Prose and Poetry Competition Active in Texas High Schools

Oral Interpretation is “the art of communicating to an audience a work of literary art in its intellectual, emotional and aesthetic entirety” according to Dr. Charlotte Lee, Northwestern University Professor of Oral Interpretation. Oral interpretation is popular across the nation from elementary schools to high schools and into higher education through competition in prose and poetry interpretation. This competition is particularly active in Texas where the University Interscholastic League (UIL) offers an additional educational aspect.

For both poetry and prose performances, the UIL requires high school students to focus on two categories or topic areas for their material. The direction of literature is determined by the Poetry and Prose Selection Committee, guides oral interpretation teachers in assisting their students, and challenges students to experience poetry and prose that they might not normally read.

The UIL Poetry and Prose Selection Committee is appointed every three years by Jana Riggins, the UIL Director of Speech, Debate and Congress. According to current committee member, Shawn Duthie of Holliday High School, the committee “is composed of members representing all the different conferences, different levels of experience coaching, and the array of geographical areas of Texas. Developing categories that inspire the exploration of literature based on submitted suggestions remains the biggest challenge for the committee members.” The categories are often aligned with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills in other fields of study such as English, Social Studies, Science and even Career and Technology.

The categories for poetry have ranged from foreign poets to lyrical and narrative poetry to poets born after 1960. For prose, the categories have included Southwestern literature, award-winning literature and literature celebrating Texas in fact, fiction and folklore. The categories currently being used are:

CATEGORY A: This is Me
The goal of this category is to examine the performer’s ancestry, origin, heritage and/or dreams and aspirations. The performer should explore their own personal background and/or what their future may hold.

CATEGORY B: This Speaks to Me
The goal of this category is to select poetry that speaks to the performer. This category is reader’s choice.

Recently, the UIL Selection Committee has chosen to use the same categories for both events. Some categories are more popular than others. The current categories have been a challenge to turn student’s analytical skills inward on their lives and preferences. The term “reader’s choice” simply means that students have no restrictions on their chosen literature. It can be published or unpublished material that makes a statement to that student which they can share with the audience.

For the benefit of the students, the categories are changed every three years. M’Liss Hindman, UIL State Contest Director for Poetry and Prose, explains that “students who do this activity for four years of high school would have at least two different categories to work on. This gives students more exposure to different types of literature and increases their critical thinking skills.”

Once the categories are selected, they are announced in May at the UIL State Speech and Debate Tournament. At this point, the focus turns to the teachers as they determine how to instruct their students on the categories and guide them in the selection of their contest material. Savanna Winn, Speech and Debate teacher at Seminole High School, began her career as a high school oral interpretation student and learned the analysis of the categories early on and now applies it to her work with her students. Winn shares the idea that “the categories help me learn and understand more about my students and their stories.”

Teachers work hand in hand with their students in the study and presentation of literature. It is not simply a matter of finding a poem or a short story to read to be successful but discovering material that has a purpose. Teachers need to examine, encourage and experience the categories with their students. It is up to teachers to direct their students toward a wider variety of reading material and introduce them to new authors.

For all students, the challenge comes in finding the literature that meets the event and category requirements but would also appeal to a diverse audience while offering themselves the chance to continue to grow as a performer. This goal often means that students who only love Harry Potter or humor must now broaden their scope and learn about Lucille Ball or a culture diverse from their own.

Aimee Kasprzyk, Director of Fine Arts and UIL Academics for Corsicana Independent School District, believes the categories give students specific guidance. She writes, “They support diversity and inclusion. They challenge. They also allow students to seek out literature that is meaningful beyond just ‘what plays well’ in the competition room.” When students focus on finding literature that embraces the categories and not just winning, they find poetry or prose that appeals to them personally and develop ownership that enables them to deliver a meaningful performance and impact their audience.

The UIL Poetry and Prose categories bring new life to the performance of literature for oral interpretation teachers and students and open doors to new discoveries. What makes them work so well? As Timothy Gura writes in the 12th edition of the textbook Oral Interpretation, the performance of literature is long-lasting due to the “interest and enthusiasm of gifted students confronting works of literature that move them deeply and the inextinguishable spark that only a dedicated teacher can bring to any body of knowledge.”

Poetry and Prose categories experienced by Texas high school teachers and students have been around since the 1940s. Challenging? Yes! Time consuming? Yes! Frustrating? Sometimes! However, the education gained by all participants through the study of literature is invaluable. Long-lasting impacts? Riggins answers that question the best. “The growth prompted by the prescribed categories as students move out of their established reading habits into unchartered waters of exploration, as they fall in love with fresh literature and discover unexpected affinity with gifted authors previously unknown, as their creativity is inspired through freedom of choice, and most importantly, as they grow personally because of an encounter with oral interpretation as an art – not simply as a contest – can forever magically change them!”