Cambridge English Literature for the IB Diploma
Planning sheet 2.1: individual oral commentary
This planning sheet is for Part 2 of your IB English Literature course. Its aim is to help you to
structure an individual oral commentary (IOC) effectively.
Pages 37–8 of the IB English Literature coursebook give you the following advice about your IOC.

Aim to speak for 8 minutes, perhaps using the following structure:
1. a 1-minute introduction
2. 3 minutes on each of two selected main themes
3. 1 minute for final points.

Use the 20-minute preparation time to complete the following tasks:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Read the passage and the guiding questions.
Identify your two or three big themes.
Mark up the points that you will use to develop and analyse your themes.
Sequence your points so that you are clear about the order in which you will make each of
the points.
5. Make sure that you have clear notes.
6. Practise.
See page 39 of the coursebook for more information about structuring your IOC.
The planning documents provided for Part 2 give you a structure to work through and sequence your
ideas about an extract, in order to help you ensure that your commentary is carefully focused and
organised. There is a one-page version of the IOC planning document available to download (see
planning sheet 2.2) that you could print or photocopy, or perhaps enlarge to A3 size.
You should use this blank planner template when starting to practise for the IOC (remembering, of
course, that you won’t be able to use it in the real IOC, so you will need to complete several practices
with just the extract in front of you). If you follow each of the stages suggested, you should find that
this gives you an excellent framework for your commentary.
You will notice that there are partially and fully completed planning documents provided for some of
the texts specifically featured as part of the Cambridge IB English Literature online resources, to
show how you might use these in practising for your commentary (see planning sheets 2.3–2.5 for
Macbeth and 2.6–2.7 for Great Expectations).
1. Write down the guiding questions and highlight the key words:
Question 1:
Question 2:
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2. Work out what your structuring themes /ideas are going to be. They may be very closely
based on the guiding questions (and re-worked in your own words) although they don’t have
to be. You should write out a headline for each theme/idea in one short, clear sentence which
will form part of the introductory section your commentary.
Theme/idea 1:
Theme/idea 2:
Theme/idea 3:
3. Now draft your introduction. Remember that this should last no more than a minute. It should give
the examiner a very clear idea of how you will structure your commentary (you should say exactly
what your key themes/ideas will be) and – if necessary – it should place the extract very clearly in
context.
Introduction to commentary
4. For each element of your commentary, you should now select between three and five quotations
that you are going to use from the extract to help support your point. You might highlight the
quotation on your copy of the extract and then simply write the line number in the box, so that you
can easily refer to the quotation. You should then aim to comment on how the writer’s choice of
language and/or structure and/or form helps shape meaning in relation to each of these quotations.
Remember to aim to answer the questions how and why.
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Cambridge English Literature for the IB Diploma
Theme/idea 1
Quotations to support idea
Quotations to support idea
Notes on language/structure/form
Theme/idea 2
Notes on language/structure/form
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Quotations to support idea
Theme/idea 3
Notes on language/structure/form
5. Now you should draft two or three sentences which will act as a conclusion (lasting between 30
seconds and 1 minute). This should be a brief summary of your commentary, perhaps referring back
to the text as a whole and the place of the extract within that text.
Conclusion to commentary
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