InThinking Subject Sites
Subscription websites for IB teachers & their classes
Taking learning to the next level
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Video Overview
Forthcoming Workshops
Language A: Literature (generic)
IB DP Category 1
Online (IB Approved)
3 - 5 September 2021
more info
Self-taught Language A: Literature
IB DP Category 1&2
Online (IB Approved)
12 - 14 November 2021
more info
Find all InThinking Workshops at www.inthinking.net
School visits
If you are interested in Mark Beverley & David White visiting your school to work with teachers and/or students, please
contact us.
Recommendationsmore
The site offers an engaging and imaginative approach to IB English - clear and informative it would be of use to both new and experienced teachers alike.
I was very impressed with the site. It is very user friendly, gives students (and teachers) easy access to excellent resources. I also enjoyed the opportunity to be able to check my marks (and my students peer marking) for tasks against IB criteria and...
It's easy to navigate, straightforward, and helpful. Even for an experienced IB teacher, the website provides helpful ways to reconsider curriculum and lesson plans.
Blogsee all
May & November 2022 announcement: no paper 2

27 February 2021
No Paper 2 for May and November 2022 examination sessionsThe IB recently announced changes to the components and examinations for May and November... more
May 2021 - what we do and don't know

14 January 2021
As we start a new year, those of us teaching in May session schools still face some uncertainty about what lies ahead for our DP2 students.... more
Subscriber comments
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Hello Mark - I have another question about the number of lines. One student has chosen to do a Szymborska poem that is 53 lines long but some of the lines consist of only 2 or 3 words. Even though this exceeds the 40 line limit there are fewer...
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Thanks! I am so annoyed that I didn't just copy and paste the when they existed. Oh well!
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Hi Cerena. I have had a look on My IB but I can't find them - they have samples for the paper with the 'Absent Friends' extract. I am not sure I ever saw samples for the other paper - sorry, but maybe someone else on here may be able to...
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David - I used that (McCann and Kay "Late Love" ) example for a mock IB exam and now can't find the student examples that IB once shared - I was really hoping to show my students a few of those with the examiner comments... any ideas where...
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Hi Marcus: I am not sure whether or not 'message' has been used in previous guiding questions. Asking students about 'message' just seems to me problematic for reasons identified above - and it is worth exploring this difficulty. If a guiding...
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Many thanks, Mark.
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I agree about the statement about "theme" and "message" included above. Though, in past papers I remember having seen "the message" included in guiding questions. Is this right or just a consequence of a bad memory and some poor practice?
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Passage from, Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad (1899)
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it's not a requirement, Andrea, and there is no reference in the criteria about it so having a 'strong bibliography' should not affect the grade either way. While secondary reading can certainly help students do well, many essays get top grades...
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All my Written Assingments of the past years that took a 7, they had a really strong bibliography. With your answer I'm confused now.
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Hi Deana. Sorry, I misunderstood - no need to cite these after the quotations (as you say time is precious!)
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For example, (5) or (4–7).