IOC – The Awakening, Rime of the Ancient Mariner and the poetry of Langston Hughes
They have been moved and shocked by Edna Pontellier’s struggle for individuality in a 19th century man’s world in Kate Chopin’s, The Awakening.
They have been bewildered by the symbolism and allegory of the great Albatross in Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
And finally, the HL students have considered just how ‘weary’ those blues are through Langston Hughes’s poetry.
The students thought analyzing the texts was the hard work! For the last two weeks the students have been preparing mock IOCs as practice. IB guidelines state they will be given an excerpt from one of the studied texts, then they have 20 minutes to prepare an oral based on that excerpt. They have to speak about it for 10 minutes! An exceptionally difficult assessment to prepare for. It is however, an important one as the internal assessment counts towards 15% of the final mark.
My students have consistently asked why they have to fulfill this assessment. If they succeed with the IOC they will have proved that they have the ability to:
– Structure an oral presentation in a clear, sensible and logical fashion
– Use language appropriate to a formal oral situation
– Work under high pressure time constraints
– Respond to questions in an informed and persuasive manner
It is my view that these abilities will definitely help to prepare these young adults to face similar situations at university and in their chosen careers.
Grade 12 SL are hoping to complete their final IOC before the end of the year and Grade 12 HL will be completing early February. My piece of advice to Grade 12: “Don’t let this IOC be your Albatross!”