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IB English A: Literature

Readers, writers and texts practice questions.

208 exam-style questions on Readers, writers and texts with answers and explanations. Six real samples below — the full set is free with an account.

Syllabus

Topics covered

Key terms

Definitions you need

dramatic monologue in poetry
A poem spoken entirely by a single fictional character (not the poet) to an implied silent listener, revealing the speaker's temperament and situation, often unintentionally. Browning's 'My Last Duchess' is the model example.
SITUATIONAL IRONY
Situational irony occurs when there is a sharp contrast between what is expected to happen and what actually happens (e.g. a fire station burns down). The outcome subverts reasonable expectation.
a BALLAD and name two typical features
A ballad is a narrative poem, often originally sung, that tells a dramatic or folk story. Typical features include four-line stanzas (quatrains), a regular rhyme scheme (often ABCB), a strong beat, and sometimes a refrain.
FRAME NARRATIVE (frame story)
A frame narrative is a story that contains another story (or stories) within it: an outer narrative sets up a situation in which an inner tale is told, like a picture within a frame.
a DACTYL and a SPONDEE
A dactyl is a foot of one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed (DUM-da-da, e.g. 'EL-e-phant'). A spondee is a foot of two consecutive stressed syllables (DUM-DUM, e.g. 'HEART-BREAK'), used for weight or emphasis.
enjambment
The continuation of a sentence or clause across a line break in poetry, without a pause or punctuation at the end of the line.
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Sample questions

Which poetic form is a formal lament composed to mourn the dead or meditate on loss?

  • Ode
  • Elegy
  • Villanelle
  • Ballad

Answer: Elegy

An elegy centres on mourning and reflection on death; Gray's 'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard' is a classic example.

An ode is best described as a poem that:

  • Mourns a specific death and offers formal consolation for the loss
  • Addresses and celebrates a subject in an elevated, serious tone
  • Tells a folk story in short stanzas
  • Follows a strict 19-line pattern

Answer: Addresses and celebrates a subject in an elevated, serious tone

Odes are lyric poems of praise or serious meditation, often addressing their subject directly, as in Keats's 'Ode to a Nightingale'.

The ghazal, a form rooted in Arabic and Persian traditions, is composed of:

  • Fourteen lines split into an octave and sestet
  • Three-line stanzas of 5-7-5 syllables
  • Autonomous couplets often sharing a refrain and unified by mood rather than plot
  • One single unbroken stanza written in unrhymed free verse with no fixed metre or refrain

Answer: Autonomous couplets often sharing a refrain and unified by mood rather than plot

A ghazal is a series of thematically independent couplets, frequently linked by a repeated refrain (radif) and a rhyme (qafia).

A traditional haiku is characterised by:

  • Fourteen lines and a volta
  • Three lines of roughly 5-7-5 syllables, often evoking a season or moment in nature
  • Rhyming couplets in iambic pentameter
  • A fixed refrain line that is repeated at the close of every successive stanza throughout

Answer: Three lines of roughly 5-7-5 syllables, often evoking a season or moment in nature

The haiku is a compressed three-line Japanese form, classically tied to a seasonal reference (kigo) and a moment of perception.

Which rhyme scheme belongs to the Petrarchan (Italian) sonnet's octave?

  • ABABCDCD
  • ABBAABBA
  • ABABCDCDEFEFGG
  • AABBCCDD

Answer: ABBAABBA

The Petrarchan octave rhymes ABBAABBA and poses a problem; the sestet that follows responds to it.

The Shakespearean (English) sonnet is structured as:

  • Three quatrains and a concluding couplet
  • An eight-line octave followed by a six-line sestet
  • Five tercets and a quatrain
  • Two septets

Answer: Three quatrains and a concluding couplet

The English sonnet's three quatrains (ABAB CDCD EFEF) develop an idea, and the final couplet (GG) delivers a turn or summary.

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