Bishop Kelley Comet Challenge
2023 — Tulsa, OK/US
Novice Original Oratory
Event Description:
A. Original Oratory
*1. The original oration is a speech that may be on any subject the student chooses. It must be written by the student,
although the teacher may offer suggestions as to organization, content, style, etc., and must be memorized. Use of
script is not permissible.
*2. No more than 150 words may be quoted directly. Extensive paraphrasing violates the spirit of the event. Plagiarism
is defined as claiming, indicating, or implying that the ideas, sentences, or words of another writer are your own. It
includes copying the work of another and presenting it as your own, failing to get away from the language of the
original text when paraphrasing, failing to identify the source of a quotation or paraphrase, and following the work
of another as a guide to ideas and expression that are then presented as your own.
3. The maximum time is not to exceed ten (10) minutes.
*4. Original work from previous years' state or nationals may not be repeated by that student.
*5. All performances must be void of profanity, vulgarity, nudity, obscenity, and hate speech. Use of these may result
in lowered ranking or disqualification by the judges and a protest filed with the tournament director.
*6. Verbal prompting from the audience is not allowed.
*7. A typed, double-spaced copy of the oration delivered must be available. Quoted words must be highlighted and
counted; paraphrases must also be highlighted. At State, a correctly formatted copy of the oratory must be submitted
in a sealed envelope at registration.