Better and Better Essays(#2)

February 22, 2019

‘Sculpting’ your paragraphs so that a reader really wants to hear what you have to say. Yes, it’s the examiner’s job to read whatever you write, but why not make that an inviting task?  It’s probably true that when you see great blocks of...

Better and Better Essays (#1)

February 8, 2019

There are two situations in your Language and Literature courses where you are asked to deliver your ideas in essays: one kind of essay will let you plan, revise and present your work.  The other essay will be written under timed examination conditions. And, during...

Which Is It?

November 28, 2018

If you have been or are going to be studying the work, L’Etranger by Albert Camus, one question that is very likely to come up as you discuss this novel is ‘what is the “correct” translation into English of this title?’ You might be...

Essays about Character: Analysis, Not Re-description

November 14, 2018

In your earlier years, writing about characters by re-describing them in your own words was quite acceptable, but as an IB diploma student that won’t work.  First, you need to change your thinking from ‘character’ to ‘characterization.’...

Advice for Successful Individual Oral Commentaries

August 24, 2018

At some point, sooner or later, whether you are a HL or SL student, you’ll see that IOC coming toward you.  You’ll be thinking such things as ‘how am I going to get through this?’ or ‘what can I do to prepare?’  Your teachers will...

A Wider World (Part 1)

June 22, 2018

Assuming that you’re on this site because you’re interested in the kind of reading and writing that your literature and language courses may or may not involve, these three (or maybe more) blog entries will be looking outside and inside of conventional...