Texas A&M Mock Trial Tryout Packet

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Marjorie Gilmore
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1 Texas A&M Mock Trial Tryout Packet Thank you for your interest in the Texas A&M Mock Trial team. The following pages provide the answers to some commonly asked questions, as well as step-by-step instructions for trying out for the team. If you have questions at any point during this process please do not hesitate to contact President, Christina Morrison, at or Vice President, Spencer Anderson, at we are happy to help or answer any questions you may have. Thank you again for your interest in Texas A&M Mock Trial; have fun and good luck! Audition Times : Sunday, September 9th 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. MSC 2402 Monday, September 10th 8:30 p.m p.m. MSC L526B Tuesday, September 11th 5 p.m. - 9 p.m. MSC L526B If this time does not work for you, please Christina or Spencer to find one that fits your schedule. If you did not have a chance to sign up for a time slot at either informational, please Christina with your availability for the time slots above. Dress is business casual. Make sure to bring your completed application (the fourth page of this packet) to your audition. Each audition should last no more than 15 minutes. The team will be announced via before 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, September 12th. Our first meeting will be on Thursday, September 13 in MSC We will also be having a social for all members on September 13th. We realize that this is a quick turnaround from auditions to our first meeting but we need as much time as possible to practice, so please prepare for going to the first meeting in the event that you are chosen for the team.

2 Frequently Asked Questions What exactly is Mock Trial? Mock Trial is an academic competition. More than 500 teams from over 300 colleges and universities compete in invitational, regional, and national competition every year. During a mock trial, two teams (one portraying the plaintiff and one portraying the defense) compete in front of a panel of judges. During competition, students present opening statements, examine witnesses, portray witnesses, object to improper testimony, and make closing arguments. The Texas A&M Mock Trial team has multiple teams that compete to give as many people as possible a chance to learn different roles. Do I need to be Pre-Law to excel at Mock Trial? Absolutely not. Historically, some of our most successful competitors had absolutely no interest in law school they just loved the activity. Of course, students interested in law are encouraged to try out, but so are students interested in public speaking, debate, and theater. We are looking for students of all years and interests. What is the time commitment for Mock Trial? Students are expected to attend the team s regular practices, held Tuesday and Thursday from 8:30-9:40 PM. In addition to regularly scheduled practices, we will additionally have practices on some Sundays of which you are also expected to attend. Students can expect to travel for competition anywhere between 1 to 3 weekends a semester. Where do you compete? We typically compete around Texas, but Mock Trial competitions take place all over the country. In the past, the Texas A&M Mock Trial team has competed in multiple states including Missouri, Tennessee, and Florida. Can I do Mock Trial if I am thinking about joining another club/getting a job/getting involved on campus in another way? Sure! Our team members are all incredibly involved on campus (we ve had RAs, TAs, researchers, members of Greek Life, students with part-time jobs, etc.). While mock trial is a time commitment, it does not (and should not) need to be your only commitment. Can I do Mock Trial if I have no previous experience with Mock Trial? Absolutely. While some students join us with years of high school experience in mock trial, many come to us with no experience at all. Previous mock trial experience is not a

3 prerequisite; in fact, many of our most successful competitors came to Texas A&M without any previous experience. Don t worry, we will teach you everything you need to know! More information? Check out AMTA s (American Mock Trial Association) website and learn all about past cases, results, and tournaments: Tryout Process Your tryout will have two portions: an improvised speech and a short informal interview with the officers. Specific instructions are below. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Kent or Sam. Part I: Opening/Closing Argument For your audition, you will perform a three to four minute opening or closing argument. If you aren t sure what that means, do not be alarmed! There are many handy tools online to help you. In short, an opening argument is the argument an attorney gives at the beginning of trial telling the jury what they will hear to be convinced, and a closing argument is a brief recap of what has been heard during trial and why their side prevailed. If you do a closing argument, you can pretend that trial has already happened and make up key points accordingly. Some Topic Examples: The Kingdom v. Goldilocks (Breaking and Entering) The People of London v. Big Bad Wolf (Premeditated Murder) Darth Vader v. Boba Fett (Breach of Contract) Part II: Monologue For this portion you will choose one of the attached monologues to perform. Don t worry about having it memorized, just familiarize yourself with it enough so that you can portray a character. Your character can be anything you d like but try to make it something unique! We are looking for your ability to perform. Feel free to change names and genders. Part III: Short Informal Interview The officer board will ask you a short series of interview style questions for the last portion of your audition. These will be both general questions and questions based

4 partly off of your application. We mostly want to get to know you, feel out how you would gel with the team and learn about why you are interested in Mock Trial. Mock Trial Application Name: Major: Phone Number: Years left in Undergrad (including this year): T-Shirt Size: Have you ever participated in a speech/debate event before? Yes / No Have you ever participated in any kind of theater event? Yes / No Have you ever participated in mock trial? Yes / No Why would you like to join the mock trial team? Describe yourself in 5 words: List as many uses for a coffee table as possible: How did you hear about Texas A&M Mock Trial?

5 Monologue 1: I ate the divorce papers, Charles. I ate them with ketchup. You want me to get serious about our divorce? You always called our marriage a joke! Last week, I asked why you walked down the aisle with me and you said for the exercise. Ha, ha. That s funny, Charles. I m laughing, not crying. Ha, ha. I m laughing because you re about to give up on a woman who is infinitely lovable. Just ask Paul who's loved me since eighth grade. Paul s sent me over two hundred original love sonnets. Paul may be insane, but I would never ask him to sign his name to a piece of paper promising to just turn off his love. That s what you re asking of me. To sign away my right to your brown eyes, to your hands through my hair before bed... Why did I eat the divorce papers with ketchup? So I could stomach them! What I can t stomach: losing you. Monologue 2: Convicted murderers. Why don t we lock them away... with puppies? I can engineer a totally lifelike, indestructible super puppy. Now, we take a room full of the puppies. We put the most hardened gang banger in there. At first they may try to kill the puppies. That s why these puppies are indestructible. Soon, the murderer exhausted will begin to cry in despair Why, why can t I kill these puppies! Why!? At that moment our super puppies close in, licking and nuzzling and staring with their perfectly round adorable eyes. Their little puppy paws will target ticklish spots. The murderers will giggle. Imagine it, someone who has grown up in a violent landscape filled with conflict and abuse. Instead of putting them into a locked environment filled with more of that, what if we said Put him in the Puppy Room! At first they might say No, please, no, no not the Puppy Room! Because what self respecting hardened man or woman wants to commune with puppies. Cuteness is the enemy of toughness. But faced with this unbearable cuteness their anger, their fear, their hate will be overwhelmed by love. Yes, I have a dream of invincible super puppies. They will not just be cute and unkillable, a marvel of modern engineering, but they will lift humanity out of the darkness.

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