Sample essays
Sample essays for IB English A1, some are past paper responses done under exam conditions. The files include essays for both Paper 1 (Unseen Commentary) and Paper 2 (Detailed Studies work).
76 files
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Outsider - Background
Marie, Raymond, Salamano and Masson – how do their stories help fill in the background to the end of part 1?
Based Albert Camus' The Outsider
Grade awarded: 7
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Blake Lamb and Tiger
Reread The Lamb and The Tiger. Comment on the imagery, tone and message of these poems and state what relevance they might have for the 21st century.
Sample Essay on Wiliam Blake's two poems: The Lamb (from Songs of Innocence) and The Tiger (from Songs of Experience)
Grade awarded: 7
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Oedipus - Jocasta
Examine Jocasta’s entrance. What is the significance of the timing and what she said. Comment on the exchanges between Jocasta and Oedipus, lines 707 – 953.
Based on Sophocles' Oedipus Rex
Grade awarded: 6
Updated
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Salesman - Stage directions
Review pages 1-15. Examine the stage directions and comment on them in terms of visual effects, character portrayal and tone.
Based on Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman
Grade awarded: 7
Updated
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Oedipus - Chorus speech
How would you describe the tone of Chorus’ first speech and what linguistic techniques does the writer use to encourage this tone?
Based on Sophocles' Oedipus Rex
Grade awarded: 6
Updated
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Outsider - Stories
What do you think is the purpose of the two “stories”? What punishment is being meted out? In what way is “deception” a central to the chapter?
Based Albert Camus' The Outsider
Grade awarded: 7
Updated
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Unseen - Things Fall Apart extract
Extract from Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Sample Unseen Commentary
Grade: 7
Updated
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Blake Nature Poems
Blake was interested in and influenced by nature, flowers and the garden. Choose 3-4 poems reflecting this interest/influence and suggest how we might interpret them.
Based on William Blake's Song of Innocence and Experience
Grade awarded: 7
Updated
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Unseen - The Visitor
Sample Commentary: The Visitor by Patricia Cresswell
Grade: 7
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Outsider - Arab murder
How do you account for the murder of the Arab?
Based Albert Camus' The Outsider
Grade awarded: 7
Updated
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HL November 2002 P2 no.1b
English A1 HL November 2002 Paper 2, Question 1.b.
A ‘love’ story is often present in drama. Compare and evaluate the manner in which a ‘love’ story, broadly interpreted, either sits at the centre of the plays you have studied or intrudes its concern into the central issues.
Grade: 7
Updated
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HL November 2002 P1 no1a
English A1 HL November 2002 Paper 1, Question 1.a.
Commentary.
Grade: 6
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Macbeth - Witches
Examine the witches’ scenes. Comment on the language they use and their presentation in the play.
Based on Shakespeare's Macbeth
Grade: 7
Updated
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Salesman - Linda
Arthur Miller – Death of a Salesman
Reread pages 41 – 48. Examine Linda’s speeches in this section. What is her message and tone? How does this help with our understanding of the characters Biff, Happy, Will and Linda? What impact does this section have on the rest of the play?
Grade: 6
Updated
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Outsider - Tension
Reread pg 45-6. How does Camus build up the tension to the final climax?
Based Albert Camus' The Outsider
Grade awarded: 6
Updated
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Unseen - Poem Winter
Sample Commentary: Winter by Ruth Stone
Grade: 5
By Elsa Meserlian
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Commentary on an extract from "The Book of Saladin" by Tariq Ali (N04 SL)
A commentary on an extract from "The Book of Saladin" by Tariq Ali from November 2004 (SL). This commentary was awarded a 7.
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Compare the ways that the treatment of time has been used to shape meaning in two or three works you have studied (N06 HL)
A comparison of the ways that the treatment of time has been used to shape meaning in "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and "Beloved" by Toni Morrison from November 2006 (HL). This essay was awarded a 7.
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Commentary on "Winter Syntax" by Billy Collins (N06 HL)
A commentary on the poem "Winter Syntax" by Billy Collins from November 2006 (HL). This commentary was awarded a 6.
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A comparison of the openings of "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte and "Perfume" by Patrick Süskind
Task: Compare the openings of the novels which you have read, saying how these openings have drawn you into the fiction, and how a re-reading of them reflects the primary concerns of each work.
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Is McMurphy a saviour or an iconoclast? Discuss.
A discussion on whether McMurphy from "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey is a savior or an iconoclast.
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Commentary on an extract from "Life of Pi" (M04 HL)
A commentary on an extract from Yann Martel's "Life of Pi" from May 2004 (HL). This commentary was awarded a 7.
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Commentary on "Night Wind" by Christopher Dewdney (M03 HL)
A commentary on Christopher Dewdney's "Night Wind" from HL May 2003.
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[Perfume] Grenouille
An essay on ‘Grenouille the tick’ in the novel Perfume.
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Essay on Madam Bovary and The Bluest Eye
ENGLISH A1 – PAPER 2 – HIGHER LEVEL
Discuss the interplay between setting and action as part of the meaning of the novels you have read.
Novels--Madam Bovary and The Bluest Eye
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