How to Use These Videos
Watch these National Final recitations and evaluate the strengths (and weaknesses!) of each, according toPoetry Out Loud evaluation criteria. Discuss the merits of these performances, which ones you like best and why and how the poems are different when read versus recited.
The Art of Recitation
What makes a performance compelling? Sometimes it’s hard to put into words exactly why you can’t take your eyes off a recitation. You’ll notice in each of these video clips that the students themselves become almost secondary to the language. Everything about the recitation draws you in to the language of the poem.
You’ll also notice that each student has profoundly internalized their poem. Discuss how you can tell that a competitor “gets” a poem. Are the clues found in body language, tone of voice, and/or the style of delivery?
请记住,没有definitive recitation of any one poem. While these videos are examples of poems that were recited well, each student will draw on their own experiences to create a unique interpretation. For this reason, it is important that students find poems that speak to them individually; these connections will be apparent in their recitations.
Please note: These poems were eligible at the time they were performed, but aren’t necessarily still part of the contest.
Writ on the Steps of Puerto Rican Harlem由格雷戈里·科索
杰克逊自信地解决了这首诗关于死亡率的哲学沉思。他的手势和肢体语言有助于指导这首诗的音调转变，因为他体现了叙述者的内部斗争，从沮丧，焦虑到理解与和平。杰克逊通过周到的节奏和语调很好地阐明了这一进展。
Keys: Dramatic Appropriateness
Forgetfulnessby Billy Collins
Hille has a great connection with the audience—probably because he gets the wry, satirical voice of the poem just right. His performance, from the time he enters the stage to when he concludes—his posture, his smile, and the pacing of his voice—relates the resigned, yet warm and humorous tone of the poem. He shares the joy and cleverness of the work with the audience—almost to the point that “forgetfulness” is rather celebrated as a universal human trait.
Keys：声音和发音，理解的证据
Bilingual/Bilingüeby Rhina P. Espaillat
Soberon’s polished stage presence and clear voice offset the poem’s conflicted subject matter and its themes of alienation and uncertainty. Her interpretation embodies a poised, reflective narrator who is confident in two languages where another may stumble.Keys: Physical Presence, Voice and Articulation
Sonnet CXXX: My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun威廉·莎士比亚（William Shakespeare）
Strong elegantly relates the mounting tone from astute humor to quiet triumph in this sonnet. She masters the language from another era and makes it clear for the audience. She represents the strong rhyme scheme well—with no sing-song quality. The beauty of the language emerges as the recitation progresses.
Keys: Evidence of Understanding
Frederick Douglassby Robert E. Hayden
Henry has a wonderful stage presence—her bright articulation and deliberate pacing provide an authoritative take on this elegy. Her performance is understated yet inspired, not overdramatic. Her emphatic phrasing gives a quiet dignity and strength to this poem’s elemental language and lofty subject matter.
Keys: Physical Presence , Voice and Articulation
我在等待by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
这首诗的一个挑战不是使它听起来很坦率而重复。尼尔梅尔（Niermeyer）巧妙地改变了她的表现，以避免单调，因此可以利用这种表现。她管理着许多典故，并很好地传达了认真和讽刺之间的棘手语气。Niermeyer无缝地将她对肢体语言和手势的备用使用与诗的语言和意图融合在一起 - 他们永远不会分散注意力，而只是合适而自然的位置。
Keys: Dramatic Appropriateness, Voice and Articulation
The Man-Moth伊丽莎白·毕晓普（Elizabeth Bishop）
Sayegh毫不费力地通过这首诗的迷人叙事移动，吸引了观众进入主教的困扰和怪异角色的世界。从观察到亲密关系，他的熟练和故意的节奏，节奏和语调补充了这首诗的语言及其微妙的情绪转变。他的手势是经济的，并流过这首诗，这是朗诵的组成部分，巧妙地致力于增强其整体影响。
Keys: Dramatic Appropriateness , Voice and Articulation
美女by Gerard Manley Hopkins
This is a challenging poem with abstract language and a timeless sensibility. Its meaning comes mostly from its unique sound and rhythm. García’s inflections, changing pace of delivery, and tone strongly communicate this sometimes nonsensical poem of reverence. Her performance confidently interprets this poem, making it enjoyable and digestible, illuminating rather than obscuring the language.
Keys: Evidence of Understanding
Danse Russeby William Carlos Williams
Farley successfully navigates the duality of tone in this bittersweet poem. His eye contact and body language—at times intense and direct, at times softened and playful—reveal his clear grasp of the poem’s melancholy undercurrent amidst its whimsy. Farley provides an intimate and ultimately endearing portrait of the narrator, captivating the audience by what it means to be alone and to be human.
Keys: Physical Presence , Evidence of Understanding