English A L&L · Lesson 6 of 6 · Readers, writers and texts (area of exploration 1)

From feature to effect: analysing and evaluating authorial choices

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Turning a named technique into a precise argument about meaning and effectiveness is the core skill of IB English A: Language and Literature. Criterion B (Analysis and evaluation)—a quarter of the marks in Paper 1, the HL essay (HL only) and the Individual Oral, and a fifth of the Paper 2 marks through Criterion B1—directly rewards your ability to move beyond spotting features to judging how authorial choices shape meaning for an audience.

By the end you’ll be able to

Distinguish description, feature-spotting, analysis and evaluation in sample responses, and explain why only analysis with evaluation reaches the top levels of criterion B.
Build an analytical point in four steps: the choice (what the writer or creator does), its effect (how it works on the reader or viewer), its meaning (what it suggests) and a judgement (why it is there and how well it serves the purpose and audience).
Write effects precisely, naming what the reader feels, thinks, notices or is led to do and why, instead of vague phrases such as ‘engages the reader’.

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Core ideas (continued)
Worked examples
Exam technique
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Quick recap
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What the exam asks

Across every component, Assessment Objective 2 (AO2) asks you to analyse and evaluate how writers and creators use language, technique, style and broader choices to construct meaning.

In Paper 1, the guiding question points you to a technical or formal aspect of an unseen non-literary passage (for example, “How does the interplay of text and image persuade the reader...”). Answering it is optional: you may choose another clear focus instead, but your analysis needs one. To reach Level 4 or 5 in Criterion B (out of 5 marks), you must show not just what choices the creator made, but how they work and how effectively they serve the text’s purpose.
In Paper 2, Criterion B1 (5 marks) tests your analysis and evaluation of textual features and/or broader authorial choices across two literary works. Because the exam is closed-book, you cannot rely on long quotations, so evaluating how structural, narrative and dramatic choices build meaning is often your strongest route. B1 rewards the quality of your analysis, whether of small-scale features, broader choices or both.
In the Individual Oral and HL essay, Criterion B rewards a sustained, critical evaluation of how both small-scale and large-scale choices present a global issue or answer a line of inquiry.

Core ideas

Four levels of response: from description to evaluation

Examiners place your work into a markband by judging the quality of your analytical thinking. Notice how the four levels below handle the exact same detail from a charity appeal written for practice, which describes a dried-up river as “a ribbon of dust”.

Level of response	What the candidate does	Example sentence	Criterion B band
1. Description / Summary	Retells what happens or what the text says without naming a choice.	The writer talks about how the river has dried up and the villagers have no water.	Level 1 (Descriptive)
2. Feature-spotting	Names a technique and gives a quotation, but leaps straight to a generic claim.	The writer uses a metaphor, “a ribbon of dust,” to show the river is dry.	Level 2 (Some analysis, still reliant on description)
3. Analysis	Explains how the choice works on the reader and what it implies.	By metaphorically reducing the river to “a ribbon of dust,” the writer contrasts a delicate, decorative object with barrenness, helping the reader visualize how fragile the village’s water supply has become.	Level 3 (Sound analysis, no evaluation yet)
4. Evaluation	Judges why the choice is effective (or limiting) for the specific audience, purpose or context.	This stark metaphor of “a ribbon of dust” effectively strips away any romantic view of rural life for an urban donor audience, unsettling them into recognizing that immediate financial aid is a matter of survival.	Level 4–5 (Insightful / Convincing)