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English A L&L · Lesson 5 of 5 · Paper 1
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At Higher Level, Paper 1 counts for 35% of your final grade and requires you to write two complete, separate guided textual analyses in 2 hours and 15 minutes (135 minutes). Examiners mark each analysis separately out of 20 across Criteria A, B, C and D, giving a total of 40 marks.
Preview
You’ve read the first part of this lesson. The rest is part of Pro: about 6 more minutes of reading, plus the quick check.
Unlike Standard Level candidates, who choose one passage from two, Higher Level candidates must analyse both unseen non-literary passages printed on the exam paper.
The biggest threat to an HL Paper 1 score is spending 85 minutes writing a masterpiece on your first passage and leaving only 50 minutes for a rushed, underdeveloped second essay. Because each essay carries an identical 20 marks, losing 1 mark on each criterion in your second essay costs you 4 marks overall, usually far more than extra polishing can add to your first.
After the 5-minute reading time, divide your 135 minutes of writing time into two strict 65-minute blocks, with a 5-minute buffer at the end:
| Phase | Passage 1 (Min 0–65) | Passage 2 (Min 65–130) | Final Buffer (Min 130–135) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annotate & Plan | 15 minutes | 15 minutes | — |
| Write | 45 minutes | 45 minutes | — |
| Check & Edit | 5 minutes | 5 minutes | 5 minutes (both essays) |
Use the 5-minute reading time to scan both passages, their provenance notes (who wrote them, when and where), and their guiding questions. You may write your analyses in either order, provided you clearly label which is Text A and which is Text B.
Start with the passage whose purpose, audience and guiding question feel clearest to you. Securing a strong plan and essay in the first 65 minutes builds confidence and lets your subconscious mind process the more challenging passage while you write.
When you move from your first passage to your second at the 65-minute mark, you must consciously reset your analytical toolkit. Often, one passage is prose-heavy (such as an opinion column, speech or memoir extract) and the other is visual or multimodal (such as an advertisement, webpage or cartoon).
| Analytical Focus | Prose-Heavy Passage | Multimodal / Visual Passage |
|---|---|---|
| Criterion B terminology | Diction, syntax, tone shifts, figurative language, rhetorical appeals, pacing, paragraphing | Layout, composition, colour palette, typography, camera angle, gaze, juxtaposition of image and copy |
| Evidence (Criterion A) | Short, embedded quotations (3–6 words) woven into your own sentences | Exact spatial descriptions (e.g., “in the upper-left quadrant”) paired with short quotes from captions or body copy |
| Structural spine (Criterion C) | Often tracks the development of the writer’s argument from opening hook to conclusion | Often groups ideas by visual hierarchy, reader eye-path, or the interplay between different modes |
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