Prose, Poetry, and Storytelling Rules

Prose and Poetry performance time limits are 7 minutes with a 30 second grace period.

Prose:

1. Prose: Prose expresses thought through language recorded in sentences and paragraphs: fiction (short stories, novels) and non-fiction (articles, essays, journals, biographies).
2. Selections: Any source material used must meet the Interpretation Source Rules for PDFs, e-books, and online material. No plays or other dramatic materials may be used. In Supplemental Prose, if the source is an anthology collection of short stories or novels, each selection of literature is independent and only one selection can be used, even if it is from the same author.
3. Reuse: In the events of Supplemental Prose and Poetry, a student may not use the same source they used in the main events of Duo, Dramatic, Humorous, or Program Oral Interpretation or Supplemental Prose or Poetry at any district or National Association tournament. In the event of Supplemental Prose, if the source is an anthology collection of short stories or novels, the same anthology may be used; however, the same selection performed in a previous district or national Association tournament in the main events of Duo, Dramatic, Humorous, Program Oral Interpretation, or Supplemental Prose, may not be used. See general interpretation rules for additional guidance.
4. Time: The maximum time limit is 7 minutes with a 30-second “grace period.” Should a student go beyond the grace period, the judge may not rank the student "1st", but may give the student any other rank. The student need not place last.
5. Presentation: Performances must be from a manuscript (which may be in a folder). Reading from a book or magazine is not permitted.

Poetry:

1. Poetry is writing which expresses ideas, experience, or emotion through the creative arrangement of words according to their sound, their rhythm, their meaning. Poetry may rely on verse and stanza form.
2. Selections: Any source material used must meet the Interpretation Source Rules for PDFs, e-books, and online material. No plays or other dramatic materials may be used. In 2022, the Board of Directors voted to remove the requirement that Supplemental Poetry selections must be cuttings from a single source. Beginning in 2022-2023, a Poetry piece may come from one or multiple sources. A Poetry piece may consist of one entire poem, a cutting of a single longer poem, or a collection of short poems or cuttings from one source or several sources arranged in a program.
3. Reuse: In the events of Supplemental Prose and Poetry, a student may not use the same source they used in the main events of Duo, Dramatic, Humorous, or Program Oral Interpretation or Supplemental Prose or Poetry at any district or national Association tournament. In the event of Supplemental Poetry, if the source is an anthology collection of poems, the same anthology may be used; however, the same poems performed in a previous district or national Association tournament in the main events of Duo, Dramatic, Humorous, Program Oral Interpretation, or Supplemental Poetry, may not be used. See general interpretation rules for additional guidance.
4. Time: The maximum time limit is 7 minutes with a 30-second “grace period.” If there are multiple judges in the round, all must agree that the student has gone beyond the grace period. Should a student go beyond the grace period, the judge may not rank the student "1st", but may give the student any other rank. The student need not place last.
5. Presentation: Performances must be from a manuscript (which may be in a folder). Reading from a book or magazine is not permitted.

Storytelling:

1. A single published, printed story, anecdote, tale, myth, or legend must be retold without notes or props. Any theme/topic area may be used.

2. Time: The maximum time limit is 5 minutes with a 30-second “grace period.” If there are multiple judges in the round, all must agree that the student has gone beyond the grace period. Should a student go beyond the grace period, the student may not be ranked 1st. There is no other prescribed penalty for going over the grace period. The ranking is up to each individual judge’s discretion. Judges who choose to time are to use accurate (stopwatch function) timing devices. No minimum time is mandated.

3. The student may not tell a story they have used previously in any Association tournaments (district or national).

4. The delivery must be extempore, not read. No book or script may be used. The story may be delivered standing or seated. If a chair is used, students may choose the original position of the chair. Use of the chair is not considered a prop as long as: 1) Once the performance begins, all legs of the chair remain stationary on the ground and do not move from their original position, and 2) Competitors do not kneel or stand on the chair.

5. Gestures, pantomime and characterization, may be used with restraint but the focus must be on the narrative.

6. The retelling must be true to the original tale. The contestant may not add original material or materially change the content of the story.