound advice. -- Sam Ham * PhD, Professor Emeritus, University of Idaho, recipient of the William Everhart Lifetime Achievement Award as well as the National Association for Interpretation Fellow Award, and author of Environmental Interpretation and Interpretation: Making a Difference on Purpose *
This book is for devotees of thematic writing. Grounded in progressivism and traditional principles of interpretation, it is most useful for people who practise forms of interpretation in environmental and community settings. Jon Kohl and a range of prominent interpreters skillfully outline a number of theories relating to thematic writing and heritage interpretation in general, together with providing a wide range of exercises and practical tips. It is a great addition to any library and anyone involved in thematic writing can benefit from its insights. -- Sue Hodges * PhD, Managing Director of SHP and Former President of the IOCMOS International Committee for the Interpretation and Presentation of Cultural Heritage Sites (2015-2024) *
ISBN: 9798881807504
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
272 pages
2nd edition