Declamations

Your declamation must be a minimum of two-and-a-half (2½) minutes, including the introduction of about twenty (20) to twenty-five (25) seconds. You are strongly advised not to exceed four (4) minutes.

Any passage you choose must be worth memorizing and must be worth the community’s listening. Ask yourself why you want to declaim the passage and what your audience will gain from hearing it. (You will not be permitted to declaim a heavily metered rhyming poem, which is easy to memorize and hard to deliver well.)

If you choose a passage from a book taught in a Webb English class, from Shakespeare, or from the Bible, you need only your advisor’s and your English teacher’s approval. If you want to declaim anything else, you must have the written approval of Mr. Rupley.

After receiving approval, give a photocopy of the text to your advisor and another photocopy to your English teacher. Mark the photocopies to show where you will begin and end your declamation, and print your full name, the author’s name, and the title of the work on the photocopies.

Approval must be earned and photocopies delivered on or before February 20.

Your introduction must include the author’s name and the title of the work. Beyond that, what you choose to say will depend upon the selection. Remember that the most important purpose of the introduction is to prepare the listeners so that they can understand and appreciate your selection. They want to know why they should listen. For that reason, you may need to include such material as the context of the whole work or allusions or the main idea and the like.

You must compose your own original introduction (no paraphrases of other material); you should seek your advisor’s advice first and then your English teacher’s advice.

Do not say "And now title of the work" at the end of your introduction. If the introduction is well written, you won’t need to make that pointless statement.

Your English teacher must have approved your introduction at least two weeks before your scheduled declamation date. If, by that date, the introduction has not been composed and has not earned approval, three (3) points will be deducted from your performance.

Beginning at least one week before your scheduled date, you should begin rehearsing your declamation on the stage with your advisor. Do so several times in the Chapel to ensure that your volume and eye contact will be adequate.

Stand erect and leave your hands in one place (at the sides or behind your back).

Make and maintain eye contact with all parts of your audience – those in front as well as in the back, those on the sides as well as in the center. Do not fix your gaze at the back of the Chapel or on the ceiling.

Work on projection and articulation of words so that everyone can hear you comfortably.

A declamation involves inflection, pauses, pace, phrasing, and voice. Speak your selection for its meaning instead of only reciting the words.

You will declaim in English class either the day before or two days before your scheduled Chapel presentation. If you do not do so, five (5) points will be deducted from your declamation grade.

You will not be allowed to declaim in Chapel unless your advisor says that you are fully prepared the day before you are scheduled to present your selection in Chapel.

Dress appropriately (boys: oxford shirt, tie, belted trousers, shoes, and socks; girls: oxford shirt, shoes, socks or knee-socks or tights, either pants, skort, or calf-length skirt).

Arrive early for Chapel and wait in the back for your English teacher and Mr. Smith. You and the other declaimers scheduled that day may change your declamation order, if you wish, but only if everyone is in agreement.

Follow Mr. Smith up to the stage.

Be confident, sit upright, wait attentively, and walk firmly. When sitting on the stage, do not communicate with anyone, onstage or off, before and after your declamation.

If you are absent the day you’re scheduled to declaim, you will be rescheduled. Your declamation will not be penalized if you have an excused absence.

If you are unprepared to declaim on your scheduled day, your declamation will be penalized ten (10) points and you will be expected to declaim the next day on which declamations are scheduled. Before Chapel that morning, Mr. Smith or your English teacher will inform you if there is time for your declamation. If there is time, you will declaim; if there is no time that day, you will be expected to declaim the next available morning. You will be penalized an additional ten (10) points each day you are not prepared. You will not, however, be penalized on those days when there isn’t time in Chapel for your declamation.

Evaluated by a team of English teachers, your declamation counts 20% of your English grade in the fourth quarter.

Your teacher will prepare an evaluation sheet for you that indicates your grade, areas of strength, and areas of weakness. Come see him or her for that evaluation the morning after your declamation.

Introduction Exemplars Composed by Sophomores
(these may be a bit longer than yours)

Written by Alice Walker, The Color Purple is a novel about Celie, who has lived a desperate life as a black woman, ceaselessly abused by her father and husband. However, with support from her beloved sister Nettie and other enlightened black women, Celie learns to free herself and stand as an independent woman. She has learned to see life from a different perspective and wishes her ex-husband, Mr., could do the same. In the following passage, Celie tells her ex-husband a new version of the story of Adam and Eve, accepted by the Olinka people in Africa, which suggests that Adam was not the first white man -- just the first one the people didn't kill.

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard is most often found in the nature section of a bookstore or library. Among many other examples, Dillard cites from scientist J. Henri Fabre's experiments with caterpilars. However, the nature that Dillard really attempts to reveal is that of human nature. As one discovers the inability of insects to adapt to changes in their environment, it is instructive to ask if the behavior of those insects is as far removed from our own as we might think.

Feed by M. T. Anderson is a dystopian novel that warns of the dangers of consumerism in America. In the futuristic United States portrayed by Anderson, most Americans have computer chips in their brains called "feeds" which blast advertisements and propaganda directly through their nerves. Those with feeds are completely brainwashed to purchase without questioning. While vacationing on the moon, recently annexed by the U.S. as the 51st state, the main character Titus and his friends are violently attacked by an activist protesting the feeds and must stay in a hospital with theirs deactivated. In the following passage, Titus goes through feed withdrawal in the hospital ward.

Henry David Thoreau was born July 12, 1817, in Concord, Massachusetts. After graduating from Harvard in 1837, he worked several odd jobs until his friend and neighbor, Ralph Waldo Emerson, encouraged him to publish his essays and poetry. A staunch opponent of slavery, Thoreau wrote "Civil Disobedience" as a protest against slavery and the Mexican War. Considered one of his greatest essays, "Civil Disobedience" has been an inspiration to such leaders as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Mahatma Ghandi. Thoreau tried to explain why the government often does what is in its best interest, instead of the best interest of the people.