KEY PASSAGE ANALYSIS vs. COMMENTARY: IB requires that a commentary format be used for Exam
Paper #1, but for the World Literature Paper #2, they include among the options a “key passage analysis.” In
effect, they open up the possibilities a bit, probably due to the complications that translation imposes upon
the technical aspects of a text. This clarification comes from the IB A1 Subject Guide instructions for WL Paper
2, and the World Literature Teacher Support and Samples documents.
Key passage essay:
Commentary:
The most important word here is key. The passage for study,
whether a paragraph, a page, a chapter, or an extract from a
poem, should have major significance for any of a variety of
explorations that the candidate might choose to make, for
example, prose or poetic style, character study, plot development
or theme. The reason why the candidate has chosen the passage
should be briefly explained and the body of the assignment should
explain the significance of the passage to the larger work from
which it has been taken.
In this exercise an extract of approximately 30
lines of prose or the equivalent in drama or verse
is taken from a work for an in-depth analysis.
Candidates should justify briefly their selection of
the particular extract; the body of the assignment
should explore how language, imagery,
organization of ideas, and stylistic and thematic
aspects work in the passage.
Why is this passage (or why are these passages) central to our
understanding of the work? In other words, why is it a key
passage, or why are they key passages?
Why can this passage be seen as characteristic of
the writer's central concerns and/ or techniques?
The main difference between the two exercises relates to the nature of the candidate's focus.
In an analysis of a key passage (see diagram A) candidates are expected to:
 explain why the passage chosen is central to our understanding of the work
 focus outwards on the larger work from which it has been taken, to show its relationship to the
development of the plot, and to examine what it shows about elements such as theme, style and
characters.
In a commentary (see diagram B), candidates are expected to:
 explain why the particular extract has been selected for this kind of analysis
 focus closely on the extract itself in order to analyse how elements such as language, structure and
tone work together within it to create or enhance meaning.
Diagram A: analysis of a key passage
Diagram B: commentary
Key: The black arrows represent the main focus of the analysis or commentary. The transparent
arrows represent the complementary focus.
A teacher’s explanation (http://eyebee-mizbee.blogspot.com/2009/09/looking-in-looking-out-key-passage.html):
So there you are, faced with a passage from a text you have studied in class, and the test is a ‘key passage
analysis’, according to IB criteria. You read the excerpt closely, noting the significant features, your response,
and the tone of the piece. Eagerly, you dive into the task, developing a clear focus and supporting it fully with
direct quotations and insightful remarks as to the effects of the noted literary features.
As the period ends, you review your work and remark to the teacher while submitting the paper, “I think I
nailed this one. I knew this passage inside and out.”
The teacher smiles. “What was your focus?”
“How the tense atmosphere of the excerpt is generated by the imagery and the frenetic pace.”
“Sounds great! How did you connect it to the text as a whole? What other elements or episodes did you use to
show that it was a key passage?”
You are stunned by the teacher’s cheerful reply. The rest of the text? Other episodes? Oh Nooooooo…..
Welcome to the difference between ‘key passage analysis’ (KPA) and ‘commentary'.As defined by IB, KPA is
controlled by the first word, ‘key’: “The most important word here is key. The passage should be closely
examined as to its significance for any variety of reasons, for example, prose or poetic style, character study,
plot development or theme. The body of the analysis essay should explain the significance of the passage to
the larger work from which it has been taken.” While that paper you wrote might be an excellent commentary
on the excerpt, it is not a KPA.
Aren’t you glad this was a hypothetical scenario?
As long as you answer one central question in your paper, you will succeed in writing a KPA: “Why is this
passage central to our understanding of the work?” In other words, why is it a key passage? While it is
essential that your paper demonstrates a careful analysis of the salient features of the text, it is equally
important that these be linked clearly to other elements and/or episodes in the text as a whole.
To return to the imaginary paper you have handed in and now wish desperately to rewrite, you needed to
show how this particular moment of suspense built upon previous episodes. In addition, some links forward in
the narrative were necessary to illustrate how the tension generated by this passage affected the narrative
which followed. If you focused primarily on the style of the excerpt, some remarks on similar style features
elsewhere in the text would be required. In this way you would argue for the passage’s importance to the
rising tension and complications in the plot and/or the author’s skill in generating suspense in the reader in
this passage as s/he does throughout the text.
IB offers some rather comical graphics to illustrate the difference between KPA and commentary, and they
both resemble fat spiders. The difference is that the KPA model has arrows pointing outward from the ends of
the legs like little feet anchoring the passage (spider’s body) in the text, while the commentary has arrows
piercing the spider’s body at the junctions with the legs, which have no feet to ground them in the text as a
whole. The visual analogy is apt and certainly memorable, so next time you are required to write a key passage
analysis, just think about spiders……