Hl Essay practice questions.

State the required word range for the English A: Literature HL essay.

• 1,200–1,500 words
• 800–1,000 words
• 1,500 words maximum
• 2,000–2,500 words

Answer: 1,200–1,500 words

The HL essay must be 1,200–1,500 words; work beyond the upper limit is not read for assessment.

Distinguish the HL essay from the individual oral (IO). Which statement is correct?

• The HL essay is spoken, while the IO is written
• The HL essay focuses on one work or text, while the IO compares two works and a global issue
• The HL essay must always compare two separate texts drawn from two different literary forms or genres
• The HL essay is externally examined orally by a visiting examiner

Answer: The HL essay focuses on one work or text, while the IO compares two works and a global issue

The HL essay is a formal written analysis of a single work or body of work; the IO is an oral comparing two works through a global issue.

Determine which opening best frames a focused line of inquiry for an HL essay.

• This essay will discuss everything interesting about the novel
• This essay explores how shifting narrative perspective shapes the reader's sympathy for the protagonist
• This essay is broadly about the whole life and times of the author and the entire surrounding historical period
• This essay will summarise the plot and then give my personal opinion

Answer: This essay explores how shifting narrative perspective shapes the reader's sympathy for the protagonist

A strong line of inquiry is narrow and analytical, naming a technique and its interpretive effect rather than promising broad coverage or biography.

Identify the assessment criterion of the HL essay that rewards precise, varied and accurate use of critical and literary terminology.

• Criterion A: Knowledge, understanding and interpretation
• Criterion B: Analysis and evaluation
• Criterion C: Focus, organization and development
• Criterion D: Language

Answer: Criterion D: Language

Criterion D (Language) assesses clarity, register and the accurate use of appropriate literary terminology.

Determine what Criterion B (Analysis and evaluation) primarily rewards in the HL essay.

• Accurate spelling and grammar throughout
• The sheer total number of published secondary critics and scholarly sources that the essay manages to quote directly
• The extent to which the essay demonstrates understanding of authorial choices and their effects on meaning
• A detailed retelling of the plot

Answer: The extent to which the essay demonstrates understanding of authorial choices and their effects on meaning

Criterion B rewards analysis and evaluation of how the writer's choices of language, technique and style construct meaning, not summary or quotation counting.

Which practice is permitted for the teacher supervising a student's HL essay?

• Directly correcting and heavily editing several successive full drafts of the whole essay
• Writing sections of the essay the student finds difficult
• Providing the student with a model essay to adapt
• Discussing the student's chosen line of inquiry and giving oral advice on one draft

Answer: Discussing the student's chosen line of inquiry and giving oral advice on one draft

The teacher may discuss the student's line of inquiry and give advice, orally or in writing, on one draft. The teacher must not heavily edit or correct drafts, write any part of the essay or supply a model essay to adapt.