A sociolinguistic analysis of texts is advocated for expanding an oral interpreter's creation of an event from written texts. Two studies are reviewed that suggest that language choices are related to the speaker's purpose, thought processes, role, cultural expectations, and sex. The specific area of study suggested as highly useful for interpretation analysis is the investigation of speaker purpose, or in sociolinguistic terms, functions that refer to the ways an act of speech operates to accomplish a goal for the speaker. A diagram compares three function categories common in speech situations. S. Ervin-Tripp's categories of conversational openings and their corresponding functions are suggested for use when analyzing poetry. It is also suggested that viewing a literary selection as a series of speech acts and identifying the associated functions assists the performer in several ways. One result of functional analysis of dialogue is said to be a greater understanding of forces operating between characters that will help release the performer's behavior. (MKM)