What the exam asks
In Paper 1, you must read an unseen non-literary text (at SL you choose one of two passages; at HL you analyse both, in two separate analyses) and explain not just what it says, but why it was written, for whom, and how its choices shape meaning. In Paper 2, you must compare and/or contrast how two literary works you have studied construct meaning and affect readers through their creative and aesthetic choices, writing without the texts in front of you. Across the course, reaching the top band in Criterion A (5 out of 5 in the written components, or 9–10 out of 10 in the individual oral) requires moving past surface-level summary to uncover a text’s subtle implications and larger insights.
Core ideas
The meaning triangle: Writer, Text, Reader
In the first area of exploration (Readers, writers and texts), the IB views reading as an active transaction:
- Construction (Writer): A creator makes deliberate authorial choices (words, images, structure, tone) shaped by their purpose and context.
- Expression (Text): The text uses the rules of its text type (the kind of text it is, such as an advert or a blog) or, for a literary work, its literary form (such as a novel, a poem or a play) to position the reader.
- Negotiation and Interpretation (Reader): Meaning is negotiated when a real reader brings their own identity, values and experiences to the text. Because readers differ, the same text can generate multiple valid interpretations.
| Analytical Term | Plain English Definition | Why Examiners Look For It |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | What the creator wants the audience to think, feel or do (e.g., to reassure, to satirize, to urge action). | Moves your essay from describing what happens to explaining why choices were made. |
| Implied reader | The imagined audience the text is built for, holding specific values or knowledge the writer assumes. | Helps you explain how a text appeals to a specific group without stereotyping real people. |
| Positioning | How a text nudges the reader to adopt a certain attitude or viewpoint (e.g., aligning us with a narrator). | Connects Criterion A (meaning) to Criterion B (how techniques work on the audience). |
| Tone | The creator’s attitude toward the subject or audience (e.g., irreverent, meaning playfully disrespectful; elegiac, meaning mournful; clinical, meaning coldly detached). | Shows you understand the feelings and values beneath the surface (the subtext). |