Documentation Details for 2011-12
By Jana Riggins, Speech and Debate Director | Monday, December 05, 2011 11:55 AM
As you prepare for competition, one of the most important things prose and poetry performers must do is to secure appropriate documentation for the performance categories.
Securing documentation is not a task that can be left until the last minute. The categories were designed to document easily, but you should secure proper documentation in advance of invitational and district meets.
Do this before you put your heart and soul into analyzing and rehearsing a literary work for competition. If documentation is insufficient, you won’t even get to compete, so knowing the requirements and making certain you have met the contest rules is an integral part of preparation.
The Constitution & Contest Rules require all coaches to read the 2011-2012 edition of the UIL Prose and Poetry Handbook, which should be ordered from the State Office. There is an extended discussion of documentation requirements in Chapter 4 that will aid in understanding the categories so coaches are prepared to guide students according to contest rules. Students will also find reading the handbook valuable. Review the manual far in advance of your district meet to prevent problems or disqualification at League-standing contests.
PROSE, CATEGORY A
For Prose, Category A: Generation X, Y & Beyond, contestants are required to read a single prose selection written by one author born in 1960 or after.
Documentation for this category requires:
1) Proof the selection is published, printed material.
A selection is not considered published, printed material if it is only posted on the Internet. Even though you may have found the literature online, you must secure proof that it was also published in hard copy. There are a number of ways to do this.
Securing the original book works best, but sometimes schools cannot afford to purchase the book, the book cannot be checked out of a library throughout the competition season or you simply cannot locate a copy. In that case, providing a photocopy of the Library of Congress cataloguing information from the original source or downloading the “full record” on the book from the Library of Congress Online catalog (http://www.catalog.loc.gov/) will meet the requirements of proving your selected book was published in hard copy.
Students can also show official communication from the publisher or author indicating the printed publication in which the selection can be found.
Extra steps must be taken if you choose a selection drawn from a literary collection or anthology. To complete adequate documentation, you must supply one of the following:
- the original source confirming the selection is included, OR
- a photocopy of the table of contents designating the title of the selection, and at least the first page of the selection proving the page numbers match, OR
- an online printout proving the selection is indeed included in the anthology
2) Proof the selection is written by one author born in 1960 or after.
You are not required to verify the month and day that an author was born. Year is the essential fact you must prove.
Encyclopedia or reference book entries are easy ways to do this; however, because this category is all about contemporary authors, you may find these entries a bit difficult to locate in these types of reference books. Try magazines or journals.
Explore the Internet. Most authors born in 1960 or after are still living, so seek formal correspondence from authors themselves. Visit their official website and see if there is a contact link whereby you can email the author. Another strategy is contacting the publisher, which can also be done electronically.
If you own the book the selection is in, check inside for biographical information.
Examine the book jacket, as well.
Acceptable documentation for birth date include:
- Actual year the author was born
- Author’s age in a specific year so one can calculate the author was born in 1960 or after (Example: documentation says author was 25 in 2005; therefore, one could calculate the author was born after 1960)
IMPORTANT: If using an online source, the page with the birth date fact must be printed, and must have the URL printed in the header or footer of the page(s).
Unacceptable documentation for birth date include:
- Copyright date of the publication
- Unofficial document generated by the contestant
- Picture of the author
- Information taken from Wikipedia
- Communication taken from social networking sites such as Facebook
3) Proof that the author used for Category A is different from the author(s) the contestant is using for Category B of prose. When you get to contest, show the contest director the literature you are performing for both categories so it can be verified you are not repeating the use of a particular author.
PROSE, CATEGORY B
For Prose, Category B: In the News, contestants are required to perform a single prose selection from a printed, published work of prose or a program of printed, published prose related to a significant news story (lead story of regional, national or international impact). A single author may write it; it can be a collaborative work or anonymous. It may be fiction or nonfiction. The performance may be woven, but no more than 4 literary works may be included in the performance. You might also choose to weave the published news story you have selected to link to the literature, but the news story cannot be the entire performance.
Documentation for this category requires:
- Proof the prose selection(s) are published, printed material. Refer to the discussion under Category A.
- Proof of the news story
Contestants can prove their selection is linked to an actual news story in the following ways:
- Provide the original or a photo copy of the actual published news story
- Provide a printout of the news story from either of the approved websites included in the contest rules. These are: www.History.com/this-day-in-history, www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/index.html
- Provide a printout of the online headline story or lead story with the URL downloaded in the header or footer on printed page
3) Proof the author(s) used in Category B is/are different from the one the student is using for Category A of prose.
POETRY, CATEGORY A
For Poetry, Category A: A New Voice in Poetry, contestants are required to read a single poem or a program of published poems written by a single poet born in 1960 or after. If reading a program, no more than 6 poems may be included. The program can be woven.
Documentation for this category requires:
- Proof the poem(s) are published, printed materials. Refer to discussion under Category A of Prose.
- Proof the one poet was born in 1960 or after. Refer to discussion under Category A of Prose.
- Proof the poet used in Category A is different from the poets the student is using for Category B of poetry.
This refers only to the individual contestant, insuring the contestant is not reading the same poet in both categories. This does not prohibit students from the same school reading the same poet.
POETRY, CATEGORY B
For Poetry, Category B: My Voice Through Poetry, contestants are required to perform published poetry that is theme-centered. Students must perform at least two poems or portions of poems by two or more poets. You are allowed to perform more than two poems, and you may weave your program. Anonymous poets are not permissible. The goal is to use the selected poets to build a theme, which is identified in the introduction to the performance.
Documentation for this category requires:
- Proof the poems are published, printed materials. Refer to discussion under Category A of Prose.
- Proof that the poets used for Category B are different than the one the student is using for Category A. Refer to discussion under Category A of Poetry.
Questions & Answers
Non-Category Questions:
Q. Younger authors often are not listed in traditional sources such as encyclopedias and reference books. However, I have been able to locate my author on Facebook. If the author posts information on their Facebook page that I need for documentation (such as birth date or books published), may I print this and use it for official documentation?
A. No. Facebook is a social network and is not an acceptable academic form of documentation. However, since you are able to communicate with the author via this avenue, simply ask them to email you personally with the information you need. Follow the instructions for email documentation below.
Q: What is the proper procedure when emailing an author or publisher for documentation?
A: Don’t assume the respondent knows what Texas UIL is or what your competition is. Remember that they are writers, not teachers/coaches and many live outside of Texas or the U.S. Give a brief explanation of who you are and that you are entering a speech contest sponsored by Texas University Interscholastic League with The University of Texas. Then include the nature of your inquiry. (Do NOT lead the question so that the responder answers the way you want them to do so, by saying, “I can’t read your piece unless you were born in 1960 or after…” or “I need this to be ruled as prose, not poetry or I can’t compete with it.”) Authors want to sell books. Some will say what you want to hear.
Including a web link to the contest rules in your email is professional so the author may check the legitimacy of the contest, if they wish to do so.
Most importantly, request that they not send their response in a separate email but that they reply directly to your inquiry so that both your question and their answer appear on the same documentation page you show the contest director.
Q. What if the email address isn’t the author or publisher’s name? Will this be considered legitimate?
A. Ask the responder to include their title and contact information so that, if called into question, the contest director can contact the individual to verify legitimacy. Refer to the UIL Prose & Poetry Handbook for extended discussion on these questions.
Q. What standards should be used when searching Internet sites for documentation?
A. Acceptable online sites include those run by government agencies, college/university pages that are maintained by faculty and university department personnel, not students. Also acceptable are online encyclopedias, book publishers, authors’ official websites and online libraries maintained by government agencies, colleges or universities.
Remember when printing documentation from an online source, you must print the specific page where the facts you need for documentation appear. Be certain when you print them that the URL prints out on either the header or the footer of every page you use for documentation purposes.
Specific Category Questions:
Q. Prose and Poetry, Category A – To prove birth year, will the Library of Congress cataloguing data page (copyright page) or LOC online website catalogue page suffice if the author’s name is listed, followed by a year? Such as this designation within the cataloguing information: “1. Shapiro, Dan, 1966 — .“
A. Yes. This is a common way for reference materials to indicate birth year.
(Note: In this example, the author is still living since there is not date that follows 1966.)
Q. Do I meet the documentation requirements for Category A of Prose and Poetry if I show the book’s copyright date?
A. No. When the selection was copyrighted is irrelevant in proving when the author was born.
Q. If the book jacket or cover has a photograph of the author and they obviously look young, will this work for documentation?
A. No. Photos of the author do not prove the date the author was born.
Q. For “In the News” prose category, does the contest director need to check to see how I link my news story with my selection?
A: No. The contest director’s responsibility is to ask for documentation that your selection is published in hard copy and that you have an actual news story.
Q. Is a newspaper considered “hard copy”?
A. Yes. So is a news magazine.
Q. Is an editorial considered a “lead story?"
A. No. C&CR directs contestants to use “lead stories of regional, national, and international impact” for this category. Editorials should only be on editorial pages within the newspaper or news magazine. An editorial can comment on a lead story (and often does) but it is not one.
Q. Is a history textbook acceptable documentation for the news event?
A. No. C&CR states, “significant news story” and directs contestants to use “lead stories.” This description indicates a news article, not historical text. But contestants should not have problems finding a related news story in newspapers, magazines and online sources approved within the category if the event is important enough to be written about in a history textbook.
Many more questions and answers, including documentation questions about specific authors and literary works, are in the UIL Prose and Poetry Handbook for 2011-2012. You are urged to review it in its entirety.