What the exam asks
- Paper 1 (Guided textual analysis): Unseen non-literary texts (speeches, opinion columns, advertisements, cartoons) often persuade by appealing to a shared identity or by challenging social inequalities. Guiding questions may ask how voice, register or contrast shapes the writer’s message.
- Paper 2 (Comparative essay): General questions ask how two literary works present a character or speaker who refuses a role, stands apart or is set against another, or how the works use voice and language to shape meaning. The questions never name society or power structures, but what you know about how language builds belonging and exclusion is exactly what answers them.
- Individual Oral (SL and HL) and HL Essay (HL only): Social distinctions sit at the heart of global issues (wide-scale issues that cross borders and are felt in everyday local life) for the Individual Oral (under the fields of inquiry Culture, identity and community and Politics, power and justice) and lines of inquiry for the HL Essay (often linked to course concepts such as identity, culture and representation).
Core ideas
1. Constructing identity and social distinctions
Texts do not merely reflect who people are; they actively construct (build and shape) identities. Writers and creators use language to categorize people by gender, socioeconomic status (class), ethnicity, nationality and age.
When analysing a text, look at who has agency (the power to act and speak for themselves) and who is reduced to an object of discussion. A text constructs power through:
- Naming and labelling: How groups are referred to (e.g., “expatriates” vs. “migrants”; “youths” vs. “young professionals”).
- Normativity: Treating one identity (often affluent, dominant-culture, or middle-aged) as the unstated “normal” default, while marking others as different.
2. Varieties of language: signalling belonging and difference
Writers use specific language varieties to signal where a speaker or character fits in society:
| Feature | Plain definition | How it works in a text |
|---|---|---|
| Dialect & Sociolect | Regional (dialect) or class/group-based (sociolect) grammar and vocabulary | Signals local roots, heritage or socioeconomic background; in literature, often contrasted with a narrator’s standard English. |
| Accent (shown on the page through phonetic spelling) | How a speaker pronounces words; writers suggest it by spelling words as they are said | Makes a voice sound authentic and immediate, or—if overused by an outsider—frames a speaker as uneducated. Respellings that change nothing in the sound (“wuz” for was) are called eye dialect and usually do exactly that. |
| Slang | Informal, rapidly changing vocabulary, often tied to age or subculture | Builds solidarity among peers (especially youth) while intentionally excluding older or mainstream audiences. |
| Jargon | Specialized terminology of a profession or institution | Establishes expertise and institutional authority, or intimidates and excludes laypeople. |
| Code-switching | Alternating between two languages, dialects or registers depending on context | Reveals how speakers navigate two worlds, adapting to dominant power structures while preserving cultural identity. |