Combining the creative with the critical

October 9, 2017

Often, IB teachers of the Group A Language and Lit courses regret that there is not much opportunity to do more creative work with their classes. But short exercises can be incorporated into our classes and many of us do that.  Here is one exercise which has not only...

‘The problems of the second act’

September 4, 2017

In a very interesting little book by David Mamet called ‘3 Uses of the Knife: On the nature and purpose of drama’ there is a section called ‘The problems of the second act.’  I can’t reproduce the whole section here, but I’m going...

Summer Investigations(3) Works on the PLT: Cheese

August 23, 2017

For the last of these recommendations, a work composed in Dutch by a Flemish author, A.J de Ridder, writing under the pseudonym, Willem Elsschot.  To my knowledge, Cheese, has not appeared on any IB Language A: Literature syllabus, and I’d like to make the case...

Summer Investigations (2) Works on the PLT: The Thief and the Dogs

June 26, 2017

As we try to balance shorter and longer works in our hopes that students will fully read and engage with the texts in the syllabus, I think we are all inclined to look for works that work;  for works that are reasonably riveting for all of our students and that expand...

Summer investigations: Works on the PLT (1) ‘Silence’

June 21, 2017

“Somber, delicate, and startlingly empathetic.” ― John Updike “One of the best historical novels by anyone, ever.” ― David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas and The Bone Clocks “I think about Silence, and Endo’s work more generally, all the time.” ―...

Last minute hints: Commentary

May 1, 2017

Right about this time for the May session, I always make such a list for the particular group of students with whom I’ve spent the year. The following is a sample, based on both examining Paper 1 and my own students’ performance. What I note are recurrent...