Individual Oral Presentation Task Sheet

 

The Basic Rules:

¡P         Each of you has to deliver a 10-15 minute presentation, followed by a class discussion, on one of the three texts that we have studied so far: Szymborska¡¦s poetry, Running in the Family or Kiss of the Spider Woman.

¡P         You are not allowed to read from a script you will be allowed 2-3 cue cards with bullet points only but I strongly encourage you to practise your presentation so well that you don¡¦t even need the cue cards because this will help to make the ¡¥presentation¡¦ element of the task even more engaging.

¡P         The presentations will be delivered in the second week back after Christmas, which is the 14th ¡V 18th January.

¡P         Bear in mind this presentation counts towards 15% of your final IB mark and there is no chance to re-take, so do a good job.

 

 

Hints & Tips:

¡P         Remember that one of the things that we really struggled with in the practice IOPs was engaging the audience, so this time you need to make sure that you pay conscious attention to the techniques you are going to use to do this effectively. Remember that the techniques you use to engage the audience should be relevant to the presentation, so don¡¦t start with a funny but totally unrelated video clip. Here are some of the things (although there are many more) that you should think about when preparing your presentation:

o        where you will stand / how you will move around the room

o        where you want your audience to sit

o        whether you are going to ask your audience questions / give them tasks to engage their interest

o        how you will make your powerpoint or visual aid as engaging as possible so that it isn¡¦t just a list of bullet points on the board (using images is a good way to do this, but can you think of any others?)

o        how you are going to alter the pace, volume and tone of your voice at key points to create interest

o        how you are going to use body language and eye contact to create interest

o        whether you will use any other audio-visual aids (e.g. music, movie clips)

¡P         One of the best ways to really make your presentation interesting is to choose something that you are actually interested in and enthusiastic about ¡V hopefully this will allow you to harness some of your own enthusiasm when you present

¡P         Remember also that this presentation is not just about presentation style but it is also about your ability to demonstrate a perceptive, insightful and interesting understanding of the text ¡V so if you just recap things that we have already discussed in class then you are unlikely to score very highly. Use the discussions we had in class and the questions raised to explore something new, from a different angle or in more depth than we did in the lessons

 

 

Possible Presentation Topics:

You can present on anything that you are interested in as long as it is in some way related to the texts we studied, possible areas of focus might include:

¡P         the cultural setting of the work(s) and related issues

¡P         an exploration of themes, characterisation, technique or style

¡P         the author¡¦s attitude to a part of the text, e.g. character(s)

¡P         the interpretation of particular elements from different perspectives.

 

Here is a list of some of the possible presentation types that you could do:

¡P         A critique of your own writing that has been produced in the style of one of the literary genres studied

¡P         The examination of a particular interpretation of a work or the comparison of two opposing readings of a work

¡P         The setting of a particular writer¡¦s work against another body of material, for example, details on social background or political views

¡P         An exploration of the use of a particular image, motif, idea or symbol in one text or in a writer¡¦s work

¡P         A performance or a pastiche of a poem / or extract from a text being studied

¡P         A comparison of two passages, two characters or two works

¡P         A detailed commentary of a 30 ¡V 40 passage from a work studied in class, which has been prepared at home

¡P         An account of your developing response to a work

¡P         A monologue or dialogue by a character at an important point in the work / later on in life

¡P         An author¡¦s reaction to a particular interpretation of elements of his or her work in a given context (for example, a critical defence of the work against a charge of subversion, or immorality, before a censorship board)

 

Remember, however, that if you do a creative presentation (like a pastiche or a monologue), you need to include a rationale in your oral that explains what you were trying to do, how you tried to achieve this and how it relates to the text in question.