Practice IOC

The voice recording would not post, so I emailed it!

Here is the passage I analyzed.

          Enter MACBETH, Doctor, and Attendants.

    MACBETH
    Bring me no more reports; let them fly all.
    Till Birnam wood remove to Dunsinane,
    I cannot taint with fear. What's the boy Malcolm?
    Was he not born of woman? The spirits that know
    All mortal consequences have pronounced me thus:
    "Fear not, Macbeth; no man that's born of woman
    Shall e'er have power upon thee." Then fly, false thanes,
    And mingle with the English epicures!
    The mind I sway by and the heart I bear
    Shall never sag with doubt nor shake with fear.

          Enter Servant.

    The devil damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon!
    Where got'st thou that goose look?

    Servant
    There is ten thousand—

    MACBETH
    Geese, villain?

    Servant
    Soldiers, sir.

    MACBETH
    Go prick thy face, and over-red thy fear,
    Thou lily-liver'd boy. What soldiers, patch?
    Death of thy soul! those linen cheeks of thine
    Are counsellors to fear. What soldiers, whey-face?

    Servant
    The English force, so please you.

    MACBETH
    Take thy face hence.

          Exit Servant.

    Seyton!—I am sick at heart,
    When I behold—Seyton, I say!—This push
    Will cheer me ever, or disseat me now.
    I have liv'd long enough: my way of life
    Is fall'n into the sear, the yellow leaf;
    And that which should accompany old age,
    As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends,
    I must not look to have; but, in their stead,
    Curses, not loud but deep, mouth-honour, breath,
    Which the poor heart would fain deny, and dare not.
    Seyton! 

Criterion A: Knowledge and understanding of the text or extract

I would give myself a 6 for this criterion. I definitely understood the text and the context, but I think I could have talked about it more and portrayed it better. I also used examples for everything I said, but I could have explained the examples more in depth and explained how they relate to the text as a whole.

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

I would give myself a 6 for this criterion. I talked a lot about two literary features, characterization and diction and how they work to illustrate the theme. However, I did not explicitly explain how they affect the reader.

Criterion C: Organization

I would give myself a 4 for this criterion. I stated in the beginning exactly how I was going to proceed in the IOC and that is what I did. I did not add anything extra that I did not mention in the beginning.

Criterion D: Language

I would give myself a 3 for this criterion. I talked really slowly in some places or paused in order to figure out what I was trying to say. I also noticed that I used some of the same descriptive words over and over again. I think I used language to adequately get my point across, but it could have been more fluid and less repetitive.

Never Let Me Go

There are not very many similarities between the two covers. The first similarity that I can find is that the largest words on the covers are in the title “Never Let Me Go” and they are both in all capital letters. The next largest are the author’s name, “Kazuo Ishiguro,” also in all capital letters. Also, even though the pictures on the covers look completely different, they both show a forest.

There are many more differences between the two covers. The first cover has many more words. It states that it is a “Man Booker Prize Finalist” and gives a review from The New York Times. It also has the words, “A Novel” underneath the author’s name. On the second cover, there are fewer words, and the title seems messier because it is not in a straight line. The pictures on the covers are also very different. On the first one, there are more colors, and the colors are brighter. There is a girl sitting down in the grass looking over her shoulder. On the second one, the color scheme is blue/gray and looks very bleak. There is also a body made of barbed wire.

The cover of the first one immediately makes me think it is a love story. The title combined with the colors and the picture of the girl make me think that the girl wants someone to hold on to her. If I had never read the book, I would not think that there was anything particularly different about this book compared to other love stories. However, the review from The New York Times calls it “melancholy and alarming.” This would make me interested in the novel, but I still would not realize what the book was about. Now that I have read the book, it seems that the picture on the cover is focusing on the social relationships in the story, and it is saying that the book is about humanity.

The cover of the second one immediately makes me think that the book is more of a science fiction book. It has a dark cover that kind of looks like metal, and the body made of barbed wire only shows the organs which makes me think it is more sinister. It is interesting that it shows only the torso with organs and no head or any other part of the body. It emphasizes that in the book, the organs are the only important part of the person (clone). It is very hard to guess what the book is about just by looking at the cover, but I think I would have been able to figure out what the book was about earlier on while reading it if I had already seen this cover. Since I have read the book, it is obvious that the cover is making a connection to the fact that the people in the book donate their vital organs. This cover is focusing on that (creepier) aspect of the story and is saying that the story is about the people dealing with this part of their lives.

These two covers, although completely different and suggesting very different stories, do effectively communicate the ideas of the book. The covers appeal to different people and therefore the book is able to obtain a wider audience.