declamatio -onis f. practice in public speaking

On Saturday 30 January the ASD Declamation Contest was held. This is an inter-schools' competition in which contestants answer a culture quiz, declaim a poem, and (for the modern languages) perform a dialogue or impromptu speech. The languages are Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Latin.

I was asked to judge the Latin Poetry section, which was quite exciting. The syllabus was chosen by Glenn Wright and included the following poems:

First Year: Catullus 5, Horace, Odes III.13, and Vergil, Aeneid IV.621-629

Second Year: Catullus 101, Horace, Odes I.5, and Vergil, Aeneid I.1-11

Third Year: Catullus 3, Horace, Odes III.2, and Vergil, Aeneid II.270-282, 289

AP Latin: Catullus 35, Horace, Odes I.22, and Vergil, Aeneid VI.450-471

To be honest, the competition was a bit stale, as there were only six contestants, all from South High. Most contestants rattled off the poem parrot-style, and failed to understand the meaning behind it. Poor old Catullus at his brother's tomb was positively delirious with joy, while the Fountain of Brundisium was barely trickling through the gloom.

It was quite challenging to judge as some of the criteria were, in my opinion, unbalanced. 15 marks were allocated to memorization, while only 7 to capturing the meaning of the poem. A student could get 3 marks for speaking at the right volume and 5 for being confident, regardless of the quality of Latin. I would have preferred more marks for the actual Latin and fewer penalties for memory loss.

I have been asked back to judge the State Finals in February. As there are no other schools which offer Latin in Alaska, it'll be the same five contestants again (one of the second years pulled out after her first poem). I hope that in the next three weeks, they can learn the meaning behind their poems and deliver them a little less like nursery rhymes, and a little more like the great poems they are.