Could anyone help me. Does anyone know what Grade 2 LAMDA Verse and Prose involves. Dd is doing it at school and the teacher I think has done it so many times she thinks everyone knows exactly what to do. Nothing has been explained fully and communications are at the least ambiguous.
Eg dd was sent home with a video to watch the film of the book. Not having a video player I bought the dvd version which dd duly watched. When she went into class she was shouted at because the film is not the same as the book and why hadn't she read the book.
My DD took Grade 2 Solo Acting in March, but had the option of doing Grade 2 Verse & Prose. As long as nothing has changed your DD needs to choose one piece from the LAMDA syllabus and then one from another source. She then needs to answer questions on both, so reasonably in-depth knowledge is a good idea. Also meanings of words & phrases within the passage. (DD spent a lot of time on this part) The Speech & Drama teacher should have a whole library of suggestions plus be able to give you the syllabus, which I'm surprised she hasn't already sent to all the parents. Can you ask her teacher to email you the syllabus and ask her for suggestions that would suit your DD for the other piece. However, if you pm me your email address I'll forward what we received from DD's school at the beginning of the last Autumn term, we were told to keep it on file as it was going to last for Yr 5 & Yr 6 LAMDA entries (DD just finished Yr5) . Hope this helps.
I was slightly incorrect re the verse & prose exam. I've just asked DD and her friend opted for this one, everyone else did the acting exam. Anyhow DD tells me that 1 poem is chosen from the syllabus and then you have to choose a passage from a book and learn off by heart. I can still email you the poems. The passage her friend chose was from the Worst Witch which she not only had to retell but also had to animate to bring the story alive. DD tells me the sort of questions that were asked about the passage were: 'What is your favourite character?'; 'What type of person is the character?;' 'What is the mood of the character in this passage?'; 'Have you read the whole book and can you tell me a bit about of the story?' In addition detailed questions about the syllabus poem, ie what the poem means/represents, feeling & tone, etc. Obviously the book choice depends how old your DD is. Anyway let me know if you want me to email the poems.
Both my DDs have done several years of LAMDA and have superb confidence with public speaking/reading aloud as a result ...so stick with it. Once the introductory 3 exams are done (usually at a young age 4-7 ish) candidates choose to work through the grades in 4 branches Acting, Verse & Prose, Mime, Reading for Performance. Verse & Prose will involve a poem & a piece of recognised writing. Its true that you should read the original piece rather than the film as they can differ enormously. However its good to do both as the examiners may ask the candidates opinion of both. They are expected to know how the piece of prose fits into the story as a whole and how/why the character is acting/ feeling as she does....so you really have to know the whole story. As someone as mentioned the candidate will be expected to understand the meaning of every word and its worth doing this thoroughly because sometimes its the simple words that throw them. It does me too! She may be asked the mood of the pieces, how they differ/ contrast, to describe the characters ( or your perception of them), why you chose the pieces, which you liked best & why, to describe the rhyme/ rhythm of the poem etc etc. And of course they want to hear correct pronunciation...all letters pronounced properly, no dropped h's etc. In terms of marks the examiner will give a mark out of 40 for interpretation, a mark out of 40 for technique and a mark out of 20 for knowledge. A total mark of over 80=distinction, over 65=merit and over 50=pass. Good Luck.
It's funny livininabox, that you should mention dropping h's as you made a typo in the middle, guess what it was - As someone as mentioned
thanks for all that information, there seems a lot to prepare, is this how the earlier grades work too? My dd got distinctions in the preliminary grades and is preparing for an entry level and a grade one at the moment and I haven't been given that much information so your post is very useful. Do you drop marks for dropping g's too?
Here's the link to the LAMDA download page. In this you'll find all the information as to what's required etc, plus rules and regs and also a list of the set pieces:
