High School Drama Contest

Participation: This contest is open to public and private high schools in Riverside and San Bernardino counties only. The drama teacher or coordinator of any high school wishing to participate must contact the competition coordinator, Mandy Hyde (mhyde@calbaptist.edu ) to give contact information by October 15, 2011.

Competition: The competition will take place Saturday December 10, 2011, 9:30-12:00, in the Theater at California Baptist University, 8432 Magnolia Ave. Riverside 92504. Participants should come in costume bringing minimal necessary props. All schools entered in the competition must perform and be judged at this time.

Scripts: This year, there will be no common script for all schools to use. Each school will choose and dramatize a scene or combination of scenes from Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. The total playing time of the scene(s) must not exceed 20 minutes. The script should stay reasonably close to Dickens’s text and language, with no new characters or actions introduced, except for a narrator if necessary. The script should require simple, non-representational staging and simple costuming, and a maximum of 15 characters, all with speaking parts.

Judging of Competition: A panel of judges from local drama organizations will evaluate the performances and choose the competition winners. Judging will take into consideration the effectiveness and appropriateness of the dramatization as well as the acting of the participants.

Awards: Each school performing in the competition on December 10, 2011, will receive a $100 participation award paid to its drama department.

Best School Performance: The award is the opportunity to perform at the Riverside Dickens Festival on Saturday January 7, 2012, at the Riverside Convention Center.

Best Actor and Best Actress: $100 gift certificate each.

Other Participants in Best School Performance: $25 gift certificate each.

Questions? Contact Mandy Hyde at mhyde@calbaptist.edu.

Middle School Essay Contest

The festival this year is once again sponsoring an essay contest for middle school writers (grades 6-8). Prizes of $100, $50, and $25 are available for entries judged worthy of an award. The essay contest is intended to encourage literacy through reading Dickens with thought and expression and relating his work to our current culture and events.

The Cratchits' Christmas Dinner

Ebenezer Scrooge has become one of the most memorable characters in all of literature. One hundred sixty-seven years after A Christmas Carol was first published, certain people today often are referred to as "Scrooges" (even Disney's Donald Duck has an Uncle Scrooge). Describe the characteristics of Ebenezer Scrooge as Dickens presented them, and show how they relate to the ways some people behave. Explain why the name "Scrooge" is still used today to describe certain characters both fictitious and real.

General Information and Rules:

Entries are limited to students who reside in and are schooled in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Only typed or word processed entries will be accepted. Essays must be 750 or fewer words (a maximum of three typewritten pages of 10 or 12 point type). Entries should be proofread carefully by the student to be as free from the most errors possible before submission to the Festival.

Additionally, all direct quotations, summary or paraphrase of outside materials in the student's own words must be referenced with citation and documentation of the source through an accepted, understandable format. Quotes from Dickens should cite the chapter and page number. Failure to do so results in plagiarism, which is basis for immediate disqualification of the essay for consideration.

Entries must be submitted by mail, addressed to Middle School Essay Contest, Riverside Dickens Festival. P.O. Box 113, Riverside, CA 92502-0113, postmarked no later than Monday, December 19.

Awards will be announced and presented Saturday, January 7, 2012 during the festival at the Riverside Convention Center. Winners will be notified in advance.

No information identifying the essayist and his or her school should be on the essay. However, the following information must be attached to each entry on a separate 8 ½ by 11 inch sheet of paper:

· Writer’s name, age, grade, school, class in which contest entry was created (e.g. English, language arts, or home room).
· Teacher’s complete name, school telephone number and classroom extension where appropriate.
· A non-school telephone number that will be used only if necessary to notify a winner.

All entries become the property of the Riverside Dickens Festival, Inc. and will not be returned. Winners and their parents or guardians agree that their pictures, names and essays may be used in Riverside Dickens Festival promotional materials and publications.

Judging will be based on originality in addressing the contest topic and skill of presentation, both creative and technical.

Judges may decide not to award a prize if they deem there is no entry of sufficient merit.

For additional information, leave voice messages at (951) 781-3168, 1-800-430-4141, or fax to (951) 781-6817 or email info@dickensfest.com.

High School Essay Contest

The festival this year is once again sponsoring an essay contest for high school writers. Prizes of $100, $50, and $25 are available for entries judged worthy of an award. The essay contest is intended to encourage literacy through reading Dickens with thought and expression on the relevance of his works to a larger historical context for social issues. The high school essay is based on the reading of The Chimes, the second of Dickens's Christmas books, published in 1844. Inexpensive copies of this work are available for purchase at Barnes and Noble at the Tyler Mall.

Trotty Veck and Meg

The Chimes deals extensively with the plight of the poor and how the more fortunate citizens do not feel their suffering but are instead hypocritical, patronizing, and self-serving towards them. Discuss the relevance of this contrast to some modern day beliefs that the poor are responsible for their own poverty and that government assistance programs should be cut, which will primarily affect the poor in these tough economic times.

General Information and Rules:

Entries are limited to students who reside in and are schooled in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Only typed or word processed entries will be accepted. Essays must be 1,000 or fewer words (a maximum of four typewritten pages of 10 or 12 point type). Entries should be proofread carefully by the student to be as free from the most errors possible before submission to the Festival.

Additionally, all direct quotation, summary or paraphrase of outside researched materials must be referenced with citation and documentation of the source through an accepted format (MLA or APA). Quotes from Dickens should cite the chapter and page number. Failure to do so results in plagiarism, which is basis for immediate disqualification of the essay for consideration.

Entries should be submitted by mail, addressed to High School Essay Contest, Riverside Dickens Festival. P.O. Box 113, Riverside, CA 92502-0113, postmarked no later than Monday, December 19.

Awards will be announced and presented Saturday, January 7, 2012, during the festival at the Riverside Convention Center. Winners will be notified in advance.

No information identifying the essayist and his or her school should be on the essay. However, the following information must be attached to each entry on a separate 8 ½ by 11 inch sheet of paper:

· Writer’s name, age, grade, school, class in which contest entry was created (e.g. English, language arts, or home room).
· Teacher’s complete name, school telephone number and classroom extension where appropriate, and email address.
· A non-school telephone number that will be used only if necessary to notify a winner.

All entries become the property of the Riverside Dickens Festival, Inc. and will not be returned. Winners and their parents or guardians agree that their pictures and names may be used in Riverside Dickens Festival promotional materials and publications.

Judging will be based on originality in addressing the contest topic and skill of presentation, both creative and technical.

Judges may decide not to award a prize if they deem there is no entry of sufficient merit.

For additional information, leave voice messages at (951) 781-3168, 1-800-430-4141, or fax to (951) 781-6817 or send email to info@dickensfest.com.