ORAL COMMENTARY FEEDBACK

EASY TO FIX!

“SPEAK THE SPEECH I PRAY YOU…”

Brit. /prnnsen/, U.S. /prnnsie()n/

1. a. Oratorical utterance; elocution; delivery; spec. elegant or eloquent delivery. Obs. ?a1439 LYDGATE tr. Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) VI. 3140 Bi crafft he hadde..Fauour synguleer in pronunciacioun..For the pronouncyng of maters in substaunce. 1553 T. WILSON Arte of Rhetorique III. f. 116v, Pronunciation is an apte orderinge both of the voyce, countenaunce, and all the whole bodye, accordynge to the worthines of suche woordes and mater as by speache are declared. 1612 J. BRINSLEY Ludus Lit. xviii. 211 Pronuntiation, beeing that which either makes or mars the most excellent speech. 1748 J. MASON Ess. Elocution 8 By Pronunciation, the Antients understood both Elocution and Action; and comprehended in it the right Management of the Voice, Looks, and Gesture.

b. The action of pronouncing a word or words; the way in which a word is pronounced, esp. with reference to a recognized standard.

“…AS I PRONOUNCE IT TO YOU, TRIPPINGLY, ON THE

TONGUE.”

Failure to pronounce the words in your passage correctly:

Can cost you points under criterion D.

More importantly: undermines your authority.

Pay particular attention to author’s names, words in titles, and characters’ names.

When you are planning, if you run into words you don’t know how to pronounce, ASK ME before you start the commentary.

THE NUMBERS IN LINE

Macbeth:Thou art too like the spirit of Banquo; down!Thy crown does sear mine eyeballs. And thy hair,Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first.A third is like the former. Filthy hags,Why do you show me this?—A fourth? Start, eyes!What, will the line stretch out to th' crack of doom?

firstThou otherthird

fourth

USE THE LINE NUMBERS

Your listener can follow you much better when you quote or refer to text if you give the actual line number.

Ex) In lines 11-12, the narrator says….

Ex) The metaphor of the thunderstorm runs from line 7 through line 15.

Ex) Plath uses “I” at the beginning of lines and “you” at the ends, as in lines 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, and 12.

REQUIRES SOME EFFORT TO FIX!

WHAT PART DOES THIS PASSAGE PLAY?

Jaques:All the world's a stage,And all the men and women merely players;They have their exits and their entrances,And one man in his time plays many parts,His acts being seven ages.

CONTEXTUALIZATION

You are expected to put your passage “in context.”

NOT a lengthy summary.

Instead, EITHER:

Identify the place in the text where the passage occurs:

Ex) Act II, scene 1

Ex) Opening paragraph

Ex) The beginning of the “Initiation” phase of the Hero’s Journey.

OR:

CONTEXTUALIZATION

Identify the function of the passage in the text:

Ex) This is the passage in which the character’s motives shift from good to evil.

Ex) This is the passage in which the author provides a metaphor to represent his overall thesis.

Ex) This is a passage in which the function of the setting is clearly established.

OR:

Both.

CONTEXTUALIZATION

If the text is a poem, which does not function as part of a larger story, then:

Connect briefly, and where appropriate, to other works by the same poet, or contrast with works by the other poet we studied.

Ex) This imagery is typical of Plath, as we see when she uses it in “X” to show “Y.”

Ex) This poem is related to “Z,” in which Boland’s point is also “A.”

Ex) This theme is consistent with the themes of Plath’s other poems: “C,” “D,” and “E.”

“THOUGH THIS BE MADNESS…”

Organization is scored under Criterion C.

Line-by-line organization is the least effective, least sophisticated, lowest scoring means of organizing a commentary.

“…YET THERE IS METHOD IN IT.”

Main Idea

THOROUGH EXPLANATIONS

Friar Laurence.

I will be brief, for my short date of breath Is not so long as is a tedious tale.

THREE-PART WARRANT

A COMMON FORM OF INCOMPLETE

EXPLANATION

A MUCH BETTER EXAMPLE: FROM THE PROLOGUE TO ROMEO AND

JULIET

EXCELLENT STUDENT SAMPLES

SOURCES

Pronunciation Cartoon from: http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/p/pronounciation_gifts.asp. 1/11/09.

Pronunciation Definition from the Online OED: http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50190032?single=1&query_type=word&queryword=pronunciation&first=1&max_to_show=10 1/11/09.

Line of Succession quotation from Macbeth by William Shakespeare. IV.1.112-117. http://www.enotes.com/shakespeare-quotes/crack-doom. 1/9/09.

“Speak the Speech” speech from Hamlet by William Shakespeare. III.ii.1-12. http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/play_view.php?WorkID=hamlet&Act=3&Scene=2&Scope=scene

MORE SOURCES

“All the World’s a Stage” quotation from As You Like It by William Shakespeare, II.vii.139-143. http://www.enotes.com/shakespeare-quotes/all-world-s-stage. 1/9/09.

Feather image from: http://tutorialseeker.com/forum/index.php?act=Print&client=printer&f=79&t=431. 1/9/09.

“Good vs. Evil” painting from: http://anitrinity.blogspot.com/2007/04/on-good-evil-kahlil-gibran.html. 1/9/09.

Method in this Madness quotation from: Hamlet by William Shakespeare, II.ii.193-206. http://www.enotes.com/shakespeare-quotes/though-madness-yet-there-method-t. 1/9/09.

PRESENTATION PREPARED BY:

Carolyn P. Henly Meadowbrook High School 4901 Cogbill Rd. Richmond, VA 23234 804-743-3683 Carolyn_henly@ccpsnet.net http://home.comcast.net/~cphenlymbk2006