Subject report 2025

Internal Assessment

• Key to success in this assessment is the identification of a meaningful Global Issue. It should be ‘precise and well-articulated’ as well as provide scope for analysis and interpretation.
• The fields of inquiry are not global issues, but a stimulus. Students should take care to choose extracts that allow for meaningful engagement also with the wider work – and both unified by engagement with the global issue.
• Teacher questions are often best directed towards engaging further with what a student has said in their presentation.

Criterion A is best addressed through sensitivity to authorial intention, the impact of culture and history, as well as respect for the relationship between reader, writer and text. Higher marks typically emerge from more nuanced engagement with the global issue. Authentic conclusions can be determined from a sense of personal engagement with the way the texts present the global issue.

Criterion B is best addressed through close, specific analysis. It is not an exercise in feature spotting. Evaluative points can be made through assessment of the extent to which the global issue resonates with the extracts/works and their relative impact.

Criterion C needs to show balance between breadth and depth. No organising principle is favoured as long as the oral is balance between extract and wider work overall. The global issue should also receive equal attention in both texts. Important also to show a sense of development – avoiding repetition.

Criterion D should make sure language is clear and appropriate to the task. Students need to avoid colloquialisms and fillers.

Further recommendations:

• Make use of the learner portfolio as a place for students to record and reflect
• Offer additional reading for students to consider context
• Provide time and space for students to consider different organising principles
• Encourage students to discuss and question notions of culture, context, language and history
• Encourage exploration of different readings

HL Coursework Essay

• Key to success is selecting a literary line of inquiry – and it is best to focus on a writer’s choice or a literary feature.
• The introduction establishes the line of inquiry – broad enough to enable analysis of the whole work but not so broad that the essay is superficial.
• The line of inquiry needs to allow for analysis/interpretation rather than lead the candidate into description or paraphrase.
• Avoid focusing on contextual or political/philosophical/sociological themes
• The line of inquiry is NOT a global issue
• The essay should address a complete work, which means that one poem or one short story is insufficient
• Students who choose the same work must find different lines of inquiry
• Choices of works must be appropriate in terms of level of challenge
• Less well-known titles are usually very welcome
• A focus on song lyrics must address aspects of craft, not address context
• The 1500-word limit is strict. Anything less than 1200 words is likely to self-penalise
• Secondary criticism is permitted but must not ‘overpower the student’s own voice and thinking’
• A bibliography must be included. No need for a cover page. All essays must be anonymous – no name, school or student code. Helpful to use 1.5 or double space

Criterion A: Students must refer to the text in support of claims but use textual evidence carefully. ‘Precise references to specific moments in a work can be as effective as actual quotations.’ Students should attend to details but also address the work as a whole.

Criterion B: Typically, the most challenging criterion. The line of inquiry must focus on analysis of writer’s choices. Analysis must advance an argument that relates to the title/line of inquiry. Quotations must receive analytical attention, not be allowed to speak for themselves. Literary terminology is helpful but must be used appropriately and correctly. It is likely that features of the unique chosen genre will be beneficial.

Criterion C: The introduction must justify the line of inquiry and explain its significance. Make introductions clear and focused. Make sure body paras are connected and serve to develop a cogent argument. Students need to know how quotations are integrated according to academic convention. Quotations typically need contextual information. Better to use short quotations. Graphic novel panels should be integrated into the text. Paragraphs that are very long or very short betray a need for more care with the development of an argument. Conclusions should not just repeat things already said but attend to the argument that has bene proven. Another option is to link the analysis to the wider concerns of the work.

Criterion D: Writing needs to be mechanically accurate – precision of vocabulary and syntax is important. A formal academic register should be maintained and students should not think of the essay as an opportunity to introduce arbitrary ‘sophisticated’ vocabulary.

Further recommendations:

• Teach how to develop the argument
• Teach how to use evidence from the text
• Provide feedback on a first draft, with reference to the need for detail, where further analysis is needed and how to structure the argument coherently
• Make sure students check their work carefully before submitting

Paper 1

This paper is generally undertaken well. Most students understand the rubric and manage the assessment well. Most HL students know they need to analyse both extracts although handwriting can be problematic, particularly as the exam develops.

• Handwriting needs to be legible!
• It is unhelpful when students try to squeeze additional words or sentences between lines
• Time management is problematic for some, and the absence of a conclusion typically impacts the mark
• Students need to understand the literal meaning of the extract/s and that not all interpretations are equally valid
• Sequencing of paragraphs and transitions between them needs to be deliberate and coherent

Criterion A: It is important to consider both the literal meaning of the text/s, as well as figurative or implied meaning. Some students find engaging with nuance/complexity challenging It is important to avoid mere paraphrase and/or seeing the exercise as an interrogation of a list of quotations Not all interpretations are equally valid, and attention to literal meaning must be paid Important to recognise the text type of the prose piece e.g. fiction or non-fiction

Criterion B: This criterion is often a key discriminator. Some students do not understand the difference between description/summarising and analysis/evaluation Identification of authorial choices is not sufficient. They need to be connected to meaning. Students sometimes confuse ‘persona’, ‘narrator’ and writer. Students need to go beyond the phrase ‘descriptive language’.

Criterion C: There is clear evidence that students who have planned their essay with outlines or webs do better because there is more coherence. Important to maintain focus on the point of entry and/or answer the question. Poor time management is evidence at HL, with the second response being significantly shorter than the first. Non-existent or very brief conclusions limit the mark. Weak transitions do little to suggest a sequential, coherent argument.

Criterion D: Some students struggle with clarity and accuracy. Poor handwriting is problematic – especially when students are running out of time. Discourage squeezing additional sentences into lines.

Further recommendations:

• Don't impose a reading on the text. Use the information that is there, so that the points made are ‘evidence-based
• Review terminology, particularly ‘verses’ in poetry, ‘diction’, ‘imagery’ and the concept of ‘stream of consciousness’ as these were frequently misidentified
• Teach students that tone is not a feature, and that it is created, not ‘used’
• Spend time teaching terminology appropriate to the different genres
• Continue to focus on using the guiding question as an entry into the text and basing the response around this, e.g. through topic sentences for paragraphs
• Practise writing effective introductions
• Use clear topic sentences at the beginning of paragraphs
• Encourage students to offer “signposting” words and a sense of progression in their responses
• Practise the successful ‘embedding’ of quotations
• Work on timing, as the second question is often not answered as adequately as the first
• Encourage students to avoid the use of contractions: ‘is not’, rather than ‘isn’t’
• Expose students to a wide variety of genres to develop a stronger understanding of textual features and authorial choices
• One recommended strategy is regular close reading practice, with exercises like colour-coding literary features; for example, students can highlight instances of ‘nature imagery’ or ‘colour symbolism’ in different colours to visually track patterns and motifs
• Instil in them the habit of proofreading their work
• When choosing an alternative point of entry, this needs to be clearly stated; this is most effectively done in the introduction
• Try to limit the number of additions to the response; when it is necessary, an asterisk is usually the best way to indicate this: cramming whole sentences in between what is already written is challenging to read
• Spend time in particular on non-fiction texts - several students were clearly unfamiliar with this genre
• Teach students that quotation is not the same as analysis. Too many responses quote with little or no analytical unpacking
• Remind students not to waste time comparing the texts with others. Context is not assessed in Paper 1, and such comparisons are irrelevant
• Practise structured essay writing, emphasizing planning, paragraph development, and the importance of linking ideas cohesively

Paper 2

Students seem to understand the task, including its comparative requirements. Centres choose appropriate texts for study and better responses demonstrate good engagement with the demands of the prompt. Some students constructed a clear line of argument, and the essay structure was coherent and deliberate.

• Some students writing a ‘pre-prepared’ essay or one that was at odds with the actual question. Authentic, carefully planned responses are the aim.
• Problem of generalised argument with little depth
• Students find it hard to link authorial choices to interpretation
• Students find it hard to compare authorial choices or lit featuresA lack of precision in response to more abstract prompts e.g. ‘effectively communicate’ or ‘to what effect’
• Some students retell the story and some fail to address the terms of the question
• Examiners expect to see awareness of conventions of the chosen genre
• Learning quotations is not necessary. Sometimes they are used inappropriately.
• Sometimes students organise paragraphs around key ideas, but these ideas are not related to the question or advance an argument
• There is sometimes limited engagement with genre-specific conventions, particularly in ref to drama and graphic novels
• It is important to put text references into context
• Some responses are unbalanced or lack a conclusion – presumably due to time constraint
• Handwriting is a concern for some

Further recommendations

• Spend time practising ‘meaningful comparisons’, particularly in relation to authorial choices – and their effects
• Important to practise responses to different kinds of questions
• Too much emphasis on plot/character/theme approach without being able to adapt ideas to the implications of the question
• Students would benefit from clear modelling in ref to genre-specific literary devices
• Knowledge of the texts can be shown more easily sometimes through reference to events/moments more than through quotations.
• Important to contextualise references to the text – again, through teacher modelling
• Make sure students use accurate titles and punctuate/paragraph accurately.