Only a couple of days remain until the IBDP November 2024 examination, and these tips will help you a lot to get a better mark in English A – Lang. Lit. Paper 1. Of course, there’s no time to study or to increase your writing and analytical skills level, but there is still time to master how to apply your skills better to get a higher mark. And don’t forget to get enough rest before any exam, test, or assessment in life. It is also worth mentioning that the May 2024 session report helped a lot in finalizing these tips.
Stay Centered on the Guiding Question/Prompt
Some students focus too much on the guiding question that they forget to do any literary analysis sometimes. When the GQ is asking you to analyze “how the interplay of text and images is used to appeal to multiple audiences,” it does not mean that you don’t need to analyze the language of the texts. You always need to analyze the textual elements, the visual elements (if any), and the literature of the text, which includes analyzing the language: tone, literary devices, etc.
Now that it is clear how to stay centered on the GQ while covering all bases, you should also remember to avoid straying around and explaining unrelated ideas or sharing personal opinions. Your job is to do an unbiased analysis of the text based on the guiding question. In the example above, which is also very common, you will explain how the author uses text and visual elements to make the poster or infographics more attractive for a wider range of audiences. The words, sentence structures, tone, icons, images, and colors used are your analysis material. However, your personal opinions about the subject of the text, related news or research surrounding the main topic, and backstories that you may know are not relevant, and you must stay away from them.
In an extreme example, if someone has made a campaign to recruit assassins and has done a really amazing job that appeals to a wide range of audiences, then that’s what you should write about. Whether, in your opinion, assassination is good or bad, ethical considerations surrounding the issue, or statistics and academic papers published on the subject are totally irrelevant to your analysis. More importantly, these won’t bring you any marks.
It is true that you can “use the guiding question or propose an alternative technical or formal aspect of the text to focus your analysis,” but you probably better stick to the guiding question.
Plan Before Writing
It really doesn’t matter how good you think you are at writing, or if you don’t have enough patience to go through all the preparation; if you do not plan for your text, you’ll end up with an incoherent and definitely badly structured result.
First, fully understand the guiding question (or statement) and highlight the keywords. For our example, “how the interplay of text and images is used to appeal to multiple audiences,” the keywords are “interplay” and “multiple audiences.” Then make a list of 7 to 10 points for analysis. Your list may look like this:
possible audiences and how the text appeals to them
simplistic images appeal visually to a younger audience
emojis are relatable and resemble what is used in text messaging
the tone of the text is friendly, kind, and helpful
use of green color to represent growth, money, wealth, or luck
Now, it is time to structure your text and resort these points into sections of introduction, content and structure, color and design, and other relevant sections until eventually you reach the conclusion.
You roughly have 75 minutes to write your analysis, and even if this planning takes 30 minutes, it will still be worth it as now you can just start expanding on the points and transitioning from one to another, which shouldn’t take more than another 30 minutes.
Do not start writing without an analysis plan.
Balance Analysis with Textual Evidence
To balance your analysis with evidence from the text, make sure each point you make is supported by specific, short quotes or references that clearly back up your ideas. After using a quote, explain how the author’s choices – like word choice, tone, or imagery – add to the text’s main message, mood, or theme, and always link it back to the guiding question. Following the examples above, you may write, “the text’s friendly and helpful tone in phrases like ‘saving even a small amount every month can add up over time,’ is reinforced by icons and images – such as XYV – which appeal to multiple audiences by making the program feel inclusive and accessible. This combination of welcoming language and visuals shows that the program is designed for all age groups, encouraging everyone from teenagers to seniors to participate.”
Avoid just listing all the literary devices like metaphors, symbolism, repetition, irony, or contrast; instead, choose a few key techniques and discuss how each one affects the reader or adds meaning. Don’t stop at simple descriptions – dig a bit deeper to explore the message the author might be hinting at. And as any analysis should look like, avoid over-describing and jump right to explaining after a short description. Do not just list whatever the elements you see in the text and start by explaining what each element might mean and what intention the author might have had behind using that to finally reach the conclusion of whether they have done a good job or not.
Write Concisely and Maintain Structure
Try to keep your text in multiple, well-organized paragraphs rather than lengthy, never-ending rants. Follow the structure that you have already made while planning and make strong and sensible transitions between your paragraphs. Do not suddenly jump from discussing the use of the color blue to the role of personification. Let your text flow.
Spend more words on your analysis rather than lengthy descriptive introduction and repetitive conclusion parts. Criterion C – Focus and Organization has 5 marks, and it is granted to a text whose “presentation of ideas is effectively organized and coherent,” and its “analysis is well focused.”
Be Precise with Language and Tone
Use precise language and maintain an academic tone throughout your writing. Avoid casual expressions or slang (colloquialisms) as they can undermine the seriousness of your analysis. Familiarize yourself in this remaining short time with the correct technical terms related to literary devices, techniques, and themes, and ensure you use them accurately in your responses. Aim for varied sentence structures to keep your writing engaging and avoid using the same exact “sentence starter” for every paragraph. Mixing short and long sentences will help maintain the examiner’s interest while clearly conveying your ideas.
Criterion D – Language has another 5 marks, and the examiner will assess “how clear, varied and accurate the language is,” and “how appropriate the choice of register and style is.” “Register” is “the use of elements such as vocabulary, tone, sentence structure, and terminology appropriate to the analysis;” informal, academic, conversation, etc. The full mark will be granted to the text whose “language is very clear, effective, carefully chosen, and precise, with a high degree of accuracy in grammar, vocabulary, and sentence construction;” and whose “register and style are effective and appropriate to the task.”
I know the use of “whose” for text looks weird but it’s academically correct.
If you need help with Language and Literature, get in touch with us.
IB Lang Lit Paper 1
Comments