| Excellent/A 5 pts. | Good/B 4 pts. | Fair/C 3 pts. | Weak/D-F 1 pt. | ||
| Preparation |
Excellent/A
Student is well prepared and it is obvious that he/she rehearsed his/her poem thoroughly. |
Good/B
Student is well prepared but the presentation of the poem requires a few more rehearsals. |
Fair/C
Student is not well prepared and would benefit from many more rehearsals. |
Weak/D-F
Student is obviously unprepared for the task. No evidence of any rehearsals. | |
| Memorization |
Excellent/A
The student has memorized the entire lines and is able to present it without error. |
Good/B
The student has memorized entire lines and is able to present with just one-two errors from which he/she recovers. |
Fair/C
The student has memorized entire lines and is able to present, however makes three+ errors and doesn't recover. |
Weak/D-F
The student has not memorized the lines. | |
| Physical Presence |
Excellent/A
Student employs proper posture and gestures, is relaxed and confident, and maintains appropriate audience contact. |
Good/B
Student employs proper posture and gestures, is relaxed and confident, and maintains appropriate audience contact most of the time or is lacking in one of these elements. |
Fair/C
Presentation is lacking in two or more of the criteria. |
Weak/D-F
The student slouches, looks uncomfortable and makes no effective contact with the audience at all. Tension and nervousness is obvious. | |
| Pausing and Pacing |
Excellent/A
The student uses pauses and pace effectively to communicate meaning and/or enhance dramatic impact of the poem. |
Good/B
The students uses pauses and pacing to communicate meaning and/or enhance dramatic impact of the poem. |
Fair/C
Pauses and pacing were not effective in improving meaning and/or dramatic effect. Pauses at ends of lines rather than at punctuation marks. Delivery is in bursts. |
Weak/D-F
Pauses were not intentionally used. Poetry is choppy and “sing-song.” Delivery is either too quick or too slow. | |
| Clarity and Expression |
Excellent/A
The student speaks clearly, distinctly, and with appropriate and varied pitch and tone modulation. Recites loudly enough for all to hear throughout the presentation. |
Good/B
The student speaks clearly and distinctly. Some minor lapses in pitch, tone and volume OR the emotion conveyed did not always fit the content OR emphasis uneven. Student is laughing. |
Fair/C
The student speaks clearly but is, at times, indistinct, too quiet, and/or pitch was rarely used OR the emotion it conveyed often did not fit the content. Student is laughing. |
Weak/D-F
The student does not speak clearly, mispronounces words and is inaudible to the audience. Spoken in monotone. Student is laughing. | |
HAMLET
A monologue from the play by William Shakespeare
HAMLET: To be, or not to be--that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep--
No more--and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to. 'Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep--
To sleep--perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub,
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause. There's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life.
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
Th' oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of th' unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscovered country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprise of great pitch and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry
And lose the name of action. -- Soft you now,
The fair Ophelia! -- Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remembered.
