How to write a rationale for a creative IOP

[godhelpme]

Hi,

For my IOP I'm writing a poem representative of an internal monologue for a character in my novel but idk how to structure the rationale. Should I be writing about how my writing choices made the poem interesting to hear or how they communicated something about the novel or both? Is it supposed to have a thesis or something? Also, how should it be structured like has anyone's school given them a document to assist with this that they could share with me?

My draft is due in like a week so any help is very much appreciated!

Thanks

[Jaysun]

Yo. I'm not god but I'll try to help you anyways.

I think your question depends on whether you're taking Lit or LangLit. If it's LangLit, then I think focusing on your use of words and literary devices/detail would be more important, since that is more the focus of the course. For lit, I think a huge focus should be on how your poem provides insight/analysis to this character/novel, and how it allows for literary enrichment by presenting the internal monologue in poetry form. Your approach really does allow for flexibility.

I've never actually heard of an IOP rationale, so I can't help you with the formatting. I feel like asking your teacher would be the best bet. I would assume that the rationale is just to prove that you've put serious thought and consideration into your IOP, so I think it'd be important to communicate that (like why you are doing what you are doing).

[godhelpme]

2 minutes ago, Jaysun said:

Yo. I'm not god but I'll try to help you anyways.

I think your question depends on whether you're taking Lit or LangLit. If it's LangLit, then I think focusing on your use of words and literary devices/detail would be more important, since that is more the focus of the course. For lit, I think a huge focus should be on how your poem provides insight/analysis to this character/novel, and how it allows for literary enrichment by presenting the internal monologue in poetry form. Your approach really does allow for flexibility.

I've never actually heard of an IOP rationale, so I can't help you with the formatting. I feel like asking your teacher would be the best bet. I would assume that the rationale is just to prove that you've put serious thought and consideration into your IOP, so I think it'd be important to communicate that (like why you are doing what you are doing).

Thanks! I didn't know Langlit had an IOP I thought it was FOA instead but anyway yeah i'm doing lit SL.

Do you think it should be about the same length as my poem?

[Jaysun]

Oh damn yea it's a FOA, it's been a while since I've been in IB. But yea since it's Lit, definitely look into how poetry expresses literature differently than monologue, and how your poem enriches what's already there.

I don't think you should compare your rationale to your poem. A poem should be natural, and a rationale should contain all relevant information and your thoughts on why you chose to do this. I think a rationale can be rather brief, but again, ask your teacher to confirm this. You shouldn't need to break down your poem line by line or anything like that.

[godhelpme]

4 minutes ago, Jaysun said:

Oh damn yea it's a FOA, it's been a while since I've been in IB. But yea since it's Lit, definitely look into how poetry expresses literature differently than monologue, and how your poem enriches what's already there.

I don't think you should compare your rationale to your poem. A poem should be natural, and a rationale should contain all relevant information and your thoughts on why you chose to do this. I think a rationale can be rather brief, but again, ask your teacher to confirm this. You shouldn't need to break down your poem line by line or anything like that.

Cheers. Do you think I should do some in-depth analysis just briefly because I feel that some of my metaphors are a bit abstract and might require an explanation

[Jaysun]

I would be careful about that, metaphors and literary devices are sometimes best left up to interpretation. However, if they do seem really abstract, it may be helpful to say your rationale behind using such abstract metaphors, but I would be careful about doing any level of in-depth analysis.

[godhelpme]

Just now, Jaysun said:

I would be careful about that, metaphors and literary devices are sometimes best left up to interpretation. However, if they do seem really abstract, it may be helpful to say your rationale behind using such abstract metaphors, but I would be careful about doing any level of in-depth analysis.

Ah I see. Just because it would be a bit boring and out of context for that type of a presentation?

[Jaysun]

I mean...it is literature. Some people are gonna find it interesting and others will find it boring. I covered myself with fake blood for my IOP because I felt it was needed to add to my analysis to Macbeth. Don't pander to your audience, other than your teacher since they mark it (although I would assume they find literature interesting if they're teaching lit).