Oral Commentary Prep Guide revised 2017.pdf

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PROCEDURE FOR IOC 2016-2017 I. BEFORE THE ORAL COMMENTARY • Arrive 40-60 minutes before your session begins. Report immediately to the Media Center’s Ministry of Magic. (THE GLASS ROOM). • Ms. Campbell will lead you to the guidance conference room for your 20-minute prep time. BEFORE going to the Prep Room (guidance conference room) • Ask yourself, do you have pencil, pen, highlighters or colored pencils for writing and marking? (I will provide blank paper). You will leave your materials at the designated place, just outside the Prep Room. You may not bring anything except writing tools into the room. II. PREP TIME (20-minutes) • At the start of the preparation period, which is no earlier than 20 minutes before the start of the recorded commentary, you will draw an extract from a pool. You will also be given the written guiding questions for that particular passage. • As soon as you are seated and ready to begin, the supervisor will begin the time. You will ONLY have 20 minutes to prepare. You will be supervised during the prep period. III. Commentary (12 minutes with a 3 minute follow-up) • After leaving the prep-room, you will report to the professional library (the little room to your immediate right when your walk through the library doors. • We will begin the formal commentary. You will speak for 12 minutes, and then I will ask follow-up questions until minute 15. • Recording stops at 15 minutes and no other analysis offered by you will be considered past that point. SUGGESTIONS: • Each extract will have numbered lines, but no titles, acts or scene references, page numbers, or chapter titles for anything but poems – if the poem “has” a title. • There will be 2 guiding questions for your extract. IBO offers this advice for guiding questions: o The purpose of the guiding questions is to offer you a starting point for organizing the commentary. o They will relate to some of the most significant aspects of the extract and lead you to focus on their interpretation. o They should help you explore such aspects as the presentation and role of characters, relationships, themes, use of language, significance of the extract to development of plot or larger work, effects of structure, style, and technique. o They will NOT refer to any particular details or provide any interpretation of the extract. o While you do NOT have to use the guiding questions, my teacher support material offers this: “Must students answer the guiding questions? Guiding questions are only offered as prompts to give students a starting point for their commentaries. Students are free to decide whether or not to use them. However, if the guiding questions are appropriate, students are unlikely to offer good commentaries without addressing the demands of the guiding questions in some form, even if not directly.” I am required to send the guiding questions with each extract when a student’s tape is sent for moderation.

• ESTABLISH A FOCUS AND PURPOSE: You may make notes for reference and organization of your commentary, but you will not be allowed to read a prepared speech. Prepare your commentary for 12 minutes (I am required to “engage” you in a discussion during the last 3 minutes to probe further into your knowledge and understanding of the work or topic).

What a commentary is: a close examination of a poem or passage in which the student makes salient comments on the craftsmanship of the writer. This craftsmanship is demonstrated in the work that the student examines. a discussion of literary effects achieved in the passage and how they are achieved. (In other words, use the passage to prove that the author used specific techniques to create an artistic effect). a culminating activity reflecting a student's understanding of the authors purpose in a given work. What a commentary IS NOT: NOT an unveiling of "what the author really means." NOT a paraphrase or a summary of the work (although a summary might be included in your commentary). NOT an introduction to the work. PREPARATION FOR THE ORAL COMMENTARY 1.

Relax and read the poem or passage slowly and carefully.

2.

Read it again and jot down your first, gut-level response to the text.

3. Read it again and underline any words or phrases that strike you for any reason-- that create an image, indicate symbols, or foreshadow events. Look for irony-- dramatic, verbal, or situational…. LOOK FOR FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE – BUT DON’T LIMIT YOURSELF TO FIGURES OF SPEECH OR RHETORIC – soliloquy, narrative voice, point of view, sarcasm, shifts, syncecdoche, etc.

4. Ask questions to frame your analysis: Why is this passage significant? How does it relate to the rest of the piece of literature? What EFFECT is the writer after? And how does the excerpt help him/her achieve it? Is it a way for advancing the action? How did the passage suggest mood or atmosphere? Does it suggest theme? Does it prepare for something to follow? How does GENRE affect the style of the passage and its purpose?

5. Look for patterns, repetitions, or connections among the things you underlined and take notes on what you see. 6. Write down what purpose you believe the author was trying to achieve with this extract …. What does the passage evoke in you? Use this to determine a possible theme of the text and thesis. While it is important to connect the extract to the whole work, FOCUS ON THE EXTRACT…

7. Write down how the text develops or advance the theme. DO NOT SUMMARIZE THE PLOT. 8. Write down how the author's style or technique advances the theme. 9. Review all your notes, underlined words, and writings; and organize the information. Discard what you don't need or can't use. Get the raw information into an organized form.

10. Arrange your commentary in a way that feels natural to you and makes sense – use THESIS – 1st POINT, 2nd POINT, 3rd POINT, CONCLUSION 11. Refer to and integrate specific quotes from the passage – using line numbers. Things That Should Go In Your Commentary Check to be sure you do as much of the following as you can – they are all non-negotiable • Be sure you show you know and understand the content of the EXTRACT. Briefly summarize the passage and its purpose as a whole (Do NOT paraphrase the entire poem or passage line-by-line); • if it's a passage from Shakespeare, Atwood, or Hurston's, set it in the context of the rest of the play, essay or novel, or relate it to the author’s body of work. • identify and discuss key words, lines, images, symbols, motifs, word choice, repetitions, sounds, and structure;

• talk or write about characters, theme, events, narrative voice, tone, the author's style, use of time, atmosphere, irony, humor, contrasts, etc.; • explain what poetic or literary devices are used -- but DON’T limit your analysis to ONLY figurative language • ONLY discuss literary elements and patterns if they help you VALIDATE your interpretation – everything won’t be relevant to your point – don’t mention it just to mention it – follow the outline • answer the guiding questions, if not directly, then indirectly. • What will show critical thinking or original/personal response?

THE INDIVIDUAL ORAL COMMENTARY (15 minutes) • Every student MUST be recorded. IBO will then select the samples that will be sent for moderation. • You will have a timer in front of you that will COUNT UP – we will both be able to see it. • Do not READ your commentary. If you are extremely nervous and think reading part of the passage out loud will help, you may take a minute or two to do this – it will not be part of the recording. 1) We will begin this session by checking the recording device. 2) When you’re ready (you’ve laid out your notes), repeat one of the following quotes from the Wizard of Oz: (a) “I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” (b) “Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?” (c) “Just follow the yellow-brick road.” Or, you may opt for “I’m ready to begin.” I will start the recorder. 3) We will begin the recording by announcing your name and candidate SESSION number. You may do this or you may ask that I announce your name and number. 4) You will then begin to record your commentary. Begin by naming your extract – the author --- and then putting it into the proper context (part of a larger whole, canon of the work) proceed to your focus and elaboration and conclusion. 5) Once started, the recording may not be stopped for any reason 6) Except for dire situations I am supposed to allow you to deliver your commentary without interruption for at least 79 minutes. I cannot give any coaching, correct errors, or pose leading questions and give direct information. I can help you get back on track or help you regain your focus. 7) After approximately 12 minutes, I WILL (and must) interrupt to ask subsequent questions to help you show further insights into the extract, and thereby improve your performance further. a. I may ask you to address an important aspect of the extract that you have omitted b. I may ask you to provide further clarification of points not fully explained c. I may ask you to engage personally with the extract 8) (I WILL BE MAKING NOTES DURING YOUR COMMENTARY – IGNORE THIS – DO NOT INTERPRET ANY NOTE-TAKING AS CRITICISM OR NEGATIVE EVALUATION – My notes will help me help you at the end when I have to engage you in a discussion – or they may be used by IBO in the event that the moderator and I do not agree on your evaluation. 9) At the end of the commentary (moderators will not give credit for any new information after 15 minutes), I will stop the recording. 10) We’re done!!!!

Key Tips: In orals, speak calmly--don't rush. Don't try to sound sophisticated; just be yourself. Don't worry about the tape recorder--it's there to evaluate the teacher, not you. 1. Focus. Don't begin a commentary without having a clear idea where you are going and what you are going to say. As Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People says, "Begin with the End in mind." It is critical that you learn to zero in on one or two critical focal points. Determine which are the key ideas and build your commentary around them. Repeat some of the themes or main ideas throughout your commentary, you will help it to hang together much more coherently. 2. Organize. In order to sound coherent, you have to sound organized. In order to sound organized, there must be a loose hierarchy or order of ideas in your commentary. Your focal points and key words will help you sound prepared and organized, rather than careless and haphazard. 3. Engage. Come to grips with the passage. To do this, you must do several careful readings of the passage--preferably with colored pens or pencils. In other words, engage the material in a serious, thoughtful manner. To do this, you must engage the material on both intellectual and emotional levels. Engage means to give yourself over to, to involve yourself, to enter into conflict, to take part, to be active, to entangle, to be voluntarily committed and personally involved. 4. Emote. Inject some emotion, opinion, something of yourself and your beliefs into your commentary. In other words, don't be boring. 5. Play. Have fun with the language! Play with the passage! Tear it apart! Put it back together! 6. Assert. Be mildly aggressive and assertive. This is your chance to show off what you know. Don't be cocky and arrogant, be DO be confident, energetic, and stylish. 7. Communicate. Use an appropriate register. Don't use too many colloquialisms, slang expressions, etc. On the other hand, don't use a 25-cent word when a 10-cent word will do. You may be using that big, impressive-sounding word incorrectly, or you may be sounding like a pompous ass. 8. Cohere.Comment on literary devices and techniques, but not at the expense of meaning and coherence. 9. Build. Build outward from the passage in concentric circles. One thing IB examiners want to know is how you make meaning out of the text. But do this only at the end after you've dealt with the passage in a thorough manner-relating the importance of the passage to the work as a whole.

10. Think. Discuss the passage in a manner that makes you come off as thoughtful and intelligent. But don't be afraid to be original, independent, and creative. PARTING SHOTS "The student must discuss how the author creates the effect." "An effective commentary will probably discuss the artist/author's strengths and weaknesses." "The student should be able to discuss not only what a character does, but also how the author elicits our response." The ability to do this is what separates the puppies from the kitties. "The student must be able to discuss the underlying or universal values." "The student must personalize their response to the passage. They have to respond to it and enter into it in an engaged manner." "We do not want set patterns or prepared responses. We want a fresh, lively, clear, involved, sprightly, engaged response. We are looking for 'signs of life.'" "The student must talk about not only 'what' is said, but 'how' it is said." "The student must be precise in his or her use of language and must be able to make careful distinctions."

Individual oral commentary (SL/HL) Criterion A: Knowledge and understanding of the text or extract • To what extent does the commentary show knowledge and understanding of the text? • Are the comments supported by well-chosen references to the text? Marks Level Descriptor 0 The work does not reach a standard described by the descriptors below. 1–2 The commentary shows limited knowledge and little or no understanding of the text; comments are rarely supported by references to the text. 3–4 The commentary shows superficial knowledge and understanding of the text; comments are occasionally supported by references to the text. 5–6 The commentary shows adequate knowledge and understanding of the text; comments are generally supported by references to the text. 7–8 The commentary shows a very good knowledge and understanding of the text; comments are supported by well-chosen references to the text. 9–10 The commentary shows excellent knowledge and understanding of the text; comments are effectively supported by well-chosen references to the text.

Criterion B: Understanding of the use and effects of literary features • To what extent does the commentary show an awareness of how the literary features in the text (for example, structure, technique and style) are used to construct meaning? • To what extent does the commentary show understanding of the effects of literary features? Marks Level Descriptor 0 The work does not reach a standard described by the descriptors below. 1–2 There is little awareness of the use of literary features and little or no illustration of their effects on the reader. 3–4 There is some awareness of the use of literary features, with few references illustrating their effects on the reader. 5–6 There is adequate awareness and illustration of the use of literary features, with understanding of their effects on the reader. 7–8 There is good awareness and illustration of the use of literary features, with detailed understanding of their effects on the reader. 9–10 There is excellent awareness and illustration of the use of literary features, with very good understanding of their effects on the reader.

Criterion C: Organization • How well organized is the commentary? • How coherent is the structure? Marks Level Descriptor 0 The work does not reach a standard described by the descriptors below. 1 Little organization is apparent; the commentary has little structure. 2 Some organization is apparent; the commentary has some structure. 3 The commentary is adequately organized; the structure is generally coherent. 4 The commentary is well organized; the structure is mostly coherent. 5 The commentary is very effectively organized; the structure is coherent and effective.

Criterion D: Language • How clear, varied and accurate is the language? • How appropriate is the choice of register and style? (“Register” refers, in this context, to the student’s use of elements such as vocabulary, tone, sentence structure and terminology appropriate to the commentary.) Marks Level Descriptor 0 The work does not reach a standard described by the descriptors below. 1 The language is rarely clear and appropriate, with many errors in grammar and sentence construction and little sense of register and style. 2 The language is sometimes clear and appropriate; grammar and sentence construction are generally accurate, although errors and inconsistencies are apparent; register and style are to some extent appropriate to the commentary. 3 The language is mostly clear and appropriate, with an adequate degree of accuracy in grammar and sentence construction; the register and style are mostly appropriate to the commentary. 4 The language is clear and appropriate, with a good degree of accuracy in grammar and sentence construction; register and style are effective and appropriate to the commentary. 5 The language is very clear and entirely appropriate, with a high degree of accuracy in grammar and sentence construction; the register and style are consistently effective and appropriate to the commentary.