Storytelling Contest

We will have an in-class competition for the storytelling contest. We need to choose the top two students by the end of November. So we will be using all available time to let students read or recite their stories in class. During the real contest, you will need to memorize the story. I have heard the story must be 3 to 5 minutes long. I need to check on the exact time and make your stories shorter so you can finish them in the required time.

Here are the assignments:

A Androcles and the Lion (5 minutes)

B Icarus and Daedalus (7 minutes)

C Damon and Pythias (7 minutes)

D The Battle of Marathon (11 minutes)

E Pegasus, the Winged Horse (11 minutes)

Androcles & the Lion	Icarus and Daedalus	Damon and Pythias	The Battle of Marathon	Pegasus, the Winged Horse
Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D	Group E
Hazeline	Marcia	Vic	Lucas	Serenna
Stephanie	Oliver	Anna	Brian	Alice
Yvonne	Astor	Ryder	Eagle	Eason
Tim	Kaiwon	Una	Wish	Livia
Renee	Jamie	Maggie	Toby	Amy
Ricky	Jay	Weber
Kyle	Wendy

Students do not need to read either the “about the story” or the “a few words more” parts when reciting their story. The first time, or round, you are allowed to read from the paper in class. The goal, however, is to memorize it. You will need to have eye contact with your audience and to put feeling into the words. 

Because there was a soccer competition during our second class on Friday, I could not hand out the papers to students. I have uploaded them here for you. You may get the original story any time by clicking on the pages you see below. It is a scan, not a typed document in Microsoft Word:

A – Androcles and the Lion 1

A – Androcles and the Lion 2

B – Icarus and Daedalus 1

B – Icarus and Daedalus 2

B – Icarus and Daedalus 3

C – Damon and Pythias 1

C – Damon and Pythias 2

D – The Battle of Marathon 1 

D – The Battle of Marathon 2

D – The Battle of Marathon 3

E – Pegasus, the Winged Horse 1

E – Pegasus, the Winged Horse 2

E – Pegasus, the Winged Horse 3

E – Pegasus, the Winged Horse 4 

Some of the information you see here can be found on the "5B Storytelling Assignments" link to the right. I will also give it to the class as a handout on Monday with the paper copies of the stories.

I have described "memorization method 1" called "the Loci" method, which was used in ancient Greece and Rome. "Loci" is related to the word "location," and is plural, so it means "locations." 

The way to use it is to memorize your speech out loud in familiar locations. You could use your home, your school, or another place that is easy for you to remember. However, you need to say the speech out loud there and memorize it while in that location.

I described it to you like this in class: If I have four paragraphs to memorize, I would imagine walking through my front door, and then I would be in my living room. So I would memorize the first paragraph in the living room my reading it out loud many times there. Then the second room I might choose would be my kitchen. There I would say the second paragraph and remember it by associating it with that room. Then the third paragraph is memorized in the computer room, and the fourth in the bedroom. This is the natural way for me to walk through my house. Then, when I am nervous on stage, and I forget my place, I simply walk through my house in my mind, and I can easily remember the part of the speech I had forgotten. It may take a moment but I must calmly go the same steps I did while practicing.

I also describe a more advanced way called "backwards buildup," but that works for words you cannot pronounce, or for sentences or even for speeches. You start from the end and go the front. I suggest using this after you are more familiar with the story. But some students use it from the early stages of their memorizing. I also heard about this when I was playing piano for recitals. You basically get stronger at the end of the piano piece or at the end of the piece, because you have spent more time learning it. 

If you combine both methods I have just described, you start with the last paragraph in your bedroom, the the third paragraph in your computer room, then the second paragraph in your kitchen, and finally the first paragraph in your living room. If you forget something you walk through your home backwards. If you are new to speeches, I suggest just going forwards the first time. But if you do a speech every year and get good at them, this might be a good change for you to try later.

Remember, you need feeling in your sentences, eye contact, and to memorize your speech. The first step is to be able to pronounce all the words correctly. Start right away and ask for help if you need it, because I want to help you!