A recitation in a general sense is the act of reciting from memory, or a formal reading of verse or other writing before an audience. Public recitation is the act of reciting a work of writing before an audience.

Academic recitation

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

, recitation is a presentation made by a student to demonstrate knowledge of a subject or to provide instruction to others. In some

academic institution Academic institution is an educational institution dedicated to education and research, which grants academic degrees. See also academy and university. Types * Primary schools – (from French ''école primaire'') institutions where children ...

s the term is used for a presentation by a

teaching assistant A teaching assistant or teacher's aide (TA) or education assistant (EA) or team teacher (TT) is an individual who assists a teacher with instructional responsibilities. TAs include ''graduate teaching assistants'' (GTAs), who are graduate stude ...

or instructor, under the guidance of a senior faculty member, that supplements course materials. In recitations that supplement lectures, the leader will often review the lecture, expand on the concepts, and carry on a discussion with the

student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementar ...

s. In its most basic form, a student would recite verbatim poems or essays of others, either to the teacher or tutor directly, or in front of a class or body of assembled students. In classes involving

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

and

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

, a recitation is often used as the vehicle to perform derivations or solve problems similar to those assigned to the students. Scientific classes, such as biology, chemistry, and physics, often employ the use of recitation sections to help students clarify subject matter that was either not fully understood or inadequately addressed in the limited time of lecture. These recitation sections may be conducted by the professor or a student teaching assistant. These sections provide students with an opportunity to receive additional instruction on confusing subject matter or receive personal assistance with problems or questions assigned as homework in the lecture section. Some universities may require attendance at regularly scheduled recitation sections in addition to any required labs. Recitations may also provide students with additional opportunities for receiving grades for the lecture portion of the course. Despite mandatory attendance and additional time spent in the classroom, these sections usually do not count towards university credits required for graduation, but may significantly increase a student's ability to understand important concepts required to pass the course.

Religious recitation

Recitations of holy scriptures and prayers are common in the liturgies of

Abrahamic religions The Abrahamic religions are a group of religions centered around worship of the God of Abraham. Abraham, a Hebrew patriarch, is extensively mentioned throughout Abrahamic religious scriptures such as the Bible and the Quran. Jewish tradition ...

.Denny, Frederick Mathewson (1989
"''Qur’ān'' Recitation: A Tradition of Oral Performance and Transmission"
''Oral Tradition'' 4(1/2): pp. 5-26, page 1

Islam

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

'' literally means "recitation". The 1924 Cairo Quran, the Quran that is in "general use" throughout almost all the Muslim world today, is based on the "

Ḥafṣ Abū Amr Ḥafṣ ibn Sulaymān ibn al-Mughīrah ibn Abi Dawud al-Asadī al-Kūfī ( ar, أبو عمرو حفص بن سليمان بن المغيرة الأسدي الكوفي), better known as Hafs (706–796 CE; 90–180 AH according to the Is ...

" version ("

qira'at In Islam, ''Qirāah'', (pl. ''Qirāāt''; ar, قراءات , lit= recitations or readings) are different linguistic, lexical, phonetic, morphological and syntactical forms permitted with reciting the holy book of Islam, the Quran. Differ ...

") based on

ʻAsim's recitation Abu Bakr ‘Aasim Ibn Abi al-Najud al-'Asadi (d. 127AH/745CE),Shady Hekmat NasserIbn Mujahid and the Canonization of the Seven Readings p. 57. Taken from ''The Transmission of the Variant Readings of the Qur'an: The Problem of Tawaatur and the Eme ...

, the 8th-century

recitation A recitation in a general sense is the act of reciting from memory, or a formal reading of verse or other writing before an audience. Public recitation is the act of reciting a work of writing before an audience. Academic recitation In a ...

of Kufa. Böwering, "Recent Research on the Construction of the Quran", 2008: p. 74 ۞ It uses a system of additional symbols and an elaborate system of modified vowel-signs and for minute details, not identical to any older system.Stefan Wild, "Reading" ''The Quran: an Encyclopedia'',

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

Recitation as a performing art

Recitation is practiced as a performing art especially in Bangladesh and India. Nowadays it is a popular art form in Bengal. The reciters recite Bengali poems on stage and electronic media. Shambhu Mitra, Kazi Sabyasachi, Pradeep Ghosh, Partha Ghosh,

Gouri Ghosh Gouri Ghosh was a noted elocutionist of West Bengal. She had rendered her voice to several milestone albums in Bengali recitation. Known for her work on Tagore poems, like ''‘Karna Kunti Sangbad’'', ''‘Shesher Kabita’'' and ''‘Bisarjan� ...

, Utpal Kundu are great reciters from West Bengal. Reciters like Samiran Sanyal, Bratati Bandyopadhyay, Bijoylakshmi Burman, Pinaki Chattopadhyay, Sutapa Bandyopadhyay, Urmimala Basu, Samya Karpha to name a few, are contributing significantly in this field. There are many such organizations of recitation, with most located in Bangladesh. It was often popular for a poet to recite his or her newly-created poetry to an audience. In the early twentieth century, recitation developed into an autonomous art form.

Recitationes ''Recitationes'' were a literary practice of ancient Rome that involved one or more public readings (''recitatio'', pl ''recitationes'') of a text. Some of these occurred in public places (theaters and baths), and even in the Roman Forum. History ...

were a common way for Roman poets to test and publicize their works.

Notes

References

* Jahandarie, Khosrow (1996) ''Spoken and Written Discourse: a multi-disciplinary perspective'' Ablex/Greenwood, Stamford, Connecticut, * Warner, Charles Dudley (1899) "School or Entertainment Recitations" ''Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern'' J. A. Hill, New York, p. cdlxxx {{Authority control Educational psychology Rhetoric Teaching