The Individual Oral Decoded – A 4 Week Practice Plan

When it comes to the IA, IO, GI, or FOI, students will often respond with IDK. What is the individual oral in Language and Literature, and more importantly, how can you better prepare for it outside of the classroom?

In essence, the Individual Oral is a 10-minute oral presentation followed by a 5-minute Q&A. Students are to connect one literary work with a non-literary work through an identified global issue (GI). These connections occur within the form of a comparative analysis in which students identify authorial choices present within both works and how the authors use those choices to address the global issue. To better prepare for the IO, do a little practice consistently for four weeks. Use concrete evidence, explain effects, and synthesize—don’t just summarize.

The 4-Week Plan

Week 1 — Choose & Clarify

Goal: Lock the pairing and the GI; map the terrain.

1. Pick your pair

• Literary work you can quote accurately

• Non-literary text you can describe precisely (mode, context, purpose)

2. Draft your Global Issue

• Scope: Who/what is affected, and how?

• Lens: Identity / Culture / Power (or similar from the Fields of Inquiry)

• Action: What the texts do with this issue (complicate, critique, expose)

3. 5-bullet text maps (each text)

• Context & purpose

• 2–3 authorial choices → intended effect

• One sentence linking to the GI

Checkpoint (end of Week 1): You can state your GI in one sentence and justify why both texts are fit to explore it.

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Week 2 — Evidence & Explanation

Goal: Build the analysis engine.

1. Collect precise evidence (each text)

• 4–5 short quotes or described features (e.g., camera movement, layout, headlines, data)

2. Complete the chain (for every piece of evidence)

• Technique → Effect on reader → Meaning → GI link

• Make the “so what?” explicit

3. Mini-rehearsal (3 minutes)

• Speak from bullet points, not a script

• Listen back for clarity; cut jargon, keep verbs strong

Checkpoint (end of Week 2): You can explain how a choice creates effect and why that matters for the GI.

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Week 3 — Structure & Timing

Goal: Shape a presentation that fits 9:30–10:00.

Suggested outline (with time targets):

• Intro (0:30): GI + texts + organizing idea

• Text A (4:00): 2–3 choices → effects → meaning → GI

• Text B (4:00): 2–3 choices → effects → meaning → GI

• Synthesis (1:00): Compare methods, not just topics

• Close (0:30): Re-state the insight you’ve proven

Transitions to practice

• “While Text A uses ___ to ___, Text B relies on ___, which results in ___.”

• “Both texts construct ___, but through contrasting ___, shaping our view of ___.”

Checkpoint (end of Week 3): Your outline hits time and every section advances the same GI.

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Week 4 — Polish & Q&A

Goal: Deliver confidently and think on your feet.

1. Final rehearsal

• Hit 9:30–10:00 consistently

• Trim repetition; signpost sections (“First… Next… Finally…”)

2. Prepare likely Q&A prompts

• Clarify GI scope (why this framing, not broader/narrower?)

• Defend evidence selection (why these moments?)

• Offer alternative readings (what would a different audience notice?)

• Method comparison (why is X more effective than Y here?)

• Context questions (how does context constrain/enable meaning?)

• Ethical dimension (what responsibilities do creators have here?)

3. Delivery polish

• Post-its with keywords only

• Breathe and pause after key claims; let meaning land

Checkpoint (end of Week 4): You can answer follow-ups without new quotes—by reasoning from your analysis.

Follow these steps, and over the course of four week,s you will better prepare yourself for your own individual oral.