10-minute oral presentation.
5-minute question and answer time.
Recorded and sent to the IB
SL: 30% of grade
HL: 20% of grade
The individual oral addresses the following prompt.
“Examine the ways in which the global issue (GI) of your choice is presented through the content and form of one of the [literary] works and one of the [non-literary] bodies of work (BOWs) that you have studied.” - IBDP Guide for Language A: Language and Literature, 2019
The individual oral is based on the exploration the student has carried out in the learner portfolio. During this exploration process, the student will have investigated a series of literary works and a variety of global issues. In the lead-up to the individual oral, the student must make a decision about which global issue and which texts will be explored in the task. One literary text and one body of work must be selected. An extract of no more than 40 lines should be selected from each which is representative of the presence of the global issue in it. In forms or text types where the number of lines may not be applicable, evaluate the volume of text that can be discussed in sufficient depth in the time available.
The texts selected must have a clear connection with the global issue. The individual oral should be a well-supported argument about the ways in which both represent and explore the global issue. Students must select two extracts, one from each text, that clearly show significant moments when this global issue is being focused on. Normally these extracts should not exceed 40 lines or present an unmanageable amount of material to be analysed. As the student brings unannotated copies of these extracts to the individual oral, extracts which are too lengthy may hinder their ability to effectively expand the discussion to the text or work as a whole. An extract may be a complete text in itself, for example a whole poem.
If the extract is from a literary text which is part of a larger work studied, such as a short story, or if it is a complete text which is part of a work studied, such as a poem, students should discuss relevant aspects of the broader work as a whole in their individual oral.
The extracts are meant to help students focus their responses, remove the need to learn quotations and enable them to explore more precise issues, such as style, specific devices and other distinct techniques used by authors to present the global issue.
The choice of extracts should show the student’s understanding of the relevance of the part to the whole and enable coverage of larger and smaller choices made by the writers to shape their perspectives on the global issue.