Laura T. Smith: Teaching

Recitation (5%)

A recitation is an interpretive delivery of a memorized poem. For this class, you must memorize and recite 14 lines or more; a sonnet is often a good choice. Recitations will be delivered in front of the class and grades will be given the same day. Grades are based on the criteria stated below. If your recitation does not earn an A, you are allowed and encouraged to repeat your recitation after class or during office hours until you’ve achieved an A performance. After all, the more time you spend committing your poem to memory, reciting it, and generally living with your poem, the longer you will remember it!

Recitation Criteria:
A: The delivery effectively conveys the meaning and tone of the poem; a ‘meaningful’ delivery usually includes a good sense of pace and phrasing, a sense of where the poem should stop and start, where it should speed up or slow down. It includes attention to the poem’s musicality, to the use of enjambment or caesura, if applicable, and to key meaning-making indicators such as the volta. There will be no major memory errors and no substantial (unintentional) hesitations, so the meaning of the poem arrives intact to the listener. We will forgive slight delivery errors (slight rushing or tripping over words, a common effect of nervousness…) as long as they don’t significantly impede the delivery of the poem.

B: Conveys meaning fairly fully, but a few minor errors or hesitations. The errors detract from the performance, but don’t substantially impede delivery of poem; the meaning still comes through. Significant mispronunciation may also be an issue. A verbatim, but robotic (expressionless, rushed-through) delivery of the poem will also earn a B.

C: The meaning of poem gets lost in memory problems. There is significant stalling or hesitation, fishing for the next line, skipping whole phrases or lines, or the reciter needs words supplied.

F: The student cannot get through the poem.