How to Ace Your How to Ace Your

IOCIOCFor Excellent IB Lit HL Students

Preparation0Read the poem carefully - color marking

and annotating as you go0Use guiding questions to help you focus

on key aspects of the poem the examiner considers important

0Write a bullet point plan0Jot down notes on evidence to use (e.g. note

line #'s you'll be referencing) under each point you decide to make

Organisation

0 Your IOC should comprise:

1. Introduction

2. Body

3. Conclusion

Introduction0Give some background information (context

of poem within Keats’s body of

poetry/life/Romanticism) be RELEVANT and

BRIEF

0Identify your THESIS statement

0What’s the point/theme of the poem?

0Who’s the speaker? Point of view?

0Predict the divisions of your commentary

Main Body

0Walk through the poem 0discuss your main points in detail, one at a

time, supporting them with evidence

0Explain HOW the idea/theme is presented (poet’s techniques) and WHY (to what purpose?) 0Connect discussion of literary features

to effect and meaning

Main Body

0Optional:0Make small and quick references to other

poems by Keats or the Romantics to bolster your argument

0Remember:0It is pointless to mention techniques

UNLESS you make a relevant point with them

Poetic Devices to consider0Tone, mood 0Perspective, attitude of speaker or poet toward

subject0Diction – word choice, style of language0Literary features – metaphor, simile,

personification, oxymoron, apostrophe, irony, hyperbole, paradox

0Sensory imagery: visual, auditory, gustatory, tactile, olfactory, synesthetic

0Sound devices – onomatopoeia, alliteration, assonance, consonance, rhyme, meter

0Repetition – words, ideas, anaphora, structural repetition

Poetic Devices to consider

0Punctuation – dashes, end-stopping, enjambment, caesura, rhetorical questions, colons

0Form – stanzas, sonnet form, ode form, etc.0Structure – organization of ideas, progression,

comparisons, conjunctions0Allusions – how do they function to help Keats

make his point?

Tone and mood

0What is the writer’s tone? Does it remain the same throughout?

0 Is there a mood (atmosphere) or feeling which pervades the piece - eg gloom, joy, sorrow?

0How specifically does the writer create this tone and mood – diction, imagery, sound techniques?

0 Is the poet’s attitude the same as the speaker’s?

0How does the speaker function in the poem?

Diction0What do you notice about the writer’s diction

(word choice)? Look for “jump” words. Consider both the denotation and connotation of the words.

0Are there types of words which recur - eg diction relating to death? childhood?

0Are there words which seem unexpected?0Is there an overall style to the language

used?0What effect does the diction create?

Rhyme, rhythm, sound effects0Does the poem have a rhyme scheme?

What is its effect? Does it make sense to mention rhyme in this poem? Does it have a distinct purpose?

0Does the poem have meter? Where might it break? Does it make sense to mention meter in this poem?

0What sound effects are used and why? Alliteration? Assonance? Consonance? Onomatopoeia?

Imagery

0What kinds (categories) of images are included in the poem?

0What senses does the imagery appeal to? Sight? Sound? Smell? Taste? Touch?

0Do the images build on each other? Are they similar or different? Does the imagery change in the poem?

Sound devices

0Onomatopoeia0Assonance - repetition of vowel sounds

within words0Alliteration - repetition of initial sounds0Consonance - repetition of consonants

within words0Rhyme – exact/slant; end/internal;

masculine/feminine

Form and structure0Is this a strict form (Shakespearian sonnet,

Petrarchan sonnet, ode, etc.)?0How does this form affect its meaning?

0Does it deviate from the traditional form? Why?

0How are the ideas of the poem organized? What’s the progression of the poem?

0How does the syntax affect meaning and organization? Look especially at conjunctions. Long/short sentences?

0Is Keats making comparisons?

Punctuation

0What punctuation is used and why?0Enjambment, end-stopping, caesura?

Why?0Types of punctuation to consider –

dash, question mark, exclamation point, ellipsis, colon

Focus on the Writer0Focus on how the writer uses language,

poetic devices0Keats, the poet, he 0Verbs (present tense!): conveys, highlights,

uses, takes, implies, suggests, explains, describes, stresses, gives, presents, shows, illustrates, indicates, looks, confronts, makes, evokes

0Keats’s use of alliteration helps to convey . . .

Conclusion

0Brings a sense of completion and closure0Affirms your central point0Should NOT repeat what you’ve already

said0Better to omit a conclusion and finish with

the last section of the extract than repeat yourself

Works Cited

Croft, S. & Cross, H. 2003, English for the IB Diploma, Oxford University Press: Oxford.

http://www.snapdrive.net/files/506698/ibscans/oralstructure.jpg

Ms. Cathi Wiebusch (adapted from her original powerpoint presentation)