IB English A: Language and Literature

1. Who is talking to whom, and why it matters

Learning goal: Name speaker, audience and purpose before naming a single device.

Every text is a choice made by someone for someone. Before you label any technique, write one sentence that names the likely speaker, the audience the text is built for, and what it tries to get that audience to think or do. Devices only matter because they serve that purpose.

Purpose is usually layered. A charity leaflet informs, but its main job may be to persuade you to donate. A recipe blog entertains in its opening paragraph so you stay for the instructions. Naming the layers lets you explain why a choice appears where it does, not only that it appears.

Audience clues are textual. Direct address (you), shared-group language (we), jargon that assumes knowledge, and what the text leaves unexplained all tell you who the writer expects. Quote the clue, then state what it implies about the reader.

Purpose should be named precisely. Words such as inform or persuade are a start, but a stronger answer says how: it informs in order to reassure, or persuades by making the reader feel left out. When two purposes exist, say which one is dominant and which one supports it. The reader then sees that you understand the text as a made object and not only as a set of features.

Practise with very short texts, such as a label, a notice or a two-line message. Name the likely speaker, the audience and the purpose in one sentence, then check each part against a quoted clue. If you cannot find a clue for a part, say that the text is unclear on it, which is a legitimate observation. All sample texts in this course are invented for teaching.

Worked example

Read: 'Stop scrolling. Your sleep deserves better. Try Calm Nest tonight, and wake up lighter.' Write an opening analytical sentence.

1. Speaker: a brand selling a sleep product.
2. Audience clue: 'Your sleep' addresses an individual who is already scrolling at night.
3. Purpose: persuade a tired reader to try the product tonight.
4. Opening sentence: The advert speaks directly to a sleepless scroller, using short commands to make a purchase feel like immediate relief.

Mental model: Audience and purpose come first; devices are evidence for them.

Common trap: Opening with a device list and never saying what it does for the reader.

2. The anatomy of a news report

Learning goal: Read conventional text types for what each convention does.

A news report follows an inverted pyramid: the most important facts first, detail later. That structure is a claim about what readers need to know. When a report breaks the pattern, for instance by opening on a person rather than an event, the choice is worth comment.

Direct quotation does two jobs. It gives the report an air of neutrality because the words belong to someone else, and it lets the writer choose which voices get space. Counting who is quoted and how much is a fast way to see the shape of a perspective.

Attribution verbs are quiet persuasion. 'Said' is neutral; 'admitted', 'insisted' and 'claimed' each tilt the reader toward or away from the speaker.

Conventions are the habits of a text type that readers expect. A news report usually opens with the most important facts, uses a headline to compress the story, and attributes statements to sources. Each of these habits does a job: the opening serves readers who may stop early, and attribution shows where claims come from.

The interesting cases are those where a convention is bent. A report that begins with a personal detail may be inviting sympathy, and a headline that asks a question may be avoiding a claim it cannot support. Always say what the departure changes for the reader. Be careful not to treat conventions as rules that are always followed; they are patterns that writers choose to use or break.

Try this on a report you read today: list its conventions, mark one that is followed and one that is bent, and write two sentences on what each does for the reader. This simple routine builds the habit.

Worked example

A 120-word report contains two direct quotes of 14 and 10 words. What percentage of the report is direct quotation, and what does that suggest?

1. Quote words: 14 + 10 = 24.
2. Share: 24 / 120 = 0.20, so 20 percent.
3. Interpretation: one fifth of the text is other people's voice, so the writer's own framing carries about four fifths.
4. Further step: check whether both quotes come from the same side, because that decides whose view the 20 percent supports.

Mental model: Conventions carry meaning: ordering, quotation and verbs are choices.

Common trap: Calling a report objective because it contains quotes.

3. Connotation: one fact, three temperatures

Learning goal: Show how word choice sets emotional temperature without changing the facts.

Denotation is what a word points to. Connotation is the cultural and emotional baggage it carries. 'Slim', 'skinny' and 'gaunt' can all describe the same body but invite different feelings. Analysis names the word, states its connotation and then says what that does to the reader's view of the subject.

Register is the level of formality, and mixing registers is a tool. A formal sentence interrupted by slang can signal mockery, intimacy or a character slipping.

Choose the strongest evidence, not all of it. One precise quoted word analysed well beats five words named in passing.

Connotation is easiest to see when facts stay fixed and words change. A crowd can be described as gathered, packed or swarming, and each verb gives the reader a different attitude to the people. When you analyse, quote the loaded word, name its feeling, and say what attitude the writer wants the reader to adopt.

Check for patterns rather than single words. If a text uses several words from one field, such as war or illness, the pattern frames its subject through that field. Name the field, give two or three examples, and explain what the frame suggests. Remember that the same word can carry different connotations for different readers, so refer to the intended audience.

Keep your claims proportionate: one loaded word is a detail, while a pattern of loaded words is evidence of framing, so say which you have found before you build an argument on it.

Practise by taking one sentence and rewriting it three times with different connotations, then explain in a line what changes. Doing this a few times makes loaded words easier to spot in unseen texts.

Worked example

Sentence: 'Protesters stormed the hall; officials responded; police swept the square; the minister said the vote stands.' Which verbs are evaluative?

1. List each verb: stormed, responded, swept, said, stands.
2. Test each by asking: could a neutral camera record it? 'Responded' and 'said' pass.
3. 'Stormed' implies violence and 'swept' implies cleaning away; both judge the action.
4. Count evaluative verbs: 2 (stormed, swept).

Mental model: Name the word, its connotation, and its effect.

Common trap: Naming a device with no effect on the reader.

4. Structure: why this paragraph comes now

Learning goal: Treat order and emphasis as meaning.

Structure includes sentence length, paragraph order and where a text places its strongest claim. A short sentence after long ones works like a pause in speech: it lands hard. A paragraph that reverses the previous one is a turn, and turns are rich ground for analysis.

Cohesive devices such as 'however', 'so', repetition of a key noun, or a recurring image knit a text together. Tracing one thread through the text shows the writer's argument more efficiently than commenting paragraph by paragraph.

When you comment on structure, say what changed between two points and why that matters. 'The text moves from complaint to solution' is observation; 'the move to solution lets the writer end on agency rather than blame' is analysis.

Structure includes the order of information, the length of paragraphs and the placement of emphasis. The first and last sentences of a paragraph are the strongest positions, so notice what a writer puts there. A short paragraph after several long ones can mark a turning point and draw attention.

When you analyse structure, ask why the text gives this information now. A report might delay a key fact to build tension, or a speech might repeat a phrase at the end of each paragraph to create a pattern the audience can follow. State the effect on the reader and tie it to the purpose. Avoid simply listing the order of paragraphs, since the order has value only when you explain it.

As practice, number the paragraphs of a short text and write a one-line job for each, such as hook, evidence or request. Then say why the order helps the purpose. Compare with a partner to see other readings.

Worked example

Five numbered sentences: (1) A long scene-setting sentence. (2) A second long one adding detail. (3) 'Then the phone rang.' (4) A long aftermath sentence. (5) A reflection. Which sentence is the structural turn?

1. Compare lengths: 1, 2 and 4 are long; 3 is five words.
2. A sudden short sentence amid long ones creates emphasis.
3. Content check: sentence 3 introduces an event that changes the situation.
4. The turn is sentence 3.

Mental model: Order, rhythm and turns are interpretable choices.

Common trap: Commenting on each paragraph in turn without tracing a pattern.

5. Image and word: reading multimodal texts

Learning goal: Analyse how images and words share the work.

In posters, adverts and magazine pages, images and words rarely repeat each other. Anchorage is when text fixes what an image means; relay is when text and image add different information. Notice which job the words are doing.

Layout directs reading. The eye usually enters through the largest or highest-contrast element, then follows lines, gazes and colour. Describe the reading path and explain what it leads you to feel before you reach the small print.

Representation matters: who is shown, from what angle, and who is missing. Camera angle, distance and eye contact change the relationship between viewer and subject, and you can describe these without art-history vocabulary.

In multimodal texts the image does not merely decorate the words. It can set the mood, show who has power through size and position, and direct the eye along a path. Colour, space and framing are choices, and each can be described with specific terms and linked to purpose.

Look for the relation between image and words. They may agree, add to each other, or conflict, and the conflict can be where the meaning sits. A cheerful photograph with a worrying headline makes the reader ask which to trust. Describe the visual feature, quote the matching words, and explain how they work together. Do not claim universal meanings for colours, since meaning depends on context and audience.

When you write about an image, use a clear order: describe what is in the foreground, then the background, then the words, and finally say how they combine. This order keeps your description short and your analysis focused.

Worked example

A poster has one image, a headline, a caption and a logo. The caption says 'Our future starts here.' The image shows an empty road. Decide whether the caption is anchorage or relay.

1. Ask what the image alone suggests: a road could mean travel, loneliness or opportunity.
2. The caption narrows it toward opportunity.
3. Narrowing ambiguity is anchorage.
4. So the caption is anchorage: it fixes the road as opportunity.

Mental model: Image and words do different jobs; describe the path and its effect.

Common trap: Treating the picture as decoration.

6. Writing an analysis paragraph

Learning goal: Build one paragraph with claim, evidence, effect and link.

A strong paragraph starts with a claim about the text's method and purpose, not a plot or content summary. Then it embeds a short quotation, not a long block. Then it explains the effect on the reader, using precise verbs: invites, positions, reassures, pressures.

Embedded quotes should be short enough to analyse word by word. If you quote a whole sentence, you are likely to paraphrase instead of analyse.

End with a link back to purpose or to the next paragraph. This keeps the whole answer one argument instead of a pile of observations.

A strong paragraph is built around a single idea that can be stated in a sentence. Put that idea first, then bring evidence, and then explain how the evidence supports the idea. The explanation is where marks are earned, since it shows your thinking and not only your reading.

Use embedded quotations of a few words so that your own sentence stays in control. Follow the quotation with a verb of analysis such as signals, narrows or softens, and say what the reader does in response. Finish with a link to the purpose of the text or to the guiding question. If a paragraph has no link, it often ends with description.

Vary the sentence that opens each paragraph so that your analysis does not read like a list, and check that each opening sentence still answers the question you were set in the task.

Try a quick test on your own paragraph: underline the claim, the quotation and the explanation in three colours. If one colour is missing, the paragraph needs work. Fix the missing part before you change anything else.

Worked example

A 75-minute practice session (not an IB paper length): 10 minutes reading, 8 minutes planning, 5 minutes checking. How many minutes remain for writing?

1. Add non-writing time: 10 + 8 + 5 = 23.
2. Subtract from the total: 75 - 23 = 52.
3. Check: 52 + 23 = 75.
4. Writing time is 52 minutes.

Mental model: Claim, short quote, effect, link.

Common trap: Quoting long blocks and then paraphrasing them.

7. Comparing two works without writing two essays

Learning goal: Hold both texts in each paragraph.

Comparison fails when each work gets a separate half. A comparative argument needs a controlling idea that both works address, for example how each treats silence. Each paragraph then sets a feature of one work beside a feature of the other and says what the difference shows.

Point-by-point plans give each comparison point its own paragraph with both works in it. Block plans are harder because the second block must keep recalling the first. Most students find point-by-point safer.

Use similarity and difference together: 'Both authors use silence, but one makes it a refuge and the other a threat.' The second half of that sentence is where the argument lives.

Check the current subject brief for which assessment component asks for comparison and how many works.

Comparison works best when you start with a shared question that both texts answer, such as how each makes the reader feel included or excluded. Each paragraph then takes a point on that question and uses both texts, so the comparison happens inside the paragraph and not only at the end.

Use connecting words that carry the comparison: whereas, similarly, in contrast, both. After each pair of examples, explain what the difference or similarity shows about purpose or audience. Aim for balance without making it mechanical; if one text offers richer evidence on a point, you may give it more space. Plan the points before you write so that you do not drift into two separate essays.

Practise by choosing two short texts on one topic and writing three shared questions. Pick the best question, the one with the most evidence in both texts, and build your points on that one.

Worked example

A point-by-point essay has an introduction, 3 comparison points each citing both works, and a conclusion. Count references to a work in the body.

1. Each point cites two works: A and B.
2. Three points give 3 references to A and 3 to B.
3. Total references: 6.
4. Check: all body paragraphs contain both works.

Mental model: Comparison belongs in every paragraph.

Common trap: Two mini-essays with a short joining paragraph.

8. Global issues: from a text to a bigger question

Learning goal: Link texts to a global issue without drifting into summary.

A global issue is a question that crosses cultures and time: migration, power, identity, memory. Choose an issue broad enough to be shared and narrow enough to be argued. 'Memory' is broad; 'how a community retells a loss to keep a claim on land' is workable.

Anchor each claim in a precise moment in each text. Context is useful when it explains a choice in the text, not when it is a history lecture.

Prepare in questions, not in scripts. Practice saying the same idea three ways, so that on the day you can respond to a prompt without reciting.

Check the current subject brief for the oral’s exact format and timing.

A global issue is a question that matters across many places, such as migration, identity, power or the environment. In this course you link a text to a global issue by showing how it treats the issue through specific choices of language, form and context. The issue is a lens, and the text remains the evidence.

Avoid sliding into a general essay on the issue. Each time you make a claim about the issue, return to a quotation or feature and say how the text makes that claim. If the text shows only part of the issue, say so. The best answers show that the text is one view among several and that a different writer might frame the issue differently.

For practice, take one text and name three global issues that it could be linked to. Choose the issue with the strongest textual evidence and write a paragraph that uses a quotation in each sentence of argument.

Worked example

You set a practice-talk limit of 10 minutes (not an IB oral length) and want 3 text moments of 2 minutes each, 2 minutes of introduction and 2 minutes of conclusion. How many minutes are spare?

1. Moments: 3 x 2 = 6.
2. Intro and conclusion: 2 + 2 = 4.
3. Used: 6 + 4 = 10.
4. Spare minutes: 10 - 10 = 0, so no slack; trim one moment to 1.5 minutes to build a buffer.

Mental model: Narrow the issue, anchor in moments, keep context short.

Common trap: Using context as a history lecture.

9. Who benefits from this framing?

Learning goal: Read ideology, perspective and omission.

Every text frames: it makes some things visible and leaves others out. Asking who benefits from a framing is a useful test, but it should be answered from the text. Point to who is named, who is quoted and who is absent.

Naming a perspective is not an accusation. A report from the city council will naturally speak in council terms. Analysis notes the effect: readers are invited to see the issue as a management problem rather than a lived experience.

Compare two accounts of the same event as a quick way to see framing. Differences in verbs, order and quotation show the choices each made.

Ideology means the set of ideas and values behind a text, often unstated. A text can present one way of seeing the world as natural by leaving other views out. To read for ideology, ask who is shown as active and who as passive, whose voice is quoted, and whose is missing.

Be careful and fair. Name the framing you see, support it with specific choices of words and order, and avoid accusing the writer of motives you cannot prove. Phrases such as the text positions the reader to see are safer than the writer lies. You can also note what a reader from another group might notice, which shows that you understand that meaning depends on the reader.

A final practice is to rewrite a short text from another group's viewpoint and compare the two versions. The differences show what the original left out, and that is the evidence for your reading of its framing.

Worked example

Report one quotes management 4 times, workers once and customers twice. What fraction of quotations come from management?

1. Total quotations: 4 + 1 + 2 = 7.
2. Management share: 4 of 7.
3. As a decimal: 4/7 ≈ 0.571.
4. So management holds roughly 57 percent of the quotations.

Mental model: Who is named, quoted and absent shows the frame.

Common trap: Claiming bias with no evidence.

10. Revision loop: turn errors into a checklist

Learning goal: Convert feedback into specific practice habits.

Improvement comes from naming recurring errors precisely. 'Needs more analysis' is too vague; 'quotes are long and paraphrased' is something you can fix tomorrow.

Keep an error log with three columns: the error, the cause and the habit that prevents it. Review it before each timed practice.

Rewrite one paragraph from an old essay instead of writing a new full one. It isolates the skill and takes less time.

A revision loop starts with feedback. Sort comments on your work into types: argument unclear, evidence thin, explanation missing, errors in expression. Each type needs a different practice, so counting how often each appears tells you where to start.

Write a checklist of three or four items that you will check on every piece, for example claim in the first sentence, short quotation, explanation of the effect, link to purpose. Use it on a new paragraph, then compare with your last attempt. Repeat for several weeks and keep the old checklist items that still matter. This turns general advice into habits that you can see changing in your writing.

Write the checklist in your own words, since a checklist you understand is easier to apply than one copied from a teacher. Share it with a partner and ask whether they can use it on your work and find a problem.

Keep your checklist short enough to use within a minute at the end of a timed task. Date each version, and after a month look back to see which items you have stopped needing and which new ones have appeared.

Worked example

Week 1 log: long quotes 4, no effect 3, weak links 2. Week 3: long quotes 1, no effect 2, weak links 2. By how many errors did the total fall?

1. Week 1 total: 4 + 3 + 2 = 9.
2. Week 3 total: 1 + 2 + 2 = 5.
3. Difference: 9 - 5 = 4.
4. The log shows a fall of 4 errors; check which habit caused it.

Mental model: Log errors precisely and attack one pattern at a time.

Common trap: Rewriting full essays without isolating the weak skill.

11. Rhetoric: ethos, pathos and logos

Learning goal: Analyse how a speaker builds trust, feeling and reasons.

Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. Three classic appeals help you to describe how it works. Ethos is the speaker's credibility, pathos is the appeal to feeling, and logos is the appeal to reason. A persuasive text usually mixes them, and the mix tells you about the audience.

To find ethos, look for how the speaker presents their experience, honesty or shared values. To find pathos, look for stories, vivid detail and emotive words. To find logos, look for evidence, steps in an argument and claims that can be checked. The appeals are not good or bad in themselves; the question is how well they fit the purpose and audience.

Do not stop at labelling. Quote the sentence, name the appeal, and say what it does to the reader. For example, a speaker who opens with a personal story is building trust and feeling at once, so the audience is more ready to accept the reasons that follow. Notice the order too, because a speech that moves from story to evidence to request has a built-in path.

Be careful about logos: an argument can look logical and still have gaps, such as a claim with no evidence. Say what is missing when it matters. Every sample in this course is invented for teaching, so you can practise on any short speech or advert and test the three appeals against the real text.

Practise by choosing a short speech from your class, marking each appeal in a different colour and counting how often each appears. The count shows the mix, and you can then explain why the speaker chose it for that audience.

Worked example

Invented line: 'As a nurse for twenty years, I have seen what delays cost.' Which appeal does it use?

1. It cites the speaker's experience, which builds trust.
2. It also hints at feeling through the word cost.
3. Ethos is the main appeal.

Mental model: Name the appeal.

Common trap: Naming an appeal and stopping.

12. Social media and informal registers

Learning goal: Read short, informal texts for audience and persuasion.

Social media posts are short, quick and often informal, but they are still made for an audience. Register is the level of formality, and a post may use slang, emoji-free abbreviations, or a joking tone to sound like a friend. That register is a choice that builds closeness.

Look at how a post signals who it is for. A hashtag groups it with a topic, a direct question invites replies, and a tagged name addresses a person. Consider also the platform: limited space forces compression, so what is left out is often as important as what is kept.

Persuasion in these texts can be quiet. A brand may speak like a friend to make its message seem personal, and an influencer may share a small story before a recommendation. Name the technique, quote the words, and explain what it does to the reader's trust. Avoid assuming that informal means careless, since the casual voice is often carefully built.

When you write, compare the post with a formal text on the same topic and say how register changes the relationship with the reader. The posts used in this course are invented, so you can practise without quoting real accounts, and the same method will work on any short informal text in your class.

Remember that the post's platform affects the language too. A short caption, a reply and a longer post each call for different choices, so name the platform in your analysis whenever the text shows it clearly.

Try rewriting a formal notice in an informal register, and then compare the two. Note which words, sentence lengths and punctuation changed and write two sentences about how the relationship with the reader changes.

Worked example

Invented post: 'Be honest, who else needs a nap?' What does the question do?

1. It addresses the reader directly.
2. It assumes a shared feeling, which builds closeness.
3. The informal register supports the friendly voice.

Mental model: Name the feature.

Common trap: Assuming informal means careless.

13. Paper 1 technique: the guided textual analysis

Learning goal: Plan a response to a guiding question on an unseen non-literary text.

The subject guide says that in Paper 1 both SL and HL students are presented with two previously unseen non-literary extracts from different text types, each with a guiding question. SL students write a guided analysis of one of them, while HL students write guided analyses of both. Check the official page for the current times and weights for your sitting.

If you have a choice, read both texts and choose the one where you can find the most to say about language and structure, not the one you like best. Read the guiding question first, since it points to features that the examiners want you to treat. Then mark the shift, the audience clues and four or five features for close reading.

Plan a line of argument that answers the guiding question in your own words. Each paragraph should take one feature, give a short quotation, explain the effect and link to the purpose. Do not go through the text in order unless the order is your argument. Remember that the guiding question is a start, so you may add other points that support your reading.

Keep time for checking. Read your last paragraph and add a sentence of link if the explanation is thin. The sample texts used for practice here are invented for teaching, and the best preparation is to practise under timing on real past papers supplied by your teacher.

Time yourself on a practice analysis and write down the minutes used for reading, planning, writing and checking. Adjust the split on the next attempt and keep the version that gives you the most complete answer.

Worked example

You are an SL student with two texts. How many analyses do you write?

1. SL students choose one of two.
2. So you write one analysis.
3. HL students write both.

Mental model: Number of SL analyses.

Common trap: Writing about both at SL.

14. Literary texts in a language-and-literature course

Learning goal: Apply language analysis to literary works and see how they differ from non-literary texts.

The subject guide says that SL students study four literary works and a number of non-literary texts of equivalent time, while HL students study six literary works plus non-literary texts. So you need to read a novel, a poem or a play with the same close attention that you give to an advert.

Literary texts often rely more on ambiguity, where more than one reading is open. Non-literary texts usually have a clearer purpose, such as to inform or sell. This does not make literature free of purpose, but its purposes are often more layered and may be left for the reader to find.

Use the same tools on both. Identify voice and audience, look at structure, quote key words and explain effects. In literature, pay special attention to the form, such as the line breaks of a poem or the staging of a play, and to patterns across the whole work. Link what you find to the larger ideas the work raises.

A useful exercise is to put a literary passage next to a non-literary one on the same subject, such as a poem about the sea beside a weather forecast. Compare how voice, structure and word choice differ, and what each writer expects of the reader. The examples in this course are invented and the guide figures are from the fetched subject guide.

Another exercise is to take a short literary passage and a news paragraph about the same event. Mark the voice in each and write a sentence on how the reader is positioned differently by the two texts.

Worked example

Invented: a poem and a weather report both mention rain. Name one difference in purpose.

1. The report informs about conditions.
2. The poem may use rain to suggest a feeling.
3. Both can be analysed for voice and word choice.

Mental model: Number for HL.

Common trap: Treating SL and HL as equal.

15. Genre and intertextuality: texts that talk to other texts

Learning goal: Use genre expectations and references to other texts in analysis.

A genre is a group of texts with shared features that readers learn to expect. A fairy tale, a thriller and a recipe each set up expectations. Writers can follow, bend or break them, and the effect depends on what the reader expects.

Intertextuality means that a text calls up another text, by quotation, imitation or reference. A modern advert might copy the style of a film trailer, or a poem might echo a well-known story. To analyse this, name the original, say how the new text uses it and explain what the link adds, such as humour, authority or critique.

Parody copies a form to make a point, often a funny or critical one. For a reader to see it, they need to know the original, so ask who the intended audience is and whether it can recognise the reference. Be cautious with your own claims: only say that a text refers to another when you can point to features that match.

In your writing, keep the focus on effect. Do not list references like a spot-the-difference game. The sample texts here are invented, so the practice works without quoting real works, and you can apply it to the texts you study.

Where two readings of a reference are possible, say so, give the evidence for each and say which you find stronger. This shows careful reading and keeps your claims honest and proportionate to the evidence.

Keep a short list of genres you study with three expected features each. When a text bends one of them, you will notice it quickly and can explain the effect with confidence.

Worked example

Invented advert is laid out like a film trailer. What might the imitation do?

1. It borrows excitement from trailers.
2. It suggests the product is a big event.
3. The audience must know trailers to see the link.

Mental model: Technique name.

Common trap: Listing references with no effect.

16. The HL essay: a line of inquiry

Learning goal: Plan the HL coursework essay around one line of inquiry.

The subject guide describes the HL essay as written coursework of 1,200 to 1,500 words in which the student explores a line of inquiry in relation to a studied non-literary text or texts, or a literary text or work. It is for HL students only. Check the official page and your teacher for the current weight, deadline and rules.

A line of inquiry is a focused question about how language, structure or context creates meaning in the chosen text. A narrow question lets you analyse in detail. Compare: how are persuasion and advertising used in magazines (too wide) with how does one advert use direct address to create closeness (more focused).

Plan the essay in steps: the question, the evidence you will use, three or four connected points and a conclusion. Each point should build on the one before it so the essay develops. Use close reading of quoted words and avoid summarising the text. Keep a record of drafts and sources and follow your school's academic honesty policy.

Test the line of inquiry by asking whether you could write the essay in the word limit with specific evidence. If not, narrow it. When you have a draft, read it aloud and mark every sentence that describes without explaining, then add the effect. The questions used as examples here are invented for practice.

Make a plan card with the line of inquiry, three points, the evidence for each and a one-line conclusion. Update the card after each draft so that the essay stays focused and the changes are easy to track.

Worked example

Rewrite this wide question: 'How do newspapers persuade?' Make it focused.

1. Pick one text and one feature.
2. Example: How does one editorial use rhetorical questions to involve the reader?
3. The new question can be answered with quoted evidence.

Mental model: Maximum words.

Common trap: Writing a very wide question.