Students Compete in State Literary Symposium

On March 19, 2016, West Liberty University hosted the 24th Annual West Virginia Undergraduate Literary Symposium. 31 applicants from eight WV colleges and universities submitted original papers on literary topics for presentation at this competitive event. Of these 31 applicants, 23 were selected to present their essays orally at the symposium, including six of Concord’s own students: Amanda French, James Hoyle, Madison Jorgensen, Brittney McPherson, Kirston Smith, and Savannah Richmond.  

    Brittney McPherson, a CU senior English Education major, was awarded second prize for her presentation of her essay, “Pistol Whipped: The Physical/Verbal Phallus in Aphra Behn’s The Rover and Shakespeare’s King Henry IV part Two.”  

    Dr. Elizabeth Roth, who represented CU on a statewide panel of English faculty reviewers who chose the papers to be presented at the symposium, gives a description of the nature of the competition:

    “It had two phases: first the review panel picked out what we thought were the best papers to be presented, so even being selected to present was an honor in itself since all of the essays were certainly worthy contenders. Then, at the symposium, the oral presentations of the papers were considered. There was also another part of the competition for the written document itself. So there were prizes given for the two best written papers and the two best presented papers.”

     The rubric for the oral presentations included criteria such as organization of the material, vocal delivery, physical delivery with gestures and motions, facial delivery with keeping eye contact with the audience, and, if applicable, a presentation aid such as a PowerPoint slide show. The written portion was judged based upon the same criteria English professors use to grade essays written for undergraduate classes, such as clarity of the writing and interpretation of the subject matter.

    According to Dr. Anthony Patricia, another CU English faculty member who served as a judge at the symposium, the quality of all the presentations was excellent, so the competition was fierce. Dr. Patricia stated that it was not easy to judge the competition because of the high quality of the material that was presented by all the students at the symposium.

    Both Dr. Roth and Dr. Patricia agree that simply being invited to present at the symposium is an honor worth noting on applications and resumes. Dr. Patricia added that the oral presentation phase of the competition “gives students a really good experience of presenting their work to other people. Whether they’re going on to graduate school or going on the regular ‘job market,’ being able to present yourself that way is a skill that everybody is going to need.”

     Students interested in entering next year’s West Virginia Undergraduate Literary Symposium competition are encouraged to contact Dr. Roth at rothl@concord.edu or Dr. Patricia at agpatricia@concord.edu for further information.