Paper 1: the guided textual analysis, step by step

Format and Scoring Architecture

Paper 1 tests your ability to read, interpret, analyse and evaluate previously unseen non-literary texts under timed conditions. Every passage is accompanied by one guiding question focused on a central technical or formal aspect of the text.

Each analysis is marked out of 20 across four equally weighted criteria (0–5 marks each). Grade boundaries change every session, so Courselo’s safe target for a 7 is an estimate: about $16\text{–}17/20$, or $80\text{–}85\%$. That means working at level 4 or 5 on every criterion:

• Criterion A: Understanding and interpretation (5 marks). Get the literal surface meaning right (who is addressing whom, about what, and why), then unpack the implied meanings, assumptions, and ideological subtext (the beliefs and values the text takes for granted). Back every point with brief, exact quotations or precisely located visual details.
• Criterion B: Analysis and evaluation (5 marks). Explain how specific authorial choices (diction or word choice, syntax or sentence structure, visual layout, typography, camera angle, structure) construct meaning, and evaluate (judge how effectively those choices work for the target audience and purpose). Describing or listing devices keeps you at about 2, and analysis without evaluation stops at 3. Evaluation first counts at level 4 (good evaluation); a 5 needs insightful, convincing analysis with very good evaluation.
• Criterion C: Focus and organization (5 marks). Drive the essay with a clear thesis answering the guiding question (or your chosen formal focus). Group your paragraphs by ideas or arguments, never by device or line-by-line chronology.
• Criterion D: Language (5 marks). Write in fluent, varied, formal academic English. Use linguistic and visual terminology accurately and only when it sharpens your point.

Minute-by-Minute Timing Plans

All IB written exams begin with 5 minutes of reading time (pens down) before the clock starts. Use it strategically.

Standard Level (75 minutes + 5 minutes reading time)

1. Reading Time (5 min, pens down): Skim both passages and both guiding questions. Choose the passage where you can spot at least three distinct shifts or clusters of meaning and understand the target audience. Commit to one text before the timer starts.
2. Minutes 0–15 (Active Annotation & Plan):
   • Min 0–8: Read your chosen passage twice with a pen. First pass: circle contextual clues (the source note printed with the passage, the date, author, audience and purpose). Second pass: bracket structural shifts and visual zones.
   • Min 8–15: Write your thesis statement at the top of your rough paper and map out 3 or 4 conceptual body paragraphs, listing 2–3 specific quotes or visual details per paragraph.
3. Minutes 15–70 (Drafting — 55 min):
   • Min 15–22 (7 min): Introduction (TAPC: text type, audience, purpose and context, explained in Step 1; then your thesis).
   • Min 22–63 (41 min): Three to four body paragraphs (approx. 10–13 minutes each).
   • Min 63–70 (7 min): Conclusion evaluating the text’s overall rhetorical or communicative success.
4. Minutes 70–75 (Proofreading — 5 min): Check that every paragraph links back to the guiding question, fix syntax glitches, and verify that visual references state exact locations (e.g., “in the upper-left quadrant”).