IB Literature assessment breakdown

Assessment component	Weighting
External assessment (4 hours)	70%
Paper 1: Literary commentary (2 hours) The paper consists of two passages: one prose and one poetry. Students choose one and write a literary commentary. (20 marks)	20%
Paper 2: Essay (2 hours) The paper consists of three questions for each literary genre. In response to one question students write an essay based on at least two works studied in part 3. (25 marks)	25%
Written assignment Students submit a reflective statement and literary essay on one work studied in part 1. (25 marks) The reflective statement must be 300–400 words in length. The essay must be 1,200–1,500 words in length.	25%
Internal assessment This component is internally assessed by the teacher and externally moderated by the IB at the end of the course.	30%
Individual oral commentary and discussion (20 minutes) Formal oral commentary on poetry studied in part 2 with subsequent questions (10 minutes) followed by a discussion based on one of the other part 2 works (10 minutes). (30 marks)	15%
Individual oral presentation (10–15 minutes) The presentation is based on works studied in part 4. It is internally assessed and externally moderated through the part 2 internal assessment task. (30 marks)	15%

Parts	Works
Part One	Agamemnon
	A Doll’s House
	Woman at Point Zero
Part Two	Othello
	The Great Gatsby
	Tennyson poems
Part Three	Heart of Darkness
	Things Fall Apart
	The Awakening
	Northanger Abbey
Part Four	A Streetcar Named Desire
	The Wedding of Zein
	Political speeches

Literature and Theory of Knowledge - philosophical questions

Literature and Theory of Knowledge (ToK)

• Is a work of literature enlarged or diminished by interpretation? What makes something a good or bad interpretation?
• How can a literary work of fiction, which is by definition non-factual, convey knowledge?
• What is the proper function of literature—to capture a perception of reality, to teach or uplift the mind, to express emotion, to create beauty, to bind a community together, to praise a spiritual power, to provoke reflection or to promote social change?
• Does familiarity with literature itself provide knowledge and, if so, of what kind—knowledge of facts, of the author, of the conventions of the form or tradition, of psychology or cultural history, of oneself?
• What knowledge of literature can be gained by focusing attention on the author? Can, or should, authors’ intentions and the creative process itself be understood through observing authors or knowing something of their lives? Is the creative process as important as the final product, even though it cannot be observed directly? Are an author’s intentions relevant to assessing the work? Can a work of art contain or convey meaning of which the artist is oblivious?
• What knowledge of literature can be gained by focusing attention solely on the work itself, in isolation from the author or the social context?
• What knowledge of literature can be gained by focusing attention on its social, cultural or historical context?
• How important is the study of literature in individual/ethical development? In what ways?
• What constitutes good evidence within the study of literature?
• What knowledge can be gained from the study of literature?
• What is lost in translation from one language to another? Why?
• Can literature express truths that cannot be expressed in other ways? If so, what sort of truths are these? How does this form of truth differ from truth in other areas of knowledge?

Literature aims and assessment objectives

Group 1 aims

The aims of language A: literature and language A: language and literature at SL and at HL and of literature and performance at SL are to:

1. introduce students to a range of texts from different periods, styles and genres
2. develop in students the ability to engage in close, detailed analysis of individual texts and make relevant connections
3. develop the students’ powers of expression, both in oral and written communication
4. encourage students to recognize the importance of the contexts in which texts are written and received
5. encourage, through the study of texts, an appreciation of the different perspectives of people from other cultures, and how these perspectives construct meaning
6. encourage students to appreciate the formal, stylistic and aesthetic qualities of texts
7. promote in students an enjoyment of, and lifelong interest in, language and literature.

Language A: literature aims

In addition, the aims of the language A: literature course at SL and at HL are to:
8. develop in students an understanding of the techniques involved in literary criticism.

9. develop the students’ ability to form independent literary judgments and to support those ideas.

Assessment objectives

There are three assessment objectives at SL and at HL for the language A: literature course.

• Knowledge and understanding
1. – Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of individual literary works as representatives of their genre and period, and the relationships between them
2. – Demonstrate an understanding of the ways in which cultural values are expressed in literature
3. – Demonstrate awareness of the significance of the context in which a work is written and received
4. Substantiate and justify ideas with relevant examples
• Analysis, synthesis and evaluation

1. – Demonstrate an ability to analyse language, structure, technique and style, and evaluate their effects on the reader
2. – Demonstrate an ability to engage in independent literary criticism on both familiar and unfamiliar literary texts
3. – Show an ability to examine and discuss in depth the effects of literary techniques and the connections between style and meaning (HL only)
• Selection and use of appropriate presentation and language skills

1. Demonstrate an ability to express ideas clearly and fluently in both written and oral communication, with an effective choice of register and style
2. Demonstrate a command of terminology and concepts appropriate to the study of literature Demonstrate an ability to express well-organized oral and written arguments
3. Demonstrate an ability to write a sustained and detailed literary commentary (HL only)

Assessment objective	Which component addresses this assessment objective?	How is the assessment objective addressed?
1. Knowledge and understanding	Paper 1	The response to a previously unseen passage requires students to show how they, as readers, have made their own meaning from the text.
	Paper 2	The essay on at least two works from one literary genre requires students to show understanding of the works and the way in which meaning is conveyed through literary conventions.
	Written assignment	Students develop a formal piece of writing that explores a literary aspect of one work, informed by some understanding of the cultural underpinnings of that work.
	Individual oral commentary (and HL discussion)	At SL students are assessed on their detailed knowledge of an extract taken from one of the works studied in part 2 (at HL a poetry extract or complete poem is used). At HL the discussion assesses students’ knowledge and understanding of one other part 2 work.
	Individual oral presentation	Students are required to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of at least one part 4 work through a self-chosen task.
2. Analysis, synthesis and evaluation	Paper 1	Students are required to analyse a previously unseen passage and produce an interpretation supported by evaluation of the writer’s choice of language, structure, technique and style.
	Paper 2	Students are required to synthesize ideas from at least two works and to apply that knowledge to a question on conventions used in one literary genre.
	Individual oral commentary	Students are required to analyse a short extract from a studied work and to evaluate the effectiveness of the literary techniques in that extract.

Assessment objective	Which component addresses this assessment objective?	How is the assessment objective addressed?
3. Selection and use of appropriate presentation and language skills	Paper 1	Students are required to write a formal, well-organized and coherent response using language appropriate to a formal essay. At HL students are required to construct a literary commentary.
	Paper 2	Students are required to write a formal essay comparing at least two works in response to one question.
	Written assignment	The written assignment requires personal writing on the development of ideas and the transformation of personal response into a formal essay.
	Individual oral commentary (and HL discussion)	Students are required to deliver a structured and focused commentary using a formal spoken register.
	Individual oral presentation	Students are required to adapt their language to the task and audience. One of the three criteria assesses the effectiveness of the oral presentation with regard to task and audience.