BASIS OF AN ORAL COMMENTARY
Section 1 – INTRODUCTION 1 minute
1. Identify text and author. Place extract. Eg Act 3 scene 3 or Chapter 7.
2. Background to text (ie Crucible is about Salem witch trials in 1692, but inspired by the rampant McCarthyism of 1950’s America)
3. State what is happening in extract
4. What events led up to this?
Section 2 – Character/Theme c.5 minutes
What you say now must be SPECIFICALLY RELEVANT TO EXTRACT, with only the occasional comparison to the wider text
1. Characters – focal point.
a. Discuss the characters mentioned in the extract.
b. How are the characters developed in the extract?
c. How do they interact?
d. What is interesting about the characters in this extract?
e. How is language used to portray the characters?
2. Themes
a. How are the key themes expanded or developed?
b. How is imagery used to supplement theme?
3. Setting
a. What is the importance of setting in this extract?
Section 3 – Language c.5 minutes
1. How language helps develop the plot
2. Identify literary devices (simile/metaphor etc) and their purpose
3. Structure
a. Prose: look at sentence & paragraph length, punctuation etc
b. Poetry: look at stanza & sentence length, caesura, enjambment, metre & rhythm
4. Narrative voice (monologue/first person or third person) Why is this important?
5. Mood and tone – How is this created? What is the effect?
6. Style of writing (simplistic or complex? Syntax?). Diction/lexical field.
Section 4 1 min round up
1. How does this extract have an impact of what follows?
2. Personal response (without using the word “I”)
3. Why is this a key section of the wider text?
KEY ASPECTS OF ORAL PRESENTATION
1. An extract has been chosen for a reason. It is a key extract from the text. Explain why.
2. There will be 2 guiding questions to help you ‘get into’ the text. Addressing these is advised.
3. Always use direct quotations from the extract and always refer to it with line numbers.
4. Express knowledge of text through the extract. Look for links to whole novel/play.
5. You must speak for about 12 minutes, so focus on your strengths.
6. Your teacher will ask you a couple of questions on areas that they wish you to elaborate or clarify. These questions are designed to help you attain a higher mark, not to trick you out.
7. Your teacher will indicate after you have been speaking for 10 minutes to help you with the timing of your commentary. You should start to move towards section 4 at this stage.
8. Be enthusiastic and use an engaged tone. There is nothing more tedious for an examiner than a monotonous voice.
9. Use a formal register and vocabulary.