Poetry Out Loud
May 7th, 2007 by Gary Margolis
On behalf of the planning committee and all of the sponsoring and hosting organizations, thank you to all of the superintendents, principals, teachers, students, parents, and others who helped to make Poetry Out Loud: National Poetry Recitation Contest such a huge success in Nevada.
We are very proud of the fact that
Congratulations and thank you to everyone. We look forward to working with you again next year!
Please feel free to “comment” on this blog by writing about your experiences with Poetry Out Loud.
Coordinators and Teachers: We are especially interested in hearing about how you implemented this program in your school or district and anecdotal stories that reveal the strengths (or challenges) of this program.
Following is some information about the winners of the Nevada State Finals:
First Place:
Jake Reid, Junior
Douglas High School (Douglas County)
Marty Swisher, Principal
James Scoggins, Teacher
Jake Reid was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he moved to Carson City when he was four and has never looked back. He feels that the extraordinary beauty of Nevada’s wilderness areas serves as the perfect environment for a growing writer and an avid nature enthusiast. Jake is, however, looking back to New Mexico where he plans to go St. John’s College in Santa Fe, because he values intellectual and artistic pursuits for their own sake.
Second Place:
Lainey Henderson, Sophomore
Carson High School (Carson County)
Fred Perdomo, Principal
Karen Chandler, Teacher
Lainey Henderson, a sixteen-year-old sophomore, has a passion for theater. She has played many theatrical roles, her favorites include Jack Frost in The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, Amy Lawrence in Tom Sawyer and Mary Helen Merryman in I’m Sorry the Bridge is Out You’ll Have to Spend the Night.
Third Place:
Geoff McFarland, Senior
Galena High School (Washoe County)
Tom Brown, Principal
Francine Gray, Teacher
Geoff McFarland, originally from Massachusetts, moved to Reno two years ago. He is active on his school’s mock trial and speech and debate teams, B.A.M.N. International, Student Council, Readers Becoming Leaders Literacy Program, Poetry Club, Yearbook, various choral groups, and Key Club. Geoff translates Spanish for underprivileged youth, tutors math, and volunteers through the Great Basin Food Co-op, G.H.O.S.T., and Nevada Second Harvest. Geoff’s passions include sailing, snowboarding, and symphonic string sextets.
Poetryoutloud has become part of my English curriculum. Students who take my junior/senior English class know they will complete at least in the classrrom, if not school wide. It has generated some pride in the ability to do a good job in this venue.
Gary, I am confused about one thing. It was suggested for the competitors not to be overly dramatic in their reading in the guidelines. So this year, we toned that down at our local level. I didn’t go to the finals, but the other participating teacher did. Both the impression she and our competitor had was that dramatics were accepted in the finals. Could you comment on this? It would help us to better prepare if we knew what was expected.
K. Kreyeski
Virginia City High School
Karen-
You bring up a very good issue and one that generates much discussion among coordinators around the country. Officially, the Poetry Out Loud “Guidelines” say the following:
Appropriateness of Dramatization
This category is to evaluate the level of dramatization in the recitation. Overly dramatic performances will often distract the audience and the judges from understanding and enjoying the poem. On the other hand, the performer should infuse the recitation with an appropriate level of dramatization, depending on the poem.
Advice for the student:
Don’t overdo it. Over-dramatization can distract your audience from experiencing the language of the poem. For instance, you should not point up or down every time the poem refers to the sky or ground. You are not enacting the poem. Your goal should be to help the audience understand the poem more deeply than they had before hearing your recitation.
You are the voice and the vessel of your poem. Have confidence that your poem is strong enough to communicate its sounds and messages without over-dramatizing. In other words, let the words of the poem do the work.
Depending on the poem, gestures and some amount of movement may be appropriate, as long as they are not overdone.
Avoid monotone recitation. If you sound bored, you will project that boredom onto the audience. However, too much enthusiasm can make your performance seem insincere.
Personally, I am confused by these guidelines as much as you. The American Heritage Dictionary defines “recite” as “to repeat or utter aloud something rehearsed or memorized.” To my mind one recites the alphabet or the multiplication tables or even a poem in a language one does not understand. To recite with meaning is not a recitation but something else…something deeper than a recitation. The American Heritage Dictionary defines “interpret” as “to present or conceptualize the meaning of by means of art or criticism.” I would think that interpretation would be a better word. However, once again to my mind, the ultimate oral manifestation of the written word is to “act” it. Those who are concerned that by using the word “act” they will encourage over-acting forget one of the first lessons of acting:
“…let your own discretion be your tutor: suit the action to the word, the word to the action; with this special observance, that you o’erstep not the modesty of nature: for any thing so overdone is from the purpose of playing, whose end, both at the first and now, was and is, to hold, as ’twere, the mirror up to nature; to show virtue her own feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure.”
-William Shakespeare, Hamlet Act 3 Scene 2
I would think that “holding the mirror up to nature” is a fine goal for one who is orally presenting a poem to an audience, so why all the fuss about dramatization? Bad acting is bad acting no matter where it happens. Ultimately, each judge will decide for himself or herself what is appropriate for a competition of this nature. I can’t give you any better advice than Shakespeare’s above.