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2014 MSHSAA Districts question discussion

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Jeffrey Hill
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2014 MSHSAA Districts question discussion

Post by Jeffrey Hill »

Official thread for Districts discussion.

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L-Town Expatriate
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Re: 2014 MSHSAA Districts question discussion

Post by L-Town Expatriate »

The only comment I had last week was from one player on one team who mentioned how all the "current" events questions were dated for last fall. I doubt too many teams are concerned by how dated the questions are, and that this only impacts a few questions, but I thought I'd pass this along.

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CentraliaCoach
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Re: 2014 MSHSAA Districts question discussion

Post by CentraliaCoach »

Roger Chillingworth does not belong as an opening clue to a Scarlet Letter question. How many other novel questions begin by naming the primary antagonist? Considering the novel is widely read in high school classrooms, it only serves to cause a buzzer race in the first few words of the question.

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MichaelMenkhus
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Re: 2014 MSHSAA Districts question discussion

Post by MichaelMenkhus »

This is more of a complaint stemming from the fact that I've played on (reasonably) good questions for four years and not a critique of NAQT's writing, but why does MSHSAA insist on putting what seems to be 1/1 YA lit in their distribution? Is it just a relic from a bygone age? Or does MSHSAA seriously believe that questions on Ender's Game and Thirteen Reasons Why are the best way to distinguish between the top teams in the state? I realize that many students have read these books, but I can't imagine that these books are actually in many schools' curriculums, which MSHSAA claims is the driving force behind the "official" MSHSAA Scholar Bowl distribution.

Otherwise, the questions were about as good as one could expect with a format and distribution as poor as MSHSAA's.

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Mickey0R0urke
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Re: 2014 MSHSAA Districts question discussion

Post by Mickey0R0urke »

The 1/1 YA Lit thing is something that's been appearing in IS and A-sets this year. It's (probably) not a policy of MSHSAA, but a new question format NAQT is trying out.

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MichaelMenkhus
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Re: 2014 MSHSAA Districts question discussion

Post by MichaelMenkhus »

Is NAQT putting YA lit in the regular lit distribution or in the "pop culture" distribution?

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scphilli
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Re: 2014 MSHSAA Districts question discussion

Post by scphilli »

It was listed as "lit" in the District set. By the by, the questions on speed limits and "flambage" or whatever, that was NAQT making fun of mshsaa and its ridiculous distribution right?

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MichaelMenkhus
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Re: 2014 MSHSAA Districts question discussion

Post by MichaelMenkhus »

"Medium rare", "flambe", "n-dash", "pressure cooker/double boiler", the previously mentioned YA lit, all of those.

Once again, this isn't a criticism of NAQT, because they just write what they're told to. This is a criticism of the absurd distribution that MSHSAA insists on using.

Luckily, it appears that MSHSAA has sent out surveys to quizbowl coaches around the state regarding question style and distribution, but I doubt that anything will come of it.

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Re: 2014 MSHSAA Districts question discussion

Post by bt_green_warbler »

Young adult literature is classified as literature.

Regular IS sets have 2/2 such literature per 14-packet set; Introductory sets have 6/6 per 12-packet set.

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Re: 2014 MSHSAA Districts question discussion

Post by bt_green_warbler »

2014 MSHSAA Districts round 4 wrote:A doctor who calls himself Roger Chillingworth discovers Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale's affair with Hester Prynne in what novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne?
2014 MSHSAA Districts round 2 wrote:What technique, used in desserts like crepes Suzette, cherries jubilee, and {bananas Foster}, involves dousing food with alcohol and setting it on fire?

answer: flambee (accept word forms; prompt on answers like "setting it on fire" or "serve it while flaming")
2014 MSHSAA Districts round 2 wrote:Answer these questions about speed limits in Missouri:

A. When not posted otherwise, the speed limit on Missouri freeways is 60 miles per hour in urban areas, and this higher speed in rural areas.

answer: _70_ miles per hour

B. Slow-moving vehicles--typically, those traveling slower than 25 miles per hour--are required to display a red-bordered triangle of what color to warn other motorists?

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