Paper Two

11 DP HL English Language and Literature

Mr. Jacobs
 HL
Essay
LitOr
Paper
non-lit Paper
2 Concepts 1
Only Only
non-lit
Lit
Creativity, culture,
community, identity,
perspective, transformation,
representation
Literary Works Non-Literary
(6) Texts
(~6)
PRL --2
Translation PRL -- 2
Free Choice --2 1) Readers, Advertisements, Cartoons,
Femininity,
Literary Forms -- 3 writers, Essay, Film, Infographic,
masculinity,
Time Periods -- 3 and texts Interview, News Article,
beauty, racism,
Places -- 3 Areas of Photograph, Art, Speech,
immigration, 2) Time and
Radio Show, etc.
Generally = M + F Global war, protest, Space Exploration
Issues censorship, 3) Intertextuality
inequality,
screen addiction

Ind.
Oral
LitAnd
non-lit
Details on
Paper Two

Link to
Paper Two
Criteria
A-D
Literary Work #1 Literary Work #2
The Basics: (from InThinking)

● Both HL and SL answer 1 of 4 essay questions. SL and HL students receive exactly the same
4 questions.
● Both HL and SL must answer one question in relation to two literary works studied in the
course.
● Both HL and SL students cannot write about any literary work studied that was used in any
previous assessment component.
● Both HL and SL have 1 hour and 45 minutes answer this essay question.
● Both HL and SL are graded using the same criteria.
● At SL, Paper 2 grade counts for 35% of the final grade.
● At HL, Paper 2 grade counts for 25% of the final grade.
 Guidance System Efficient
You don’t
on have time
Note-taking to waste

in Lang. and You need to

That
create a system
Lit. HL system
that will work Clear
should be:
for you. Your notes
need to be
decipherable
to you

Necessary Elements
Recall-able
You need to
understand
Constant & Circular your notes 18
Detailed Your notetaking needs to be months from
Creative now
You need to constant -- occurring in the midst
Make connections,
identify/track of your reading (don’t wait to take
develop ideas, ask
details that notes when you’re done reading)
questions -- what
demonstrate and needs to be circular --
do you understand,
depth/breadth of returning back as needed to
but doesn’t make
understanding. Close previous points in the text to take
sense?
reading doc. notes as more details reveal
themselves
Building Ideas
Beneath the Surface

‘That’s Interesting’ is not enough -- Finding something “interesting” is the

beginning of analysis -- not the end. Ask yourself why something is
interesting. Develop your interpretation and then explain the significance of
the interesting detail.

I Don’t Understand is a good thing -- Your questions about the text are other
people’s questions about the text. Don’t run from what you don’t understand--
lean in.
Think of yourself
as an explorer

You’re an archaeologist -- Reveal the secrets of your discovery and their

importance to your audience. Explain your discovery step-by-step and
detail-by-detail as you metaphorically turn over the artifact you’ve been given.
From ThinkIB
 Introduction to Comparative Essay (Sample 1)

Exercise 1

1. Individual work: Read the Paper 2 Sample Paper.

2. Evaluate the essay as a group (criteria in the sample paper file).
3. Discussion
4. Reflection on organization and effectiveness
P2 Sample Essay Analysis

1. How is the first paragraph structured? What is the thesis? Where is it?
Effective?
2. How are the body paragraphs structured? Any thoughts on that
construction?
3. How well is the question answered? Any advice to make it better?
4. Does the writer include differences? Why would this matter?
5. Is the essay logical? Why or why not?
6. Does it evaluate author techniques and consider the effects on the
reader? Examples?
7. Is there enough evidence to support the writer’s claims and how do they
offer this evidence?
8. Finally, what’s your assessment of this essay?
Paper Two Questions for our Texts

1. Authors sometimes tell their stories in a non-linear fashion. Compare how and for
what reasons at least two authors of works you have read have told their stories in
a non-linear fashion.
2. Authors often write books as a means of commentary on a place. Compare how the
authors of at least two books that you have read have used their works to make a
commentary on a particular place (in our case America).
3. Literary works often depict a struggle between genders. Compare how the authors
of at least two books that you have read depict a struggle between genders.
4. Develop your own question and line of inquiry between the two works.
5. Use a critical theory to compare and contrast two literary works you have studied.
Other Sample Questions for Paper 2: (from InThinking)
Are you curious to see what Paper 2 questions look like? Here is a sample of questions that represent the kinds of questions that
could appear on the exam.

1. Referring to two of the works you have studied, discuss both how and why the text invites the reader to identify with situations,
characters and/or ideas.

2. Often the appeal for the reader of a literary work is the atmosphere a writer creates (for example, peaceful, menacing or ironic).
Discuss some of the ways atmospheres are conveyed and to what effect in two of the works you have studied.

3. Writers often choose words, phrases and names of characters and places not only for their literal meaning, but for further
meanings that they may suggest to the reader. With reference to two of the works you have studied, discuss how such words and
their associations contribute to your understanding and appreciation of the works.

4. How is “home” depicted in two of the works you have studied and what is its significance?

5. How do two of the works you have studied portray the struggle to be understood?

6. Some literary texts, although set in a particular place or time, convey ideas that are universal. In what ways is this true in two of
the works you have studied?

7. Discuss how two works you have studied present concepts of good and bad, not as absolute notions, but as a matter of individual
perception.

8. Referring to two works you have studied, discuss how the author has created a convincing “world”.
TIPS for the Paper 2(from InThinking):

While the Paper 2 essay only takes 1 hour and 45 minutes at both Higher and Standard Level, in fact you can spend hours
preparing for it. Good preparation will ensure that every minute of the exam is used wisely. We recommend you see the
'skills' page for further explanation on how one develops the necessary skills. On this page, you will find an overview of tips
that you can apply to the preparation process.

-Read the instructions. So many candidates skip the instructions and go straight to the questions. The instructions on the
Paper 2 exam draw your attention to the criteria that you will be assessed on. It helps to have these in the back of your mind
as you respond to the question you choose to answer.
Remember that the Paper 2 exam is asking you to do four things. Try looking at good samples and with four different colors
of highlighter pens, highlights examples of each of these four.
Answer the question being asked.

-Be knowledgeable about the literary works.

-Compare and contrast them in relation to the question.

-Remember to comment on the author's use of language, style and structure and to compare and contrast them with the
other literary work.

-Remember that there are 4 questions on the exam. Not all questions will lend themselves to the works you have read. What's
more, some questions are more criteria-focused than others.

-Practice writing outlines for questions that appeared on previous tests (or one of the Specimen Papers).

-Practice using the assessment criteria by examining both good and bad samples.
From the IB Teacher Support Material Document:

"Paper 2 is a closed-book examination, but it still requires

students to demonstrate an understanding of how meaning is
constructed in the works in relation to the question chosen.
This could be demonstrated by making reference to specific
stylistic decisions the authors have made, such as in paper 1
and in the individual oral. However, given that in paper 2 the
students will not have the works in front of them, discussion
of how meaning is constructed is more likely to focus on
broader formal and technical decisions the authors have
made."
SAMPLE ESSAYS

Paper two criterion

Sample Paper Two from ThinkIB Gatsby/Sargasso

Marks

Link to ThinkIB account (you need to create an account)

Link to the ThinkIB Paper Two resources.

Sample Paper Two – Tim O’Brien/Vonnegut (marks at end)

Sample Paper Two – Death and the Maiden and The Sunflower

Marks

Sample Paper Two – Chinua Achebe and Joseph Conrad

Marks
My Takeaways after the Formative

Pre-Writing:
– Reflect on your timing.
- Break down questions into key terms and key points
- Answer the specific question with all its important terms — Break down and unpack, draw
distinctions
- Outline the content of body paragraphs

While writing
- Add specificity before your main ideas to show nuanced perceptive understanding (Symbolism is
present… The deep omnipresent symbolism of bingo saturates…)
- Lead sentences of your body paragraphs are the umbrella for the entire paragraph.
- How can you make the authorial choices the focus of your body paragraphs?
- Develop your use of transition compare/contrast words
Formative Question:

While many literary works focus on romantic relationships, some focus on relationships
between the protagonists and their families (whether that includes parents, siblings, or
children). How and in what ways do two of the authors of the literary works that you have
studied focus on family relationships in their narratives?
Student Generated Theses:

Baldwin and Adichie both focus on family relationships as a tool to develop the
setting in the text and characterize their protagonists.

Both novels focus on the challenges of family relationships where the protagonist is
often in conflict with their parents' ideals, though the two relationships differ in the
sense of closeness between the protagonist and their parents.

In both Giovanni’s Room and Americanah, the father-son relationship of Giovanni’s

Room and the wider cultural context of family in Americanah adds pressure onto
protagonists, delivering powerful commentary on how gender roles add social
constraints onto individuals.
Thesis centered around authorial choices - Mr. Jacobs

In both Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Giovanni’s Room by

James Baldwin the challenges of the parent-child family relationship play an
especially central role in the narrative arc of the novels. Stylistically, these
authors make two important choices: The parents of their main protagonists
(Ifemelu and David) are used as representatives of larger social norms (as a
means of showing a larger societal conflict at a smaller scale as a
synecdoche-like device) and, second, they slowly remove the narrative
presence of the parents in these works to symbolize the inadequacy of a
parent relationship – a relationship that can and will be replaced by others.
Formative Question:

1) Sometimes authors use their literary works to challenge society’s traditional

understanding of love. How and in what ways have two literary works challenged
readers to reexamine their understanding of love?

2) “There is no literature without conflict.” How and to what effect is conflict effectively
used in two of the works you have studied?
Sample Intro, Body, and Conclusion Outline

Here
Best Friends Can't Like Cauliflower Strategy for developing a thesis

Break: Break the question down into its key parts

Focus: Resist Shabu Shabu mentality

Connect: Find key points/moments similar in both texts that

express an opinion on the focus

Link: Link to specific authorial choices (unicorn umbrellas)

Combine: Combine the connect and link into your thesis

Next Sample Question Best Friends Can't Like Cauliflower
Strategy

Break: Break the question

Practice question and response crafting: down into its key parts

“It is the role of literature to challenge Focus: Resist Shabu Shabu

mentality
and confront the conventional values of a
society.” In what ways, and to what extent,
Connect: Find key
have conventional values been challenged points/moments similar in both texts
in two works you have studied? that express an opinion on the focus

Link: Link to specific authorial

choices

Combine: Combine the

connect and link into your thesis
Looking for Authorial Choice
Unicorn Umbrellas

Symbolism
Irony Juxtaposition/Contrast
Paradox “Something immodest about her modesty” Dedications
Allusions Titles
Representations of nature Narrative structure
Foreshadowing Inclusion of other languages
Metaphors – straightness to crumpled Setting
Mundane Applying significance to seemingly small mundane details Minor characters
References to music Synecdoche
Sight, sound, tactile, olfactory, taste Multi-Modality
Narrative Complexity Accessibility to readers
Next Sample Question Best Friends Can't Like Cauliflower
Strategy

Break: Break the question

Practice question and response down into its key parts

crafting:
Focus: Resist Shabu Shabu
mentality
Separation and reunion are sometimes
used by writers to create and maintain
Connect: Find key
tension in a literary work. In two works points/moments similar in both texts
you have studied, show how writers that express an opinion on the focus
have made effective use of the artistic
potential of one or both human Link: Link to specific authorial
experiences. choices

Combine: Combine the

connect and link into your thesis
Mr. Jacobs
Sample Introduction to the ambiguity prompt

Google Doc Here

Focused response to prompt

Unicorn 🦄#1

Unicorn 🦄#2
Final Steps

Key moments

Unicorns
Sample Question and Response from
2023

Practice question and response crafting:

“Referring to two works you have studied,

discuss how the writers portray the
significance of a journey.

Example Paper Two Essay response

Paper two criterion

Let’s G’Oh Lead - How do poverty, wealth, or social class play an important role play an important role in two literary works?
Look at how these lead sentences directly tie the auth. choice to the question.
Let’s G’Oh Lead - How do poverty, wealth, or social class play an important role play an important role in two literary works?
Look at how these lead sentences directly tie the auth. choice to the question.
Let’s G’Oh Lead - How do poverty, wealth, or social class play an important role play an important role in two literary works?
Look at how these lead sentences directly tie the auth. choice to the question.
Paper 2 Example from the IB (March 2024)

Paper two criterion

Paper 2 Response

Paper 2 Marks
Paper 2 Student Exemplar from Mock Exams (March 2024)

Paper two criterion

Paper 2 Response
Some May 2023/2024 IB exam prompts:

Relationships are often central to literary works. How is this true of two works you have studied?

Discuss how two works you have studied portray the concept of death.

Referring to two works you have studied, compare and contrast the ways in which they show the main character
overcoming limitation.

With regard to two works you have studied, explore the representation of poverty.

Referring to two works you have studied, discuss how the writers portray the significance of a journey.

With reference to two works you have studied, discuss the means by which the passage of time is communicated and
the effect this achieves.
New criteria for May 2026 exam

2026 Exam Criteria