IB+Paper+2

Paper 2 in English A1 is the paper where students have to write an essay, answering a general question by referring to least two of the three works they have studied in Part 3 of their course. We have done the novel and the short stories option

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich Where I'm Calling From by Raymond Carver.

The paper consists of various questions, but you should answer either a question from Question 3 (novel and short stories) or Question 5 (General Questions on Literature). Standard Level Students have an hour and a half to answer their questions. You are not allowed to take your books in with you.



When answering your chosen question, you should base your answer on at least TWO works, and should you choose to use Carver or Erdrich to answer your question, use at LEAST TWO of the short stories.

This is exactly what the syllabus says:


 * __Paper 2 Essay (HL and SL)__** 25%!

Paper 2 will contain:" two essay questions on each of the genre categories represented in Part 3 of the PBL forthe Language A1 studied and " four essay questions of a general nature.The nature of the questions may vary slightly according to cultural traditions. For example,some questions may include a quotation.
 * Candidates will be required to answer **one essay question only**.!
 * Candidates should refer to at least **two works** in their essay.
 * The major focus of the answer must be the works studied in Part 3; a work of the same genre studied in Part 2 may beincluded if relevant, but only in addition to the minimum of two Part 3 works required for theanswer. All questions will make it possible for candidates to include a relevant discussion oftheir Part 3 World Literature work. Discussion of other works or authors should only beintroduced as supporting material.

The following is a collection of questions from old exam papers. Note that you will have a choice between questions 3 (Novel and Short Story) and question 5 (General Questions about Literature.)

Standard Level Questions for Paper 2

Here is the Marking Scheme again:

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How can you prepare best?

//Before the exam:// Know the novels and the most important themes from the novels. Make sure of the //names// of all characters. Try to link and contrast themes across the novels. Make a list of a few possible quotes from each book which you could possibly use in any answer. Look at the Marking Scheme to ensure you know exactly what to include in your answer. Look at old exam papers and plan the outlines of possible questions.

//During the exam:// Read the questions VERY carefully and DON"T answer a question if you are not 100% sure what is being asked. ie - deconstruct the question Plan your answer. Spend some time on your introduction and conclusion. Show your structure by using linking words ( p 16 in the light blue English handout) Never succumb to narration (don't retell the story) Include references to literary techniques - even the most basic terminology like setting, conflict and characterization. Spend at least 30 minutes planning your essay, and an hour to write it. Use the PEE structure and embed your quotes!! . Don't leave the exam room before the time - use all last minutes to reread your work for spelling errors.

Here is a summary of the examiner's report of what often goes wrong when student answer Paper 2. Please learn from __other__ people's mistakes.