International Baccalaureate

IB English Language & Literature
Official-Style Practice Exam

All Core Units · HL/SL · 20 Questions · Exam-Level Difficulty

Paper 1 & 2 Literary Devices Textual Analysis Comparative Study TOK Connections

📚 Core Concept Review

UNIT 1 Readers, Writers & Texts ▾
Author's Purpose
The writer's intention — to inform, persuade, entertain, or provoke.
Audience
The intended or actual reader; shaped by context, tone, and diction.
Register
Level of formality in language: formal, semi-formal, colloquial.
Connotation
Emotional associations beyond a word's literal dictionary meaning.
⭑ Must Memorise
  • SLAP: Subject · Language · Audience · Purpose
  • Diction = word choice; Syntax = sentence structure
  • Denotation (literal) vs Connotation (implied)
  • Ethos, Pathos, Logos — Aristotle's rhetoric triangle
📝 Example Question
"The use of the second-person pronoun 'you' in line 3 primarily serves to..."
✓ Answer: Create direct address and involve the reader personally (pathos).
UNIT 2 Time & Space (Context) ▾
Historical Context
The era, events, and social climate during which a text was produced.
Cultural Context
Beliefs, values, customs of the society reflected in the text.
Intertextuality
How texts reference or respond to other texts (allusion, parody).
Setting
Physical and temporal environment that shapes mood and meaning.
⭑ Must Memorise
  • Context shapes interpretation — same text, different era = different meaning
  • Chronological vs non-linear narrative structures
  • In medias res — beginning a narrative in the middle of action
📝 Example Question
"Knowing that the poem was written during the First World War changes the reader's understanding of 'fields' because..."
✓ Answer: The historical context reframes the pastoral image as a battlefield — irony.
UNIT 3 Intertextuality & Literary Devices ▾
Metaphor / Simile
Comparison: direct (metaphor) or using 'like/as' (simile).
Symbolism
Object or image representing an abstract idea beyond its literal meaning.
Irony
Verbal: says one thing, means another. Dramatic: audience knows more. Situational: opposite of what's expected.
Tone & Mood
Tone = author's attitude. Mood = reader's emotional response.
⭑ Must Memorise
  • Anaphora — repetition at the start of successive clauses
  • Enjambment — a line runs on without pause into the next
  • Juxtaposition — placing contrasting ideas side by side
  • Alliteration, Assonance, Sibilance — sound devices
📝 Example Question
"In 'Life is a broken-winged bird,' Hughes uses this image to convey..."
✓ Answer: A metaphor symbolising the death of hope when dreams are deferred.
UNIT 4 Paper 1 — Textual Analysis ▾
Guiding Question
HL Paper 1 has a guided question; SL must write without a guiding question prompt.
Commentary Structure
Introduction → Analysis body paragraphs → Conclusion. Always link language to effect.
Global Understanding
Identify overall meaning/message before analysing individual techniques.
Effect
Always explain how a technique creates meaning — never name-drop without analysis.
⭑ Must Memorise
  • PEEL: Point · Evidence · Explain · Link
  • HL: two unseen texts compared; SL: one unseen text
  • Mark bands: 0–5 per criterion (A–D for HL)
📝 Example Question
"In Paper 1, the most important aspect of a high-scoring response is..."
✓ Answer: Linking specific stylistic features to their intended effect on the reader.
UNIT 5 Paper 2 — Comparative Essay ▾
Thematic Comparison
Comparing how two or more works explore a shared literary theme.
Structural Comparison
How narrative or poetic form shapes meaning across texts.
Lens & Perspective
Feminist, post-colonial, Marxist, psychoanalytic reading approaches.
Synthesis
Weaving both texts together in a single argument, not alternating summaries.
⭑ Must Memorise
  • Paper 2 = two works studied; one question answered in essay form
  • Do NOT retell the plot — analyse author's craft
  • Thesis must be arguable, not merely descriptive
📝 Example Question
"A strong Paper 2 comparative essay will primarily demonstrate..."
✓ Answer: A sustained argument supported by textual evidence from both works.
TIME REMAINING
40:00
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