Interpretive presentations fail through excess, not just deficiency of content

Evidence

Whenever I am visiting one of our preserved areas, whether a park or a museum or a historic house, and whenever I hear an oral interpretation or read awritten one, I am sometimes reminded of that homely remark. There are so many instances where, injuriously and to the detriment of an otherwise fine presentation, the nail has been given “that last tap.” The descriptive folder that does not end when enough has been said; the last twenty color slides that collapse the camel; the “one more last thought” of an earnest speakerwho bulges with an enthusiasm wholly laudable; the museum that responds to the humane thought “we just can’t leave that out”—all these excesses spring from admirable intentions. But the interpreter must survey his work from the point of view of the visitor and take into consideration all the factors that make an audience restive, easily sidetracked, and too readily gorged, especially when it has little familiarity with the subject. — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 485

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines ?the last tap? as a recurring failure mode of interpretation: adding one element too many to an otherwise sound presentation.
• XREF: connects to: Understatement can communicate more powerfully than exhaustive description — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 373; A single excess element can derail an entire display’s educational effect — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 488; Interpreters should tell stories, not recite inventories, because visitors seek enjoyment — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 246 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Representations reveal more by failing than by succeeding #corroborates (0.85) — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 471
• Content analysis that merely enumerates acts misses meaning conveyed by structural opposition. #corroborates (0.80) — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 795
• Postmodernist texts resist thematic meaning and are flawed when interpretation succeeds #corroborates (0.80) — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 243
• Self-presentation fails when small stylistic details betray an intended identity #exemplifies (0.75) — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 618
• Attentional tasks fail when capacity cannot meet their demands #exemplifies (0.72)
• Comprehension requires conscious confrontation with reality rather than interpretive comfort #contradicts (0.72)