New Paper 1 Response (Yoruba Twins)
Last week we published an excellent response to a cartoon from the May 2021 Paper 1 Timezone 1 exam. This week, we are publishing a response from the other text on that particular exam. The student responds to a web article from BuzzFeed News by Tomi Obaro titled "To Love Your Sister Is To Grieve Your Twin."
You can find their response linked here.
It's important to note that the linked article was modified by the principal examiner. The second paragraph has been edited down (as have other paragraphs that are on the longer end). Paragraph breaks are added where breaks don't exist in the original. And some paragraphs have been cut out entirely. In other words, it's impossible to describe the changes in perfect detail and we recommend buying the exam from the IB.
Because this is such a long exam text - coming in at 71 lines - some Standard Level students chose to analyze the cartoon instead (see here). The guiding question also stumped some students: narrative structure wasn't necessarily what they were expecting. Of course, Higher Level students don't get any choice and they had to just get on with things.
This particular student dealt really well with the identity portion of the question. The student's references to the text also allowed them to succeed on this exam. While it isn't perfect - more focus on the guiding question is needed - there is a lot here to compliment from a text that might seem initially quite daunting for a young adult to get in an examination.
Best,
Tim