ENGLISH V IB HL

Planning sheet: individual oral commentary

This planning sheet is for Part 2 of your IB English Literature course. Its aim is to help you to
structure an individual oral commentary (IOC) effectively.

Aim to speak for 8 minutes, perhaps using the following structure:

1. a 1-minute introduction
2. 3 minutes on each of two selected main themes
3. 1 minute for final points.

Use the 20-minute preparation time to complete the following tasks:

1. Read the poem(s) and the guiding questions.

2. Identify your two or three big themes.
3. Mark up the points that you will use to develop and analyze your themes.
4. Sequence your points so that you are clear about the order in which you will make them.
5. Make sure that you have clear notes.
6. Practice.

You should use this blank planner template when starting to practice for the IOC (remembering, of
course, that you wont be able to use it in the real IOC, so you will need to complete several practices
with just the extract in front of you). If you follow each of the stages suggested, you should find that
this gives you an excellent framework for your commentary.

1. Write down the guiding questions and highlight the key words:

Question 1:

Question 2:

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2. Work out what your structuring themes /ideas are going to be. They may be very closely based on
the guiding questions (and re-worked in your own words) although they dont have to be. You should
write out a headline for each theme/idea in one short, clear sentence which will form part of the
introductory section your commentary.

Theme/idea 1:

Theme/idea 2:

Theme/idea 3:

3. Now draft your introduction. Remember that this should last no more than a minute. It should give
the examiner a very clear idea of how you will structure your commentary (you should say exactly
what your key themes/ideas will be) and if necessary it should place the extract very clearly in
context.

Introduction to commentary

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4. For each element of your commentary, you should now select between three and five quotations
that you are going to use from the extract to help support your point. You might highlight the
quotation on your copy of the extract and then simply write the line number in the box, so that you
can easily refer to the quotation. You should then aim to comment on how the writers choice of
language and/or structure and/or form helps shape meaning in relation to each of these quotations.
Remember to aim to answer the questions how and why.

Theme/idea 1
Quotations to support idea Notes on language/structure/form

Theme/idea 2
Quotations to support idea Notes on language/structure/form

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Theme/idea 3
Quotations to support idea Notes on language/structure/form

5. Now you should draft two or three sentences which will act as a conclusion (lasting between 30
seconds and 1 minute). This should be a brief summary of your commentary, perhaps referring back
to the text as a whole and the place of the extract within that text.

Conclusion to commentary

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