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    Recitation Tips For Students

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    ablacklie39
    The document provides tips for students on reciting poems, including starting and finishing a recitation, accuracy, physical presence, understanding the poem, voice and articulation, interpretation, and overall performance.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Recitation Tips For Students

    Uploaded by

    ablacklie39
    6 views3 pages
    The document provides tips for students on reciting poems, including starting and finishing a recitation, accuracy, physical presence, understanding the poem, voice and articulation, interpretation, and overall performance.

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    Recitation Tips for Students

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    The document provides tips for students on reciting poems, including starting and finishing a recitation, accuracy, physical presence, understanding the poem, voice and articulation, interpretation, and overall performance.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    6 views3 pages

    Recitation Tips For Students

    Uploaded by

    ablacklie39
    The document provides tips for students on reciting poems, including starting and finishing a recitation, accuracy, physical presence, understanding the poem, voice and articulation, interpretation, and overall performance.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
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    Recitation Tips for Students

    Starting and Finishing

    Start your recitation with the title of the poem and the poet’s name:

    EX: “Heat” by Archibald Lampman

    Then begin your recitation.

    Once you’ve finished your recitation, pause to let the poem settle over the audience, then walk away.

    As you practice your poem, keep the following aspects of your performance in mind:

    Accuracy

    A fundamental aspect of recitation (and often a deciding factor at the higher levels of the contest) is

    knowing every word of your poem. Be sure to memorize your poem exactly as it appears in the text.

    Making comments, such as saying your name, “thank you,” or anything else before or after your

    recitation, will result in a lower accuracy score.

    Physical Presence

    Establish a strong stage presence

    by practicing the following:

    + good posture

    + comfortable, steady eye contact with the audience

    + confident body language

    AVOID:

    – slouching

    – timid eye contact

    – nervous body language (fidgeting, shifting)

    Evidence of Understanding

    If you don’t understand your poem, neither will your audience.

    + Be sure you’re clear about the meaning of your poem. A

    great place to start is the poem’s page on our website,

    where you’ll find a list of the themes and poetic terms and

    forms used, as well as the poet’s biography.


    + Double-check that you understand any words that are new to you.

    – If you’re unclear on the meaning of a poem, you can’t recite it effectively. Research your poem and
    discuss it with your teacher. Once you understand your poem, you can craft your recitation accordingly.

    Voice and Articulation

    Use your voice to make the poem come alive for the audience. Make careful decisions about your
    volume and pacing:

    + ensure your voice reaches the whole audience

    + proceed at a natural pace and accelerate or decelerate as needed

    + let your voice rise and fall with the poem

    + decide how long a pause to use for each punctuation mark

    + play with the line breaks of the poem (N.B.: Not all line breaks call for a pause)

    Be sure to check your pronunciation with your teacher before you finalize your performance.

    When an older version of a word is used in a poem, both the modern and historic pronunciations of that

    word are acceptable (e.g., the word belov’d could be pronounced be-loved or be-lov-ed).

    AVOID:

    – mispronouncing words

    – being too loud or too quiet

    – reciting too quickly or too slowly for the poem

    – reciting monotonously

    – reciting in a sing-song manner (particularly if you’re reciting a rhymed poem)

    – singing your poem (be sure that your pacing is based

    on your understanding of the poem and doesn’t mimic the

    beats and measures of a song)

    You’ll never be penalized for your natural accent; however, affected character accents are strongly

    discouraged.

    Interpretation

    When you recite, you’re more like a narrator than an actor. You need to convey the meaning and

    enhance the audience’s experience of the poem without acting it out.

    + Let the words of the poem do the emotional work during your recitation.
    + Depending on the poem, occasional gestures can be appropriate. If you’re uncertain about whether or

    not to include them, leave them out.

    AVOID:

    – an overly emotional delivery style

    – distracting, excessive gestures or facial expressions

    Overall Performance

    This category evaluates the overall success of your recitation, considering the above criteria,

    your poem choice, the poem’s complexity, and how you’ve made the poem your own.

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