IB English: Higher Level Essay - Sample Writing

DOCUMENT BELOW! This video on the Higher Level Essay discusses how to show deep thinking in writing.
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SAMPLE PARAGRAPHS DISCUSSED IN THIS VIDEO:
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[@WitherGirlGaming]

Thank you so much for this video, it cleared a lot up for me - I'll definitely be using the highlighter method from now on. I do have a question - can a character be considered a literary device? For example, would "How does the author use the development of Character X to show Theme Y?" be considered a good question for an HL essay? Thank you again for your insightful videos!

[@davidgiles5399]

Glad you like the videos. Keep watching them and we’ll have more coming on the Higher Level Essay and the Paper 1. I think a focus on character is fine for a line of inquiry but be precise with the theme and think about the DEVELOPMENT of this character in the text. Really ask yourself HOW the writer develops the character and presented him/her to the reader and how that character helps to emphasize your given theme. Make the theme significant and an argument. War is not a sufficient theme. “Dehumanization of the enemy during war” or’ “the moral ambiguity of war” or “The extreme displacement and isolation felt by soldiers who return from war” are better themes.

[@jenniferaldridge2936]

Hi! IB/AP English teacher here. I'm grateful for your efforts, but have a request: please clarify that themes are not single words. Those are topics. Themes are the messages the author presents about those topics. Or has something changed in the last 40 years? What Fugard says in the play about identity and dreams (the topics) are some of the themes in the play.

[@ibenglishguys]

Great point. We’ll clarify in the future for sure. We like to think about the difference between topics and theme statements as well. Sorry if we had a misstep.