On the reset-Osutchi's: Yes, Elana, I have the exact same black and clear one that you have, maybe it does have something to do with their hardware... I'm going to try to raise them again starting later today... perhaps we should run an expirament
On Speech: This probably going to be long because speech is my passion
Basically, there are 13 different Individual Events in speech team and they are all completely different events most of them are 8 minutes long but I will now go into explanation about all of themand which ones I'm in because, it will probably make this log much easier to read later ^_^
DI (Dramatic Interpretation): This is an 8 minute "dramatic" scene preformed by one person. It can be a monologue or a one-person scene where you play all the characters. The scene must be published (basically, you can't have your coach write it for you and you can't write it yourself) These scenes are typically very depressing and revolve around things such as AIDS, cancer, dead babies, divorce, terminally ill people in general, murder, suicide and other such sad things.
DDA (Dramatic Duet Acting): This is an 8 minutes "dramatic" scene preformed by two people. There can only be two characters in this scene and you only get a table and two chairs as props/set so, you have to pantomime everything else but realistically. These are usually about the same things as mentioned in DI but with two people for instance, guy's wife is dying of cancer, woman's wife is committing adultery, guy's best friend has AIDS, etc. I'm in a scene currently with my friend Anthony. Our scene takes place on a bench and I come up to him knowing he was arrested for the murder of my sister (he was found guilty but, I don't believe him). I have to be all angry and upset and he tries to be really nice... It's called Connections by Jane Martin. And I'm not going to lie, I really hate this scene... We want a new one
Extempt (Extemporaneous Speaking): This one's pretty crazy. You "prep" for 40 minutes before you give your speech. This means that when you arrive at the meet you receive your topic (Usually politcal like, "How Will the Change of Democrats in Congress Affect the War on Terror?") and you have 40 minutes to write your 6 minute speech. They preform it after their 40 minutes memorized. They also have access to sources like magazines and must cite them within their speech.
HDA (Humorous Duet Acting): This is like DDA where there are two people who each play one character and all you get is 8 minutes, two chairs, and a table EXCEPT... it's funny! Keru (nickname for my boyfriend) and I are in this one together and have been since last year. In our scene last year we were on a blind date and we didn't talk to eachother we just said what our characters were thinking... so we said "Awkward Silence" a lot (which is the title of the piece). We were only a few places away from making it to State with that scene... I think we were like 6th and you had to be 1-3... more on that later. Anyways, these scenes are supposed to be funny. In our current scene I play the devil
and I want to buy Keru's soul, I get to be all seductive and evil. But, in the end meeting me just makes him realize that if the devil exists then God must exist too... so I give up. It's very funny there's this whole section about Cher selling the devil her sould to get her Oscar
HI (Humorous Interpretation): Like DI but funny. This is also 8 minutes and is a one man scene that's published but, typically people play around 8 differenct characters and they have different voices and positions for each of them.
Impromtu: I would never in a million years be able to do this one... You get your topic and have less than a minute to write it in front of everyone and then you give it for 5 minutes. These things have to have typical essay format so, you can't just ramble. Topics are usually quotes, books, or something like "Socks"
OC (Original Comedy): These are really fun to watch. This is an 8 minute speech written by the competitor. They basically write a funny story with several different funny characters and they preform all the voices etc. These are really out there though. One of the funniest speeches I've seen in this event was about the guy going to a butter churning competition with Tom Cruise and Justin Timberlake... weird but, hilarious.
OD (Oratorical Declamation): Keru does this one and got 7th place this Saturday (out of over 60 speakers
). This is an 8 minute speech that is published (usually a Commencement Speech by a famous person) and the competitor gives it as if they were that person.
O O (heh, the "O" and "O" together makes
) (Original Oratory): This is an 8 minute speech written by the competitor that is pesuasive and must have a point. It's basically a persuasive essay put into a speech. Cliche topics would be abortion, stem cell research etc. I've seen some good O O's on sleep deprivation and child abuse.
Prose Reading: This is an 8 minute speech (getting a trend yet?) that is read from a little baby black binder like you are reading a story. The story has to be published. You do the voices of the characters and have different focal points. These stories are good because they can be funny and sad at the same time unlike DI and HI. I might do this event this year with a David Sedaris story.
Radio Speaking: This one's weird too. This one has a 40 minute prep like Extempt but, they get a packet of news instead. They have to cut the packet of news down to a radio news blurb (sometimes with a commercial too) that's exactly 4 minutes long (we're talking like only 10 seconds of grace period here). They must have world news, national news, local news, sports news, weather, and anything else they deem important. You have to have a nice voice to do this because the judge does actually sit in another room and listen to you via radio.
SOS (Special Occasion Speaking): This is my main event, I've done it for 3 years now. This is similar to O O except that it's funny. You write a persuasive speech but, you have to pretend like you are speaking to a specific audience like your ecology class or at a student council meeting. Some topics I've done are Toys effects on children (yes, furbies and Tamas were in this speech), Disney Movies being good teachers, and this year I'm doing Indecision in teens. I'm known for having odd topics over done topics are, obeisity, self esteem, and over-extending yourself. You can be sarcastic and have weird little jokes in these speeches. They are 8 minutes long and written by the competitor.
Verse Reading: This is pretty much the exact same thing as Prose except you read poetry out of your little binder for 8 minutes rather than a story. These must be published.
Wow, that was a lot... glad that's over... time to explain how meets work!
Meets: You preform in 3 preliminary rounds and are ranked 1-6 (1 being the best) and based on your scores you either break finals (make it into the final round) or don't. Then those final round people are ranked 1-however many there are and that's how you get the 1st, 2nd etc placed people. 6 is the minimum number for a final round but they go over that, Keru's final OD round had 11 speakers in it this week. So, to break finalls usually you have to get no lower than a 3 in prelims but, you could go 1,1,4 and get in. At big meets you won't break with anything lower than a 2. You can be in more than one event at a meet. Usually you can only be in two but this past week I was in DDA, HDA, and SOS so I preformed a total of 9 different times for 8 minutes each...
In order to prepare for these meets you have coachings and are directed by your coaches much like you would be if you were in a play.
The normal season of speech doesn't really count for anything unlike sports... each meet is individual. Untill regionals then you have to be 1st-4th place to make it to sectionals and at sectionals you have to be 1st-3rd place to make it to State... our sectional is the hardest in the State so our little team has a really hard time getting people to State though that is my goal this year.
And that was my long winded answer to speech team... any questions?
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