Oral Commentary
Your oral commentary will take place at the end of this academic year, in the final term and will based the following three texts:
Annie Dillard Teaching a Stone to Talk
Ian McEwan Enduring Love
Carol Ann Duffy Selection of Poetry
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Important notes from the IB!
The internal assessment task Part 2 is assessed orally and marked internally. There is a distinct difference between the formal oral tasks required of students at SL and at HL.
The individual oral commentarySL and HL students are both required to undertake an individual oral commentary that involves presenting a formal literary analysis on an extract from one of the works studied in part 2.
For SL students the 10-minute oral commentary is the whole of their part 2 assessment.
For HL students, the 10-minute oral commentary is immediately followed by a 10-minute guided discussion on one of the other part 2 works.
Students only have around 10 minutes for their commentary— Timing for the preparation (20 minutes) begins once the extract has been selected.
Extracts should be rich in detail and significance and give students every opportunity to show their:
The lines in each extract will be numbered (every fifth line). This gives you a handy way of referring to the text to support your analysis, and it helps IB moderators to follow your commentary more easily.
It is essential that students do not know in advance which extract they are likely to get for their oral commentary.
Guiding questions:
The purpose of the guiding questions is to point students towards significant features of the extract. Questions should not give too much information to the student because this would make it difficult for the student to show their independent understanding.
Students are not obliged to respond to the guiding questions, which are there as prompts. Below are some examples of guiding questions:
Any of the following questions may be used for SL students. For HL students, only the poetry questions are relevant.
Prose: Novel and short story
Essentials
During the oral commentaryThe student must be allowed to talk without interruption for up to 8 minutes.
Subsequent questions must be put to the student. These should give the student an opportunity to cover aspects they have missed (or have handled incompletely) in their commentary.
If a student does not manage to speak for the full 8 minutes, 10 minutes should still be used, with the teacher asking questions.
The focus of the task is detailed comment on the extract, not the whole work. Some contextualization is important to show understanding of how the extract is related to the work as a whole, but the main part of the commentary should be detailed literary analysis of the extract itself.
The mark submitted for each student is an average of the mark awarded for the two internal assessment tasks. When these marks are submitted, students will be selected randomly by the IB, and the recordings of their individual oral commentaries (and HL discussions) must be sent in for moderation, complete with the extract used and Form 1/IARF, which itemizes the marks awarded for both tasks.
The HL discussion
The oral commentary is based on poetry, so the discussion must be based on one of the other two works. In order to ensure full coverage of the part 2 works, it is essential that students do not know on which work the discussion will be based until after they have completed their oral commentary.
Conduct of the discussion
The teacher’s role is to give the student every chance to show his or her ability to engage in an independent literary discussion. The ideal is an authentic literary exchange between the teacher and student, but prepared questions will be needed to get the discussion started.
The questions are likely to be related directly to the work under discussion, so the examples given here (and in the subject guide) are intended to show the types of questions that should prompt an independent response from the student.
Prose: Novel and short story
Essentials
Marking the individual oral commentaries (and HL discussion)There are separate criteria for the SL individual oral commentary and for the HL individual oral commentary and discussion. Teachers are required to use these criteria to mark the students’ work. Every commentary must be recorded; these recordings are used not only as possible samples for the IB moderator, but also to help the teacher establish the correct level descriptors, and for internal moderation.
Using the assessment criteria
THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE ORAL COMMENTARY:
It is a commentary (an organized response) based on a passage selected by your teacher of about 40 lines from one of your Part Two texts.
The commentary will be recorded
You will not know in advance from which text your passage will be taken or which passage you will be given
At the scheduled time, you will be given the passage on a photocopied sheet (no texts allowed) and will have 20 minutes to prepare your response. There will be no footnotes or chapter divisions or other information on the sheet.
You will be given two guiding questions to help you address significant aspects. Consider these carefully, however you do not have to answer them specifically. You should not restrict yourself to the questions on your passage
You may take the notes you write in the preparation time into the exam room with the passage.
You will be expected to speak for 8-10 minutes without interruption
Annie Dillard Teaching a Stone to Talk
Ian McEwan Enduring Love
Carol Ann Duffy Selection of Poetry
-------------------
Important notes from the IB!
The internal assessment task Part 2 is assessed orally and marked internally. There is a distinct difference between the formal oral tasks required of students at SL and at HL.
The individual oral commentarySL and HL students are both required to undertake an individual oral commentary that involves presenting a formal literary analysis on an extract from one of the works studied in part 2.
For SL students the 10-minute oral commentary is the whole of their part 2 assessment.
For HL students, the 10-minute oral commentary is immediately followed by a 10-minute guided discussion on one of the other part 2 works.
Students only have around 10 minutes for their commentary— Timing for the preparation (20 minutes) begins once the extract has been selected.
Extracts should be rich in detail and significance and give students every opportunity to show their:
- knowledge and understanding of the work
- ability to analyse language, structure, technique and style
The lines in each extract will be numbered (every fifth line). This gives you a handy way of referring to the text to support your analysis, and it helps IB moderators to follow your commentary more easily.
It is essential that students do not know in advance which extract they are likely to get for their oral commentary.
Guiding questions:
The purpose of the guiding questions is to point students towards significant features of the extract. Questions should not give too much information to the student because this would make it difficult for the student to show their independent understanding.
Students are not obliged to respond to the guiding questions, which are there as prompts. Below are some examples of guiding questions:
Any of the following questions may be used for SL students. For HL students, only the poetry questions are relevant.
Prose: Novel and short story
- How does the extract show the attitudes and emotions of the central character(s)?
- In what ways does the use of language reveal underlying tensions?
- How is the significance of the setting of the work revealed in the extract?
- How are the central ideas of the work conveyed through the extract?
- In what ways does the extract foreshadow subsequent developments in the work?
- How is the extract pivotal to the structure of the plot?
- How does the point of view influence our attitude to the ideas being conveyed in the extract?
- In what ways is the extract central to the work as a whole?
- How is diction used to influence the reader?
- How is a strong sense of place conveyed in the extract?
- In what ways are rhythm and balance important elements in conveying the writer’s point of view?
- What does the extract reveal of the writer’s attitude towards the subject matter?
- What use has the writer made of repetition to convey meaning and/or emotional effects?
- How does the use of a persona contribute to the dramatic force of the poem?
- How is symbolism used to convey meaning?
- In what ways does the final line/stanza change your understanding of the poem as a whole?
- In what ways does the poet use repetition to underline key ideas?
- How is rhythm used to complement the thought and feeling of the poem?
- How are gesture and action used to convey the state of mind of the character(s)?
- How is language used to show contrasts between the characters?
- In what ways does the extract show or hint at developing conflict in the play?
- How does the extract reveal the time and place of the action in the play?
- What does the extract reveal of the relationship between X and Y?
- In what ways is the extract significant in revealing a key idea of the play?
Essentials
- A quiet room for conducting the oral and a nearby room for the 20-minute preparation period
- Supervision during the preparation time (for HL students, the preparation time is for the commentary, not for the discussion)
- Good-quality recording equipment, preferably digital
- A method of providing the student with an extract so that neither the teacher nor the student knows which extract is being selected (it is recommended that the teacher places each extract separately in a blank envelope and allows each student to choose their own envelope)
- Clean copies of extracts with contextual information removed and with lines numbered (the title of a poem can remain)
During the oral commentaryThe student must be allowed to talk without interruption for up to 8 minutes.
Subsequent questions must be put to the student. These should give the student an opportunity to cover aspects they have missed (or have handled incompletely) in their commentary.
If a student does not manage to speak for the full 8 minutes, 10 minutes should still be used, with the teacher asking questions.
The focus of the task is detailed comment on the extract, not the whole work. Some contextualization is important to show understanding of how the extract is related to the work as a whole, but the main part of the commentary should be detailed literary analysis of the extract itself.
The mark submitted for each student is an average of the mark awarded for the two internal assessment tasks. When these marks are submitted, students will be selected randomly by the IB, and the recordings of their individual oral commentaries (and HL discussions) must be sent in for moderation, complete with the extract used and Form 1/IARF, which itemizes the marks awarded for both tasks.
The HL discussion
The oral commentary is based on poetry, so the discussion must be based on one of the other two works. In order to ensure full coverage of the part 2 works, it is essential that students do not know on which work the discussion will be based until after they have completed their oral commentary.
Conduct of the discussion
The teacher’s role is to give the student every chance to show his or her ability to engage in an independent literary discussion. The ideal is an authentic literary exchange between the teacher and student, but prepared questions will be needed to get the discussion started.
The questions are likely to be related directly to the work under discussion, so the examples given here (and in the subject guide) are intended to show the types of questions that should prompt an independent response from the student.
Prose: Novel and short story
- To what extent do you feel the writer is trying to persuade you to think about an issue or idea in a particular way?
- How well do you think the writer handles the transition between one time and another?
- Which character do you feel the writer relates to most closely? What makes you think that?
- What sort of techniques does the writer use to get you interested in the story and the characters? Do you think they are successful?
- Choose one part of the novel that you found particularly challenging, exciting or moving. What do you think prompted that response?
- Do you think the writer is particularly sympathetic towards one of the characters? What makes you think that?
- How well do you think the writer manages to use the stage to establish a strong sense of setting?
- What is your opinion about the closure in the last section of the play? Do you find it satisfying or frustrating?
- What do you feel is the central conflict in the play? How important are the underlying reasons for the conflict?
- How clearly is the writer able to convey a meaningful idea while keeping an audience entertained?
- In what ways does the writing produce a strong sense of the author?
- Do you feel that the style of writing is well matched to the ideas that the writer is trying to convey?
- How well does the work organize the events or ideas? Is there an effective division within and between sections?
- What aspect of the work do you find most convincing?
- Can you identify some of the features of the writer’s technique that you find to be particularly effective?
- Are there some ideas or opinions put forward in the writing that you feel particularly sympathetic or antagonistic towards? What do you think prompted such a strong reaction?
Essentials
- The discussion lasts for 10 minutes and must follow the oral commentary with no break in the recording.
- The discussion must be based on one of the two works other than poetry studied in part 2.
- The student must not know beforehand which “other work” is going to be chosen.
- The discussion should be allowed to develop as naturally as possible, although the teacher needs to ensure that it stays focused on the nominated work and prompts the student to explore implications and to give personal evaluation.
Marking the individual oral commentaries (and HL discussion)There are separate criteria for the SL individual oral commentary and for the HL individual oral commentary and discussion. Teachers are required to use these criteria to mark the students’ work. Every commentary must be recorded; these recordings are used not only as possible samples for the IB moderator, but also to help the teacher establish the correct level descriptors, and for internal moderation.
Using the assessment criteria
- At SL criteria A and B (knowledge and understanding of the extract, and appreciation of the writer’s choices) are weighted, being worth 10 marks each, compared with 5 marks for presentation and language.
- At HL the six criteria are each worth 5 marks.
- SL (criterion D) and HL (criterion F) language descriptors are the same.
THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE ORAL COMMENTARY:
It is a commentary (an organized response) based on a passage selected by your teacher of about 40 lines from one of your Part Two texts.
The commentary will be recorded
You will not know in advance from which text your passage will be taken or which passage you will be given
At the scheduled time, you will be given the passage on a photocopied sheet (no texts allowed) and will have 20 minutes to prepare your response. There will be no footnotes or chapter divisions or other information on the sheet.
You will be given two guiding questions to help you address significant aspects. Consider these carefully, however you do not have to answer them specifically. You should not restrict yourself to the questions on your passage
You may take the notes you write in the preparation time into the exam room with the passage.
You will be expected to speak for 8-10 minutes without interruption