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Saint Hilary of Poitiers School
is a member of the elementary division of the
Philadelphia Catholic Forensics League. The Philadelphia
Catholic Forensics League was established in 1942 in order to
promote leadership through speech by means of interscholastic
speech and debate activities among archdiocesan schools. Their
website is
pcflonline.org.
Forensics is the art of formal public speaking and presentation.
Academic forensics teams take part in a variety of oral
communication competitions. Students develop, practice, and
deliver their performances which include speeches or
interpretations and dramatizations of literature and poetry.
Forensics competitors present a polished performance about 7
minutes in length. Although students perform as individuals or
in pairs, involvement in forensics almost always means being
part of a larger team that practices and competes together.
Tournaments often have various team awards in addition to
individual awards. Students also get many opportunities to
interact with and learn from students from other schools.
We generally compete in five categories; Dramatic Performance, Oral
Interpretation of Literature, Original Oratory, Declamation and
Extemporaneous Speaking. A brief description of each follows:
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Dramatic
Performance
is a category in which students present selections from published plays,
screenplays, fictional or non-fictional work that are either serious or humorous
in nature. The selections must be memorized with a maximum length of seven
minutes.
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Duo
Interpretation of Literature
is a category in which a presentation is done by two participants of a single
selection of literature. Each performer may present one or more characters. Each
character should be sufficiently developed and should interact meaningfully with
the other characters. Movement should be limited and suggested rather than
exaggerated. The maximum length is seven minutes.
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Oral
Interpretation of Literature
is a case in which students present selections in one of two categories -- prose
and poetry. Each selection must be a maximum of seven minutes in length. The
student must hold a manuscript and appear to be reading.
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Declamation
requires students to use a speech or portion of a speech previously given by
another person. The speech must be memorized with a maximum length of seven
minutes.
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Original Oratory
students prepare original speeches, usually persuasive or informative on a
current topic. Any topic is permissible and any form of oration is permitted.
The presentation must be memorized, with a maximum length of seven minutes.
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Extemporaneous
Speaking
- Each student draws three topics on current issues; chooses one and has thirty
minutes to prepare a speech of a maximum length of five minutes. Any periodical
or other published material is permitted in the preparation room. Students may
not refer to any written notes during the speech.
Highlighted below are excerpts from a standard Critique Sheet
that would be used by a judge during a tournament. The role of
the Forensics Coach is to work with each student on each of the
areas indicated below so that he/she succeeds in his/her
performance.
Projection of Literature:
The interpreter should demonstrate a clear understanding of the
literature and project its meaning, message and tone. Without
the use of costumes or props, imagery should be carefully
colored to promote audience understanding and appreciation.
Consideration should be given to the literary merit of the
selection.
Narrator/Character Creation:
The narrator should be believable and conversational. The
performer should develop and maintain unique and distinct
narrative voices for each character within the selection. If
they are utilized, character voices should be distinctive,
consistent and appropriate to the character. The interpreter
should be able to demonstrate the characters feelings and
thoughts through the use of vocal inflections, facial
expressions, eye contact and appropriate intensity of gestures.
Visualization:
The interpreter should help the audience to see the particular
world of the narrator. The interpreter should establish a strong
sense of environment. The interpreter should use facial
expressions and gestures appropriately to bring the script to
life.
Vocal Variety:
The interpreter should appropriately vary vocal pitch, volume,
rate, and intensity to convey the various moods and messages in
the literature. Appropriate words should be stressed for clarity
and understanding. The interpreter should play with sound
devices such as alliteration, and attend to the sound and
meaning of every word. For poetry, the interpreter should
capture and effectively vary existing poetic rhythm, making use
of rhyme when necessary and avoiding it when not.
Audience and Script Contact:
The interpreter should invite the audience into the
presentation, directing eye contact and expressing his or her
feelings to individual audience members when appropriate and
necessary and consulting the script when it is not. The
interpreter should focus away from the audience and the script
effectively during moments of internal and private thoughts.
There should be a natural balance between the audience and
script where one does not take precedence over the other. The
interpreter should stay in the moment, with facial expression
and emotional consistency, when making contact with the
manuscript.
Overall Effect:
The overall performance should build to various moments and have
a climax. The performance should be easy to follow and complete.
The performance should display another world outside of the
performance space.
It does not require any prior performance or professional
experience to be a Forensics coach. All of us have had
experience watching speakers and can consistently identify the
successful ones just by considering the criteria outlined above.
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