How to write a stunning A1 English Language and Literature Paper 2 essay
For this paper, you will have to choose ONE essay title from a number of options. The essay titles are
generic which means they can be used to discuss a huge number of different books. The essay you write
has to be based on the books we did in Part 3 of the syllabus i.e. Much Ado About Nothing by William
Shakespeare, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and My Name is Salma by Fadia Fariq.
Notes from the Examiners (people who mark the essays!)
“Criterion A is most often the greatest challenge. Many weaker essays struggle to establish more than a
superficial or partial awareness of the implications of the question and often also struggle to provide
supporting examples. In some cases it appears that the question has not been read accurately and thus
the answer moves in a questionable direction. Additionally, and as in the past, effective paragraphing
needs to be emphasized. Also, many need reminding that an effective essay requires structure and
organization, along with the employment of relevant, effectively integrated examples. Finally, a note on
handwriting: many examiners commented on the growing frequency of scripts that are very difficult to
read.
Many examiners again commented on the growing frequency of
“illegible, sloppy, faint, or painfully tiny handwriting.”
The examiners are therefore suggesting that the chances of writing an excellent essay are significantly
improved if you write on one of the literary titles. Your essay needs to refer to AT LEAST TWO of the three
books in the group. You can mention other works outside the group of 3 BUT they must not become the
focus of your essay. Concentrate on the works Much Ado About Nothing, Pride and Prejudice and My
Name is Salma.
Based on the examiners’ comments, your objective for the A1 English Language and Literature Paper 2
(Essay) is to respond to the question: Your essay is an argument – a thesis. Do not just agree with the
opening statement and add examples. Argue – and start each paragraph referring to the wording of the
question and show how you are looking at the authors’ methods and practices.
Each paragraph must be discussion of writers’ choices – use of literary features to evoke Macbeth’s villainy
(for example), use of contrast with other characters to emphasize his essential moral nature. (N.B. by
whose moral standards are we judging anyway?)
Planning and Drafting the Critical Essay
An essay is a carefully organised answer to a question. If your topic is not a
question, rethink it so that it is. A number of accepted conventions about what an essay should look like
have developed. They provide a useful framework for presenting ideas.
The conventions of the essay
Conventions about structure
• It has an introductory paragraph, which shows the focus of the essay and indicates
the main points to be covered.
• The body of the essay consists of a number of paragraphs, each of which:
- deals with one main point about the text
- has a topic sentence.
 It has a concluding paragraph
Conventions about language
• Language is generally formal
• Full paragraphs and sentences are used rather than numbered points and headings.
• Although formal, the essay should be interesting to read.
Conventions about references and quotations
• Titles of full length works, such as films or novels are underlined or placed in italics.
• Titles of shorter works such as articles, stories and chapters are placed in
‘quotation’ marks.
• Authors are referred to by their full name or surname.
• Where words, phrases or sentences from the text are used in analysis, they are placed in
quotation marks. Reference with the page number in brackets.
Structure
• Helps you organise your thoughts in a logical manner
• Makes it easier for the reader to follow your essay.
The Introduction
The introduction is more than just a beginning. Just because a paragraph starts an essay does not mean
that it is an effective introduction. The point of the introduction is to tell your reader:
• Where you are coming from
• Where you are going
How shall I do this?
1. Briefly introduce the text you are writing about, including the title and writer
2. State the focus/ point of view of your answer to the question. This is the
controlling idea of the essay. Your sentence may use some words from the essay question;
better still use your own words.
3. Outline the main points (3-4), in order, that you will make in explaining your answer. This
is called your planning sentence(s) because it contains the plan for the body of the essay.
The Body of the Essay
The body of the essay will have 3-4 paragraphs, each dealing with one of the main points outlined in your
planning sentence in the introduction. The well –constructed paragraph, one that is easy to follow, has:
• a topic sentence which is like a sign post because it lets the reader know that you have
finished with one point and are moving on to another. It often has three parts:
- a transition part , linking words to lead into the new idea ( words like: ‘in addition’, ‘
however’, ‘secondly’, ‘another aspect of’ . . . )
- words that refer back to the controlling idea
- and the main point for this paragraph
• the topic sentence is followed by supporting sentences that explain the main point, often
using evidence from the text and which may include a short (1-2 line) quotation.
The Conclusion
The conclusion is your final paragraph. It should:
- sum up the main points of the essay
- give a sense of completion
The conclusion is often the hardest part of the essay to write because it can end up sounding exactly like
the introduction and that can be rather repetitive. The trick is to put a slightly different ‘spin’ on the
controlling idea indicating the importance of what you have written. The final sentence needs to be strong,
showing your conviction about the answer you have given to the essay question.
Language
Essays use formal language so slang and contractions (don’t = do not) are best avoided. Your essay is your
opinion on the topic so do not waste words with “I think” or “in my opinion” or “my view is”, in fact while it
is not forbidden, not using “I” helps you write in a formal way.
Formal writing does not mean that you should use long unfamiliar words; good writers rely mostly upon
short simple words. Take care to avoid clichéd worn out phrases like “a picture is worth a thousand words”.
This way of writing an essay works, and if this is your very first essay, do not
read further! However some students are writing so confidently that they do not need to follow the
formula so rigidly. It is quite possible to write with structure without the bones showing through the fabric.
You can write about a theme without actually using the word “theme”, you can write about symbolic
language without using the exact terms …. Of course you can, and you can enjoy implying rather than
plainly stating your point of view. An essay is an opportunity for carefully crafted writing; perhaps this will
be your best piece so far.
INTRODUCTION: leave writing the introduction until the end – leave sufficient space – it doesn’t matter if
there are a few lines gap but you won’t need more than 2/3 of a page.
After your introduction:
PARAGRAPH 2: a paragraph justifying your two choices and briefly contextualizing them. This means you
have to explain why you think the two/three books you have chosen are good choices for answering the
question posed in the title. You need to give a little information – title, author, date of publishing, what
might have prompted the author to write it, how it was received by the public (Was it influential? Wellreviewed? Did it become a classic?)
PARAGRAPH THREE: open your discussion of the first “book” (Remember that if you only saw the film,
DON’T talk about the film but talk of the story or the book.)
PARAGRAPH FOUR: contrast with the second “book”
YES – you need close reference and QUOTATIONS – you must analyze them. How does Darcy appear
as an effective character? Why might this be important? This does not mean you have to memorize
quotations – provided you can give the rough gist of the words and you know how these words fit into the
text, that is sufficient e.g. We get an idea of the fact that Benedick is afraid to commit to one woman
because he has not yet met one woman who embodies all his ideal.
CONCLUSION: at the end, you must make sure it shows you are considering your reaction to the question.
Are you making a judgment as to the effectiveness of either or both authors in their response to a given
theme?
THEN GO BACK TO YOUR INTRODUCTION: and, avoiding I me, my, give a brief preamble about what your
essay will discuss and what you hope to prove or illustrate.
Stylistic Devices
Below is a list of devices which writers sometimes use to great effect in their work. DO NOT panic and think
that you have to comment on examples of ALL or ANY of these. It could be, though, that a writer has used
one device to particular effect in the book and it may help you illustrate the point you are trying to make.
In literature and writing, a stylistic device is the use of any of a variety of techniques to give an auxiliary
meaning, idea, or feeling to the literal or written.
Figurative language
Figurative language is language using figures of speech. A figure of speech is any way of saying something
other than the ordinary way.
Metaphor
A metaphor is a comparison used to add descriptive meaning to a phrase (without using the words "like" or
"as"). Metaphors are generally not meant literally, and may have little connotative similarity to the
concepts they are meant to portray.
Example: The man's arm exploded with pain, spider-webs of fire crawling up and down its length as
the tire of a passing car crushed it.
(There is no literal explosion, spider-web, or fire, but the words are used to create images and draw
similarities to the way such an event would feel)
Simile
The easiest stylistic device to find is a simile, because you only have to look for the words "as" or "like". A
simile is a comparison used to attract the reader's attention and describe something in descriptive terms.
Example: "From up here on the fourteenth floor, my brother Charley looks like an insect scurrying
among other insects." (from "Sweet Potato Pie," Eugenia Collier)
Example: The beast had eyes as big as baseballs and teeth as long as knives.
Example: She put her hand to the boy's head, which was steaming like a hot train.
Synecdoche
Synecdoche occurs when a part of something is used to refer to the whole. Many examples of synecdoche
are idioms, common to the language.
Example: Workers can be referred to as 'pairs of hands', a vehicle as 'wheels' or mounted
infantrymen as 'horse', the latter appearing to be singular but actually employing the generic plural
form: "Napoleon deployed two thousand horse to cover the left flank."
Metonymy
Metonymy is similar to synecdoche, but instead of a part representing the whole, a related object or part
of a related object is used to represent the whole. Often it is used to represent the whole of an abstract
idea.
Example: The phrase "The king's rifles stood at attention," uses 'rifles' to represent infantry.
Example: The word 'crown' may be used metonymically to refer to the king or queen, and at times
to the law of the land.
Personification
Permitting an inanimate object to perform as if it were human.
Pathetic fallacy or Anthropomorphic Fallacy
The treatment of inanimate objects as if they had human feelings, thought, or sensations. The word
'pathetic' in this use is related to 'pathos' or 'empathy' (ability to feel emotion), and is not pejorative.
Pathetic fallacy is similar to personification. Personification is direct and explicit in the ascription of life and
sentience to the thing in question, whereas the pathetic fallacy is much broader and more allusive.
Example: The trees bowed down and wept as the lady walked through the garden.
She knew she would never see her husband again.
Apostrophe
Similar to 'personification' but indirect. The speaker addresses someone absent or dead, or addresses an
inanimate or abstract object as if it were human.
Charactonym
This is when the name of a character has a symbolic meaning. For example, in Dickens' Great Expectations,
Miss Havisham has a sham, or lives a life full of pretence. In Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Rev.
Dimmesdale metaphorically fades away (dims) as the novel progresses, while Chillingworth has a cold
(chilled) heart.
Symbol
A symbol may be an object, a person, a situation, an action or some other object that has literal meaning in
the story, and that represents something other than itself. It can also be a word or an idea. It is used as an
expressive way to depict an idea. The symbol generally conveys an emotional response far beyond what
the word, idea, or image itself dictates.
Example: A heart standing for love. (One might say "It broke my heart" rather than "I was really
upset")
Example: A sunrise portraying new hope. ("All their fears melted in the face of the newly risen
sun.")
Allegory
An allegory is a story that has a second meaning, usually by endowing characters, objects or events with
symbolic significance. The entire story functions symbolically; often a pattern relates each literal item to a
corresponding abstract idea or principle. Although the surface story may have its own interest, the author's
major interest is in the ulterior meaning.
Imagery
This is when the author invokes sensory details. Often, this is simply to draw a reader more deeply into a
story by helping the reader visualize what is being described. However, imagery may also symbolize
important ideas in a story.
For example, in Saki's "The Interlopers," two men engaged in a generational feud become trapped beneath
a fallen tree in a storm: "Ulrich von Gradwitz found himself stretched on the ground, one arm numb
beneath him and the other held almost as helplessly in a tight tangle of forked branches, while both legs
were pinned beneath the fallen mass." Readers can not only visualize the scene, but may infer from it that
it is actually the feud that has trapped him. Note also the diction used within the imagery: words like
"forked" and "fallen" imply a kind of hell that he is trapped in.
Motif
When a word, phrase, image, or idea is repeated throughout a work or several works of literature.
For example, in Ray Bradbury's "There Will Come Soft Rains," he describes a futuristic "smart house" in a
post-nuclear-war time period. All life is dead except for one dog, which dies in the course of the story.
However, Bradbury mentions mice, snakes, robins, swallows, giraffes, antelopes, and many other animals
in the course of the story. This animal motif establishes a contrast between the past, when life was
flourishing, and the story's present, when all life is dead.
Motifs may also be used to establish mood (as the blood motif in Shakespeare's Macbeth), for
foreshadowing (as when Mary Shelley, in Frankenstein, mentions the moon almost every time the creature
is about to appear), to support the theme (as when, in Sophocles' drama Oedipus Rex, the motif of
prophecy strengthens the theme of the irresistibility of the gods), or for other purposes.
Paradox
In literary terminology, a paradox is an apparent contradiction that is nevertheless somehow true. Paradox
can take the form of an oxymoron, overstatement or understatement. Paradox can blend into irony.
Sound techniques
Rhyme
The repetition of identical or similar sounds, usually accented vowel sounds and succeeding consonant
sounds at the end of words, and often at the ends of lines of prose or poetry.
For example, in the following lines from a poem by A.E. Housman, the last words of both lines rhyme with
each other.
Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough
Repetition
Repetition is the deliberate use of a word or phrase more than once in a sentence or a text to create a
sense of pattern or form or to emphasize certain elements in the mind of the reader or listener.
Example: Pile the bodies high [...] And pile them high [...] And pile them high [...] (from "Grass," by
Carl Sandburg)
There are further kinds of repetition like parallelism, which is the repeating of a structure.
Example: Pile the bodies high. Pile the foes high. Pile the allies high. Pile all of them high. [...]
(hypothetical example only)
Alliteration
Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.
Example: "...many a man is making friends with death/ Even as I speak, for lack of love alone." (Edna
St. Vincent Millay's "Sonnet 30").
Alliteration is used by an author to create emphasis, to add beauty to the writing style, and occasionally to
aid in shaping the mood.
Assonance
Similar to alliteration, in which vowel sounds are repeated.
Examples: "mad hatter", "free and easy."
Consonance
Similar to alliteration, but the consonants are at the ends of words.
Examples: "odds and ends", "short and sweet."
Rhythm
It is most important in poetry, but also used in prose for emphasis and aesthetic gain.
Example: The fallibly irrevocable cat met its intrinsic match in the oppositional form of a dog.
Onomatopoeia
This includes words that sound like their meaning, or imitations of sounds.
Example: "The bees were buzzing"
Formal structure
Formal structure refers to the form of a text. In the first place, a text is either a novel, a drama, a poem, or
some other "form" of literature. However, this term can also refer to the length of lines, stanzas, or cantos
in poems, as well as sentences, paragraphs, or chapters in prose. Furthermore, such visible structures as
dialogue versus narration are also considered part of formal structure.
Storyline and Plot
The storyline is the chronological account of events that follow each other in the narrative. Plot includes
the storyline, and is more; it includes the way in which elements in the story interact to create complexity,
intrigue, and surprise. Plot is often created by having separate threads of storyline interact at critical times
and in unpredictable ways, creating unexpected twists and turns in the overall storyline.
Plot structure
Plot structure refers to the configuration of a plot in terms of its exposition, rising action, climax, falling
action, and resolution/denouement. For example, Dickens' novel Great Expectations is noted for having
only a single page of exposition before the rising action begins, while The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
has an unusually lengthy falling action. Plot can also be structured by use of devices such as flashbacks,
framing and epistolary elements.
Flashback
A flashback (which is one of the most easily recognized utilization of plot structure) is a scene in a writing
which occurs outside of the current timeline, before the events that are actually occurring in the story. It is
used to explain plot elements, give background and context to a scene, or explain characteristics of
characters or events. For instance, one chapter may be at the present time in a character's life, and then
the next chapter might be the character's life years ago. The second chapter gives meaning to the first, as it
explains other events the character experienced and thus puts present events in context. In Khaled
Hosseini's The Kite Runner, the first short chapter occurs in the narrative's real time; most of the remainder
of the book is a flashback.
Frame story
When there is a lengthy flashback comprising more than half of the text, a frame story is the portion
outside the flashback. For example, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein uses the adventures of a sea captain as a
frame story for the famous tale of the scientist and his creation. Occasionally, an author will have an
unfinished frame, such as in Henry James's "The Turn of the Screw." The lack of a finishing frame in this
story has the effect of leaving the reader disoriented, adding to the disturbed mood of the shark.
Foreshadowing
This is when the author drops clues about what is to come in a story, which builds tension and the reader's
suspense throughout the book.
Example: The boy kissed his mother and warmly embraced her, oblivious to the fact that this was
the last time he would ever see her.
Allusion
Allusion is a reference to something from history or literature.
Irony
Verbal Irony
This is the simplest form of irony, in which the speaker says the opposite of what he or she intends. There
are several forms, including euphemism, understatement, sarcasm, and some forms of humor.
Situational irony
This is when the author creates a surprise that is the perfect opposite of what one would expect, often
creating either humor or an eerie feeling. For example, in Steinbeck's novel The Pearl, one would think that
Kino and Juana would have become happy and successful after discovering the "Pearl of the World," with
all its value. However, their lives changed dramatically for the worse after discovering it.
Similarly, in Shakespeare's Hamlet, the title character almost kills King Claudius at one point, but resists
because Claudius is praying and therefore may go to heaven. As Hamlet wants Claudius to go to hell, he
waits. A few moments later, after Hamlet leaves the stage, Claudius reveals that he doesn't really mean his
prayers ("words without thoughts never to heaven go"), so Hamlet should have killed him after all.
Dramatic irony
Dramatic Irony is when the reader knows something important about the story that one or more
characters in the story do not know. For example, in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the drama of Act V
comes from the fact that the audience knows Juliet is alive, but Romeo thinks she's dead. If the audience
had thought, like Romeo, that she was dead, the scene would not have had anywhere near the same
power.
Likewise, in Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart," the energy at the end of the story comes from the fact that we
know the narrator killed the old man, while the guests are oblivious. If we were as oblivious as the guests,
there would be virtually no point to the story.
Depitation
Depitation is the over-use of extravagant words so as to appear more intelligent, or to ironically emphasize
the opposite.
Register
Diction
Diction is the choice of specific words to communicate not only meaning, but emotion as well. Authors
writing their texts consider not only a word's denotation, but also its connotation. For example, a person
may be described as stubborn or tenacious, both of which have the same basic meaning, but are opposite
in terms of their emotional background (the first is an insult, while the second is a compliment). Similarly, a
bargain-seeker may be described as either thrifty (compliment) or stingy (insult). An author's diction is
extremely important in discovering the narrator's tone, or attitude.
Syntax
Sentences can be long or short, written in the active voice or passive voice, composed as simple,
compound, complex, or compound-complex. They may also include such techniques as inversion or such
structures as appositive phrases, verbal phrases (gerund, participle, and infinitive), and subordinate clauses
(noun, adjective, and adverb). These tools can be highly effective in achieving an author's purpose.
Example: The ghetto was ruled by neither German nor Jew; it was ruled by delusion. (from Night, by Elie
Wiesel) --In this sentence, Wiesel uses two parallel independent clauses written in the passive voice. The
first clause establishes suspense about who actually rules the ghetto, and then the first few words of the
second clause set up the reader with the expectation of an answer, which is metaphorically revealed only
in the final word of the sentence.
Voice
Imperative (commands/instructions), interrogative (asking questions), active (the subject of the verb
carries out the action) or passive (the subject of the verb is having the action done to them).
Tone
Tone expresses the writer's, narrator’s or speaker's attitude toward the subject, the reader, or herself/
himself.
Assessment Criteria
The essay will be marked by external examiners according to the following criteria:
Criterion A Knowledge and understanding 5 marks
Criterion B Response to the question 5 marks
Criterion C Understanding of the use and effects of stylistic features 5 marks
Criterion D Organization and development 5 marks
Criterion E Language 5 marks
Total 25 marks (= 25% of the overall total for IB Higher Level)
Criterion A: Knowledge and understanding
• How much knowledge and understanding of the part 3 works and their context has the student
demonstrated in relation to the question answered?
Marks Level descriptor
0 The work does not reach a standard described by the descriptors below.
1 Little knowledge is shown of the part 3 works and the way context affects their meaning.
2 Knowledge of the part 3 works and the way context affects their meaning is sometimes
illustrated; understanding is superficial.
3 Knowledge of the part 3 works and the way context affects their meaning is adequately
illustrated; understanding is satisfactory.
4 Knowledge of the part 3 works and the way context affects their meaning is pertinently
illustrated and the understanding shown is good.
5 Knowledge of the part 3 works and the way context affects their meaning is thoroughly
and persuasively illustrated and the understanding shown is perceptive.
Criterion B: Response to the question
• To what extent is an understanding of the expectations of the question shown?
• How relevant is the response to these expectations, and how far does it show critical analysis?
Marks Level descriptor
0 The work does not reach a standard described by the descriptors below.
1 There is little awareness of the expectations of the question.
2 There is some awareness of the expectations of the question; the response is only partly
relevant and is mostly unsubstantiated generalization.
3 There is adequate awareness of the expectations of the question; the response is
generally relevant and critical.
4 There is good understanding of the expectations and some of the subtleties of the
question; the response is consistently relevant and critical.
5 There is excellent understanding of the expectations and many of the subtleties of the
question; the response is relevant, focused and insightful.
Language A: language and literature guide 51
External assessment
Criterion C: Understanding of the use and effects of stylistic features
• To what extent does the essay show awareness of how the writer’s choices of the stylistic features in
the texts (for example, characterization, setting, theme, narrative point of view, structure, style and
technique) are used to construct meaning?
• To what extent does the essay show understanding of the effects of stylistic features?
Marks Level descriptor
0 The work does not reach a standard described by the descriptors below.
1 There is limited awareness or illustration of the use of stylistic features.
2 There is some awareness and illustration of the use of stylistic features, with limited
understanding of their effects.
3 There is adequate awareness and illustration of the use of stylistic features, with adequate
understanding of their effects.
4 There is good awareness and illustration of the use of stylistic features, with good
understanding of their effects.
5 There is excellent awareness and illustration of the use of stylistic features, with very good
understanding of their effects.
Criterion D: Organization and development
• How logical and developed is the argument of the essay?
• How coherent and effective is the formal structure of the essay?
Marks Level descriptor
0 The work does not reach a standard described by the descriptors below.
1 There is little focus, structure, sequencing of ideas and development.
2 There is some focus, structure, sequencing of ideas and development.
3 There is adequate focus, structure, sequencing of ideas and development.
4 There is good focus and structure, with a logical sequence and development.
5 There is precise focus and excellent structure; the work is coherently sequenced and
thoroughly developed.
Language A: language a 52 nd literature guide
External assessment
Criterion E: Language
• How clear, varied and accurate is the language?
• How appropriate is the choice of register, style and terminology? (“Register” refers, in this context,
to the student’s use of elements such as vocabulary, tone, sentence structure and terminology
appropriate to the task.)
Marks Level descriptor
0 The work does not reach a standard described by the descriptors below.
1 Language is rarely clear and appropriate; there are many errors in grammar, vocabulary
and sentence construction and little sense of register and style.
2 Language is sometimes clear and carefully chosen; grammar, vocabulary and sentence
construction are fairly accurate, although errors and inconsistencies are apparent; the
register and style are to some extent appropriate to the task.
3 Language is clear and carefully chosen with an adequate degree of accuracy in grammar,
vocabulary and sentence construction despite some lapses; register and style are mostly
appropriate to the task.
4 Language is clear and carefully chosen, with a good degree of accuracy in grammar,
vocabulary and sentence construction; register and style are consistently appropriate to
the task.
5 Language is very clear, effective, carefully chosen and precise, with a high degree of
accuracy in grammar, vocabulary and sentence construction; register and style are
effective and appropriate to the task.