IB DP Language and Literature

IB Language and Literature

Language A: Literature (SL/HL)

Available in 55 languages, this course comprises three areas of study, focusing on literary works. It offers a comprehensive exploration of literature from various cultures, forms, and periods. Students learn to appreciate literary craftsmanship, develop critical thinking skills, and present literary analysis persuasively in both oral and written forms. At the higher level, students study 13 works, while at the standard level, they study 9 works, selected from a representative range of literary forms, periods, and places.

Language A: Language and Literature (SL/HL)

Available in 17 languages, this course involves the critical study and interpretation of a wide range of literary and non-literary texts. Students develop skills in textual analysis and effective communication, with a focus on critical literacy. At the higher level, students study 6 works, and at the standard level, they study 4 works, selected from a representative range of literary forms, periods, and places.

Literature and Performance (Interdisciplinary Subject)

This standard level course explores the relationship between literature and theater. It focuses on the interplay between literary skills—such as close reading, critical writing, and discussion—and the practical, aesthetic, and symbolic elements of performance. Students study at least five literary works from major genres, engage with various literary texts, perform dramatic works, and transform texts into realized performances.

Curriculum components common to the courses listed:
– Readers, writers and texts
– Time and space
– Intertextuality: connecting texts

In these courses, students are expected to be able to fulfill the following assessment objectives:
1. Know, understand and interpret:
– a range of texts, works and/or performances, and their meanings and implications;
– contexts in which texts are written and/or received;
– elements of literary, stylistic, rhetorical, visual and/or performance craft;
– features of particular text types and literary forms.
2. Analyse and evaluate:
– ways in which the use of language creates meaning;
– uses and effects of literary, stylistic, rhetorical, visual or theatrical techniques;
– relationships among different texts;
– ways in which texts may offer perspectives on human concerns.
3. Communicate:
– ideas in clear, logical and persuasive ways;
– in a range of styles, registers and for a variety of purposes and situations;
– (for literature and performance only) ideas, emotion, character and atmosphere through performance.

For general information about the International Baccalaureate (IB) program, visit this link.

Assessment Language A: literature

External Assessment
Paper 1: Guided literary analysis
Guided analysis of unseen literary passage / passages from different text types.

Paper 2: Comparative essay
Comparative essay based on two literary works written in response to a choice of one out of four questions.

HL (higher level) essay. Written coursework component: 1,200–1,500 word essay on one work studied.

Internal Assessment
Individual oral: Prepared oral response on the way that one work originally written in the language studied and one work studied in translation have approached a common global issue.

Assessment Language A: language and literature

External Assessment
Paper 1: Guided textual analysis
Guided analysis of unseen non-literary passage/passages from different text types.

Paper 2: Comparative essay
Comparative essay based on two literary works written in response to a choice of one out of four questions.

HL essay (higher level). Written coursework component: 1,200–1,500 word essay on one literary work or a non-literary body of work studied.

Internal Assessment
Individual oral: Prepared oral response on the way that one literary work and one non-literary body of work studied have approached a common global issue.

Assessment: Literature and Performance

External Assessment
Paper 1: Students answer one of four general questions by writing a comparative essay on two works studied in the course.

Paper 2 Written Assignment: Students critically examine an extract from a dramatic work they have explored through performance, analyzing how its dramatic features were staged through their individual performance choices. The essay should not exceed 2,000 words.

Internal Assessment
Transformative Performance and Individual Oral. This assessment has two compulsory parts:
1. Transformative Performance (10 minutes):
– Students transform an extract from a non-dramatic literary work into a piece of theater.
– The performance is presented to a live audience.
2. Individual Oral (15 minutes):
– Students explain their process of transforming the extract into a performance.

Both parts are assessed internally by the teacher and externally moderated by the IB at the end of the course.

Additionally, students complete a written term paper based on a critical analysis of a play they have studied and performed.

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