IOC Commenting on a play: what should I keep in mind?

[Harshil.P]

Hey guys,

I need help in commenting about a play. What to keep in mind when commenting on a play like eg. Macbeth?

[Censored Dreams]

Make sure you talk about all the characters in your extract. You need to mention all the characters in your extract in the beginning, and describe briefly what each of them do in that scene, e.g. this is the scene where character x, y, and z discover w's death.

Don't focus too much on what happens. It is important to describe whatis happening in the scene, but what's more important is to analyse and interpret the events.

Hope that helps

Edited September 7, 2011 by Censored Dreams

[ChikkyD]

Make sure you contextualise in the beginning! That's very important as it sets up the scene for your commentary. Begin by saying what has just happened before the scene, what is currently happening, and what will occur after. You can then tell the marker your interpretation of the scene. You can structure your analysis however you like; line by line, organised by events, however you wish!

Make sure you conclude at the end as well, reiterating your most important points and making a concluding statement to wow the pants of your examiner

I've done Macbeth for IOC's and oral commentaries, so it's not that bad .

[dessskris]

for IOC, this is the format my teacher suggested:

1. greetings, introduce yourself (name, candidate number etc)

2. "I'm going to comment on an extract from the (insert genre) (insert work title) by (insert author)."

3. "this extract was taken from..." (chapter number if you can remember, or mention where in the plot it is e.g. climax or exposition or rising action etc)

4. briefly describe what the extract is about

5. tell what happened before this extract and after the extract

6. mention the focus/theme of the extract and how the author portrayed it (list the literary devices)

7. start commenting line by line

8. "this is the end of my commentary / that is all i can comment on this extract"

fin.

follow that. I do and it always gets me a 7.

[Harshil.P]

thank you everyone