Cambridge English B for the IB Diploma
This resource supports the sample written assignment and Activity 4.4 in Unit 9.4, on pages
331–33 of the IB English B coursebook.
Before you start writing your own written assignment, it may help to read and assess an assignment written by another student.
Here is an example of a written assignment, in the form of a book review of Cormac McCarthy’s popular and successful novel The Road , first published in 2007 and made into a film in 2009.

Read the sample written assignment and rationale carefully.

Assess the work using the copy of the assessment criteria given below, and give what you think are appropriate marks for the work.

Then go to page 333 of the coursebook, and compare your marks to those awarded in the
‘examiner-style’ comments. Were you more lenient or stricter in the marks you gave? Why was that?
You can use the copy of the sample written assignment provided here to add your comments and annotations.
Summary of descriptors Marks
Criterion
A
Criterion
B
Criterion
C
Total
Language
For maximum marks you must use English effectively and accurately. Your ability to use a range of vocabulary and complex sentence structures is tested.
Content
For maximum marks you have to meet the aims that you set yourself in your rationale. Assignments must be clearly organised. Standard level students have to make effective use of the stimulus texts. Higher level students must show an effective connection to the literary work.
Format
For maximum marks you must use stylistic and structural conventions that are characteristic of the text type required by the assignment.
/10
/10
/5
/25
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Cambridge English B for the IB Diploma
Sample rationale
I wanted to show my understanding of the novel by Cormac McCarthy by writing a review of it. Even though I didn’t think the book was great, it was different, and that is why I wanted to recommend it. I wanted to write a book review, because this is the type of text that people read if they are interested in recommendations. I studied several reviews in class, and we talked about how they are different from other types of text, such as book reviews or essays. I thought it was important not to read an actual review of The Road, because I was afraid that I would just write all of the same ideas The Road made me think a lot about human nature and why people are ‘good’ or ‘evil’. In my assignment, I call it a
‘near’ masterpiece, because ‘the man’ and ‘the boy’ didn’t have names, and the ‘good’ and ‘evil’ people were so obviously good or bad.
The long-awaited novel, The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, came out this week, and readers will have a lot to talk about. You could say that McCarthy has nearly written a masterpiece.
This novel borrows themes and topics from his other novels such as mystery, lonely journeys and the Wild West. It’s about a boy and his father travelling through an empty country, where civilisation has almost been wiped out entirely. The reader wants to find out why the world is covered in ash. Why are there only a few cannibals walking the earth in search of fresh ‘meat’ and canned food? ‘The boy’ and ‘the man’ seem to be the only ‘good guys’ around. It is not easy for the father to keep his promise to his son to remain ‘good’, because everyone – including himself – is so desperate for food and water. They have a gun with one bullet, a shopping cart and plan: Follow ‘the road’ to the coast. What will they do when they reach the coast?
No-one really knows.
Like most adventure novels, the reader learns that the journey is more important than the destination. The question on the mind of the reader is ‘What destroyed this civilisation?’ Once you realise that this question will never be answered, you start to wonder: ‘What is civilisation?’ That is what this book is really all about. We are supposed to look to the relationship between the father and his son to answer this philosophical question, but it is not easy to do when these characters do not have names and their conversations are so short and simple. Readers are probably supposed to cry at the end (and I’m sure many will). But for some reason, I couldn’t shed a tear. I think it is because the characters do not feel very real.
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Cambridge English B for the IB Diploma
Critics will probably praise this book for leaving so much detail out instead of including a lot of detail. The style of this novel is minimalistic. But you have to wonder: Is this ‘man’ supposed to be the universal man? And is this ‘boy’ the universal boy? A novel like this can only go so far with such a simple understanding of people and relationships. Early in the novel, ‘the man’ has flashbacks of life before the world came to an end, which makes the novel and the character more believable. But after a while, McCarthy stops writing these flashbacks and the story becomes kind of flat, which is a real shame. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t cry at the end.
Nevertheless, it is fair to say that McCarthy has given everyone a lot to think about with his new novel, The Road. These days everyone is on edge, waiting for banks to fall apart and the environment to go up in smoke. So a novel like this makes us stop and think about what we are doing here. Are we supposed to be working together to save the human species? Or are we going to eat each other to survive for a few more weeks? Are we supposed to travel on the road that everyone takes? Or is that road dangerous because everyone takes it? It’s great when a novel can make you ask such deep questions. McCarthy has definitely taken the road that other authors don’t usually take. This is what makes it such a unique novel.
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