Intertextuality: connecting texts flashcards

Topic 3: Intertextuality: connecting texts

What is intertextuality in Language A: Literature?

The idea that no literary work exists in isolation: every text is written and read against other texts and traditions, whether it deliberately echoes them or unconsciously works within them.

Echo (homage), response and subversion

Echo or homage: borrows form or content admiringly. Response: engages critically or in dialogue with an earlier work's ideas. Subversion: deliberately overturns the conventions or assumptions of an earlier work or genre.

What makes an intertextual comparison strong?

A precise point of connection (a specific shared concern or technique, not just "both deal with loss"); how each work treats it differently; and what the comparison reveals that reading either work alone would not.

Why must a comparison account for context?

Two works can share a theme but treat it very differently because of when, where and in which literary tradition each was written. A strong answer explains that difference rather than treating both as products of one moment.

What does Paper 2 involve in Language A: Literature?

A comparative essay on two studied literary works, answering one of four questions, written from memory in 1 hour 45 minutes. 35% at SL, 25% at HL.

What is a comparative thesis for Paper 2?

One arguable claim that answers the question for both works and names how they differ in method, and why (form or context). Body paragraphs then compare the works point by point.

What is the individual oral in Language A: Literature?

A prepared response of 10 minutes plus 5 minutes of teacher questions on how a global issue is presented in two studied literary works, supported by an extract from each. One work must be originally written in the language studied and one studied in translation. 30% SL, 20% HL.

What do the individual oral criteria cover?

Knowledge and understanding of both works and their context; analysis of how the global issue is presented in each extract; focus and organisation within the time; and language (register, clarity, terminology).

Why is a narrow global issue better in the oral?

A tightly framed issue, evidenced in specific details from both extracts, can be analysed precisely in the time. A broad theme gestured at in general terms leads to description rather than analysis.

What are the weightings of the four components at SL and HL?

SL: Paper 1 35%, Paper 2 35%, individual oral 30%. HL: Paper 1 35%, Paper 2 25%, individual oral 20%, HL essay 20%.