Year 8 Oracy Study

Oral Presentation

A classic novel is one accepted as being exemplary or noteworthy. It is normally

a term associated with the Western canon (essential reading) but also includes
Chinese classics or the Indian Vedas. Novels are normally considered classics if
their themes can be reinterpreted or renewed in the interests of generations
of readers succeeding its creation.

Similarly, classic poetry has withstood the test of time and can be read to
convey universal ideas relevant to a broad target audience.

If you choose a section of prose for your oracy presentation, it needs to be at

least 200 words, if you decide on a poem, it should be in excess of 20 lines.

Choose a classic text that appeals to you. Read it with purpose and ensure that
you can address the following questions:

1. What genre/literary movement does your text fit in to? Explain why… da
da da 3-4 sentences
2. Who wrote the novel and when was it written? Background info on them.
3. What was happening in the world at the time it was written that may have
influenced the characters and ideas in the text? 3 dot points
4. Summarise the main events in the plot of the novel or poem. What’s it
about… 1 sentence. I picked this bit because da da-da da-da.
5. Describe the main character/persona and how they evolve over the
course of the text. Jo.
6. What style does the author use to engage the reader? Provide a textual
reference from pros.
7. What message about society does the novel offer? Provide 2 textual
references from pros.

Down they went, feeling a trifle timid, for they seldom went to parties, and
informal as this little gathering was, it was an event to them. Mrs. Gardiner,
a stately old lady, greeted them kindly and handed them over to the eldest
of her six daughters. Meg knew Sallie and was at her ease very soon, but
Jo, who didn't care much for girls or girlish gossip, stood about, with her
back carefully against the wall, and felt as much out of place as a colt in a
flower garden. Half a dozen jovial lads were talking about skates in another
part of the room, and she longed to go and join them, for skating was one
of the joys of her life. She telegraphed her wish to Meg, but the eyebrows
went up so alarmingly that she dared not stir. No one came to talk to her,
and one by one the group dwindled away till she was left alone. She could
not roam about and amuse herself, for the burned breadth would show, so
she stared at people rather forlornly till the dancing began. Meg was asked
at once, and the tight slippers tripped about so briskly that none would have
guessed the pain their wearer suffered smilingly. Jo saw a big red headed
youth approaching her corner, and fearing he meant to engage her, she
slipped into a curtained recess, intending to peep and enjoy herself in
peace. Unfortunately, another bashful person had chosen the same refuge,
for, as the curtain fell behind her, she found herself face to face with the
`Laurence boy'.

Some suggestions:

 Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George Orwell

 To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
 Animal Farm, by George Orwell
 Lord Of The Flies, by William Golding
 Of Mice And Men, by John Steinbeck
 Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
 A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens
 The Catcher In The Rye, by J D Salinger
 Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens
 Pride And Prejudice, by Jane Austen
 The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
 The Great Gatsby
 Life of Pi
 Frankenstein
 Jasper Jones
 Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
 Gulliver’s Travels
 The Book Thief
 Jane Eyre
 Girl with a Pearl Earring
 Charles Dickens - Any title
 Jane Austen – Any title

Any poems of 20 lines plus by the following poets:

 Adamson, Robert*
 Angelou, Maya
 Armitage, Simon
 Bishop, Elizabeth
 Blake, William
 Brett, Lily*
 Campbell, David*
 Cohen, Leonard
 Coleridge, Samuel Taylor
 Collins, Billy
 Cummings, E.E.
 Dawe, Bruce*
 Dickinson, Emily
 Dobson, Rosemary*
 Donne, John
 Dougan, Lucy*
 Dransfield, Michael*
 Duffy, Carol-Ann
 Dylan, Bob
 Eliot, T.S.
 Frost, Robert
 Gray, Robert*
 Goldsworthy, Peter*
 Hardy, Thomas
 Harwood Gwen*
 Heaney, Seamus
 Herbert, Zbiegniew
 Hewett, Dorothy*
 Hughes, Ted
 Keats, John
 Kinsella, John*
 Larkin, Philip
 McAuley, James*
 Milton, John
 Moreton, Romaine*
 Murray, Les*
 Neruda, Pablo
 Noonuccal, Oodjeroo*
 Oliver, Mary
 Plath, Sylvia
 Rich, Adrienne
 Shakespeare, William
 Slessor, Kenneth*
 Smith, Stevie
 Soyinka, Wole
 Thomas, Dylan
 Tranter, J.*
 Wagan Watson, Samuel*
 Walcott, Derek
 Webb, Francis
 Whitman, Walt
 Wordsworth, William
 Wright, Judith*
 Yeats, W. B.
 Yu, Ouyang*