Would this work as an OO?

[tourrettic]

so heres the deal... i've never done OO. but at my school, all the sophomores have to write and deliver a 4-6 minute persuasive speech on a topic of our choice in english class, and the top two from each class go to semi finals and the top six go to finals. typically, a lot of the speech kids extend their sophomore speeches and use them as OO's when they're juniors. my topic/thesis was "the simpsons are one of the most intelligent programs on television". i have solid arguements, and i got an A on the speech (our english department never gives A's). i would love to use it as an OO but i'm not sure if the topic is appropriate. do you think it would work in competition?

p.s. i know the simpsons is not nearly as good as it used to be. if i use the speech, i'm going to change it to talk only about the simpsons in its prime, ie the 1990's seasons.

[swimmer_gurl589]

I think it might be better in Informative.... I don't really know, though. Most OO's are on politics or problems in society.... so I'd try doing Info with it.... Just make up some visual aids and have fun with it! I know a girl who did really well last year with an Info on MASH, so it seems as though TV shows are good for Info..... Good Luck!

[tourrettic]

informative... hmmm. we don't have that in MA. our public speaking events are OO, novice and varsity extemp, and dec. so... thats not really an option for me, but thanks anyways.

btw, you guys have OOs on politics? we usually are discouraged from doing political topics because if the judge disagrees with our viewpoint, it could affect our ranking. ours are usually along the lines of "heres something really interesting or important that i bet you never even thought about" (like "cynicism is running rampant in our society", or "we need to pay more attention to our body language").

[IERULZ]

I think you may have better success if you could relate the Simpsons to real life. Judges may not really care if the Simpsons is the best show or not. However, if you alter your thesis along the lines of "Life would be great if we lived in a Simpsons episode" or "If you're going to succeed in life you've got to be like Bart". I have no idea what angle you would use but if you could enlarge the scope while keeping the funny Simpsons stuff I think it could do quite well.

[4N6ismyhomeboy]

I think the Simpsons is a great idea! OOs don't always have to be about politics- I'm District Champ this year in CO with a speach about the power of persuasion. The point is, in order to come up with this, lets say original, thesis in the first place you had to have some kind of reasoning in your head. Find 3 and turn them into points and you'll do fine. Why do I get the feeling I highly over-punctuated that?