CCDC 29th FOUNDATION DAY

APRIL 5, 2022
THEME: BEAUTY FOR ASHES: Rising Above Adversities

SPOKEN POETRY/POETRY OUT LOUD CONTEST

Mechanics:

1. Spoken Word Poetry is a performance art that is word based. It is meant to be

spoken or recited with emotion to an audience. It is an oral art that focuses on
the art of word play, rhythm, improvisation, intonation, and voice inflection.
2. The contest is open to all college students of CCDC. They shall form a group
with 5-10 members each.
3. The spoken poetry must be delivered from memory.
4. Each contestant must be present during the culmination date of the activity (April
5/6, 2022).
5. Sounds, instruments, or musical background is allowed to complement the
delivery.
6. Winners will receive a cash prize and certificate of participation.
1st Prize: 1,500 + Certificate
2nd Prize: 1000 + Certificate
3rd Prize: 500 + Certificate
7. All participants will be given a certificate of participation.

Criteria for Judging:

Physical Presence (20%)

 Use good posture
 Be confident
 Make a direct connection with the audience.
 Relax and be natural
 Enjoy their poems

Voice and Articulation (20%)

 Project to the audience. Try to capture the attention of people in the back row,
but don’t yell.
 Speak at a natural pace. Don't rush, but don't speak too slowly.With rhymed
poems, be careful not to recite in a sing-song manner.
 Know how to pronounce every word in the poem.
 Articulate.
 Decide whether a line break requires a pause and, if so, how long to pause.
Dramatic Appropriateness (20%)

 Rely on conveying the sense of the poem through its language, not through
distracting dramatic gestures
 Not act out each word of the poem. 
 Let the words of the poem do the work.
 Use occasional gestures if appropriate. When uncertain, however, leave them
out.
 Avoid monotone delivery.
 Avoid too much enthusiasm in the delivery.

Evidence of Understanding (20%)

 Should be able to voice a poet's words in a way that helps the audience to
understand the poem better.
 Must effectively use intonation, emphasis, tone, and style of delivery.
 Understand the poem fully.
 Be attentive to the messages, meanings, allusions, irony, tones of voice, and
other nuances in the poem.
 Know the meaning of every word and line in your poem.
 Interpret the tone, volume, and voice of your poem.
o Is it a quiet poem?
o Is it a boisterous poem?
o Should it be read more quickly or slowly, with a happy or mournful tone?

Overall Performance (10%)

 Did the student captivate the audience with the language of the poem?
 Did the student bring the audience to a better understanding of the poem?
 Did the student's physical presence, voice and articulation, and dramatic
appropriateness all seem on target and unified to breathe life into the poem?
 Did the student understand and show mastery of the art of recitation?
 How complex was the poem?
 Did the student's recitation vary with each poem? 

Accuracy (10%)
A judge will mark missed or incorrect words during the recitation, with small deductions
for each. If you rely on the prompter during your recitation, points will also be subtracted
from your accuracy score.

Contest Piece: Wake Up by Jesse Oliver

Jesse is a spoken word artist and proof of the power of poetry for positive change.
Jesse found that poetry opened discussions about his experiences of homelessness,
gender transition and mental illness. Overcoming a personal struggle with social
anxiety, Jesse moved from stuttering and shaking his way through his first
performances to establishing himself on the national stage. In the poetry community
Jesse encountered many marginalized voices. Inspired by these voices and compelled
by the uncertainty and fear of the times, Jesse turned his attention outward with a new
poetic message and called for a revolution of love. Jesse has featured on platforms
such as the National Young Writers’ Festival, the Emerging Writers’ Festival, and the
Digital Writers’ Festival. In 2017 won the Australian National Poetry Slam
Championships. Jesse is a spoken word artist and proof of the power of poetry for
positive change.
Note: A part was modified (I added ADMIRALS in a line instead of TEDXPerth)

WAKE UP! (Jesse Oliver)

My friends, wake up! because every single little bit
I know that in your dreams, of widow brittle love in life
you see the way the world should be could turn the world into a banquet
but we breathe in reality but this is not for the weak

Your sleep, it won’t stay peaceful It’s easy to sleep

even through a whisper of evil This takes strength because the heart is just
and there is evil a muscle and humans,
in the minds of sleeping people. Wake up! we make mistakes but
it’s time to heal
It’s slipping through our fingers
the ability for civility because clenched fists Too long have we reacted to the things
don’t know what they’re fighting for. that we feel
It’s not love. Wake up! and it’s not true to who’s inside us
because we’ve all had bad thoughts
There you go. but they don’t have to define us
Now, rub that sleep from your eyes.
Arise and reply to those cries It’s time to trust that difference
Is not a threat to us
Tell them why we despise no matter what it takes
the lies of a hateful enterprise because food for hate is what fear makes
but you ADMIRALS are awake
Tell them that dream
Where nobody dies and So let’s make a loud alarm clock
no one gets hurt on the dawn of this new day,
and no one feels the emotional pain a harm block for the new way
of being told that they are not the same with arms locks standing strong
‘cause this world does have wrong
Tell them we share 99.9% of our DNA but two are not right
so we don’t know them by difference we will end dark nights with sunlight
we know them by name or friend to wake the world from sleep
and I would face my fears because love is our weapon
for the friends that I love and we are armed to our teeth
because love is an infinite blanket and we will change the world with the words
I will pick apart the positive pieces of that we speak
my past just wake up and make so much noise
so that I can remember to thank it that no one can sleep.
 FB: Dina Caparas Pentiano- Amdos
**Please submit names of group to DINA
AMDOS.
ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTION:

1. Your manner of delivery will be your own style.

2. One person may recite per stanza, or per group, it depends on you.
3. You may use props but a uniform/color coding will do because this is more of
how you will deliver the poem. Please check criteria for judging.
4. You have less than a week to prepare, but teamwork will make you succeed.
5. Wordings of the poem will be flashed during the competition in case you forget
some words, but it is best if you memorize it.