IB Diploma Programme Language A: Language and Literature – Paper 1: Guided Analysis of Non-Literary Texts Revision Notes

These revision notes cover Paper 1: guided textual analysis for IB Diploma Programme Language A: Language and Literature, at SL and HL. They follow the current IB subject brief (first assessments for SL and HL 2021), and map to two areas of exploration: Readers, writers and texts and Time and space. For full explanations and a worked example, read the Paper 1 study guide first.

When you are ready, move on to the Paper 1 practice questions. Course links: Language and Literature hub · printable checklist · assessment revision notes · exam preparation guide.

Paper 1 at a glance (from the subject brief)

Item	SL	HL
Task	Guided analysis of unseen non-literary passage/passages from different text types	Same
Time	1 hour 15 minutes (1.25 hours)	2 hours 15 minutes (2.25 hours)
Weighting	35%	35%
Assessed	Externally	Externally

Your teacher will confirm how many passages you answer at your level and share the assessment criteria, and show you in specimen material how the analysis is guided (these notes assume a guiding question).

Method in steps

1. Read the guiding question. Underline its key words.
2. Reading 1 (gist): text type, audience, purpose, context.
3. Reading 2 (evidence): annotate features that answer the
   question -- language, structure, visuals -- with their effect.
4. Reading 3 (argument): write a one-sentence thesis.
5. Plan 3 body paragraphs by idea, 2-3 features each.
6. Write: short intro -> body paragraphs -> short conclusion.
7. Check: every paragraph answers the guiding question.

Formulas to remember

Formula	Pattern
Gist notes	Type / Audience / Purpose / Context
Thesis	The [text type] [persuades / urges / reassures] [audience] to [purpose] by [method 1] and [method 2].
Body paragraph	Claim → Evidence → Effect → Link
Conclusion	How the features work together + why they suit this audience, place and moment

Features and typical effects

Use this as a prompt list, never as a script: the effect always depends on the text in front of you.

Feature	Where to look	Typical effect to test
Direct address (“you”)	Language	Makes the reader feel personally involved
Inclusive pronouns (“we”, “our”)	Language	Builds a shared group with the reader
Imperatives	Language	Makes the action sound simple and urgent
Rhetorical question	Language	Invites the reader to supply the writer’s answer
List of three	Language	Gives a sense of completeness or builds to a climax
Concession (“Of course…”)	Structure	Answers an objection and makes the writer seem fair
Anecdote	Structure	Turns an issue into a human story
One-line paragraph	Structure / layout	Gives a sentence weight by isolating it
Direct gaze in an image	Visual	The reader feels looked at and addressed
Size and colour of type	Visual	Sets the order in which the eye reads
Reference to date or place	Context	Ties the message to its moment and audience

Worked reminder

Original text written for Marlbridge – charity appeal email

Subject: Pepper is still waiting

Meet Pepper. She is nine, she snores, and she has spent 214 nights in a kennel waiting for someone to choose her.

Most people walk past the older dogs. We understand why. But £10 a month keeps Pepper warm, fed and seen by a vet until her person arrives.

Will it be you?

[Below the text: a close-up photograph of a grey-muzzled dog looking straight at the camera, and an orange button reading “Sponsor Pepper”.] Hollin Lane Dog Rescue

Guiding question: How does the appeal try to make the reader act?

Gist: charity appeal email · audience: supporters or animal lovers on a mailing list · purpose: persuade them to sponsor a dog monthly · context: a small rescue centre relying on regular gifts.

Thesis: The appeal turns a donation into a personal relationship by presenting Pepper as an individual and the reader as the one person who can end her wait.

Model body paragraph (Claim → Evidence → Effect → Link):

The appeal makes Pepper an individual rather than a case. The opening list, “She is nine, she snores, and she has spent 214 nights in a kennel”, moves from gentle, comic detail to a precise count of nights, so the reader likes her before feeling sorry for her. The number is exact, which makes the wait feel real and measured, not vague. Because the reader now sees one dog, not a cause, the final question “Will it be you?” feels like a personal choice, which is how the appeal pushes the reader towards the orange button.

Must-know distinctions

• Technique vs effect. “Rhetorical question” is the technique. What it makes the reader think or do is the effect. Only the second is analysis.
• Describing vs analysing. Describing says what the text says. Analysing says how and why it works on its reader.
• Embedded vs dropped quotation. Embedded: the words sit inside your sentence. Dropped: a quotation stands alone and your reader must guess why it is there.
• Audience vs reader. The audience is who the text targets. You, the exam reader, may not be in it: analyse the effect on the target audience.
• Context of production vs reception. Production: who made the text, where, when, and why. Reception: how and where it is read. The Time and space area covers both.
• Text type vs medium. An opinion column is a text type. Print or web is its medium, and the medium changes the features (hyperlinks, images, comment sections).
• Guiding question vs whole text. You do not have to discuss every feature, only the ones that answer the question.

Timing

Paper	Suggested split (advice, not a rule)
SL, 75 minutes	15 reading, 5 planning, 50 writing, 5 checking
HL, 135 minutes	If you write two analyses: about 65 minutes each, 5 spare

Quick self-test

Questions 3 to 9 use the Pepper appeal above.

1. What two facts about Paper 1 are the same at SL and HL, according to the brief?
2. State the time allowed at SL and at HL, in hours and minutes.
3. Give the text type, audience and purpose of the appeal.
4. Name the technique in “She is nine, she snores, and she has spent 214 nights in a kennel” and give its effect.
5. Why might the writer say “her person” rather than “a new owner”?
6. What is the effect of “We understand why.”?
7. What is the effect of the dog “looking straight at the camera”?
8. Which word in the subject line links to time, and what does it suggest?
9. Why is “Will it be you?” set as a one-line paragraph?
10. Which is the stronger thesis, and why? A: “The writer uses many techniques, such as emotive language and rhetorical questions.” B: “The appeal turns a donation into a personal relationship by presenting Pepper as an individual.”
11. Rewrite this as one analytical sentence with an embedded quotation: The writer uses a number. “214 nights”. This is sad.

Answers

1. It is externally assessed and weighted at 35% of the final grade at both levels.
2. SL: 1 hour 15 minutes. HL: 2 hours 15 minutes.
3. Charity appeal email; supporters on the rescue’s mailing list; to persuade them to sponsor Pepper for £10 a month.
4. A list of three that ends on its most serious item. It makes Pepper likeable first, then pitiable, so sympathy grows through the sentence.
5. “Her person” suggests a bond or belonging, not ownership or a transaction, so sponsoring feels like joining a relationship.
6. It is a concession: it admits the reader’s likely preference for younger dogs without blame, so the writer seems fair and the reader lowers their guard before the request.
7. The direct gaze makes the reader feel looked at personally, so the appeal feels like a request from Pepper herself.
8. “still”: the wait has gone on and is not over, which creates urgency and suggests the reader has arrived in the middle of her story.
9. Isolating the question gives it weight and a pause, and it marks the turn from story to decision, the call to action.
10. B. It answers the guiding question with a claim about how the text works. A only lists techniques and could describe almost any text.
11. For example: “The exact figure of ‘214 nights’ makes Pepper’s wait feel measured and real, so the reader’s pity attaches to a specific dog rather than a general cause.”

Where marks are usually lost

• Writing a general commentary that never answers the guiding question.
• Naming a device (“tricolon”, “hyperbole”) and stopping without an effect on the target audience.
• Retelling the passage in order instead of making claims about it.
• Quoting whole sentences, so it is unclear which words carry the effect.
• Ignoring the image, layout or typography of a multimodal text.
• Treating yourself as the audience (“this made me feel…”) instead of the text’s target reader.
• Leaving context out, so the analysis could apply to any text anywhere.
• An introduction longer than a body paragraph, with no thesis.
• A conclusion that lists the techniques again instead of saying how they work together.
• Losing time on one paragraph so the conclusion is missing.

Official syllabus

International Baccalaureate Organization, Diploma Programme Subject Brief, Language A: language and literature, first assessments for SL and HL 2021 (2019). The appeal and model answers on this page are original texts written for Marlbridge.