Literary Criticism is one of several academic events sanctioned by the University Interscholastic League in the U.S. state of Texas. The contest began in the 1986–87 school year.

Literary Criticism is designed to test students' knowledge of literary history and of critical terms, and ability in literary criticism. The text A Handbook to Literature by William Harmon and C. Hugh Holman (currently, either the 8th, 9th, or 10th edition may be used), state adopted texts, and the announced reading list for the current year will be used as sources for the tests.

Eligibility

Students in Grade 9 to Grade 12 are eligible to enter. All grades compete in one division.

Each school may send up to four students. However, in districts with more than eight schools the district executive committee can limit participation to three students per school. In order for a school to participate in team competition, the school must send at least three students.

Rules and scoring

The test consists of four parts, which must be completed in 90 minutes. A time signal is given when 15 minutes remain.

The questions may be answered in any order.

Part One consists of thirty questions involving the use of A Handbook to Literature. Part Two consists of twenty questions involving the texts from the announced reading list. Part Three requires a contestant to answer fifteen critical questions about various poems or literary excerpts. Finally, the contestant must write a short essay dealing with a specified topic about a short literary passage.

One point is given for each correct answer in Part One and two points for each correct answer in Parts Two and Three. The essay is not scored but is used as a tiebreaker for individual competition. The contestant who does not write an essay is disqualified from the competition.

Determining the winner

The top three individuals and the top team (based on the scores of the top three individuals) will advance to the next round. In addition, within each region, the highest-scoring second place team from all district competitions advances as the "wild card" to the regional competition (provided the team has four members) and, within the state, the highest-scoring second place team from all regional competitions advances as the wild card to the state competition. Members of advancing teams who were not placed individually remain eligible to compete for individual awards at higher levels.

For individual competition, the tiebreaker is the essay. Three judges (none of whom shall be the student's coach) evaluate the essay based on the following criteria:

  • how well the contestant followed the instructions accompanying the questions;
  • the excellence of the literary insights expressed;
  • the effectiveness of the written expression; and
  • the grammatical correctness of the writing.

For team competition, the score of the fourth-place individual is used as the tiebreaker (not including the essay). If a team has only three members it is not eligible to participate in the tiebreaker. If the fourth-place score still results in a tie, the individual tiebreaker rules will not apply, and all remaining tied teams will advance. At the state level ties for first place are not broken.

For district meet academic championship and district meet sweepstakes awards, points are awarded to the school as follows:

  • Individual places: 1st–15, 2nd–12, 3rd–10, 4th–8, 5th–6, and 6th–4.
  • Team places: 1st–10 and 2nd–5.
  • The maximum number of points a school can earn in Literary Criticism is 37.

List of prior winners

Individual

NOTE: For privacy reasons, only the winning school is shown.[1]

School YearClass AClass AAClass AAAClass AAAAClass AAAAA
1987–88YantisBlancoAtlantaSchertz ClemensSan Antonio Marshall
1988–89HappyBlancoBishopCollege Station A&M ConsolidatedCorpus Christi Carroll
1989–90Skidmore-TynanBlancoSealySchertz ClemensWichita Falls Rider
1990–91LouiseLytleDimmittSchertz ClemensSugar Land Kempner
1991–92AntonClarendonBurnetAustin TravisOdessa Permian
1992–93AntonWheelerKaufmanFriendswood Clear BrookMcAllen
1993–94UtopiaLytleStaffordLongview Pine TreeWeatherford
1994–95Martin's MillWallis BrazosAlpineUvaldeSan Antonio Clark
1995–96LindsayHenriettaMont Belvieu Barbers HillBridge CityNorth Garland
1996–97Martin's MillCanadianLytleGrapevineKlein
1997–98Martin's MillBuffaloMont Belvieu Barbers HillStephenvilleSan Antonio Clark
1998–99WheelerVan AlstyneAtlantaFriendswoodSan Antonio Clark
1999–2000Valley ViewLindsayAtlantaBrenhamSan Antonio Clark
2000–01MenardWeimarMont Belvieu Barbers HillMission SharylandKlein
2001–02Santa AnnaHale CenterLytleFriendswoodCorpus Christi Moody
2002–03Martin's MillHale CenterLytleDripping SpringsDel Rio
2003–04Martin's MillS&S ConsolidatedCantonDickinsonArlington Lamar
2004–05LindsaySaladoLibertyAledoSouth Texas Business, Education, and Technical
2005–06QuanahSaladoKempDaytonAustin Westlake
2006–07Martin's MillWeimarAtlantaStephenvilleFlower Mound
2007–08FrostWeimarIowa ParkLindaleCedar Park
2008–09WintersDimmittLibertyLindaleSouthlake Carroll
2011–12Katy Seven Lakes

Team

NOTE: UIL did not recognize a team championship in this event until the 1992–93 scholastic year.[1]

School YearClass AClass AAClass AAAClass AAAAClass AAAAA
1992–93Anton(tie) Krum/WheelerStaffordFriendswood Clear BrookOdessa Permian
1993–94Utopia(tie) Krum/LytleAtlantaLongview Pine TreeGrapevine
1994–95LindsaySkidmore-TynanStaffordDenisonSugar Land Elkins
1995–96LindsayHenriettaEastlandBridge CityPlano East
1996–97WheelerLindsayHenriettaGrapevineSan Antonio Clark
1997–98Martin's MillSaladoAtlantaBridge CitySan Antonio Clark
1998–99WheelerIdalouAtlantaBorgerPlano East
1999–2000Martin's MillSaladoAtlantaGrapevineMidland Lee
2000–01MenardHale CenterAtlantaSnyderAbilene
2001–02LindsayIdalouAtlantaFriendswoodPlano East
2002–03LindsayS&S ConsolidatedLytleStephenvilleSan Antonio Clark
2003–04Martin's MillWeimarAbilene WylieFriendswoodSan Antonio Clark
2004–05Martin's MillSaladoLibertyAledoIrving MacArthur
2005–06QuanahS&S ConsolidatedMont Belvieu Barbers HillAledoAustin Westlake
2006–07Martin's Mill(tie) S&S Consolidated/WeimarLibertyFriendswoodKeller
2007–08Martin's MillS&S ConsolidatedAtlantaFriendswoodSouthlake Carroll
2008–09Martin's MillWeimarLibertyAledoFlower Mound
2011–12Katy Seven Lakes

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.