You down with the IOC? Yeah, you know me!

INDIVIDUAL ORAL COMMENTARY:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5BAIwN0tHcOR0UtNVVzeWc4NDdIUHN6V09LUHJVcDY4V2g0

Grading: 

Criterion A: Knowledge and understanding of the text or extract - 7

At the beginning, I was able to identify the the context (text and author).  I think I identified the themes and connected them to the rest of the story, although not in depth.  However, I am not sure how effective I was at using well-chosen evidence to make connections. 

Criterion B: Understanding of the use and effects of literary features - 7

I used a pretty good amount of literary devices in my opinion, although I did not have a broad variety in what type of devices I looked at (repetition seems to be my favorite).  Although I usually forget to do this, I actually did connect these devices to the effect they had on the reader.  I need to make sure I do this for all examples, and broaden the types of examples chosen. 

Criterion C: Organization - 3

My practice IOC was not incoherent, however, it also wasn't super well structured either.  I chose to speak about the passage chronologically.  This choice wasn't terrible in this situation, but I think could have backfired if I had a different excerpt with different guiding questions.  I also, at times, forgot what I was talking about and had to backtrack to figure out what I was talking about.  

Criterion D: Language - 4

I didn't say "like" or "um" often, yay!  I had to often pause and think about what I was saying, but I don't think that hurt my argument in any way.  Like I said in the prior criterion, I tend to lose my place.  I also used formal language, so that's good too.  

Passage:

The sidewalks here are cement. Like a child, I avoid stepping on the cracks. 

I'm remembering my feet on these sidewalks, in the time before, and what I

used to wear on them. Sometimes it was shoes for running, with cushioned 

soles and breathing holes, and stars of fluorescent fabric that reflected light

5) in the darkness. Though I never ran at night; and in the daytime, only 

beside well-frequented roads.

Women were not protected then.

I remember the rules, rules that were never spelled out but that every

woman knew: Don't open your door to a stranger, even if he says he is the

10) police. Make him slide his ID under the door. Don't stop on the road to 

help a motorist pretending to be in trouble. Keep the locks on and keep

going. If anyone whistles, don't turn to look. Don't go into a laundromat, by

yourself, at night.

I think about laundromats. What I wore to them: shorts, jeans, jogging 

15) pants. What I put into them: my own clothes, my own soap, my own 

money, money I had earned myself. I think about having such control.

Now we walk along the same street, in red pairs, and no man shouts 

obscenities at us, speaks to us, touches us. No one whistles.

There is more than one kind of freedom, said Aunt Lydia. Freedom to and 

20) freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are 

being given freedom from. Don't underrate it.

In front of us, to the right, is the store where we order dresses. Sonic people 

call them habits, a good word for them. Habits are hard to break. The store 

has a huge wooden sign outside it, in the shape of a golden lily; Lilies of the 

25) Field, it's called. You can see the place, under the lily, where the 

lettering was painted out, when they decided that even the names of shops 

were too much temptation for us. Now places are known by their signs 

alone.

Lilies used to be a movie theater, before. Students went there a lot; 

every spring they had a Humphrey Bogart festival, with Lauren Bacall or 

30) Katharine Hepburn, women on their own, making up their minds.They 

wore blouses with buttons down the front that suggested the possibilities of 

the word undone. These women could be undone; or not. They seemed to 

be able to choose. We seemed to be able to choose, then. We were a 

society dying, said Aunt Lydia, of too much choice.

- How is comparison used in this passage?

- How does Offred use language to express her emotions and attitudes?

IOC Prep (20 minutes)

- How is comparison used in this passage?

- How does Offred use language to express her emotions and attitudes?

CONTEXT (INTRODUCTION)

-          The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

-          Speculative fiction

-          Offred’s flashback to pre-revolutionary society

-          Contrasts past and present (flashbacks)

-          References the advice of Aunt Lydia

THESIS

In THT, the narrator, Offred, uses language and literary devises (particularly flashbacks) to contrast her life before and after she became a Handmaid.  Because of her first person narration, the reader is able to understand how Offred feels about this transition and contrast.

THEMES

-          Feminism

-          Freedom vs Protection

-          Light vs Dark

LITERARY DEVICES

-          Flashback

-          First Person Narration

1. Simile/allusion: “The sidewalks here are cement.  Like a child, I avoid stepping on the cracks” à used to transition to flashback, shows Offred is still young despite being so reserved

2.  Imagery: describing shoes à descriptive word choice, remembering past, now they do not have freedom of expression

3.  Structure: breaks up flow of excerpt à statement being made to contrast past/present

4.  Repetition: “rules”, “keep”, “don’t” [line 8-13]

5.  Structure: fragmented sentences à structured as commands/instructions, representative of instructions Offred gave and what she was taught [line 8-13]

à Parallels between restrictive actions of girls pre and post new society

à Commanding words, repetition makes her seem cold – reciting words

5.  Motif: “night” à representative of negative things, fear [line 5, 13]

6. Structure: same fragmented listing sentences as prior paragraph [line 14-16]

7. Word choice, pronoun: “now we” à transition from past to present, contrasts past descriptions of male and female conduct [line 17-18]

8.  Repetition: “freedom” à contrasting definitions of freedom, told by Aunt Lydia as an aside (mentor, teacher, keeps them safe) [line 19-21]

9.  Flashback à contrasts old and new appearance of store [line 19-28]

10. We vs them à identity

11. Allusion à references to clothing company, famous celebrities

12.  Repetition à “choose”