1. IOC Review

2. What makes a successful commentary?
Clear organization
Demonstrating an excellent knowledge of the text (KNOWLEDGE & UNDERSTANDING)
Rigorously focusing on the effects of the writer’s choices of language, structure and form (APPRECIATION OF THE WAYS THE WRITER’S CHOICES SHAPE MEANING)

3. Guiding Questions
There will be 2 guiding questions at the bottom of the poem
You aren’t compelled to answer them, but they are there to help you if you want help
Usually one will focus on content and the other on techniques/conventions
You may want to use them as a scaffold to structure your commentary

4. A Simplified Possible Structure for the IOC
1 minute: introduce your poem. Give a summary of it. Mention how it fits into the body of work we studied (Heaney’s poems). State your dominant effect.
3 minutes: Discuss Aspect/Theme 1/Important Feature 1/Answer Guiding Q 1. Make several close references to the language, structure, and form of the poem. Be analytical, explaining HOW and WHY Heaney has made the choices he has.
3 minutes: Discuss Aspect/Theme 2/Important Feature 2/Guiding Q 2. Make several close references to the language, structure, and form of the poem. Be analytical, explaining HOW and WHY Heaney has made the choices he has.
1 minute: Make any final points about the language of the poem and conclude.

5. Review
Reread and review the poems prior to your IOC. Use your comp book, your notes on the poem, and the Google Doc the class created.
Do one or more of the E.C. Review activities

6. During the Preparation Time
20 minutes
Read the poem and the guiding questions carefully.
Color mark/Underline key words/phrases and aspects you think are most interesting or about which you can talk most convincingly
Formulate your Dominant Effect
Identify your 2-3 aspects/themes you want to discuss. Write a brief summary of each
Mark up the text so you know which points you’ll use to discuss your aspects/themes.
Decide on the best sequence to speak about your points. Linear or conceptual?
Make sure your notes are clear to you.
Spend any extra time rehearsing/practicing

7. Tone of Voice
Language should be formal and as technically accurate as you can make it
Adopt a register appropriate to the thoughtful discussion of literature
Your audience is not just me…it’s also the examiner who will listen to the recording
Speak in your own voice
Speak clearly and relatively slowly
Give the examiner a clear sense that you are enjoying the text and the process of analyzing it

8. Starting the Commentary (1 minute)
State your candidate number at the start
Identify the poem, summarize it, and put it in context
State your dominant effect
If you wish, outline what you plan to cover
This introduction should not take more than 1 minute

9. The Body of the Commentary (ca. 6 minutes)
Discuss the writer’s choices of particular literary features
The real credit comes from recognizing HOW and WHY you think the writer uses them
Point, evidence, analysis = Identify a feature. Quote the key words. Analyze how the technique works.
You should be prepared with 3-4 points for each aspect/theme/important feature you want to discuss
Aim for each aspect/theme/feature to take 2-3 minutes to explore

10. Conclusion (30 sec. – 1 minute)
The conclusion may be brief
You need to draw your commentary to a recognizable end and finish off effectively
Maybe:
look at the way the poem ends and Heaney’s choice of language there OR
state what you think is the most important element of the poem OR
comment on the main way the poem influences the reader OR summarize how it fits into the rest of his work
Key is to sound focused and assured

11. Teacher Questions
For the next 2 minutes I will ask you questions about the poem.
My goal is to help you score as high as possible
Answer the questions as best you can, making your point, backing it up with quoted evidence, and discussing the HOW or WHY (effects of Heaney’s choices)

12. IOD
You will turn over a card
On the card will be a title: Hamlet or Down Second Avenue
For the next 10 minutes we will discuss the work on the card

13. You will have the same first question no matter which work:
Which aspect of the work did you find most powerful?
Prepare to answer this question. You should have an answer plus specific evidence to support your point. Even better if you can deliver a fully developed and elaborated answer.

14. The conversation will follow from there
The conversation will follow from there. Questions will, I hope, develop from the initial conversation, but if not they will be similar to the journal questions for DSA and the review questions on the two discussion boards.