Previous Contests
Poetry Contest 1 [Mer De Noms]
Poetry Contest 2 [hortononon]
Poetry Contest 3 [Monsterous]
Poetry Contest 4 [Halo_king116]
Poetry Contest 5 [Tharius]
Poetry Contest 1 [Mer De Noms]
Poetry Contest 2 [hortononon]
Poetry Contest 3 [Monsterous]
Poetry Contest 4 [Halo_king116]
Poetry Contest 5 [Tharius]
And so it begins... Poetry Contest 6, that is.
Topic and Rules:
The topic for this contest is the elements. How you interpret that is entirely up to you.
- You may submit any type of poem, as long as it relates in some way to the topic stated above.
- Any submitted poem must be at least 4 lines in length. There is no maximum limitation.
- Only one poem may be submitted per contestant.
- The poem must be written by YOU. You cannot take another person's work or have anyone write it for you. Anyone caught violating this rule will be permanently banned from these contests.
- Any entered poem must be written specifically for this contest. Even if you wrote it yourself, if it was written previous to the beginning of this contest, it is not allowed.
- Winners can not enter the next contest. They must either host and not judge, or host and judge. If they choose not to host, they may not judge, either.
- Do not edit your poem after you've entered it. You have until the deadline to work on it, so if you feel you might not be completely satisfied with it, take your time. Once it's entered, if you edit your poem, you can and will be disqualified. We cannot take the risk of someone getting "inspired" by someone else's poem and basically copying them.
Judging:
Head Judge - Seth Cross
2nd Judge - Tharius
3rd Judge - Demonwrath
Submitted poems will be judged using the following criteria:
- Clarity and Emotional Impact [40 points] - Is the meaning behind your poem clear? If you are describing something, does the poem paint a clear picture? Does your poem make us feel what it is intended to express?
- Grammar/Spelling [15 points] - Grammar and spelling should be taken care of without having to be told. Although poems can get away with certain grammatical infractions where prose cannot, if poor grammar obscures the ideas being expressed without reason, it makes it extremely hard to read. Poor spelling, of course, is unforgivable in this age of spellcheckers. This applies to 1337speak nad AOL tlak 2.
- Flow and Rhythm [25 Points] - Does your poem flow smoothly, or are there pauses and jolts, making it choppy and difficult to read? This is separate from rhyme - poems do not have to rhyme, nor will be they be penalized if they do not.
- Word Quality and Choice [20 points] - Does your poem have only basic vocabulary, or have you used a larger selection of words? On the other hand, have you used difficult or obscure words with no other reason than to confuse people or show off? If you use the same word several times when you could have switched it up, or if you use words so long and unwieldy that they break the flow of your poem, this is where you'll lose points.
- There is no fifth criterion.
Naturally, if you add up all the possible top scores in each category, you will get 100. Your score will, obviously, be X/100 for each judge. The three scores will be added and then divided by three (assuming that we still have three judges by the end), to get the average of the three scores. Highest score wins!
Deadline:
The deadline for Poetry Contest 6 is three days before the end of December, ending on December 28th at 12:00 PM EST (GMT -5). Nobody cares what time zone you're in.
This contest is now closed, and no further entries are allowed.
The Rewards:
As always, winners will most likely receive a bundle of reputation from other contestants and people watching the contest. They will also be named the host for the NEXT contest and get to name the contest's theme.
Poetry Contest 5 was the first poetry contest to use the Award system. As there were over 10 contestants in Poetry Contest 5, there were three awards given, for first, second, and third place finishers. Assuming that we're once again using the Award system, there will at least be a gold award given for first place, and possibly second and third place awards as well depending on the number of contestants we have that actually enter poems.
Good luck, and happy holidays!