Key Idea: Building the IO means turning your global issue into an argument, weaving both works together and fitting it all into ten minutes.
Building your argument
- Make it a line of inquiry: a claim about HOW both works explore the issue.
- It must cover the literary AND the non-literary work.
- Every point in the oral develops it. This keeps you focused (Criterion C).
Connecting the two texts
- Use the global issue as the bridge on every point.
- Weave: move between the works point by point.
- Say why the two works treat the issue differently.
| Part | What you do | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Open | Issue and line of inquiry | ~1 min |
| Extract 1 | Close analysis | ~2.5 min |
| Extract 2 | Close analysis | ~2.5 min |
| Widen | The whole works | ~2.5 min |
| Conclude | Draw it together | ~1.5 min |
Signpost each move out loud and rehearse to time, so you reach the end.
Topic or line of inquiry: which is an argument? The line of inquiry. Naming a topic is not an argument.
Why not five minutes on each work? You get two separate talks, not one connected argument.
What is the most common structural failure? Running out of time by overspending on the first extract.
Why signpost? So the listener can follow your argument; it shows control.