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If you need more guidance regarding the structure of IB English A Language and Literature Paper 1, this post is for you! Here, we will provide a thorough breakdown of IB English A Language and Literature Paper 1, ensuring you are familiar with the exam format and know what type of questions to expect to help you tackle the exam confidently.
IB English A Language & Literature Paper 1
Paper 1 is a textual analysis paper, which is essentially a guided commentary based on either a literary or non-literary text.
These texts are previously unseen, so Paper 1 tests students' ability to formulate coherent, well-structured arguments without prior preparation.
In Paper 1, students will be given either literary (e.g. novels, short stories, plays, prose or poems) or non-literary extracts (e.g. ads, news articles, opinion columns, speech transcripts, blog posts).
Students need to write a commentary that explores how the writer’s stylistic and linguistic choices shape the meaning of the work.
HL students are provided with two texts and must complete a separate analysis for each of them. SL students are presented with the same texts as their HL peers, but only need to choose one to base their guided analysis on. Most of the time, both texts in Paper 1 tend to be non-literary, although literary texts may also be given in some exam sessions.
For SL, Paper 1 contributes 35% to the overall subject grade, while for HL, it accounts for 25%.
SL students can receive a maximum of 20 marks, while HL students can receive a maximum of 40 marks.
SL students have 1 hour and 15 minutes to complete Paper 1, while HL students have 2 hours and 15 minutes.
Students must use language, structure, and style to interpret the meaning of the provided texts.
Students must identify and explain how stylistic or linguistic techniques such as imagery, symbolism, tone, perspective, and structure contribute to how meaning is conveyed in the work. For non-literary texts, the student can also consider the use of visuals or images in the work.
Sample Extract and Questions
Should Netball Be Our National Sport?
By Alasdair McClintock on May 1, 2019 in Sport
“Cricket is soooo boring!” “Rugby is a blood sport!”. “I’ve no time for Aerial Ping-Pong!” “Soccer is for pansies!” You’ll hear nearly every big Australian sport cop a spray from someone at some stage, but when was the last time you heard a shot fired at the good name of netball?
Well, I think it’s about time someone did.
Joking! I’d never do such a thing. Heck, I love every sport. Except UFC, but I’d prefer those folks punched each other than me, so there’s that at least.
It’s fair to say netball is the favourite child of the Aussie family. The genial, good-looking (but not too good-looking) younger one, who doesn’t have the hang-ups of its siblings and just wants to go about its business, having a merry old time.
According to a very difficult government website to work out, it is the sixth most popular sport in the country, in terms of participation, in either New South Wales, the whole country, or just children aged from 0-14 years. Smarter people than me can probably work this out very easily, but I did not want to delve further because I got a headache and slightly angry just looking at the page.
But, while the numbers may not fully add up for it to be our national sport, I argue that it holds the dearest spot in our national hearts by default. We all like it. We all smile when we see it. Our national team, the Diamonds, is also very good. They win a lot of things. Which, years gone by, may not have been the biggest deal, but now is like hens’ teeth.
The national netball comp, creatively named ‘Suncorp Super Netball’ will be in full swing during May. You should get down to a few games. You can also watch a few games live on free-to-air. Channel Nine, to be precise. You know, like most major sports.
Aerial Ping-Pong: slang for ‘Australian rules football’
Cop a spray: Australian idiom meaning to get angrily yelled at
UFC: an abbreviation for ‘Ultimate Fighting Championship’, an American mixed martial arts promotion company
Like hens’ teeth: exceptionally rare or scarce
A typical SL/HL question could be :
How is tone used to shape the meaning of this text? [20 marks]
How to Succeed in English A Language & Literature Paper 1
Solve past papers – This helps you get used to the type of questions that could be asked on the exam and helps you develop skills in learning which literary devices to look for. You should try to solve past papers using a timer to simulate exam conditions and check your answers against a markscheme to identify areas for improvement.
Annotate unseen texts – Apart from past papers, you can also practice analyzing other unseen non-literary works to build your guided analysis skills. For example, you could go to any informational website, find an article you haven't read before, read a random passage, and then try to write an analysis of any linguistic devices used. Know how to recognize and discuss features such as imagery, diction, syntax, tone, narrative voice, symbolism, and structure to allow for a deeper analysis of the text.
Balance description and analysis – Use a few key words or phrases from the passage to strengthen your analysis and show a link between your thought process and the information in the literary work. However, make sure you do not copy too many quotes from the text, as this will make your answer more like a description of the text rather than an analysis of it. Instead, your answer should focus on how the writer achieves their intended effect on the audience, what techniques they used to do so, and why these choices are significant.
Plan before writing – Organize your thoughts before beginning your essay to ensure your response stays focused and well-structured. Before you start writing, create a quick draft in bullet points of what you want to base your answer on. This helps you gather and organize your thoughts. Do not simply rush to begin writing, as this could lead to your thoughts being disorganized, which could impact the examiner's perception of the quality of your response.
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