IB English A: Literature SL
A comprehensive study deck for the IB Diploma Programme course English A: Literature at Standard Level, covering the three areas of exploration, seven central concepts, literary forms, techniques, periods, critical approaches, and SL assessment requirements.
Ämne: Engelska · Nivå: Gymnasium (16–19) · 464 kort
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- The IB English A: Literature course is organized around three 'areas of exploration': (1) Readers, writers and texts; (2) Time and space; (3) Intertextuality: connecting texts.
- The area of exploration 'Readers, writers and texts' focuses on the nature of literature, how texts work, and the relationship between a text, its writer and its readers.
- The area of exploration 'Time and space' considers how literary texts are products of their historical, cultural and social contexts, and how meaning is shaped by setting and circumstance.
- The area of exploration 'Intertextuality: connecting texts' focuses on the connections between literary texts, comparing how different works treat similar themes, forms, or techniques.
- The seven central concepts of the IB English A: Literature course are: identity, culture, creativity, communication, perspective, transformation, and representation.
- The concept of 'identity' in the IB Literature course explores how texts construct and represent individual and collective selves, and how readers' identities shape their interpretations.
- The concept of 'culture' in the IB Literature course examines how texts are embedded in and reflect the values, beliefs and practices of particular communities and societies.
- The concept of 'creativity' in the IB Literature course concerns the imaginative power of both writers (in producing texts) and readers (in interpreting them).
- The concept of 'communication' in the IB Literature course addresses how meaning is transmitted between writer and reader, and how literary conventions enable or complicate that exchange.
- The concept of 'perspective' in the IB Literature course concerns the multiple viewpoints within a text (narrators, characters) and the range of viewpoints readers bring to it.
- The concept of 'transformation' in the IB Literature course explores how texts adapt, rework or respond to other texts, and how meaning changes across contexts and translations.
- The concept of 'representation' in the IB Literature course examines the relationship between language and reality — how texts use form and convention to depict the world rather than mirror it directly.
- At Standard Level (SL), students of IB English A: Literature study 9 literary works over the two-year course.
- At Higher Level (HL), IB English A: Literature students study 13 works — four more than the 9 required at Standard Level.
- Paper 1 (Guided literary analysis) at SL asks students to write an analysis of ONE previously unseen literary text (out of two offered), guided by a question. Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes.
- At SL, Paper 1 presents two unseen texts and the student writes ONE guided analysis; at HL, the student must analyse BOTH texts (two analyses) in 2 hours 15 minutes.
- Paper 2 (Comparative essay) requires students to compare and contrast TWO works studied during the course in response to one of several general questions. Duration: 1 hour 45 minutes (same at SL and HL).
- The Individual Oral (IO) is a 15-minute assessment in which the student explores a 'global issue' through two extracts: one from a work originally written in the target language and one from a work in translation.
- The Individual Oral begins with a 10-minute student presentation, followed by about 5 minutes of questions from the teacher.
- There is NO HL Essay at Standard Level. The HL Essay (a 1,200–1,500 word independent literary analysis) is an HL-only component of IB English A: Literature.
- A 'global issue' in the Individual Oral must be of wide significance, transnational in nature, and apply to everyday local contexts. IB suggests fields of inquiry such as 'culture, identity and community' and 'politics, power and justice'.
- The Prescribed Reading List (PRL) is an extensive IB-published list of authors from which a portion of the studied works must be chosen; the remainder are 'free choice' selected by the teacher.
- The four literary forms studied in IB English A: Literature are prose fiction, prose non-fiction, poetry, and drama. Works must be chosen to represent a range of forms.
- IB English A: Literature requires that studied works represent a range of periods, places (continents/regions) and at least some works originally written in a language other than English (works in translation).
- Of the 9 works studied at SL, a minimum number must be works in translation (originally written in a language other than the language A studied). At SL this is typically 2 works in translation.
- The four assessment criteria broadly applied across IB Literature components are: (A) Knowledge, understanding and interpretation; (B) Analysis and evaluation; (C) Focus and organization; (D) Language.
- Prose fiction is an imaginative narrative written in ordinary language (not verse), including forms such as the novel, the novella, and the short story.
- A novella is a work of prose fiction longer than a short story but shorter than a novel, typically focusing on a single, self-contained incident or theme.
- Prose non-fiction is factual or argumentative prose, including the essay, memoir, autobiography, biography, travel writing, diaries, letters, and speeches.
- A memoir is a form of prose non-fiction in which the author recounts personal experiences and memories, usually focusing on a particular period, relationship or theme rather than a whole life.
- An essay is a short piece of prose non-fiction in which a writer explores or argues a position on a subject. The term derives from the French 'essai', meaning an attempt or trial.
- Poetry is a literary form that uses condensed, rhythmic and often figurative language, arranged in lines and stanzas, to evoke meaning and emotion beyond literal statement.
- Drama is a literary form written to be performed, in which story is conveyed through dialogue and action by characters on a stage rather than through narration.
- Tragedy is a dramatic genre depicting the downfall of a protagonist, often a person of high status, through a combination of fate, circumstance, and a personal flaw (hamartia).
- Comedy is a dramatic genre that is light in tone, typically ends happily (often in marriage or reconciliation), and uses humour, wit and misunderstanding to entertain.
- A metaphor is a figure of speech that describes one thing as if it were another, asserting an implicit comparison without using 'like' or 'as' (e.g. 'time is a thief').
- A simile is a figure of speech that compares two unlike things using an explicit connective such as 'like' or 'as' (e.g. 'as brave as a lion').
- Metonymy is a figure of speech in which something is referred to by the name of something closely associated with it (e.g. 'the crown' for the monarchy, 'the press' for journalists).
- Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a part stands for the whole, or the whole for a part (e.g. 'all hands on deck' — 'hands' for sailors).
- Personification is a figure of speech that attributes human qualities, feelings or actions to non-human things or abstract ideas (e.g. 'the wind whispered').
- Hyperbole is deliberate, obvious exaggeration used for emphasis or effect, not meant to be taken literally (e.g. 'I've told you a million times').
- Litotes is a figure of speech using understatement, often expressed by negating the opposite (e.g. 'not bad' to mean 'good', 'no small feat' to mean 'a great achievement').
- An oxymoron is a figure of speech that places two contradictory terms together for effect (e.g. 'bittersweet', 'deafening silence', 'living death').
- A paradox is a statement that appears self-contradictory or absurd but, on reflection, reveals a deeper truth (e.g. 'less is more').
- An apostrophe (as a literary device) is a figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses an absent person, an abstract idea, or an inanimate object (e.g. 'O Death, where is thy sting?').
- A conceit is an extended, elaborate or surprising metaphor that draws a comparison between two very dissimilar things, often sustained throughout a poem (associated with metaphysical poets such as John Donne).
- Imagery is descriptive language that appeals to the senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch) to create vivid mental pictures and sensory experience for the reader.
- A symbol is an object, person, or action that represents something beyond its literal meaning (e.g. a dove symbolizing peace, a journey symbolizing personal growth).
- A motif is a recurring element — an image, idea, object, or phrase — that appears throughout a text and helps develop or reinforce its themes.
- Tone is the writer's or speaker's attitude toward the subject or audience, conveyed through word choice, style and detail (e.g. ironic, nostalgic, bitter, reverent).