HL-IB Paper 1The first “exam” paper – May

20% of the IB grade

What it is:

• IB gives you two texts that you will not have seen before.

• You will be able to choose one of the texts: either a prose or poetry piece. Know the difference between prose and poetry.• Prose - written or spoken language in its ordinary form, without metrical

structure; excerpt from novel, short story, journalistic writing

• You will have 2 hours to write a “literary commentary” in response to the piece you choose.

How to proceed:

1. Choose the passage (recommended time: 15 minutes)

2. Identify the thoughts and feelings and the central idea (steps #2-5 should take about 35 minutes)-Annotate the piece paragraph by paragraph or stanza by stanza.

-Pin down a statement about the central idea.

How to proceed:

3. Identify and annotate the key literary features of the piece.

-We will review an IB best practice of color-coding to help you.

4. Decide on your argument, which will be the framework for your commentary.

-It will probably be based on the connections between your responsive thoughts and feelings, the meanings of the piece, and the way it is written.

-It might be advisable at this point to write your introduction.

How to proceed:

5. Plan the structure of your commentary.

Plan paragraph by paragraph; move through observation, analysis, and culminate with interpretation.

6. Write (about 65 minutes).

7. Review what you have written (about five minutes).

Skills that Paper 1 requires of you:

•Close reading•The use of details is a factor that determines success in a commentary.

•Focus on individual words, phrases, and lines from the text you study. Use quotations.

Skills that Paper 1 requires of you:

Two structural principles to commentary writing:

1. It is planned around the central meaning (theme) of the text.

2. It presents a coherent argument relating to this central meaning and/or how it is presented.

***A commentary is an interaction with and exploration of a poem in which a student observes, analyzes, and interprets the piece.***

Skills that Paper 1 requires of you:• Practical guidelines to commentary writing:

1. It begins with a forceful introduction that sets up the central meaning and the coherent argument relating to it.

2. It explores and justifies the coherent argument in the main body of the commentary in a continuous and structured manner.

3. It is written in unified paragraphs.

4. Transitions between the sections of the argument are evident.

5. Statements are supported by close reference to the text.

6. Its conclusion brings a sense of completion and closure to the argument.

The tone of Paper 1:

• Task: prove you understand the thoughts and feelings in the passage

• Audience: anonymous examiner

• Style: Formal• However, it should also be personal. Communicate your own sense of identity

without being too familiar.

• Be enthusiastic about the ideas you are exploring and the feelings you are receiving from the text. The examiner wants to see your involvement with the feelings and thoughts of the text.

The tone of Paper 1 (cont.):

• Use the word “I” when you are describing the effect the passage has on you. It gives evidence that you are personally involved.

While closely reading the passage, consider the following elements:TITLE – list denotations and connotations

SPEAKER/NARRATOR – Who is it? 1st or 3rd person? Who appears to be the audience?

TONE – What is the speaker’s/narrator’s attitude toward the subject?

SITUATION – What is happening? Are there conflicts? What is the setting (time and space)?

CENTRAL IDEAS

TENSIONS AND CONTRASTS

While closely reading the passage, consider the following elements (cont.):FORM and STRUCTURE – How many stanzas/paragraphs? What is the length of the verses/sentences?

DICTION – formal/informal; idiomatic; concrete/abstract; precise/ambiguous; technical, etc.

RHYTHM, METER, & SOUND – Rhyme? Alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia? Is there a pattern?

While closely reading the passage, consider the following elements (cont.):IMAGERY: What descriptive, sensory detail exists in the text? Imagery overlaps with…

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE: What is the role of literary devices?

CAUTION ABOUT LITERARY DEVICES:

-It is not enough to identify that a particular literary device exists in a work.

-You must explore the effect that the use of that device has on the text or you as a reader.

Additional literary features that apply to poetry:• Alliteration -Omission

• Allusion -Paradox

• Anaphora -Parallelism

• Assonance -Personification

• Any type of irony -Repetition

• Hyperbole -Rhetorical question

• Juxtaposition -Simile

• Metaphor

Additional literary features that apply to prose:• Plot

• Characterization

• Chronology

• Paragraphing

Bibliography

Tyson, Hannah, and Mark Beverley. English A: Literature Course Companion. Oxford, 2012, pp. 36.