Week in Review Podcast 3/23-27

Comment on OC Rubric Criterion B

As we approach the official round of commentaries, I want to draw attention to the fact that criterion B places high value on consideration of thoughts and feelings expressed in the extract. When there is more than one character involved, observe thoughts and feelings of both, separately. For instance, in "Sisters" from Dubliners there's a temptation to focus solely on Fr. Flynn during his wake. However, the states of mind of both the narrator and Eliza deserve a great deal of attention, as each has relevance to central themes.

In 1.3 of Macbeth, for another instance, observations about Banquo as he observes Macbeth ( who is thinking and speaking to the audience in asides) matter a great deal. One wouldn't want to talk just about Macbeth and ignore Banquo's character or the relationship between the two.

In general, talk about state of mind before themes. Observing a character's state of mind may easily lend itself to a consideration of theme.

Structuring Oral Commentaries

So here's a bit of coaching for Oral commentaries. When you begin, take 30 seconds or so to lay out your plan. Anything that helps your listener develop a coherent understanding of your commentary is good, and laying out your plan would help with that.

I would think that right after this, you would try to put your passage in context. This should be brief, but don't assume the listener is familiar with your extract. Take the time to set it up well. For example, if you're talking about "A Little Cloud" don't just jump in talking about Little Chandler. You might mention that the main character is a man named Tom Chandler whose friends, according to the narrator, call him "Little Chandler". If you do this, you should set yourself up for talking about the character in general terms, then discussing how that characterization is evident in the extract.