Literary meetings are what Literary Societies are all about.

 

They are what set us apart from a purely social sorority or fraternity. We have a little extra responsibility: Literary Societies have to actually discuss something literary! Surprised you, right? I'll explain what I mean. (This explanation will only be in terms of the women's societies, since I have no first hand knowledge of the men's literary workings.) Each semester the women's societies at Illinois College have to come up with separate subjects of discussion for meetings they will hold throughout the semester. 

 

Each society has three judged meetings every semester. Chi Beta also holds around three regular (non-judged) meetings as well.  A regular meeting is to give us practice for the more important judged meetings. A judged meeting is called a "judged meeting" because there are judges. "What?!?" you say. Yes. We have knowledgeable (read here: available) people who come and sit in on our meetings and score us on a scale from 0 to 5 on how well we do.

 

You see, each meeting the society holds has four productions. A production can be anything from one person standing up to sing to two people acting out a funny (but literary) skit. There are a ton of different categories to choose from, but more about that later.

 

These productions are linked together by the theme. Each meeting focuses on a different topic in the same theme. For example, one semester Chi Beta had the theme: "Dangerous" Literature...Banned and Challenged Books in America's Schools and Libraries. The first judged meeting focused on the often banned book A Wrinkle in Time and the topic was  "The Eternal Battle...Fighting Ignorance and Conformity". So the entire meeting focused on this topic. The vice-president of the society, the person who actually comes up with the theme for each semester, speaks about the topic and how each of the productions relate to the theme of the meeting and the theme of the entire semester. Different girls (who are scheduled to do this before the semester begins, so don't panic) are called up to give their piece. It doesn't have to be memorized. It can be read directly from the book if the productionist so chooses. The girl gives her schpeal sits down, and the meeting goes on with three more productions.

 

The VP links each one and addresses the audience/judges about the piece. There are different things that happen before and after for each society (like songs and refreshments), but that about sums it up.

 

These meetings take a lot of time to put together. The officers have to get ready for the schpeals they give during the meeting, the VP has to prepare what she's going to say, and the productionists themselves have to figure out and practice what they are going to do. The responsibility of all of this, added to the fact that productionists are going to be judged by people who have never seen them do this ( and have no idea about the amount of time and energy you've devoted) makes for some very interesting times. It also makes the members a tight knit group that has to depend on each member in order to pull it all off.

The time management and speaking skills each girl learns will be invaluable after college. Stress will become a factor in just about everyone's working lives. Literary meetings help prepare the members to be able to handle that stress with grace and dignity.

Enough of my blathering on about the skills you develop blah, blah blah. Here are some of the productions that might be performed:

 

-Biographer: Gives a person's life story or prominent part pertaining to the theme. Example--- If the theme was porn and you were biographer you could do a piece on the life and times of Ron Jeremy based on his book or a movie "your boyfriend made you watch."

 

-Creative Writer: Writes a creative ORIGINAL piece pertaining to the theme. Example--- If the theme was Death by Chocolate, you could write a story about a dream you had were you drowned in a bowl of chocolate pudding.

 

-Current Reporter: Informs or gives insight on current ideas, topics, or events-It could be "in the news" or just "talked about" subjects pertaining to the theme. Example--- If the theme were Dying to be Thin, you could talk about how you just knew Lindsey Lohan was anorexic.

 

-Dramatic Monologue/Duet: Striking, harsh reality, exciting, emotionally tense. A tear-jerker. It could be from a movie or a book relating to the theme. Example--- If the theme were Pets in Literary Works, you could do a scene from Lassie where one of you is the boy and one the dog or both of you are dogs sniffing each other's ....

 

Do you get the picture yet??

 

Here are some more productions:

 

-Essayist: Writes an essay pertaining to the theme

 

-Expressionist: Relates the feelings of the theme either through a monologue, reads a piece, or tells a story.

 

-Futurist: Gives an account of what the future will hold for the theme.

 

-Historian: Researches a person, event, idea, etc. and gives a brief background.

 

-Impersonator: My personal fave. Imitates a real-life person literary character, or mythical character and how they relate to the theme, although I really wouldn't pick Ron Jeremy for this one.

 

-Impressionist: Gives an impression of her thoughts on the theme or gives an impression of a real-life, literary character, or mythical character and how they relate to the theme.

 

-Poet: Reads or recites a poem relating to the theme.

 

-Reader: Reads a story, or part of a story, pertaining to the theme.

 

-Reflectionist: Gives her own ideas, opinions, and/or thoughts on the theme.

 

-Storyteller: Similar to reader, but has a definite beginning, middle and end.

 

-Lyricist: Sings a song or recites lyrics with insight, pertaining to the theme.