Practice IOC

Good luck reading my handwriting!
I chose the following excerpt of The Handmaid's Tale to do my practice IOC:
"I lower my eyes...'No,' I say.  'Nothing.'" (Atwood 262).

If I were technologically savvy, my audio clip would be right here.  But, I am not, so all I can post are the grades that I gave myself for this IOC practice.

My grades:

Total IOC Grade: 12 out of 30

Criterion A: Knowledge and understanding of the text: 3

I gave myself a 3 for this criterion because I did not summarize the excerpt in the introduction and did not adequately explain some of the societal terms that I was using like “Commander.”  I also did not explain Nick’s role in society or how Serena Joy’s status in the Gilead would be elevated if Offred had her husband’s children.  I also did not mention an entire paragraph of the excerpt in my analysis.  I did show some knowledge of the text by situating the excerpt within The Handmaid’s Tale, summarizing the premise of the novel, and explaining the role of the fertility theme within the book.

Criterion B: Understanding of the use and effect of literary features: 4

I gave myself a 4 for this criterion because I explained some literary features that were important to the text and connected them back to the development of Serena Joy and Offred’s relationship.  However, I did not mention any literary elements within the paragraph characterizing Offred’s mother, thus I cannot put myself at a level higher than “some awareness of literary features.”  Also, some of my connections to the effects on the reader were weak, such as when I tried to explain the subtle/quiet power that Serena Joy had over Offred.  Had I better connected that to how that was demonstrated and affected the book as a whole, perhaps I would have shown a better understanding of the literary features’ effects.

Criterion C: Organization: 2

I gave myself a 2 for organization because the presentation overall was organized within three main literary devices, but the explanation of some of those devices and their effects was scattered.  This was most prevalent in my explanation of diction, where there was a very long pause and a few incoherent points that I struggled to get across.

Criterion D: Language: 3

I gave myself a 3 for this criterion because of my heavy use of “ums.”  I also used second person when I was explaining an element of figurative language, which was not appropriate for this task.  Lastly, I used the vague word “thing” near the end of my presentation.