Key Idea: At HL the oral starts from a literary extract. This topic covers how to analyse the extract, the literary skills to talk about it, and the words you need.
Analysing a literary extract
- ¿Qué pasa? — What happens, in one sentence.
- ¿Cómo está escrito? — Voice, tone and devices. For each device: name it, quote it, explain its effect.
- ¿Qué significa? — Theme and effect. Spend most of your time on this step and the one before.
| Skill | What to do |
|---|---|
| Place it | What came before, what changes here, what it sets up |
| Character | What they do and say, how others treat them, what the narrator shows |
| Narrator and setting | Who tells it, where and when, and what that adds |
| Tone and key moment | Name the feeling, then find the line where it shifts |
| Quoting | Two to five words woven into your sentence; paraphrase the rest |
| Move | Phrases |
|---|---|
| Describe | {{El autor presenta… / La escena muestra…|The author presents… / The scene shows…}} |
| Interpret | {{Esto sugiere que… / Simboliza…|This suggests that… / It symbolises…}} |
| Respond | {{Lo que más me llama la atención es… porque…|What strikes me most is… because…}} |
| Power structures | {{No creo que sea… / Yo diría que…|I don't think it is… / I would say…}} |
Analyse, don't summarise. A bare «me gusta» is not a response; say why.
Which two questions take most of your time? «¿Cómo está escrito?» and «¿Qué significa?».
«No creo que el narrador ___ (ser) sincero.» «Sea»: the subjunctive after «no creo que».
What are the four clues to a character? Actions, words, what others say, and how the narrator describes them.
How long is a quotation when you speak? Short: a few words, then say what they show.
Which tense do you use to describe a scene? The present: the literary present.