English HL Individual Oral Commentary

What tips can you give me. I have 4 books, an extract can be taken from any!

If you have time, rereading the books is a good idea. Whether you do that or not, DEFINITELY read your notes on the books, especially if you talked about specific passages in class. Also reread your past commentaries on the books.

Once you've prepared all that, PRACTICE!!! My school didn't do any practices in class, but what I did was this: get a friend to pick a passage from the 4 books, without telling you what it is, and do your own oral: 20 minutes to read & prepare, and then (I forget how much time) to do the actual oral. It really helps to do this, even just once like I did. And then my friend actually got the passage I practiced on!

Most importantly, BE CONFIDENT!! You can do this! It's hard, but try to stay calm when you're in your oral - it's harder to do well if you're really tense.

Reply 2

avinash

i got 11 outta 15
go thru the main points and the main and significant areas of each of the 4 texts... AND DON'T GET TENSED!!!!!

Reply 3

RAYPLETTS

that's alrite i spose, jus a 6?

Reply 4

elenyil

One thing people commonly misunderstand about the formal English commentary...is the element of structure that is intrinsic to the markscheme.

Many people think they already pretty much know what they're going to get before they go in there. While I won't deny there is some granule of truth in that...more often than not, the commentary is dependent on your ability to FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS.

I got a 30/30 on my HL English oral...and I constantly have these people coming up to me with these useless comments like "That's right, Viv. We knew you'd be the one", or "You're so good at English!"

Bull.

No...not at all. The commentary has so little to do with your understanding of the literature it's ridiculous. Just because you score high on that oral...it doesn't mean you necessary possess what I have come to christen the English spirit. The HL oral is all about follow instructions. The most important piece of advice I can give you...is to READ THE BLOODY MARKSCHEME. If you want a high mark...then you GIVE THEM WHAT THEY WANT! It's all listed there...black and white.

I have some friends who did not do so well in their orals, and they come up to me with futile words like: "I was never any good at English...figures". No, no, my friends. You just didn't read the bloody instructions. It's all there...on the markscheme. Make SURE you follow it. They're VERY VERY specific. They want an attention to culture...they want structure, they want literary devices...but more important they want you to discuss the CRAFTSMANSHIP of it...in other words, they want you to discuss EFFECT.

I'll admit to a point, okay...your aptitude in the English is definitely a booster. A wide vocabulary can allow for a more enriched register, and generally make you sound more a confident. A positive bias. But regardless...bias only stretches so far.

So a shoutout to all of you English A1's...just because you don't think you "have what it takes", it doesn't mean you can't get a perfect score. And to all my friends in the world who also, like me, got a perfect score, and to my friends at my school who think they're all high and mighty because they managed to get a high score...think again.

The English A1 orals are all about instructions, not aptitude, not ability, not intelligence. Instructions. If you can boil an egg...you can ace these orals.

Good luck, and remember, head down...but eyes up. Always facing forward. Don't let the bastards grind you down.

Reply 5

rawkingpunkster

I guess thats very true. I'll be doing mine next year.. shall keep it in mind..

although when u have many books to study, u do have some things that u have to memorize by hard

Reply 6

Deepnight

elenyil

..... Don't let the bastards grind you down.

Im about to do my Oral commentary on the same novel you got this sentance from "The Handmaids Tail". :biggrin:

any suggestion particulary to that book, other than read the instructions :p:

Reply 7

freelancer04

hey everyone!
i just passed my ioc today and i fuc*ed up BIG TIME!
Is the teacher allowed the give us an extract that doesn"t have the title of the book or where the extract comes from on it??
I got an extract that I dont ever remember reading before and I said it was from a book while it was from another book we read... I really couldnt tell the difference the text was really abstract!
Does anyone know the formal rules or something?
Thanks:!!

Reply 8

schnargle

freelancer04

I'm pretty sure that they're allowed to give you an extract from anywhere in the four works, without telling you which one or where exactly it's from. They're testing whether you really know the texts you've studied, because unless the extract's REALLY badly chosen then you should be able to identify where the extract's from and analyse it in relation to the text.

Reply 9

fizzicsfiend

The teacher has no say in what extract you receive. Bad luck I suppose.

EDIT: whaa? Was freelancer04's post really in this 3 year old thread? My eyes deceive me surely.

Reply 10

schnargle

fizzicsfiend

The teacher has no say in what extract you receive. Bad luck I suppose.

True and false (at least for quite a few schools, I can't generalise for all). As far as I know, the teacher picks a number of relevant extracts to put into the box/envelope/whatever, and then which one you get is pure luck.