How DP Language A: Literature Is Assessed: Revision Notes

Condensed for quick recall of how the course is assessed. For the full subject overview, use the IB DP Language A: Literature subject overview, and for a paper-by-paper exam-day plan see the exam preparation guide.

Two course elements sit behind every assessment component without being assessed themselves: the seven central concepts (identity, culture, creativity, communication, perspective, transformation, representation), and the mandatory learner portfolio, which is not marked or moderated but which schools may be required to submit to check the authenticity of a student’s work.

Why weightings shift between SL and HL

Paper 1 stays at 35% at both levels, but Paper 2 drops from 35% at SL to 25% at HL, with the difference absorbed by the HL essay (20%), which only HL students complete. The individual oral also carries relatively more weight at SL (30%) than at HL (20%). This shift is worth keeping in mind for revision planning – at SL, Paper 2 and the oral together account for 65% of the final grade, making comparative essay writing and spoken literary analysis especially high-value skills at that level.

SL vs HL weightings

Component	SL	HL
Paper 1 (guided analysis of unseen literary extracts: one of two at SL, 1h15, 20 marks; both at HL, 2h15, 40 marks)	35%	35%
Paper 2 (comparative essay, studied literary works)	35%	25%
HL essay (independent coursework, 1,200-1,500 words)	—	20%
Individual oral	30%	20%

Paper 1 always sets two unseen literary extracts, but the number a student actually analyses depends on level: at SL, students write a guided analysis of one of the two passages (1 hour 15 minutes, 20 marks); at HL, students write a guided analysis of both passages (2 hours 15 minutes, 40 marks). The 35% weighting is identical at both levels, but the paper itself is longer and worth double the marks at HL.

How this differs from Language A: Language and Literature

Same overall structure and weightings, but Paper 1 and Paper 2 here focus exclusively on literary texts — Language and Literature’s Paper 1 works with a wider range of text types.

The individual oral

• A single prepared spoken response (10 minutes, plus 5 minutes of teacher questions) examining how a global issue of the student’s choosing is presented through the content and form of two studied literary works, supported by an extract from each – one from a work written originally in the language studied, and one from a work studied in translation.

The individual oral in more depth

The oral is graded against criteria covering: knowledge and understanding of both studied works and their context; the quality of analysis connecting the chosen global issue to how it is presented in each extract; focus and organisation within the fixed preparation and speaking time; and language. The guide sets no order in which the two extracts must be discussed – they can be interwoven or taken in turn – but the oral should be one well-supported argument about how both works represent and explore the global issue, and where an extract comes from a larger work, relevant aspects of that work as a whole should be discussed too. A common weakness is spending most of the available time on the first work and only briefly gesturing at the second; plan a balanced treatment that develops both works, not a detailed analysis of one followed by a token mention of the other. An oral built on two works originally written in the language studied, or on two works in translation, does not meet the requirements of the task.

The HL essay in more depth

The HL essay is independent coursework on one literary text or work studied during the course (where the work is a collection of short stories, poems or other short texts, the essay must refer to more than one text from within that single work). Teachers give regular formative feedback throughout the process but must not edit or correct the student’s writing directly. Only near the end of the writing process may a teacher give written advice on one complete draft – typically by annotating it with comments or questions in the margin – and under no circumstances may a teacher edit or rewrite that draft. The next version the student submits after that draft must be the final one. The essay is assessed against criteria covering the clarity and sustained development of a chosen line of inquiry, the quality of textual analysis, and organisation and language appropriate to formal academic writing. Because it is completed outside exam conditions, examiners expect deeper, more sustained argument and more precisely selected textual evidence than a timed in-class essay would produce – treating it as simply a longer exam response, rather than genuinely independent extended writing, tends to underperform against the higher assessment bands.

Command terms across the papers

Paper 1 provides a specific guiding question for each of the two unseen literary extracts, and responses are expected to work closely from that question – a response that ignores the guiding question in favour of a generic close reading loses marks even when the textual observations are accurate. Paper 2’s comparative essay question is broad enough to be answered using any two of the studied literary works from the course, and is assessed on how effectively a student selects and interweaves evidence from both texts to build one sustained argument, rather than presenting two separate mini-essays back to back.

How this course compares to Language A: Language and Literature

Both Language A courses share an identical overall assessment structure and weighting – Paper 1, Paper 2, the HL essay, and the individual oral – but this course’s Paper 1 and Paper 2 work exclusively with literary texts, while Language and Literature’s Paper 1 draws on a wider range of text types, including non-literary and media texts, reflecting its broader study of language in use across contexts. Where a school offers both courses, the choice between them typically comes down to whether a student’s interest and reading strength lie more in close literary analysis specifically, or in the broader study of language and communication across different text types – both are assessed to the same standard and carry equal recognition.

Exam traps

• Confusing this course’s exclusively-literary Paper 1 with Language A: Language and Literature’s broader text-type range.
• Treating the individual oral as a single-text analysis, when it requires a single response examining two studied works – one written originally in the language studied and one studied in translation – supported by an extract from each.
• HL students skipping dedicated planning time for the HL essay, since it’s independent coursework rather than an in-class exam.

Self-test

1. What kind of texts does Paper 1 focus on in this course?
2. What specifically distinguishes HL assessment from SL?
3. How many literary works does the individual oral examine, and how must they be paired?
4. What are Paper 1 and Paper 2 weighted at, at SL?
5. Name one criterion the individual oral is graded against, beyond language.
6. Why does the HL essay typically demand a higher standard than an in-class timed essay?

Answers: 1. Two previously unseen literary extracts, from different literary forms – SL students analyse one of the two; HL students analyse both. 2. Two things: the HL essay — independent written coursework of 1,200-1,500 words, only completed at Higher Level — and, in Paper 1, analysing both unseen passages rather than one. 3. Two – one written originally in the language studied and one studied in translation, with an extract of no more than 40 lines from each; an oral on two original-language works, or on two works in translation, does not meet the requirements. 4. Paper 1: 35%, Paper 2: 35%. 5. Any of: knowledge and understanding of both works and their context, the quality of analysis connecting the global issue across both extracts, or focus and organisation within the time available. 6. Because it is produced independently, outside exam conditions, with regular formative feedback but only one round of written advice on a single complete draft (which the teacher may not edit or rewrite directly) – examiners expect more sustained argument and more precisely selected evidence than a timed response allows for.

Official syllabus

International Baccalaureate Organization, Diploma Programme Subject Brief – Language A: Literature, first assessment 2021, published 2019 – the same source cited by the full syllabus guide and the subject overview.