Blogging Portfolio, December 10th

So the first semester is almost done, and it is time to do a little review on the blogs I have written this quarter. They have been classified in 5 different sections, where I have selected the ones I really enjoyed writing and portrayed my best work. Hope you enjoy and feel free to comment. 

1. Coverage:

Here are the links to all the blogs I was assigned this quarter.

http://javieraenglish.blogspot.com/2010/10/silence-is-power.html

http://javieraenglish.blogspot.com/2010/11/barbie-real-life-stories.html

http://javieraenglish.blogspot.com/2010/11/struggle-for-equality-feminism.html

http://javieraenglish.blogspot.com/2010/11/commentary-on-extract-from-handmaids.html

http://javieraenglish.blogspot.com/2010/11/in-beauty-myth-naomi-wolf-describes-how.html

http://javieraenglish.blogspot.com/2010/11/how-fiction-works.html

http://javieraenglish.blogspot.com/2010/11/post-apocalyptic-world.html

2. Depth:

This category will lead you to two blogs I was assigned this quarter. I have chosen these two blogs because I think they show a depth of discussion and analysis. I really enjoyed writing about these topics and in both entries I made a link to two art pieces, the first one to ‘Guernica’ by modern artist Pablo Picasso, and the second one to a friend’s art work for Visual Arts.

http://javieraenglish.blogspot.com/2010/11/post-apocalyptic-world.html

This entry is a response to McCarthy’s post apocalyptic novel ‘The Road’, in which I discuss how McCarthy conveys this post apocalyptic world throughout the novel through the use of diction and imagery.

http://javieraenglish.blogspot.com/2010/11/barbie-real-life-stories.html

This second entry is a response to two feminist articles we read for the course, about modern Barbies and Teen Magazines.

3. Interaction

4. Discussion

http://javieraenglish.blogspot.com/2010/11/commentary-on-extract-from-handmaids.html

My commentary on The Handmaid’s Tale received a couple of responses by my classmates, where they both agreed and expanded my ideas, apart from posting some personal ones they had. Although not made explicit in the blog, their responses made me realize how there are several ways to interpret an extract and how novelists are extremely talented by portraying all their ideas in various manners.

5. Xenoblogging

http://iloveenglishmorethananyone.wordpress.com/2010/11/21/love-necessity-in-the-lives-of-women/#comments

This section includes a response I made to Julie’s commentary writing on an extract from Margaret Atwood novel ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’. I used this opportunity to present to her some of the ideas I had and how she described them in her commentary, but perhaps needed an expansion. I hope she took my ideas in a positive way!

6. Wildcard:

http://javieraenglish.blogspot.com/2010/12/iop.html

This entry is a response to the IB’s Internal Oral Presentation. After completing two Presentations, I felt the need to reflect a little bit on the challenges it imposed me and how effective it was to my learning. 

The IOP

My experience with the IOP

The IB English course is very demanding, but very interesting at the same time. Finally done with my IOP, I will use this entry as a means of reflecting a little bit about this whole new experience.

In this entry I will by describing my experience with the IB’s Internal Oral Presentation, or most commonly known by my fellow ‘IBers’, the IOP. Just to give a little background about this assessment, the IOP is an internally assessed task, designated as a way for students to show their creative, artistic and dramatic side, while at the same time showing an interesting approach to analysis to a particular work, discussing how writers use specific techniques to convey theme. In order to start preparing an IOP, the student must start with a selection of topic, which range from Cultural Setting of Work, Thematic Focus, Characterization, Techniques and Style, an Authors attitude to particular works and an Interpreation of a work. Moreover, there is also a selection of possible activities, including structured dicussions, oral exposes and Role Plays.

In this quarter we prepared two IOP’s; the first one was merely focused on George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984, and was really an introduction and practice with this assessment, whereas the second one was of free choice, where we got the chance to choose what we really wanted to do and which novel to analyse. For both occassions, it was very difficult picking a specific topic, and without any previous knowledge and experience with this type of activity, it was particularly tricky how to start preparing it and even how to approach it. For me it was also very challenging since I am not very good with public speaking, therefore I was somehow ‘forced’ into doing the oral expose since the other choices were more demanding in this sense, although I am very interested in drama.

Looking back, I think the IOP gave me more experience with public speaking and also an opportunity to look at the novels in ways I found very interesting and liked a lot, thus made more enthusiast when preparing it, specially the second presentation, in which I described how Margaret Atwood portrays the Subjugation and Dehumanization of women in The Handmaid's Tale, through the use of symbolism, imagery, diction and metaphors. 

I do regret however, not having the somehow bravery of doing a role play, since it would have really allowed me as a student to explore another way of approaching a novel. Nevertheless presenting my ideas in an oral expose gave me more security and confidence.

Overall, the IOP has proven to be a very challenging activity, but gave me important experience for the course and program, and maybe even for the future.