Today’s sample response was written by a student, Helena Wang, under exam conditions. While it has been edited for clarity, the ideas and analysis points are hers. This answer contains many strengths; I’d like to draw your attention to the focus on tone of voice. Tone can be one of the hardest elements of a written text to interpret…
One of the most difficult – but often the most crucial – elements of a text to analyse and understand is tone of voice. When listening to a speaker speak, tone can be conveyed in a variety of ways; voice inflection, emphasis, pace, volume, body language and more. When reading words on a page, you can’t hear the writer’s tone of voice. Nevertheless, tone is integral to meaning…
Travel writing is a rich and varied category of writing with fluid genre boundaries. Extracts could range from an informative guidebook entry, to an online review advising people whether or not to take a particular trip, to a descriptive passage helping you visualise a faraway place, or an advert persuading you to sign up to a tour…
In recent years, the category of general interest scientific writing has exploded in both quality and quantity. Fuelled by charismatic scientists – who also happen to be great speakers and writers – such as Michio Kaku, Brian Cox and Sabine Hossenfelder, and crossing media from books to television documentaries to podcasts, blogs, vlogs and video lectures, this genre actually has a long and distinguished history…
This text was provided by the IB as an example of what kind of writing to expect in Paper 1, so it’s worth paying attention to. In the past, there have been several examples of something you might call ‘general interest scientific writing,’ whether the journey of a water molecule through the universe, an investigation into declining bee populations, or an article about robotics and artificial intelligence…
While Paper 1 is not a formal essay ( you only have 1 hour and 15 minutes to compose your answer), you are still required to organise your response. In fact, 25% of your marks are gained through the way you structure and focus on the ideas you want to write about…
Persuasion in one form or another is an element of many mass media texts. You may find yourself studying all kinds of texts and topics in order to learn the language of persuasion: speeches, emotive appeals, adverts, even propaganda posters from the past. It’s unlikely you’ll cover all the possible types of persuasive text; so something you may have to do when you’re sitting Paper 1 is to transfer your learning from other parts of the course into this exam…
Less a text type, and more a category of writing, texts which appeal to children might appear in Paper 1. Whether a website with accessible or interactive features, a text book designed to educate or, like this text, a story presented in an engaging way, learning to identify features of texts written for children is a skill you can transfer across a variety of text types…
When preparing for Paper 1, you are encouraged to explore as many different text types as possible; nevertheless, it’s impossible to predict what might come up in your exam. The Lang and Lit subject guide states explicitly that you are not meant to try to memorise features of every text type. Instead you should transfer your learning from one part of the course to another where you can…
The ability to be a critical and independent thinker is highly prized by the IBDP. Attributes such as ‘inquirer,’ ‘thinker’ and ‘risk-taker’ are boiled in to the IB Learner Profile, providing clues as to how to approach your day-to-day learning. The following response demonstrates how taking a critical position on a text can result in strong analysis and evaluation…
