Prose & Poetry

Prose & Poetry, or Prose-Poetry (sometimes Original Prose & Poetry), is a competitive speech event practiced by state high-school forensics or debating associations such as the Ohio High School Speech League and the California High School Speech Association, but not by the National Forensic League (NFL). The NFL does have consolation events in Prose Interpretation and Poetry Interpretation at the National Tournament, but these are only open to competitors who qualified in other events and were eliminated before the late elimination rounds.

Competitors in Prose & Poetry (short form: P-P) read an unmemorized cut of prose or poetry, which is typically read from a small black binder. A short memorized introduction precedes the prose or poetry reading. The time limit for these events is typically seven minutes, occasionally with a 30 second grace period, though in some areas the time limit is ten minutes. Competition rules are the same as for NFL interpretation events.

In the California High School Speech Association, the event is more similar to Original Oratory in the sense that competitors have a ten-minute time limit on a memorized original work; it works much as an interpretation event with emphasis on acting as well as speaking, but is not cut from an outside source.^[1]

References

1. ^ Original Prose & Poetry Cover Sheet