Recitation competition 2013

Judge’s Guide

Thank you

...for joining us in the very first Poetry By Heart competition, which I hope you’ll think, as we do, is a momentous thing in its way: a pioneering national competition designed to encourage pupils at school and college in England to learn and to recite poems by heart. Not in an arm-waving, props-supported thespian extravaganza, but as the outward and audible manifestation of an inwardly-understood and enjoyed poem.

Ever since I first started reading poetry in earnest, more than forty years ago, I’ve always thought its meaning has as much to do with sound as it does to do with sense. Poetry, crucially, is an acoustic form. It’s emotional noise. That is why it’s often able to move us before we completely understand it. Its sounds allow us to receive it in our hearts, as well as in our heads.

It has always been my hope in setting up Poetry By Heart that we would give young people the opportunity to enjoy a wider range of poetry than they usually find in their preparation for exams. We want to offer new ways of finding pleasure and confidence in a part of the curriculum where such things can be in short supply. The sort of pleasure and confidence, in fact, that adds tremendously to young people’s self-esteem, to their verbal skills, to their powers of communication, and so to a more fulfilled life and greater opportunities. The competition is an end in itself, but it’s also a gateway, a beginning.

Poetry By HeartJudge’s Guide

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Poetry By Heart is designed to put the emphasis on learning by heart, not on learning by rote. It is about understanding and remembering the deep recurring truths about our experience as humans, in terms that are especially beautiful and resonant. It is about doing this in a pleasure-filled way. And it is part of the same benevolent revolution in poetry-proving and poetry-teaching that formed a part of the original intention in founding the Poetry Archive www.poetryarchive.org during my ten years as Poet Laureate.

Most of us have some recollection of being made to learn things when we were kids ourselves, and most of us can remember bits or all of those poems in our older age. This tells us several things, I think. It tells us how important it is to learn good stuff, so that our heads are full of nourishing words and not full of junk. It tells us this good stuff changes its meanings in very interesting ways as the years pass and the words stay in our memories. It tells us that despite or because of the effort involved in learning by heart, we as humans have a primitive appetite for it. It makes us feel good. It makes us find ourselves.

When Samuel Johnson was ruminating about the value of literature, he said it helped him ‘enjoy and endure’ his existence. Those two words form the foundation of our competition. We want it to be fun, as it encourages pupils to discover new pleasures and fulfilments,but we want it to be serious as well: an excitement and a dare. To demonstrate, in fact, the marvellous form of two-way travelling that poetry allows us: into ourselves, and out into the world, at one and the same time.

Sir Andrew MotionPoetry By Heart

1. About the competition

Poetry by Heart, an educational initiative of the Poetry Archive www.poetryarchive.org, is a competition designed to encourage students in schools and colleges in England to deepen their enjoyment of poetry through remembrance and recitation.

In the competition’s fullest version, the action begins in a number of classrooms, where students choose one poem from the Poetry by Heart anthology selected by Andrew Motion and Jean Sprackland, learn it and recite it by heart. They compete against at least two classmates with each class teacher judging the winner.

The winners of the class heats go forward to a school/college final, in which they learn and recite two poems from the Poetry By Heart anthology, one published before 1914 and one published after 1914; in the school/college final, at least three judges will adjudicate. This panel may be comprised entirely of teachers, or may include school/college governors or other suitable members of thelocal community.

The winner of the school/college final goes forward to the county stage of the competition, and from there to the National Finals at the National Portrait Gallery in London in April 2013.

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2. Preparation for judging

The panel-judging process which applies to the school/college competitions, county contests and National Finals is crucial to the success of the competition. The students will have devoted many hours to the choosing and planning and performance of their poems, and may well be undertaking something that is new and challenging for them. This needs to be respected, as does the commitment made by teachers, parents and others who are involved in the competition.

The best judging panels will offer a balance of experiences and perspectives, reflecting the diversity of styles and performances they will encounter. Some judges may have particular literary interests or backgrounds; some will not. In all events, they will need to weigh accurately and sensitively the quality of each performance according to the Poetry by Heart evaluation criteria. Because the judging process will happen very quickly, it is essential that judges familiarise themselves with these criteria before the competition begins.

The evaluation criteria and scoring process for judging a competition is contained in this guide. Competition Coordinators will provide copies of the poems the students have chosen to perform in advance of the event, and scoring sheets on the day of the competition. Judges should be willing to attend a pre-meeting if the local Coordinator thinks this would be helpful.

Before the competition begins, judges should:

• Make themselves familiar with the evaluation criteria and the scoring process outlined in this guide;

• Practise scoring using videos of students recitations available on www.poetrybyheart.org.uk. Once the competition starts there will be less than 45 seconds for judges to enter their score on the evaluation sheets;

• Read the poems the pupils will be reciting; these will be sent to judges before the competition. Judges should think how each poem

might be scored in terms of difficulty, and about how to make a decision if more than one pupil reads the same poem. It might also be helpful for judges to read the poems aloud themselves before they begin their work.

3. The day of the competition

When judges arrive at the school/college, they should first check in with the Competition Coordinator. They will be seated together in a designated area separated from the contestants and audience members, and to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest should also avoid contact with students, teachers or parents before and during the competition. There will be a chance to meet students when the competition is over.

Once they are settled in, judges will receive a stack of scoring sheets, on which the competitors’ names and the poems they have chosen will already be written, in the order of recitation.

When the competition begins, students will recite in turn. There will be two rounds: in the first round students will recite the pre-1914 poem they have chosen from the anthology; in the second round they will recite the post-1914 poem they have chosen.

There will be a prompter directly in front of the stage, in case a student gets stuck. The use of a prompter will primarily affect the student’s accuracy score, but may also affect their overall performance.

Students may not use props or costumes during their recitation.Judges should complete the scoring sheet directly after each student has recited their poem, circling one number for each element of the criteria. Scores must be based entirely on the quality of the performance, and no other considerations should influence the decision.

When judges have finished scoring they should not tally up the scores themselves, but pass their sheets to a runner who will take it to the

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scorer. Judges should not discuss scores with other judges during the competition, or revise them. The scorer will add together the scores from each round, and the student with the highest score will be declared the winner.

In the event of a tie, the tied contestant with the highest Overall Performance score will be declared the winner. If that score is also tied, the highest Accuracy Score will determine the winner. If there is still a deadlock, the Coordinator may ask both students to recite one of their poems again, and the scores on that recitation will determine the winner.

4. Evaluating the recitations

Judging the Poetry by Heart competition differs in several important ways from judging a poetry slam or a theatrical recitation. The criteria are outlined below, and are designed to encourage an appropriate response to the tone, mood, language and character of the selected poem. Theatrical gestures, broad comedy or sheer volume are not reliable proofs of excellence in this context.

The following explains the evaluation criteria that will be used for scoring the recitations. The best recitations will be strong in each category.

Physical PresenceThis can only be judged by looking at the person reciting. The student should be poised – but not artificially so – projecting ease and confidence by his or her physical presence. This is an important category, but also one of the easiest to evaluate. A weaker performance will be one in which the student appears nervous, or awkward, or loses eye contact with the audience; a stronger performance will be commanding and captivating.

Voice and ArticulationThis category evaluates the auditory nature of the recitation; in deciding

a score, judges should consider the student’s volume, pace, intonation, rhythm and pronunciation.

The student should be clear and loud enough to catch the attention of the audience, but not mistake yelling for projection or shouting for passion. Any changes in tone and volume should be revelatory of the subject matter, and the poem as a whole should proceed at a suitable and natural pace, with pauses occurring only in appropriate places. Every word should be clear and understood by the person reciting; a recitation that is mumbling, inaudible, monotonous or uncomprehending will not be deemed successful. With rhymed poems, or poems with a regular metre, pupils should avoid falling into a sing-song.

Dramatic AppropriatenessThe Poetry by Heart competition is not designed to provoke a brief outburst of dramatic acting, but to encourage the sympathetic understanding of the voice of a poem. It is about communicating sense through voice, and power through expression. Students may find it tricky to convey this power without acting it out, but the strongest recitations will rely on a deep inward understanding, rather than on distracting dramatic gestures. Where dramatisation does occur, it should subtly enhance the enjoyment of the poem, without overshadowing its language.

Low scores in this category will result from recitations that have an affected manner, character voices, singing, inappropriate tone, gesturing, or any form of unnecessary emoting.

Level of DifficultyIn this category judges will evaluate the difficulty of the poem, which may exist for several reasons. The poem might contain complicated ideas that a student will struggle to understand or express. It might contain difficult language, or subtle formal, syntactical and tonal shifts. Length may also be a factor – but a long poem, while challenging to memorise, might be relatively easy to interpret, whereas a short poem might contain all sorts of complexities. A poem that is long but has relatively simple content and language should receive an ‘average’

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score at maximum. Elements that make a poem more difficult to interpret may include: vernacular, an unusual form or style, abstraction, a historical sensibility, and so on. Every poem will present a different combination of difficulties; the key is for judges to be consistent in their assessment of them.

Evidence of UnderstandingThis category measures a contestant’s understanding of a poem. How well does he or she interpret it for the audience? Do they communicate the appropriate tones of the poem – the anger, the humour, the ambivalence, the tenderness, the fear? Are difficult lines made clearer by the delivery? At all times, the poet’s own words should take precedence, and the contestants who comprehend these words most deeply will be the ones who are best able to voice them in a way that helps the audience to understand and enjoy. To do this, the student needs to think about intonation, emphasis, tone, speed of delivery, language – and the meaning of every word as well as the meaning of the poem as a whole.

In a strong recitation, this meaning will be powerfully communicated, because the pupil will offer an interpretation that simultaneously deepens and animates the poem. Meaning, attitude, allusions, irony, shifts of tone and other nuances will all be captured by the performance. A great recitation will reveal the poem to the audience in a new way. If the rendition obscures the meaning of the poem it will receive a low score.

Overall PerformanceOverall Performance is worth slightly more than the other categories, with a possible top score of 9 points (the top score in other categories is 6). This is because it evaluates the performance as a whole, and gauges the extent to which the recitation has become greater than the sum of its parts. Has the student captivated the audience? Has he or she illuminated the language of the poem? Have they created a better sense of understanding? Did the physical presence, the voice, the intensity all seem appropriate and unified? Have they mastered the art of recitation as distinct from other sorts of dramatic expression?

The judges’ scores will reflect their opinion about all these things, and may also take a contestant’s vocal and emotional range into consideration. If a student uses the same style of delivery in both the poems they recite, this may count against them, as will poor presentation, insufficient understanding of the poem, or any inappropriate response to it.

Further Scoring TipsFor each of the evaluation criteria, a solid performance scores 4 (or 5 in the Overall Performance category). Judges should keep this in mind at all times, and especially when scoring the early recitations, since these will set the standard for everything that follows.

A score of 9 for Overall Performance is rare. It should be saved for truly exceptional recitations.

Judges should be careful to score each category separately.Judges should check they have circled a number in each category before handing in their evaluation sheets.

5. Scoring rubric

The scoring rubric below is designed to give judges a consistent measure against which to evaluate the recitations. It is not intended to be comprehensive, but to serve as a set of companion-thoughts to the evaluation criteria. Judges should review it before the competition starts, to get a sense of what to look for in individual performances.

Physical Presence• Very weak: stiff or agitated; lacks eye contact with the audience;

appears uncomfortable• Weak: timid, unsure; eye contact and body language shows a

debilitating nervousness• Average: eye contact and body language are sometimes unsure, at

other times confident• Good: comfortable; steady eye contact and confident body language

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• Excellent: self-possessed; body language and eye contact show strong stage presence

• Outstanding: authoritative; body language and eye contact show compelling stage presence.

Voice and Articulation• Very weak: inaudible; slow; distracting rhythm; singsong; hurried;

mispronouncing• Weak: audible but quiet; too loud; monotonous; paced unevenly;

affected tone• Average: clear, adequate intonation; even pacing• Good: clear, appropriate intonation and pacing• Excellent: very clear, crisp, effective use of volume, intonation, rhythm

and pacing• Outstanding: exception clarity; mastery of rhythm and pace; expert

use of volume and intonation.

Dramatic Appropriateness• Very weak: overwhelming poem by showing off; distracting gestures,

facial expressions, inflections or accents; acting out of poems; singing; over-emoting; inappropriate tone

• Weak: poem is secondary to style of delivery; distracting gestures, facial expressions and vocal inflections; inappropriate tone

• Average: poem is neither overwhelmed nor enhanced by style of delivery

• Good: poem is enhanced by style of delivery; any gestures, facial expressions and movement are appropriate to poem

• Excellent: style of delivery reflects character of poem; poem’s voice is well conveyed

• Outstanding: style of delivery reflects deep understanding of poem; all gestures and movements essential to realisation of the poem.

Level of Difficulty• Very weak: simple content, easy language, short length• Weak: straightforward language and content; moderate length• Average: one element of challenging content, language or length• Good: both poems contains elements of challenging content,

language or length

• Excellent: contains very challenging content and language; appropriate length

• Outstanding: contains extremely challenging content and language; length is challenging for a poem of this complexity.

Evidence of Understanding• Very weak: obscures meaning of poem• Weak: doesn’t sufficiently understand or communicate the meaning

of the poem• Average: satisfactory communication of the meaning of the poem• Good: communicates meaning of poem well• Excellent: interprets poem very well for audience• Outstanding: exceptional interpretation of the poem, deftly revealing

its meaning.

Overall Performance• Very weak: ineffective or inappropriate recitation; does disservice

to poem• Weak: inadequate recitation; lacklustre; does disservice to poem• Average: adequate recitation; no meaningful impact on audience• Good: enjoyable recitation; successfully delivers poem• Excellent: inspired performance; strong grasp of recitation skills;

enhances audience’s experience of poem• Outstanding: captivating performance; whole equals more than the

sum of its parts; mastery of recitation skills.

Contest score sheetName of student

Total (maximum 39 points) Final score (maximum 47 points)

Accuracy Judge’s score (maximum 8 points)

Physical presence

Voice and articulation

Dramatic appropriateness

Level of difficulty

Evidence of understanding

Overall performance

Title of poem

Very weak Weak Average Good Excellent Outstanding

1 2 3 4 5 6

1 2 3 4 5 6

1 2 3 4 5 6

1 2 3 4 5 6

1 2 3 4 5 6

1 2 3 5 7 9

Points Points

Points

7. The role of the accuracy scoring judge

Each panel has a single Accuracy Judge, and the other judges need not concern themselves with this category, since it is difficult to score accuracy and the other criteria at the same time. Accuracy is the first element of a recitation – the most basic task for the pupil is to preserve and honour the poet’s language for the audience. For this reason, the Accuracy Judge plays a crucial role in the evaluation process.

When the Accuracy Judge arrives at the competition, he or she will receive a copy of all the poems in the order in which they will be recited (these poems will have been chosen from the Poetry by Heart anthology). They will be given a seat with the other judges, where they can both read the text and hear the recitations.

During the competition pupils will begin each recitation with the title of the poem and the name of the poet (both must be accurate). Recitations must include epigraphs if they are included in the Poetry by Heart anthology, but a student’s own comments before and after the poem are not allowed.

The Accuracy Judge will work independently, following the text of the poem as the contestant recites. It is essential that the poem be recited as written, word for word. After each recitation, the accuracy judge’s score sheet will be collected. The scorer will add the Accuracy Judge’s score to all contest evaluation sheets for each recitation.

Instructions for scoring accuracy:

The maximum score for a word-perfect recitation is 8.

• Deductions are made according to the rules in the Accuracy Score Sheet (see below)

• The Accuracy Judge may wish to mark all minor inaccuracies on the text in the same way, and flag the bigger mistakes differently

• After the recitation, the Judge should use the Accuracy Score Sheet to make the correct deductions for each mistake

• To get the final Accuracy Score, the Judge should count up the point deductions and subtract them from the maximum score of 8. The minimum accuracy score is I point.

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Accuracy score sheet

Maximum score - 8 Points

Inaccuracy deduction (subtract)

Prompt deduction (subtract)

Points

Points

Final accuracy score

Points

Minor inaccuracies, resulting in a 0.5 point deduction, include:

• Confusing a pronoun (‘he’ instead of ‘she’)

• Confusing an article (‘a’ instead of ‘the’)

• Pluralising a word or vice versa (‘kangaroo’ instead of ‘kangaroos’)

• Replacing a word with a similar word (‘jump’ instead of ‘leap’)

• Confusing word order (‘pans and pots’ instead of ‘pots and pans’)

• Missing out a word

• Repeating a word

• Adding a word

Major inaccuracies, resulting in larger deductions per occurrence, include:

• One line out of order -2 points

• Repeating a line -2 points

• Skipping a line, or three or more -3 points words in the same line

• Reversing two stanzas -5 points

• Missing out a stanza -6 points

Name of student Title of poem

8. The role of the prompter

If a contestant loses their place in the recitation of the poem, or forgets the beginning of a passage, he or she may rely on the Prompter for help.

Prompters should sit in the front row of the audience, close enough for students to see and hear them. Contestants will be shown where the Prompter will be sitting before the competition starts, so they know where to look if needs be.

Before the competition starts, the Prompter will be given a copy of all the poems included in the recitation. As each student recites, the Prompter should follow the text of the poem. If the student gets stuck, they should pause and look directly at the Prompter. At that point, they will be given the next few words of the poem. If they are still stuck, they may be given a few more words. The Prompter should not give the student the next words until the contestant looks or points directly at the Prompter for help.

If a contestant forgets a line, but moves ahead to a later part of the poem without looking at the Prompter, the Prompter should just follow the text and do nothing. The Accuracy judge will make a note of the missing lines.

A Prompter may double as an Accuracy Judge at the lower levels of the competition, but it is not recommended.

9. Conflict of interest

If a judge feels that he or she has a conflict of interest they should say so as soon as possible. Early disclosure of any potential conflicts of interest (or the appearance of any) will help organisers to keep the integrity of the competition, and make it fair for all competitors.Potential conflicts of interest include:

• Being a friend or relative of one of the contestants• Being a teacher or coach of one of the contestants• Being an alumni of the competing schools• Being a poet whose work appears in the anthology

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