By Grade 11 Stella
On December 7th, grade 11 students in Jiaxing BCOS held their first Poetry Slam competition. Under the orderly organization of the Composition teachers, Mr. Lee and Mrs. Wynnychuck, every student exerted their creativity and imagination, created many excellent and interesting works, and recited them lovingly in front of their peers.
The competition was divided into four rounds. In the first round, 12 contestants were randomly selected by the teachers and had 10 minutes to write an English poem about a random topic. They were graded by 3 representatives from the audience selected by the 2 teachers. For 10 minutes, each contestant was actively engaged in poetry. Inspiration burst from the heart of every poet, and beautiful and interesting poems were born from under their pens. Judges rated the themes of poems, literary devices, vocabulary, and the live performances. In the end, in a difficult decision, the top 6 candidates were chosen to participate in the second round. The decision for the second round was even more difficult because this round had determined the top 3 students to compete in the final contest for the championship of the Poetry Slam. In the second round of competition, students had some experience, so the poems had become better and the performances became even more emotional. The competition was going on like a raging fire, and elegant poems were performed before our eyes. Even the teacher entered the temple of poetry by listening to our poems. The final round of the championship was held in front of the audience’s eager eyes, and three new poetry stars stood out on the stage. The finals began before there was even a chance for them to catch their breath! In ancient times there was a concept known as the brilliant pen. One of the “brilliant pens” is from Zhong Shu’s “Magnolia Flower” poem. In the eyes of every student, this exciting poetry feast was held just at the right time. The competitors on the stage were showing their talent in order to win the championship. They released their inspiration in the atmosphere of tension, and one by one, new masterpieces were born.
The competition drew to a close with the cheers from the audience, and soon the champions were born in this new age Shakespeare. Four competitions were held in the 11th grade, so there were four champions. One of the winners, Dylan, said that body language was important when reading poetry, and it requires a lot of emotional expression, but confidence is also important. The factors led him to win the competition. After the competition, we asked one of the judges how she felt. She said she was nervous and excited to be a judge. She looked forward to the content of her peers’ poems and saw a different side to her classmates. Their poems also inspired her. Although the competition was intense and exciting, every student gained happiness and encouragement from others.
In this Poetry Slam, students appreciated the charm of poetry and showed the diversity of our classes at Jiaxing BCOS. It was a meaningful experience for every student. Some of them discovered their own poetic talent and fell in love with reading and writing poems. Some of them realized their strengths and weaknesses more clearly and made continuous progress throughout this competition. After the competition, every student was very excited and grateful to the teacher for giving them such a chance to show themselves and looked forward to the next opportunity to shine.