IB English A (Lang & Lit) HL Essay IA examples
Type a search phrase to find the most relevant English A (Lang & Lit) HL Essay IA examples for you
Not sure what to search for? You can always look through our example Internal Assessments below for inspiration.
All English A (Lang & Lit) HL Essay IA Examples
Filter exemplars, how does marjane satrapi portray western stereotypes about the iranian culture in her graphic novel, persepolis i , line of inquiry: how does the representation of women in liza donnelly’s cartoons convey harmful societal norms and expectations as a barrier to women’s empowerment in different levels of society, want to get full marks for your ia allow us to review it for you 🎯, to what extent does the patriarchy dictate female identity and enforce their transformation in carol ann duffy’s the world’s wife, how does gabriel garcía márquez’s chronicle of a death foretold explore the connection between cultural norms surrounding female virginity as a marker of honor with issues of gender and power, and what does it reveal about the community, how does jordan peele convey the intelligence of chris in his film get out to represent the power of resistance, fast track your coursework with mark schemes moderated by ib examiners. upgrade now 🚀, how does the ad agency goodby, silverstein and partners use testimonial technique in their ‘got milk’ print advertising campaign to convey the message of milk being more beneficial and emphasizing its wholesomeness, how does beyoncé portray the american black southern identity struggle by reclaiming cultural elements in the visual album lemonade, in what ways does henrik ibsen, in his play, a doll’s house, employ stylistic features to communicate the victorian social codes of the 1870s, in what ways does primo levi’s autobiography, if this is a man, present the difficulties of communication in auschwitz, how is symbolism used by marjane satrapi to depict the turbulent society of 20th-century iran in the graphic novel ‘persepolis’., how does lauren greenfield portray body image and its effect on identity in generation wealth, the seven days as an exploration of the complexities within blackness, how does jordan peele represent racism in the 21st century in his thriller movie ‘get out’, how does chekhov use the theme of faith within romantic relationships to commend the evolving pre-bolshevik russian hierarchical class system in agafya (1886) and the lady with the dog (1899), how and to what effect do the motifs of light and darkness represent the presence and interconnectedness of both joy and suffering in banana yoshimoto’s kitchen, how does chimamanda ngozi adichie reveal the social and psychological effects of triple oppression through the main character in her short story “the thing around your neck”, how do angela carter’s short stories in “the bloody chamber” portray gender roles through associations with nature to resist patriarchal and androcentric customs in society, how does barbara kruger’s usage of imagery, text, and coloring in her different artworks create relations in order to employ women’s bodies and beauty standards in society, how does the film 'the platform' use metaphors to represent the problem of class hierarchy in society and how this leads to wealth inequality, how does noviolet bulawayo explore the themes of identity and belonging in three of her selected works: blak power, hitting budapest, and diaspora christmas, how does duffy present different perspectives of people in war, how does sylvia plath use literary devices in “lady lazarus” and “a birthday present” to deliver the themes of suicidal thoughts and mental illness, jana curcio's exploration of racial generalization leading to the distortion of identity and freedom in the photo collection skin tones: visualize racism, how does angie thomas’ use of symbolism in “the hate u give” explore systemic and structural discrimination of african-americans in 21st-century usa, how does süskind’s perfume represent the changing historical epochs of western society through grenouille’s life, how and to what effect does william shakespeare use notions of duplication and duality in hamlet to explore the cyclical adversity of revenge, how does shakespeare use characterisation to conform to and challenge gender roles and expectations in the play macbeth, how do dimitry moor’s propaganda posters promote the ideologies of socialism to the proletariats of russia, how and to what effect do the structural devices in lokasenna’s mimetic dialogue demonstrate the possession and transfer of power between characters, how does wilfred owen use imagery to address the mental trauma of combat, how does wilfred owen convey the traumatizing experience of war in his poetry, to what effect did the visual features and captions used in lewis hine’s photographic body of work transform the public’s opinion on child labour in early 20th-century america, how does jonathan swift use satire in a modest proposal to effectively criticise class disparity in 18th-century ireland, how does percy shelley’s portrayal of nature in his poem, the cloud, convey his critical perspective on anthropocentrism, how does atwood illustrate the setting of gilead through nature to critique sexist structures, highlighting inequality as a timeless issue, ‘to what extent does ibsen show that torvald’s assumption of the ‘good husband’ role is a result of societal expectations’, how does henrik ibsen portray a woman's identity in a male-oriented society and develops a different perspective of women through nora's character in his play "a doll's house", in her poems, how does szymborska provide a commentary on the dehumanizing process of the progressive concession of identity for capitalistic success, an analysis of the language and stylistic devices used in martin luther king’s speech “i have a dream” in order to portray the racism and inequality faced by the blacks americans in the american society, how does charles dickens represent the theme of industrialisation leading to a loss of identity through setting and character in his novel, "hard times".
IB English HLE Explained
Free introductory guide to IB English Higher Level Essay (HLE) by IB44 and IB45 graduates Lareina Shen and Saesha Grover.
In this guide, LitLearn students (and 2022 IB grads!) Lareina Shen and Saesha Grover share their wisdom on how to conquer the IB English Higher Level Essay (HLE).
Lareina achieved an IB44, and Saesha achieved an IB45 as well as the coveted IB7 in IB English Literature HL, so you are in safe hands.
Meet your instructor Jackson Huang, Founder of LitLearn. His mission is to make IB English as pain-free as possible with fun, practical lessons. Jackson scored an IB45 and was accepted to Harvard, Amherst, Williams Colleges, and full scholarships to University of Melbourne & Queensland.
What is IB English HLE?
The HL Essay (HLE) is a 1200-1500 word essay about a text studied in the IB English course. For Lang Lit, the work you choose to analyze can be literary or non-literary, but for IB English Literature the text must be literary.
The HLE will make up 25% of your final IB English HL grade , and it is graded externally. You must choose your own line of inquiry (i.e. a question that you will answer in your HLE–more on this later).
How do I choose my text for HLE?
Do NOT choose the “easiest” text. Life is always better when you do things you're interested in, and that advice applies to the HLE, too. Choose the literary / non-literary work that interests you the most, so that you can (semi?)-enjoy the HLE planning and writing process.
You could start by thinking of a theme that you find particularly interesting and determining which text studied in class demonstrates this theme well.
How do I choose my line of inquiry for HLE?
The line of inquiry is the core question that you will answer in your essay. A quick example might be:
"To what extent is masculinity undermined by the characterisation of Little Thomas?"
Now, it's your job to forge your destiny and come up with your own line of inquiry. But it's not a complete free-for all! There are rules. The main rule is that your line of inquiry must fall under one of the 7 main concepts of IB English (see below for a quick summary).
This summary is vague, so let's go in-depth on a couple of these concepts to really show you what you should be doing in the HLE.
Identity is what makes you, YOU. Here are some questions the concern your own personal identity:
- What is your favourite colour? And why is it your favourite?
- What makes you different from others? Why do you think these qualities came to be?
- How would someone describe you in three words?
Now apply this same logic to characters within your text.
- How would you describe this character in three words?
- How do their actions within a text influence your view of their identity?
- How has the author crafted this character to make you view the character in a certain way?
Let's take a look at a concrete example of how we might choose evidence and quotes for a HLE on cultural identity. This example is based on a Vietnamese work in translation “Ru” by author Kim Thúy. For context, “Ru” is an autobiographical fictional account which explores Kim Thúy's move from Vietnam to Canada as an immigrant and her consequent struggles. The structure of her novel is largely lyrical and poetic.
Let's look at a section from her novel that may help us come up with an essay idea based on the concept of Identity. When she returns to Vietnam, she attends a restaurant, however this becomes a major awakening for her in terms of how she views her own personal identity. Kim narrates within her novel:
The first time I carried a briefcase, the first time I went to a restaurant school for young adults in Hanoi, wearing heels and a straight skirt, the waiter for my table didn't understand why I was speaking Vietnamese with him. Page 77, Rú
This is a perfect quote for the Identity concept. Can you see why? Let's think through it together…
Why would the waiter be confused if Kim, a “briefcase”-carrying individual in “heels” and a “straight skirt”, was speaking Vietnamese with him?
What does being “Vietnamese” look like to the waiter? Why does Kim not conform to his expectation? Was it perhaps due to what she was wearing?
Now, if we look at the section which follows this in the novel, we are able to see the impact this had on the character of Kim's sense of identity.
the young waiter reminded me that I couldn't have everything, that I no longer had the right to declare I was Vietnamese because I no longer had their fragility, their uncertainty, their fears. And he was right to remind me. Page 77, Rú
Here, we can clearly see that this character is now questioning her Vietnamese cultural identity. This is just one example that demonstrates the concept of Identity.
Culture seems to be this confusing thing. Does it have to do with religion? Race? Beliefs? What does it mean? Does the monster from Frankenstein fit into a certain culture?
The easiest way to put it is this: Culture is the way someone lives. It is their “way of life.” Think of it as an umbrella term. “Culture” can include so many different things; the list just goes on, for example religion, values, customs, beliefs, cuisine, etc.
Now think, how would I form an essay from this concept?
- When you read a text in class, you will notice that authors let you form an opinion on the culture of certain characters or groups within a text, but how is this done?
- How does the author represent the culture of a certain community?
- What types of patterns in daily routines are discussed?
It seems odd writing an essay about “creativity” because… like… how can anyone definitively say what ‘counts' as being creative–or not? When I say the word creativity , I think of new inventions, or maybe those weird and wacky art installations living inside those ‘modern art' museums. But hey, what's creative to me might not be creative to you!
When formulating a HLE on the concept of creativity we have two main pointers for you. Look for:
- Interesting + Unique techniques or literary devices used within a text by the author. You can learn more in the Learn Analysis section of LitLearn.
- Recurring stylistic choices by the author
Now, for this concept, let's look at how we might select supportive evidence and quotations for a HLE on creativity within the narrative style of author Mary Shelley in “Frankenstein”. The narrative style uses epistolary narration . This is a narrative technique in which a story is told through letters. This was something that I found both interesting and recurring within Frankenstein, which I believe worked to create a personal touch within the novel.
Additionally, Mary Shelley allows different characters to narrate Frankenstein during different volumes. Let's investigate this! I have written out different character profiles of the narrators below:
These 3 characters, each relate a part of the novel Frankenstein. This is an example of a creative authorial choice that allows us, as readers to explore different points of view within the text. This is just one example of a creative aspect of a text which you can analyze for your HLE.
Representation
Representation is all about how something is portrayed, conveyed, shown, described, illustrated, depicted . There are many different things that can be ‘represented' within a text, and it doesn't have to be tangible.
For instance, you can look at how a belief, idea or attitude is depicted within a text through different characters or devices.
Again, let's explore a concrete example to make things clear: this time the graphic novel “Persepolis”. We'll consider an HLE on how a text represents the impact of political turmoil on society .
Chapter 10 of “Persepolis” highlights societal changes occurring due to the Iranian Revolution. The panels below list the authorial choices relevant to the negative representation of political change in a society. When looking at the techniques highlighted in the slides below, think about how you feel when you look at the panels below. Can you sense a more positive or negative feeling?
Cool, but what do we do to turn all this into an actual HL essay? Here is a sample response. The introduction might begin like this:
In the captivating graphic novel “Persepolis,” the author Marjane Satrapi explores the social and political impacts of the Iranian revolution. In particular, Satrapi conveys a disapproving viewpoint on political turmoil within the text. Throughout the graphic novel, Satrapi carefully represents how social isolation, hypocrisy and confusion is experienced by a young girl living in Tehran, as a result of political turmoil. Example HLE Introduction
Then, in a body paragraph, on one of the key ideas mentioned above, we could analyze the different literary techniques. For example, Panel 1 is a great representation of the experience of confusion in the midst of political turmoil:
Marji is the younger girl pictured in the panels above. While her parents appear quite concerned by the news on the TV, she appears to not be in full comprehension of the cause for their distress. This is demonstrated by the visual imagery and dialogue, in panel 7, for instance, if you observe the facial expressions by each of the characters. Example of analysis in body paragraph
This is just a short example from one particular text. To help you unpack any text, try look for the following when analyzing chapter to chapter:
- What is the main idea of the chapter?
- Why did the author write it? What purpose does it serve?
- What do you believe is the overarching importance of the passage?
Brainstorming Tips
If you're having trouble picking your text and line of inquiry, then use this simple 20-minute process to brainstorm potential questions for your HLE:
- For each text / non-literary work, go through each concept in the table below.
- Write down a question for each of the two prompts for each category.
- Repeat for all of your texts.
- Pick the question-text combination that has the greatest potential for strong analysis.
How do I ensure my HLE question has a good scope?
Choosing a question with good scope is extremely important, and it's one of the biggest challenges in the HLE. Here's why:
- If your scope is too broad , you may have too much to write about in order to answer the question, and therefore you won't be able to write deep analysis (which is super important–more on this later…)
- If your scope is too narrow , you may not have enough to write about and end up overanalyzing unnecessary and obscure details. Also something to avoid!
So, to help you get the balance just right , here are three examples of HLE questions, specifically for the concept of Identity which we mentioned in the table above (by the way, the example is a made-up novel for illustration purposes).
- Too broad: “How does Irene Majov in her novel Deadly Men effectively make her narrator a powerful mouthpiece?”
- Too narrow: “How does Irene Majov in her novel Deadly Men effectively make her narrator a powerful mouthpiece for the concerns of Asian-Americans toward discrimination in the workforce in the 21st century?”
- Just right: “How does Irene Majov in her novel Deadly Men effectively make her narrator a powerful mouthpiece for the concerns of Asian-Americans in the 21st century?”
How to get a 7 on IB English HLE
There are many things that contribute to a 7 in your HLE and your IB English grade overall. But if we had to boil it down to one secret, one essential fact… then it'd have to be this: Get really good at analysis .
Analysis is the key to a 7 in IB English. It doesn't matter if it's Paper 1, Paper 2, HLE, IO… You must learn how to analyze quotes at a deep level, and structure your analysis in a way that flows and delights your teachers and examiners.
Start with the basics
Start with the basic foundations of analysis for free inside LitLearn's Learn Analysis course.
Our free and Pro resources have helped IB English students skyrocket their grade in weeks, days and even overnight... Learn Analysis for IB English , the simplest guide to a 7 in IB English.
Basic Analysis
No sign up or credit card required.
Free signup required.
Pro members only
Level up to Advanced Analysis
Since you're in HL, you'll also be needing Advanced Analysis skills if you want to impress your examiner. We've got all of that covered inside our Pro lessons.
Advanced Analysis
Finding Quotes
Also, you'll need to find good quotes for your text. Some good sources where you can find relevant quotes include Goodreads , SparkNotes , LitCharts , and Cliffnotes . Of course, you could just find quotes yourself directly–this will ensure your quotes are unique.
Understanding the IB English HLE rubric
An essential step to getting a high mark on the HL Essay is understanding the rubric! It is SO important that you know what IB English examiners are looking for when grading your essay, as this helps you to shape the content of your essay to match (or even exceed) their expectations.
The IB English HL Essay is graded out of 20 marks . There are 4 criteria, each worth 5 marks.
Use the checklist below to make sure you're not making simple mistakes! Note that this is not the official marking criteria, and I strongly recommend that you reading the official rubric provided by your teacher.
Criterion A: Knowledge, understanding, and interpretation
- Accurate summary of text in introduction
- Focused and informative thesis statement
- Effective and relevant quotes
- Relevant and effective summary and ending statement in conclusion
Criterion B: Analysis and evaluation
- Relevant analysis of a variety of stylistic features
- Relevant analysis of tone and/or atmosphere
- Relevant analysis of broader authorial choices i.e. characterization, point of view, syntax, irony, etc.
Criterion C: Focus, organization, and development
- Introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion
- Organized body paragraphs – topic sentence, evidence, concluding statement/link to question
- Appropriate progression of ideas and arguments in which evidence (i.e. quotes) are effectively implemented
Criterion D: Language
- Use expansions (e.g. “do not”) instead of contractions (e.g. “don't”)
- Use of a variety of connecting phrases e.g. “furthermore”, “nonetheless”, “however”, etc.
- Complete sentence structures and subject-verb agreement
- Correct usage of punctuation
- Appropriate register – no slang
- Historic present tense : the use of present tense when recounting past events. For example, we want to write “In The Hunger Games , Peeta and Katniss work together to win as a district” instead of using the word “worked”.
- Avoid flowery/dictionary language just to sound smart; it is distracting and difficult to read. As long as you concisely communicate your message using appropriate language, you will score a high mark under this criterion.
Here's everything we discussed:
- IB English HLE is tough work! Start early.
- Brainstorm using the table of concepts to come up with a strong HLE question. Don't give up on this!
- Analysis is the key to a 7 in IB English HLE (and in fact all IB English assessment). Check out LitLearn's course Learn Analysis for IB English for immediate help on the exact steps to improve in IB English analysis.
Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor 💪
Questionbank
Paper 1 Practice Exams
Past Paper 1 Solutions
Paper 2 Guide
From Struggling to Succeeding in IB English
How IB English students like you have improved their grades with LitLearn Pro... Read the reviews.
IB4 to IB6 in 12 days " LitLearn helped me understand exactly what I was doing wrong and how to improve upon those mistakes. " Read the full review
IB6 to IB7 in 1 week " I ended with a 7 in English Literature HL and I am so happy about that. Thank you Jackson. " Read the full review
IB5 to Perfect 20/20 in 1 week " I managed to be the only person in my IB cohort of 120 students to get a perfect score of 20/20 " Read the full review
IB4 to IB6 in 2 weeks " The lessons are really effective in grabbing my attention and making English more fun to learn. "
IB4 to IB6 in 1 day " With just day 1 of the course, I improved immediately and overnight when I did a practice essay and improved by 4 marks from my previous grades " Read the full review
IB5 to IB7 " I got 5s since my first year of DP and now my final grade is 7! I can't thank you enough 🙂 LitLearn is truly a lifesaver. "
Every resource to ace IB English
Voted #1 IB English Resource 2022 by IB Students & Teachers at ibresources.org
Learn Analysis
Master the essential skill of IB English with a step-by-step course.
Questionbank
Practice analysis with 60+ short questions and IB7 answers.
Exam prep guide, practice papers, past paper solutions.
Exam prep, planning and writing guide. Exemplar essay.
Individual Oral
Preparation guide, examples and full exemplar script.
Higher Level Essay
Crash course on HLE basics.
7 Tips to Achieve a Level 7 on the IB HL English Essay
What is the IB English HL Essay?
The IB English HL Essay is usually written at the end of the first year of IB English in international schools and constitutes 25% of the IB English grade. For IB HL English Language & Literature, the source for the 1200-1500 word essay will be a non-literary or literary text studied in the course; for HL English Literature, this will be a literary text studied in the course.
As an International Baccalaureate Higher Level English student, one of the most daunting tasks is achieving a level 7 on the essay. However, with the right approach and mindset, it’s definitely achievable. Here are the top tips to help you achieve a level 7 on your IB HL English essay.
- Analyze the question carefully: Before diving into writing, read the prompt carefully and identify the key themes and ideas. Make sure you understand what the question is asking for. This will help you to stay focused and on-topic throughout the essay.
- Develop a strong thesis statement: Your thesis statement should reflect the main argument of your essay. It should be clear, concise, and specific. Remember, a strong thesis statement is the foundation of a successful essay.
- Use evidence effectively: Include specific quotes and examples from the text to support your arguments. Make sure to explain how the evidence relates to your thesis statement.
- Analyze literary techniques: IB exams often require students to analyze literary techniques such as symbolism, imagery, and metaphors. Make sure to identify these techniques in the text and explain how they contribute to the overall meaning.
- Plan your essay: Before writing, take some time to plan out your essay. Create an outline or a rough draft to organize your thoughts and ideas. This will help you to structure your essay effectively and ensure that you cover all the necessary points.
- Edit and revise: After finishing your essay, take some time to edit and revise. Check for grammar and spelling errors, and make sure that your sentences are clear and concise. Also, ask someone else to read your essay and provide feedback.
- Stay calm and focused: Finally, stay calm and focused throughout the exam. Remember to manage your time effectively, and don’t panic if you encounter a difficult question. Take a deep breath and approach the question logically and systematically.
In conclusion, achieving a level 7 on your IB HL English essay requires careful planning, effective use of evidence, and a clear and concise writing style. By following these tips, you’ll be well on your way to success.
Are you ready to improve your exam performance?
Previous post tips to achieve a level 7 on the ib mathematics ia, next post top study tips to succeed in your upcoming igcse exams.
Comments are closed.
Tsim Sha Tsui Tuition Centres
All Round Education Centre Unit 107, 1/F, Mirror Tower 61 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East Kowloon, Hong Kong
+852 2724 4240
School Registration No.: 606804
Click here for lessons at TST
AREA TST & CYBERPORT
Unit 13, Lower 1, Mirror Tower, 61 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Unit 30, Lower 2, Mirror Tower, 61 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Central Tuition Centres
All Round Education Centre (Central) 601-602 Cheong Kee Building 84-86 Des Voeux Road Central, Central Hong Kong
School Registration No.: 614437
Click here for lessons at Central
AREA CENTRAL LIMITED
603 Cheong Kee Building 84-86 Des Voeux Road Central, Central Hong Kong
* All centres run independently of each other and are registered under separate entities.
Useful Links
- Academic Tutoring
- SAT Test Prep
- University Consulting
Get in Touch
Call — +852 2724 4240 WhatsApp — +852 9754 9176 WhatsApp — +852 6348 8744
© 2024 All Round Education Academy.
- Easter & Exam Revision Courses 2024 New
- Young Learners (Y1-9)
- Common Entrance
- Results & Testimonials
- Book Your Free Trial Now!
Get started with your free trial lesson now!
Student information, parent information, how did you hear about us.
- Social Media
English Collaborative
HL Essay Student Resources and Sample Work
These resources are ready to hand to students. They offer a description of the assignment and take students through a step by step process to complete a draft of their HL Essay.
Literature Course
Language and literature course, a note about the resources.
Step 5 of the resources asks students to write their inquiry question on a shared Google document that all students have editing rights to. The Google doc uses a “Red, Yellow, Green” tracking system so that students know when their inquiry question has been approved as “Green” or “good to go”. The transparent nature of the document not only holds students accountable for their submission, it also allows other students to learn from their peer’s approaches to developing and writing inquiry questions. The transparent nature of the document also ensures variety as the specific topics and inquiry questions are on a “first come, first approved” (traceable through the revision history of the document). While students may feel a bit self conscious about the transparent nature of the document, they ultimately appreciate the insights gained from the experience and appreciate the development of the line of inquiry as an iterative process. Once students are “Green-lit”, those inquiry questions can serve as models and examples for other students. A sample tracking document, with sample HL Essay lines of inquiry, is provided below. Additionally, there is a Word template of the tracking document that can be uploaded to Google Docs; it should easily convert.
HL Essay Sample Lines of Inquiry and Tracking Document
Sample hl essays.
Below are a range of sample essays that are all “good” to “excellent” and would be marked in the 5-7 range. At the end of each essay are holistic comments by criterion that identify the strengths and limitations of the essay against each of the IB Language A HL Essay assessment criteria.
The HL Essays below have been externally marked by the IBO on the HL Essay Rubric; final marks are provided in leui of holistic comments.
Marks A:5 B:5 C:5 D:5
Marks A:4 B:4 C:4 D:4
Related Posts
IB English A Literature: HL Essay Assessment Considerations
IB English A Language and Literature: HL Essay Assessment Considerations
Photo by hannah grace on Unsplash
Leave a Reply Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
- Feb 19, 2023
Creating the English HL Essay: Turning Analysis into a Thesis Masterpiece
Updated: Jul 7, 2023
The English HL essay is undoubtedly the flagship assessment of Higher-Level English. At its core, the HL essay depends on the same analytical skills as any other piece of English assessment. However, the HL essay sets itself apart by requiring a more specific and conceptual line of inquiry, and overall greater depth of analysis. With these requirements, the HL essay is often the single most daunting assessment in the HL English calendar. So, to help you on your HL essay journey, this blog will detail some useful tips and considerations to get you heading on the right track.
1) The Line of Inquiry
The line of inquiry is the central question around which the entire HL essay rests. A good line of inquiry will set you up for a terrific analysis, while a bad line of inquiry will leave your essay stuck and directionless. But what actually makes a good line of inquiry?
The trick is to allow the line of inquiry to focus your analysis. Take this hypothetical line of inquiry: “ How and why does J.R.R. Tolkien use the race of Men as a philosophical discussion of agency and its relationship with mortality in books within the Lord of the Rings? ”.
Starting with the imperatives “how” and “why”, this line of inquiry immediately constrains your analysis to keep you focused on technique (the how) and purpose (the why). This protects you from straying off track; so long as you keep talking about the hows and the whys, you guarantee yourself those marks that are for focus and relevancy.
This line of inquiry further keeps on task by explicitly stating the feature of your text that speaks to some real literary concept. In this case, we can see that the student using this line of inquiry is arguing that the race of Men is a tool that Tolkien has used to talk about agency and morality. Agency and morality are the literary concepts, the race of Men is the feature. By connecting them in the line of inquiry, you make it significantly easier to keep making that connection all the way throughout the entire HL essay. Not only this, but by connecting in-text features with a concept, it becomes significantly easier to produce the kinds of insightful arguments that push you into the top band of Criterion A.
The line of inquiry makes or breaks your HL essay (no pressure). That said, the HL essay is an ongoing journey. It is both common and perfectly okay to change or even completely scrap a line of inquiry partway through the drafting process.
2) The Analysis Itself
The analysis in the HL essay itself takes a very similar shape to analyses elsewhere in English assessments: technique, implications, authorial purpose, text type, audience positioning, evaluation, link to paragraph thesis, and so on. These avenues of analysis are the backbone of English in general and so it should come as no surprise that they are the backbone of the HL essay as well.
Where the HL essay can diverge from the other assessments is the points that you are arguing within the body paragraphs. Body paragraphs in the paper 1, for example, often cover how individual categories (say, visual techniques) contribute to the overall meaning of the text. The HL essay body paragraphs are considerably more related to the concept that you are arguing.
Taking the Lord of the Rings example above, you could have one paragraph about the race of Men and how Tolkien portrays their culture as a means of questioning the futility of having agency in light of definitive mortality. Then, you could have a second paragraph about how the race of Men is made distinct against other races in the Lord of the Rings as a tool of evaluating the role of mortality in driving personal choice, and so on for further paragraphs.
As you can see, rather than targeting specific groups of techniques, the HL essay paragraphs first address the conceptual discussions created within the text, and then the techniques are brought in to explain how these discussions emerge and what commentary the author is trying to make.
3) Structure and Terminology
There is no definitive go-to structure for the HL Essay. So long as there is an introduction and a conclusion framing a series of body paragraphs that each contain a thesis point, analysis, evidence and connections to the line of inquiry, then you are fulfilling the requirements of formal essay structure mandated by Criterion C.
Similarly, there is no required number of body paragraphs. Given the word count, 3-4 paragraphs is a good number to ensure that you are creating detailed points without repeating ideas. But, you are free to add more or less paragraphs and there are sometimes situations or texts where that may be necessary.
Criterion C and D are somewhat more check-boxy than A and B. How you fulfil Criterions A and B can be more variable depending on your text, as individual text types have defining features that lend themselves to potentially different directions of analysis. A short story, for example, would contain dialogue and so an analysis of speech and language takes on a completely different form than it would in a poem. But Criterion C and D are relatively consistent.
As long as you have a cohesive and formal essay structure as said above, combined with clear, analytical, and explicit vocabulary and tone, Criterion C and D are as good as guaranteed to you. Key things to consider when ensuring that these criteria are fulfilled include your tone (academic and unemotive), punctuation, and sentence variety (mixture of simple, compound, and complex sentences).
Closing Remarks
The HL essay is a task aimed to allow students to demonstrate the extent of their literary skills that they have learnt over their time in the diploma program. It can be daunting, and absolutely must be difficult in order to provoke insightful analysis, but it is just as possible to get a 7 on it as on any other assessment in any other subject. My final recommendation? Draft, redraft, redraft, and redraft again. Even if you’re just rewriting the same ideas every time, constant revision and review builds a crucial familiarity with the concepts and theses that you are arguing.
Good luck on your HL essay journey!
Recent Posts
Key Concept in Economics IA
Avoid These Overused TOK Essay Examples
Deconstructing a 10/10 TOK Essay from Introduction to Conclusion
- Find a tutor
- Uncategorized
- September 26, 2021
IB English, the HL Essay: All You Need to Know
Written By Our IB++Tutor Birgitte J.
What You Need to Know
- The HL Essay is a 1200-1500 word formal essay and it is based on a literary work studied as part of the course. You cannot use the same work for the IO or the Paper 2 [1] for this essay.
- In the IB Language and Literature course [2] , the essay can also be based on a non-literary or collection of non literary text(s).
- You develop a line of inquiry , a question that lends itself to an argument focused on how a theme or message is conveyed through literary features.
- The essay is completed in your own time and you should get some feedback from your teacher during the development of the essay.
- You do not have to incorporate secondary sources beyond the text you are working with.
The paper is externally assessed, meaning the final grade given is from the IB Examiner, not from your teacher. However, your teacher will give a predicted grade that is sent to the IB [3] .
How to Approach the Essay
The essay requires you to construct a focused, analytical argument, examining the work from a broad literary or linguistic perspective. It also requires you to adhere to the formal framework of an academic essay, using citations and references.
Connection to the Learner Portfolio
The HL essay is based on the exploration you have engaged with in the Learner Portfolio [4] . In the lead-up to the drafting of the essay, you must decide which text to focus on for further investigation, and which topic to write about. In choosing the topic, you can consult the course’s seven central concepts. You can choose any text with the exception of the texts used for the Internal Assessment (the IO) or the Paper 2.
How to choose a text
Don’t wait until the last minute and talk with your teacher about the text you want to use and the focus you are considering. Write your ideas out to make sure your line of inquiry is focused and appropriate for an analytical argument of a paper of this length.
In the case of a collection of short stories, poems, song lyrics or any short literary text, you may choose to use just one literary text from the work. However, It may be necessary to use more than one literary text from the work chosen.
The Language and Literature course only *
In the case of short non-literary texts, it may be necessary to use more than one from the same text type by the same author, for example the same creative advertising agency, cartoonist, photographer or social media user. At least one of these texts must have been studied in class. (If using a text in translation it must be a professional and published translation).
Determining the Topic and the 7 Course Concepts
It’s helpful but not mandatory to start with the seven central concepts of the course in generating or determining a topic for the essay. The questions below are meant as starting points for the focus of the essay, not as complete lines of inquiry which should be more specific to the chosen text (see examples of lines of inquiry below).
Questions may include; How is identity represented in the text? How are the characters in the text representative of a group? How does the text reflect the identity of the writer?
Questions may include; How is an aspect of the text representative of a culture or a particular place? How is a group of people or an institution conveyed? How is the text representative of a cultural perspective?
3-Creativity
Questions may include; How is the text representative of an individual or collective creativity, or lack of creativity? How is the text a reflection of the creativity of the writer?
4-Communication
How is communication or lack of communication conveyed in the text? How does the text itself communicate with the reader? How are aspects of communication illustrated through literary features?
5-Transformation
How is change or development illustrated in the text? How are characters transformed through action, communication or events in the text? What is the relationship between transformation and the goals, values and beliefs conveyed in the text?
6-Perspective
How is a perspective or different perspectives represented in the text? How is a shift in perspective portrayed? How is the writer’s perspective revealed through the text?
7-Representation
How does the text represent a particular theme or message? How are attitudes conveyed? In what way is reality or the world within the text represented?
IB English Language and Literature Guide examples of lines of inquiry
- Identity —how does Ralph Ellison, in his novel Invisible Man, succeed in making his narrator a convincing spokesperson for the concerns of African-Americans in the 20th century?
- Culture —how does Robert Capa represent post-Second World War France to qualify/exemplify the brutalities of the French population on former Nazi collaborators in La Femme Tondue? (Language A: language and literature only)
- Creativity —how do Mario Testino’s portraits manage to convey the personalities of those portrayed in original ways? (Language A: language and literature only)
- Communication– which view of love does Matt Groening convey in Love is Hell? (Language A: language and literature only)
- Transformation– in what ways does The Alan Parsons Project’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination offer a transformative re-reading of Edgar Allan Poe’s tales?
- Perspective– how does Mary Shelley’s protagonist in Frankenstein use the motif of dangerous knowledge to show the perspective of fear and anxiety of excesses in scientific enterprise in early 19th century Europe?
- Representation– through what means does Juan Rulfo successfully convey the representation of realistic and non-realistic characters and situations in Pedro Páramo?
A Final Note on the Learner Portfolio and the HL Essay
The Learner Portfolio is not assessed but schools are required to keep it on file. It is intended to be a platform for reflecting on the texts studied, facilitating development of independent thinking. The reflections may include responses to cultural perspectives and values, inter-relationships and identities as it relates to topics and themes in the texts studied. The reflections may serve as a springboard for the line of inquiry in the HL essay. For example, you may keep a record of themes present, reflections on how particular passages within the texts reflect those themes, or how themes and passages convey one of the 7 central concepts.
[1] Paper 2 is cancelled for the 2022 cohort. No announcement has been made for the 2023 at the time this article was written.
[2] There are 3 IB English courses. The two most common are IB English A: Literature SL/HL, a course focused on literature (Poetry, drama, short stories and novels) and the IB English Language and Literature SL/HL course, focused on literature AND a variety of non-literary (non-fiction) text types.
[3] The examiner’s grade is independent from your teacher’s predicted grade.
[4] An individual collection of student work compiled during the course in which you explore and reflect on the texts throughout the course.
- About the IB
- Exam pattern
- Extended Essay
- IB Languages
- IB Subjects
- IB Success Tips
- Internal Assessment (IA)
- Online learning
- Predicted Grades
RECENT POSTS
- Mastering Motivation and Stress for Exam Success April 16, 2024
- Top group study tips to make the most out of your time April 5, 2024
- Top IB Exam Preparation Techniques for Success March 30, 2024
- How to Navigate Post-Mock Challenges February 13, 2024
- Affordable Tutoring Options for IB Students February 12, 2024
Find me a tutor.
Please take one minute to fill in the form to tell us about your tuition needs. Once completed, one of our dedicated team members will reach out to you to fully understand your needs and find the best-match tutor. Our service is risk-free with our 100% money-back guarantee policy in the unlikely event that you are not satisfied with your matched ++tutor.
IB ++tutors is a Canadian company that is committed to providing global, high-quality IB private tutoring services by IB expert tutors.
Get Started
- How it works
- Free Lesson per Friend
- Affiliate Program
- Become a tutor
- IB School Support
- Privacy Policy
- Terms of Use
- Toll-Free Support (US & CA): 1-833-611-1133
- Global Support: +1-833-611-1133 (charges may apply)
- [email protected]
- 407 Iroquois Shore Rd. Unit 8, Suite V4 Oakville, Ontario, Canada L6H 1M3
404 Not found
IBDP English A: Language & Literature
Website by Neil Allen
Updated 7 March 2024
P1 - Examination Questions
P2 - examination questions, individual oral.
- The Learner Portfolio
Extended Essay
Essential knowledge, home .
- Paper 1 - Examination Questions
- Paper 1 - M22 Responses
- Paper 1 - M21 Responses
- Paper 2 - Examination Questions
- Paper 2 - Exemplar Response
- Paper 2 - Planning during the Exam
- About the Author, this Site & the IB Diploma
- The Course at a Glance
- A Conceptual Framework
- May 2022 - Examinations in the Epoch of Corona
- Marking Criteria - The Basics
- Paper 1 - Frequently Asked Questions
- Paper 1 - Structuring a Guided Textual Analysis
- Paper 1 - Video Guide to Textual Analysis
- Paper 1 - Writing Guiding Questions
- Paper 1 - Student Examples: Comic Strip
- Paper 1 - More Samples
- Paper 1 - Dealing with Infographics
- Paper 1 - Examination Strategy
- Paper 2 - Frequently Asked Questions
- Paper 2 - Making Analytical Points
- Paper 2 - Features of the Literary Genre
- Paper 2 - Structuring an Essay
- Paper 2 - Unpacking the Criteria
- Paper 2 - Examination Strategy
- Individual Oral - Frequently Asked Questions
- Individual Oral - Establishing a Global Issue
- Individual Oral - Organising the 10 minutes
- Individual Oral - More Student Samples
- Individual Oral - Boiling it down
- Individual Oral - To mock, or not to mock?
- Individual Oral - Global issue?
- Individual Oral - Preparation
- Individual Oral - Body of Work Preparation
- Individual Oral - Text Choices
HL Essay - The Basics
Hl essay - choosing a topic.
- HL Essay - Great Examples (Literature)
- HL Sample: Non-literary Body of Work - George Monbiot's Essays
HL Essay - Gaining Level 7
- The Learner Portfolio - Reflections
- The Learner Portfolio - Classroom Activities
- Extended Essay - Choosing your Category
- Extended Essay - Literary Examples
- Extended Essay - Non-Literary Examples
- What is a theme?
- Words and Phrases for Writing about Text
- What is intertextuality (and why does it matter)?
- Inquiry through Essential Questions
- The Language of Photography
- Glossary of Terms
- Understanding Command Terms
- Marking Criteria
The Higher Level (HL) essay is a formal academic essay of between 1,200 - 1,500 words. It is, obviously, a task that is only completed by HL students. Based on what you study in your course, the essay gives you the opportunity to choose an area that is of particular interest to you and, with guidance from your teacher, write a focused essay that shows an understanding of a literary work or a non-literary body of work you have studied. This website has been written to help you gather and formulate your ideas, and to draft and write an excellent academic essay.
Essential Questions
What are the requirements for the Higher Level Essay?
On what stimulus material should the higher level essay be based, can i write the higher level essay on a single non-literary text, how do i design a suitable line of inquiry for the higher level essay, what does a really good higher level essay look like.
This section will:
- Give you a more detailed insight into the requirements and expectations of the assessment;
- Help you with how to choose a topic - an essential requirement and the difference between success and failure;
- Share student work with you, and allow you opportunity to assess and see examiners' comments.
This page provides you with a clear and basic introduction to the HL Essay, an academic essay based on literary works or non-literary texts studied during your course. Later pages provide you with tips, models, and activities to help you...
For Higher Level students, the fourth assessment component is the Higher Level essay. What to choose for a topic is the biggest challenge.
HL Essay - Student Samples
Here you will find examples of real student HL Essays. Take a read and, using the marking criteria, grade them. You can compare your marks with those of the examiner.
Being able to see really good model examples is essential to learning skills. All the better if those models are truly assessed by examiners as part of a session, and if they adhere to our guidelines for organising and structuring an excellent...
Which of the following best describes your feedback?
HLE Planning Guide
Don’t fear the HLE! Let us guide you through the entire process. We’ll leverage five complete HLE samples and show you how it’s done. Start with the Line of inquiry and end with 1500 words you can celebrate!
The HLE Planning Guide includes:
- 100-page course book
- 5 sample papers across genres
- Line of inquiry guidance
- Step-by-step approach to building the HLE
- Complete set of graphic organizers
Course Content (Start course below if already enrolled)
Ib english guys, newsletter signup.
Username or Email Address
Remember Me
Registration confirmation will be emailed to you.
Choose Your Test
Sat / act prep online guides and tips, the best ib english study guide and notes for sl/hl.
International Baccalaureate (IB)
Are you taking IB English and need some help with your studying? No need to reread all the books and poems you covered in class! This study guide is for IB English A students (students in IB English A: literature SL/HL, IB English A: language and literature SL/HL, or IB English literature and performance SL ) who are looking for additional guidance on writing their commentaries or essays.
I've compiled this IB English study guide using the best free materials available for this class. Use it to supplement your classwork and help you prepare for exams throughout the school year.
What's Tested on the IB English Exams?
The IB English courses are unique from other IB classes in that they don't have a very rigid curriculum with exact topics to cover. Instead, your class (or most likely your teacher) is given the freedom to choose what works (from a list of prescribed authors and a list of prescribed literature in translation from IBO) to teach. The exams reflect that freedom.
On the exam for all English A courses, you're asked to write essays that incorporate examples from novels, poems, plays, and other texts you've read. You're also asked to interpret a text that you've read for the first time the day of the exam.
The exact number of questions you'll have to answer varies by the course , but the types of questions asked on each all fall into the two categories listed above.
What's Offered in This Guide?
In this guide, I have compiled materials to help teach you how to interpret poetry and how to structure your essay/commentary. I've also provided notes on several books typically taught in IB English SL/HL.
This should be most of the material you need to study for your IB exam and to study for your in-class exams.
How to Interpret Poetry Guides
Many people struggle the most with the poetry material, and if you're one of those people, we have some resources specifically for making poetry questions easier.
Here is a full explanation of how to interpret poetry for the IB exam with term definitions, descriptions of types of poems, and examples. We also have tons of poetry resources on our blog that range from explaining specific terms all the way to complete, expert analyses of poems you should know.
Here are some resources to get you started:
- Imagery defined
- Everything you need to know about Point of View
- The 20 poetic devices you should know
- Understanding allusion
- A crash course on Romantic poetry
- Understanding personification
- Famous sonnets, explained
- An expert guide to understanding rhyme and meter, including iambic pentameter
- The eight types of sonnets
- Expert analysis of "Do not go gentle into that good night" by Dylan Thomas
This is another great resource with poetry terms defined on "flashcards" , and you can test yourself on the site by clicking "play."
How to Write Your Essay Guide
If you're not sure how to write your essay, here's a guide to what your essay should look like for the IB English SL/HL papers. This guide gives advice on how you should structure your essay and what you should include in it. It also contains a few sample questions so you can get a better idea of the types of prompts you can expect to see.
IB English Book Notes
Based on the list of prescribed authors and literature from IBO, I picked some of the most popular books to teach and provided links to notes on those works. What's important to remember from these books is key moments, themes, motifs, and symbols, so you can discuss them on your in-class tests and the IB papers.
- Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
- A Farewell to Arms
- Animal Farm
- All the Pretty Horses
- A Streetcar Named Desire
- Anna Karenina
- As I Lay Dying
- Brave New World
- Crime and Punishment
- Death of a Salesman
- A Doll's House
- Don Quixote
- Dr. Zhivago
- Frankenstein
- Great Expectations
- Heart of Darkness
- Lord of the Flies
- Love in the Time of Cholera
- Love Medicine
- One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
- Romeo & Juliet
- Sense and Sensibility
- The Awakening
- The Bluest Eye
- The Great Gatsby
- The Picture of Dorian Gray
- The Stranger
- The Sun Also Rises
- Waiting for Godot
The Best Study Practices for IB English
Hopefully, this guide will be an asset to you throughout the school year for in-class quizzes as well as at the end of the year for the IB exam. Taking practice tests is also important, and you should also look at our other article for access to FREE IB English past papers to help you familiarize yourself with the types of questions asked by the IBO (and I'm sure your teacher will ask similar questions on your quizzes).
Make sure you're reading all of the novels and poetry assigned to you in class, and take detailed notes on them. This will help you remember key themes and plot points so you don't find yourself needing to reread a pile of books right before the exam.
Finally, keep up with the material you learn in class, and don't fall behind. Reading several novels the week before the IB exam won't be much help. You need to have time and let the material sink in over the course of the class, so you're able to remember it easily on the day of the IB exam.
What's Next?
Want some more study materials for IB English? Our guide to IB English past papers has links to every free and official past IB English paper available!
Are you hoping to squeeze in some extra IB classes ? Learn about the IB courses offered online by reading our guide.
Not sure where you want to go to college? Check out our guide to finding your target school. Also, figure out your target SAT score or target ACT score .
Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:
As an SAT/ACT tutor, Dora has guided many students to test prep success. She loves watching students succeed and is committed to helping you get there. Dora received a full-tuition merit based scholarship to University of Southern California. She graduated magna cum laude and scored in the 99th percentile on the ACT. She is also passionate about acting, writing, and photography.
Ask a Question Below
Have any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply!
Improve With Our Famous Guides
- For All Students
The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 160+ SAT Points
How to Get a Perfect 1600, by a Perfect Scorer
Series: How to Get 800 on Each SAT Section:
Score 800 on SAT Math
Score 800 on SAT Reading
Score 800 on SAT Writing
Series: How to Get to 600 on Each SAT Section:
Score 600 on SAT Math
Score 600 on SAT Reading
Score 600 on SAT Writing
Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests
What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For?
15 Strategies to Improve Your SAT Essay
The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 4+ ACT Points
How to Get a Perfect 36 ACT, by a Perfect Scorer
Series: How to Get 36 on Each ACT Section:
36 on ACT English
36 on ACT Math
36 on ACT Reading
36 on ACT Science
Series: How to Get to 24 on Each ACT Section:
24 on ACT English
24 on ACT Math
24 on ACT Reading
24 on ACT Science
What ACT target score should you be aiming for?
ACT Vocabulary You Must Know
ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score
How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League
How to Get a Perfect 4.0 GPA
How to Write an Amazing College Essay
What Exactly Are Colleges Looking For?
Is the ACT easier than the SAT? A Comprehensive Guide
Should you retake your SAT or ACT?
When should you take the SAT or ACT?
Stay Informed
Get the latest articles and test prep tips!
Looking for Graduate School Test Prep?
Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here:
GRE Online Prep Blog
GMAT Online Prep Blog
TOEFL Online Prep Blog
Holly R. "I am absolutely overjoyed and cannot thank you enough for helping me!”
IB Language and Literature: Excellent Exemplars
- IB Language and Literature General Resources & Information
- Books in the library
- State Library
- National Library
- Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
- The World's Wife
- Chronicle of a Death Foretold
- A Doll's House
Excellent Exemplars
- The Social Dilemma
- Seamus Heaney
- Home This link opens in a new window
Exemplar Podcasts
- Podcast Exemplar 1 Stephanie Cho
Exemplar PDFs
- Exemplar Mock HL Essay 1 Demonstrating the Ability & Disruptive Power of Photography Giles Peress Challenges the Underlying Causes of Global Complacency & Ignorance Through the Use of Photographic Journalism
- Exemplar Mock HL Essay 2 How Does the Amanda Knox Documentary Highlight the Way in Which the Media Manipulates Legal Cases?
- Exemplar Mock HL Essay 3 In What Way Does Judith Wright Challenge Contemporary Attitudes Towards the Australian Landscape?
- Exemplar Paper 1 response to Alex Perry Extract From Alex Perry's 'Oscar Pistorius & South Africa's Culture of Violence' - How Does Perry Alert Readers To The Problems in south Africa?
- Exemplar Paper 1 Response to Monbiot
- << Previous: A Doll's House
- Next: The Social Dilemma >>
- Last Updated: Feb 20, 2024 12:44 PM
- URL: https://geelong.libguides.com/ibenglish
IBDP English A: Language & Literature
Website by David McIntyre & Tim Pruzinsky
Updated 7 May 2024
InThinking Subject Sites
Subscription websites for IB teachers & their classes
Find out more
- thinkib.net
- IBDP Biology
- IBDP Business Management
- IBDP Chemistry
- IBDP Economics
- IBDP English A Literature
- IBDP English B
- IBDP Environmental Systems & Societies
- IBDP French B
- IBDP Geography
- IBDP German A: Language & Literature
- IBDP History
- IBDP Maths: Analysis & Approaches
- IBDP Maths: Applications & Interpretation
- IBDP Physics
- IBDP Psychology
- IBDP Spanish A
- IBDP Spanish Ab Initio
- IBDP Spanish B
- IBDP Visual Arts
- IBMYP English Language & Literature
- IBMYP Resources
- IBMYP Spanish Language Acquisition
- IB Career-related Programme
- IB School Leadership
Disclaimer : InThinking subject sites are neither endorsed by nor connected with the International Baccalaureate Organisation.
InThinking Subject Sites for IB Teachers and their Classes
Supporting ib educators.
- Comprehensive help & advice on teaching the IB diploma.
- Written by experts with vast subject knowledge.
- Innovative ideas on ATL & pedagogy.
- Detailed guidance on all aspects of assessment.
Developing great materials
- More than 14 million words across 24 sites.
- Masses of ready-to-go resources for the classroom.
- Dynamic links to current affairs & real world issues.
- Updates every week 52 weeks a year.
Integrating student access
- Give your students direct access to relevant site pages.
- Single student login for all of your school’s subscriptions.
- Create reading, writing, discussion, and quiz tasks.
- Monitor student progress & collate in online gradebook.
Meeting schools' needs
- Global reach with more than 200,000 users worldwide.
- Use our materials to create compelling unit plans.
- Save time & effort which you can reinvest elsewhere.
- Consistently good feedback from subscribers.
For information about pricing, click here
Download brochure
See what users are saying about our Subject Sites:
Find out more about our Student Access feature:
- HL Essay: Exemplar 5 (Small Axe)
- Higher level essay
- HLE sample work
Students, increasingly, write Higher Level Essays and Extended Essays on film and television. They also discuss these things in their Individual Orals. Presumably, in part, this is because teachers are teaching film and television in their classes. Here, on this page, students have the opportunity to read the Higher Level Essay of a student who has written about Steve McQueen’s film anthology, Small Axe (2020). Further...
To access the entire contents of this site, you need to log in or subscribe to it.
Alternatively, you can request a one month free trial .
- Support Sites
English A: Language and Literature Support Site
Hamilton (hle).
The following HL Essay aims to answer the line of inquiry:
Read the essay carefully. Apply the HLE assessment criteria and discuss the marks you would award the script before reading the examiner's marks and comments. How different were your marks and comments from the examiner's marks and comments? What improvements would you make to this essay to achieve better results?
You can write your HL Essay on a literary work or non-literary body of work. Is 'Hamilton' literary or non-literary? The way the student has approached the text, by focusing on the choreography, suggests it is treated as a non-literary body of work. By focusing on the script and lyrics only, you could treat 'Hamilton' as a literary work. Notice how the student has structured her paragraphers using the TEASER method from the HLE Builder.
Related pages
- HL Essay: Assessment criteria
- HL Essay: Skills: HLE Builder
IMAGES
VIDEO
COMMENTS
IA English A (Lang & Lit) HL Essay HL 7. High scoring IB English A (Lang & Lit) HL Essay Internal Assessment examples. See what past students did and make your English A (Lang & Lit) HL Essay IA perfect by learning from examiner commented examples!
Demands of the IB English HL Essay. Examples of Level 7 IB English HL Essay Titles. IB English HL Essay Overview. 1. Consider the Source you Wish to Write About. 2. Decide on your Topic by Brainstorming Wider Themes. 3. Consolidate your Line of Argument in a Thesis Statement.
The HL Essay (HLE) is a 1200-1500 word essay about a text studied in the IB English course. For Lang Lit, the work you choose to analyze can be literary or non-literary, but for IB English Literature the text must be literary. The HLE will make up 25% of your final IB English HL grade, and it is graded externally.
Here are the top tips to help you achieve a level 7 on your IB HL English essay. Analyze the question carefully: Before diving into writing, read the prompt carefully and identify the key themes and ideas. Make sure you understand what the question is asking for. This will help you to stay focused and on-topic throughout the essay.
Defeat the HLE and allow yourself to beam with pride. Go ahead, you've earned it. IB English - Higher Level Essay - Sample Paper (Dorfman) You've probably noticed that Andrew and Dave love drama. Dialogue, stage directions, props…they're amazing! Watch our student crush this HLE on Death and the Maiden by Dorfman.
Sample HL Essays. Below are a range of sample essays that are all "good" to "excellent" and would be marked in the 5-7 range. At the end of each essay are holistic comments by criterion that identify the strengths and limitations of the essay against each of the IB Language A HL Essay assessment criteria. Woman at Point Zero HL Essay.
Updated: Jul 7, 2023. The English HL essay is undoubtedly the flagship assessment of Higher-Level English. At its core, the HL essay depends on the same analytical skills as any other piece of English assessment. However, the HL essay sets itself apart by requiring a more specific and conceptual line of inquiry, and overall greater depth of ...
The reflections may serve as a springboard for the line of inquiry in the HL essay. For example, you may keep a record of themes present, reflections on how particular passages within the texts reflect those themes, or how themes and passages convey one of the 7 central concepts. [1] Paper 2 is cancelled for the 2022 cohort. No announcement has ...
Improve your grades fast using these 8 important IB English HL Write strategies, tips and examples shared of our expert IB English tutors. Improve your gradations immediately with these 8 important IB English HL Essay strategies, get plus examples shared by our master IB English tutors.
Visit us at https://ibenglishguys.com/This is video one of a FIVE-VIDEO SERIES demonstrating the entire HL Essay process from choosing the text to submitting...
The Higher Level (HL) essay is a formal academic essay of between 1,200 - 1,500 words.It is, obviously, a task that is only completed by HL students. Based on what you study in your course, the essay gives you the opportunity to choose an area that is of particular interest to you and, with guidance from your teacher, write a focused essay that shows an understanding of a literary work or a ...
The HL essay offers students an opportunity to develop as independent, critical and creative readers, thinkers and writers by exploring a literary topic over an extended period of time, refining their ideas by means of a process of planning, drafting and re-drafting. The essay requires students to construct a focused, analytical argument ...
Assessment. Higher Level Essay. Higher Level coursework essay: a student guide. A page and download for HL students...The notes below are designed to give you some guidance with preparing and writing the coursework essay. There are also some links in the text to other areas of this site, which provide further help and support. Do check them out!
Let us guide you through the entire process. We'll leverage five complete HLE samples and show you how it's done. Start with the Line of inquiry and end with 1500 words you can celebrate! The HLE Planning Guide includes: 100-page course book. 5 sample papers across genres. Line of inquiry guidance. Step-by-step approach to building the HLE.
In this guide, I have compiled materials to help teach you how to interpret poetry and how to structure your essay/commentary. I've also provided notes on several books typically taught in IB English SL/HL. This should be most of the material you need to study for your IB exam and to study for your in-class exams.
The Nature of the Task At HL, students are required to write a 1,200 -1,500 word formal essay which develops a particular line of inquiry of their own choice in connection with a non-literary text, a collection of non-literary texts by one same author or a literary text or work studied during the course. 42 Language A: language and literature guide
8 Reasons Why You Should Take IB Over AP. With good preparation, a few memorized quotes, and a solid knowledge of the themes of your novels, it is very much possible to score a 7 on the English Paper 2 Examination. I'm going to give you a basic outline of how to structure your essay and also tell you a nice way to organize your quotes for t.
Exemplar PDFs. Exemplar Mock HL Essay 1. Demonstrating the Ability & Disruptive Power of Photography Giles Peress Challenges the Underlying Causes of Global Complacency & Ignorance Through the Use of Photographic Journalism. Exemplar Mock HL Essay 2. How Does the Amanda Knox Documentary Highlight the Way in Which the Media Manipulates Legal Cases?
Hi, I just wanted to share my HL LangLit essay on photography. It got a 19/20 so I hope it helps other HL English students who are writing their essays :) Here is the link. Congratulations and thank you so much! Reading example essays has been really helpful and I'm grateful you decided to share yours.
Assessment. Higher level essay. HLE sample work. HL Essay: Exemplar 5 (Small Axe) Students, increasingly, write Higher Level Essays and Extended Essays on film and television. They also discuss these things in their Individual Orals. Presumably, in part, this is because teachers are teaching film and television in their classes.
The HL essay offers students an opportunity to develop as independent, critical and creative readers, thinkers and writers by exploring a literary or language topic over an extended period of time, refining their ideas by means of a process of planning, drafting and re-drafting. The essay requires students to construct a focused, analytical ...
The Great Gatsby (HLE) The following HL Essay aims to answer the line of inquiry: How and why does the motif of higher education in The Great Gatsby play an important role in the readers' understanding of class in America in the 1920s? Read the essay carefully. Apply the HLE assessment criteria and discuss the marks you would award the script ...
Hamilton (HLE) The following HL Essay aims to answer the line of inquiry: How does choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler create the 'Bullet' character in the musical Hamilton to help convey Lin-Manuel Miranda's message that one should seize the day and make the most of life? Read the essay carefully. Apply the HLE assessment criteria and discuss ...