Engell looks for the University to pay "more formal attention to rhetoric than it has in the last 40 years." Adding a core requirement would be difficult, though there is room for a greater emphasis on oratory, he says.

"My hope is that in the future, the University will once again pick up rhetoric and public speaking and add new courses. I think there is a skill to be learned that holds people in good stead and helps one with analysis as well," he adds.

At The Podium

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As for the students who have entered the Boylston Prize contest, they agree that rhetoric has fallen in glory, but they say the Boylston Prize hasn't lost all its luster.

Contestant Nancy M. B. Poon '01, who performed a selection from Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House was drawn to the prize because of its connection to the University's past.

"It reflects a lot about the culture of Harvard school as a whole and Harvard tradition hundreds of years ago," she says.

Ross G. Douthat '01, who performed Shakespeare's Henry V's monologue before the Battle of Agincourt, echoed Poon's reflections on the dated nature of the prize. "It feels sort of like a fossil from a different age in a time where people took it much more seriously. Everyone [today] was competing on sort of the spur of the moment."

Despite the relatively small number of participants, the English department regards the prize as well-known among students.