These 200 words help students beginning the IB Diploma Programme turn observations into disciplined textual analysis and literary comparison. Each entry has a concise meaning and an original example. The list is a working resource: select the vocabulary that accurately expresses your reading rather than trying to display every term.
School Year 12 and ages 16–17 are approximate British-style reader bands, not universal IB labels. The assessment examples focus on English A: Language and Literature; English B has different tasks. These are independent eduKate vocabulary selections, not an official IB prescribed word list.
The 200-word list: meanings and writing examples
Choose a small useful set for today. Each numbered entry gives one target word, a meaning for this context and an original example. These are eduKate teaching selections; recurring words across stages are revisited for a new writing purpose.
1–20: Verbs that describe analytical work · 21–40: Audience, purpose and the reader’s position · 41–60: Diction, grammar and rhetorical pattern · 61–80: Visual and multimodal analysis · 81–100: Figurative language and layered meaning · 101–120: Form, narrative and development · 121–140: Comparative relationships · 141–160: Evidence and responsible interpretation · 161–180: Concepts that require textual grounding · 181–200: Academic control and independent authorship
Assessment requirements · Fencing Method · Practice and answers
1–20. Verbs that describe analytical work
- analyse — Explain how relevant parts and relationships operate. Example: Analyse how the opening question shapes the advertisement’s appeal.
- interpret — Develop a reasoned account of meaning. Example: Interpret the final silence in relation to the earlier promise.
- evaluate — Judge significance or effectiveness through supported reasoning. Example: Evaluate what the change of perspective contributes to the conflict.
- examine — Investigate relevant details with close attention. Example: Examine the relationship between the headline and the accompanying image.
- formulate — Develop and state an idea precisely. Example: Formulate a thesis that answers the question rather than naming a theme.
- articulate — Express an idea clearly. Example: The conclusion articulates why the contrast between the works matters.
- substantiate — Support a claim with adequate evidence. Example: Substantiate the interpretation through details from the passage’s development.
- qualify — Limit a claim to improve its accuracy. Example: Qualify the prediction about audience response rather than assuming unanimity.
- contextualise — Explain through relevant surrounding circumstances. Example: Contextualise the formal greeting without replacing textual analysis with background history.
- synthesise — Combine ideas into a connected understanding. Example: The paragraph synthesises the visual and verbal evidence into one argument.
- discriminate — Recognise meaningful differences between related things. Example: The essay discriminates between the narrator’s confidence and the author’s position.
- problematise — Expose difficulties in an apparently straightforward assumption. Example: The ending problematises the belief that departure guarantees freedom.
- interrogate — Question an idea closely. Example: The response interrogates the advertisement’s assumption about desirable lifestyles.
- elucidate — Make a difficult connection understandable. Example: The second example elucidates how the repeated object changes significance.
- foreground — Give something particular prominence. Example: The opening foregrounds the reader’s insecurity before offering a solution.
- trace — Follow a development across a text. Example: Trace the narrator’s movement from certainty towards qualified understanding.
- distinguish — Recognise and explain a significant difference. Example: Distinguish the speaker’s intention from an effect the text may produce.
- refine — Improve the precision of an idea. Example: Refine the thesis when the second work complicates the first comparison.
- integrate — Combine evidence smoothly with reasoning. Example: Integrate the quotation into a sentence that explains its contribution.
- conclude — Reach a judgment from the preceding discussion. Example: Conclude by identifying what the comparison has established about belonging.
21–40. Audience, purpose and the reader’s position
- audience — The people a communication addresses or reaches. Example: The brochure addresses an audience already interested in independent travel.
- addressee — The person explicitly addressed within a text. Example: The addressee differs from the wider public who encounter the letter.
- reader — A person engaging with a written text. Example: A reader may recognise uncertainty that the narrator refuses to acknowledge.
- viewer — A person engaging with visual material. Example: The composition directs the viewer towards the isolated figure.
- consumer — A person addressed as a potential user or buyer. Example: The advertisement presents the consumer as someone seeking recognition.
- participant — Someone involved in an activity or exchange. Example: The question positions the reader as a participant in the discussion.
- purpose — What a communication seeks to achieve. Example: The purpose extends beyond informing readers to encouraging a particular choice.
- intention — What a creator or speaker aims to accomplish. Example: The stated intention should not be confused with a guaranteed effect.
- reception — How a text is encountered and understood. Example: The text’s reception may vary across audiences with different experiences.
- response — A reaction prompted by a text. Example: The abrupt disclosure invites a response that may include doubt.
- expectation — Something an audience anticipates. Example: The familiar opening creates an expectation that the ending deliberately unsettles.
- persuasion — Communication aimed at influencing belief or action. Example: The persuasion depends on an association between ownership and belonging.
- positioning — Placing an audience in a particular relationship to ideas. Example: The repeated we contributes to the audience’s positioning as a community.
- identification — Recognising a connection between oneself and a figure. Example: The ordinary setting may encourage identification with the narrator’s difficulty.
- affiliation — A sense of connection with a group. Example: The shared symbol offers affiliation to readers who recognise it.
- alienation — A feeling of separation or estrangement. Example: The impersonal instructions intensify the visitor’s alienation.
- intimacy — A feeling of closeness or personal access. Example: The private confession creates intimacy without making the narrator entirely reliable.
- distance — Emotional or interpretive separation. Example: The detached description creates distance from the speaker’s excitement.
- authority — Recognised power or expertise. Example: The official seal suggests authority but does not independently verify the claim.
- credibility — The grounds for finding an account believable. Example: Specific sourcing supports credibility more securely than an assertive tone alone.
41–60. Diction, grammar and rhetorical pattern
- diction — The selection and use of words. Example: The diction shifts from welcome to obligation as the notice develops.
- lexis — The vocabulary used in a text or context. Example: The lexis of competition turns an ordinary choice into a contest.
- syntax — The arrangement of words and clauses. Example: The syntax postpones the main action until the reader reaches the ending.
- semantics — The meanings of words and their relationships. Example: The argument considers semantics when distinguishing security from control.
- connotation — An association carried beyond a word’s direct meaning. Example: The connotation of exclusive makes restricted access appear desirable.
- denotation — A word’s direct or basic meaning. Example: The denotation remains a physical doorway despite its wider symbolic role.
- modality — Language expressing certainty, possibility, permission or obligation. Example: The shift in modality changes advice into an apparent necessity.
- tense — A grammatical marking of time relationships. Example: The present tense makes the remembered scene feel immediate.
- aspect — How grammar presents an action’s unfolding or completion. Example: The progressive aspect presents the waiting as an ongoing experience.
- pronoun — A word referring to participants or replacing nouns. Example: The pronoun you makes the general promise sound personally directed.
- imperative — A grammatical form giving a command or instruction. Example: The imperative asks the reader to act before the explanation appears.
- interrogative — A grammatical form used to ask a question. Example: The interrogative opening invites readers to reconsider their ordinary habits.
- declarative — A grammatical form presenting a statement. Example: The declarative sentence presents a contested judgment as settled information.
- passive — A grammatical voice that typically makes the affected person or thing the subject; the agent can be omitted. Example: The passive “The meeting was postponed” names the affected event without identifying who postponed it.
- nominalisation — Turning an action or quality into a noun. Example: The nominalisation makes the decision sound impersonal and procedural.
- parallelism — Repeated grammatical patterns across related expressions. Example: The parallelism gives the two promises an appearance of equal weight.
- antithesis — Balanced expression of contrasting ideas. Example: The antithesis sets private comfort against public responsibility.
- anaphora — Repetition at the beginnings of successive units. Example: The anaphora gives each demand the same insistent starting point.
- polysyndeton — Repeated conjunctions beyond ordinary grammatical need. Example: The polysyndeton makes the repeated obligations seem increasingly inescapable.
- asyndeton — Omission of expected conjunctions within a sequence. Example: The asyndeton produces a compressed sequence of commands.
61–80. Visual and multimodal analysis
- composition — The arrangement of elements within an image. Example: The composition separates the solitary figure from the celebrating group.
- layout — The placement of material across a page. Example: The layout makes the promise easier to find than its conditions.
- typography — The visual presentation of written type. Example: The typography gives the headline a force absent from the small print.
- font — A particular design of lettering. Example: The informal font contributes to the invitation’s conversational appearance.
- caption — Text accompanying an image. Example: The caption narrows the possible interpretation of the otherwise ambiguous photograph.
- headline — The prominent title introducing an item. Example: The headline frames the ordinary event as an urgent concern.
- salience — The degree to which an element attracts attention. Example: The bright contrast increases the central object’s salience.
- framing — Selection or presentation that shapes interpretation. Example: The framing excludes the surrounding crowd from the photograph.
- background — The area appearing behind the main subject in an image. Example: The background contains details that complicate the foreground celebration.
- contrast — A noticeable difference between visual or verbal elements. Example: The contrast between bright lettering and darkness makes the instruction prominent.
- alignment — The positioning of elements along a shared line. Example: The consistent alignment gives the information an orderly appearance.
- spacing — The distribution of empty intervals between elements. Example: The generous spacing isolates the final request from the explanation.
- scale — Size considered in relation to other elements. Example: The exaggerated scale of the product makes it dominate the scene.
- proportion — The relationship between the sizes of parts. Example: The unequal proportion of text and image shapes the first impression.
- perspective — The position from which a scene is represented. Example: The low perspective can make the building appear imposing.
- angle — The direction from which a subject is viewed. Example: The camera angle emphasises the distance between the two figures.
- cropping — Removing outer parts of an image. Example: The cropping hides information that might change the apparent relationship.
- gaze — The direction of a represented subject’s look. Example: The subject’s direct gaze creates an apparent encounter with the viewer.
- colour — A visual property that can carry contextual associations. Example: The colour acquires meaning through its repeated use within the campaign.
- sequence — The order in which elements are encountered. Example: The sequence moves from a familiar problem to a commercial solution.
81–100. Figurative language and layered meaning
- metaphor — A comparison expressed through nonliteral identification. Example: The metaphor presents the city as a machine that never rests.
- simile — An explicit comparison commonly using like or as. Example: The simile makes the fragile promise resemble a paper bridge.
- personification — Giving human qualities to something nonhuman. Example: The personification makes the waiting house seem capable of disappointment.
- symbolism — The use of elements to suggest wider meanings. Example: The symbolism of the key changes when access becomes a burden.
- motif — A recurring element with developing significance. Example: The repeated mirror motif connects recognition with self-doubt.
- imagery — Language inviting sensory impressions. Example: The imagery of heat and dust makes the journey physically oppressive.
- allusion — An indirect reference to another text or context. Example: The allusion introduces a comparison the reader must recognise or investigate.
- irony — A meaningful discrepancy between appearance and reality. Example: The irony lies in a welcoming slogan beside a locked entrance.
- satire — Criticism using humour, irony or exaggeration. Example: The satire exposes the institution’s preference for procedure over people.
- paradox — An apparent contradiction that invites deeper understanding. Example: The paradox suggests that absolute independence can produce isolation.
- hyperbole — Deliberate exaggeration for emphasis. Example: The hyperbole makes a minor inconvenience appear socially disastrous.
- understatement — Presenting something as less significant than it is. Example: The understatement makes the account of the damaged hall unsettling.
- euphemism — A mild expression replacing an uncomfortable one. Example: The euphemism makes the exclusion sound like an administrative adjustment.
- metonymy — Substitution using something closely associated. Example: The phrase the crown uses metonymy when referring to royal authority.
- synecdoche — A figure in which a part represents the whole, or the whole represents a part. Example: Calling the workers “hands” uses synecdoche and can reduce their individuality.
- ambiguity — The presence of more than one plausible meaning. Example: The ambiguity of the last line resists a single confident conclusion.
- ambivalence — The coexistence of conflicting feelings. Example: The narrator’s ambivalence appears in praise interrupted by expressions of regret.
- subtext — Meaning implied beneath the surface exchange. Example: The subtext concerns trust although the conversation appears to discuss transport.
- juxtaposition — Placing elements together to reveal a relationship. Example: The juxtaposition of luxury and exhaustion questions the promised lifestyle.
- polysemy — The capacity of a word to carry related meanings. Example: The polysemy of home allows the passage to join place and belonging.
101–120. Form, narrative and development
- genre — A category of texts with recurring features. Example: The text adapts the genre of an instruction manual for comic criticism.
- convention — An established practice associated with a form. Example: The writer unsettles a convention by withholding the expected reconciliation.
- form — The kind and arrangement of a work. Example: The letter form gives the argument a particular addressee and situation.
- structure — The organisation of a text’s parts. Example: The structure delays the crucial information until sympathy has already developed.
- voice — The distinctive expression of a speaker or narrator. Example: The hesitant voice contrasts with the certainty of the public notice.
- tone — The attitude conveyed through language choices. Example: The tone shifts from affectionate recollection to restrained disappointment.
- register — Language suited to a context and audience. Example: The sudden change of register interrupts the otherwise official announcement.
- narrator — The voice telling a narrative. Example: The narrator admits uncertainty about the memory’s exact sequence.
- focalisation — The perspective controlling access to narrative information. Example: The focalisation limits the scene to the younger child’s understanding.
- characterisation — The construction of character through textual choices. Example: The characterisation develops through decisions rather than direct description alone.
- dialogue — An exchange of speech represented in a text. Example: The dialogue gives the less powerful character an opportunity to resist.
- monologue — An extended speech by one speaker. Example: The monologue reveals contradictions the speaker does not recognise.
- chronology — The order in which events occur. Example: The narration begins with the aftermath, so readers must reconstruct the chronology of events.
- flashback — A narrative return to an earlier event. Example: The flashback changes the meaning of the apparently generous offer.
- foreshadowing — An earlier hint of later development. Example: The damaged lock provides foreshadowing without revealing the exact outcome.
- exposition — Information establishing a narrative situation. Example: The exposition supplies the conflict but leaves the narrator’s role unclear.
- climax — A moment of greatest tension or importance. Example: The climax occurs when the private disagreement becomes public.
- resolution — A settling or concluding of narrative conflict. Example: The resolution repairs cooperation without erasing the earlier harm.
- fragmentation — The breaking of a whole into separate pieces. Example: The fragmentation of the account reflects difficulty organising a painful memory.
- circularity — A structure returning to an earlier element. Example: The circularity makes the unchanged setting contrast with the changed narrator.
121–140. Comparative relationships
- correspondence — A meaningful relationship between separate elements. Example: The correspondence between the final objects supports the comparison.
- convergence — A movement towards a shared concern or position. Example: The works show convergence in their attention to neglected voices.
- divergence — A movement towards difference. Example: The divergence concerns whether resistance leads to reconciliation or separation.
- parallel — A significant similarity between separate situations. Example: A parallel emerges in the characters’ efforts to control their public image.
- distinction — A meaningful difference requiring recognition. Example: The distinction between chosen solitude and imposed isolation shapes the argument.
- similarity — A feature that different things share. Example: The similarity is structural as well as thematic.
- difference — A feature that separates one thing from another. Example: The difference in narration changes our access to each character’s motives.
- analogy — A comparison used to explain a relationship. Example: The analogy connects social belonging with access to physical spaces.
- shared — Held or present in more than one. Example: The shared setting highlights different experiences of the same institution.
- contrasting — Showing a significant difference. Example: The contrasting endings complicate any claim that both works offer hope.
- analogous — Having a similar function or relationship. Example: The returned letter has an analogous function in the second work.
- complementary — Different but contributing to a fuller understanding. Example: The perspectives are complementary because each reveals another’s blind spot.
- disparate — Substantially different in kind or context. Example: The disparate settings still support a focused comparison of authority.
- reciprocal — Operating through mutual exchange or response. Example: The reciprocal relationship changes when one character stops listening.
- relative — Understood through comparison or relation. Example: The relative freedom of the first narrator makes the second’s constraint visible.
- comparative — Examining meaningful relationships between things. Example: In this comparative argument, the two works illuminate different answers to the same question.
- continuity — A connection or persistence across change. Example: The repeated custom provides continuity despite the altered setting.
- discontinuity — A break in an established pattern. Example: The discontinuity in voice draws attention to the final confession.
- tension — Strain between competing ideas or commitments. Example: The tension between loyalty and autonomy remains unresolved in both works.
- nuance — A small but consequential distinction. Example: The nuance matters because regret does not necessarily imply rejection.
141–160. Evidence and responsible interpretation
- thesis — The central argument developed in an essay. Example: The thesis links the advertisement’s intimacy with its commercial purpose.
- contention — A position advanced for reasoned consideration. Example: The contention requires explanation of how the visual details work together.
- premise — A starting idea on which reasoning depends. Example: The premise assumes that the audience values individual distinction.
- warrant — The reasoning that connects evidence to a claim. Example: The warrant explains why the repeated contrast supports the interpretation.
- evidence — Relevant material used to support a judgment. Example: The strongest evidence comes from the relationship between words and image.
- reference — A specific indication of material being discussed. Example: The reference to the final scene makes the comparative point concrete.
- quotation — Exact wording taken from a source. Example: The quotation matters because the interpretation depends on that particular verb.
- paraphrase — An accurate restatement using different wording. Example: The paraphrase preserves the source’s qualification instead of removing it.
- inference — A reasoned conclusion drawn from clues. Example: The inference about the reader’s position remains grounded in the address.
- implication — A meaning or consequence suggested by the discussion. Example: The implication is that belonging is offered on commercial terms.
- significance — The importance of something within an argument. Example: Explain the significance of the choice rather than merely naming it.
- scope — The range a claim or investigation covers. Example: The scope of the thesis should remain manageable within the task.
- qualification — A limit that makes a statement more precise. Example: The qualification recognises that the effect depends partly on audience experience.
- limitation — A restriction on what evidence can establish. Example: The extract’s limited context is a limitation of the interpretation.
- counterargument — A reasoned challenge to a position. Example: The counterargument asks whether the image could also suggest protection.
- counterexample — A case that shows a universal claim is false. Example: Her decision to help a stranger is a counterexample to the claim that she never helps anyone.
- corroboration — Additional independent support for a claim. Example: Corroboration is needed before the contextual allegation is repeated as fact.
- plausibility — The quality of being reasonably believable. Example: The reading gains plausibility because several details support it.
- uncertainty — A lack of complete knowledge or confidence. Example: The uncertainty concerns intention rather than the visible design choice.
- provisional — Open to revision with further understanding. Example: The first reading is provisional until the whole passage has been examined.
161–180. Concepts that require textual grounding
- identity — How a person or group understands itself. Example: The changing forms of address complicate the character’s identity.
- culture — Shared practices and meanings within a community. Example: The text presents culture as negotiated rather than entirely fixed.
- representation — The way people or ideas are depicted. Example: The representation gives one group visibility while withholding individual voices.
- power — The capacity to influence choices or conditions. Example: The distribution of speaking time makes power visible in the scene.
- ideology — A connected set of beliefs shaping interpretation. Example: The advertisement’s ideology appears in what it treats as desirable.
- agency — The capacity to act within a situation. Example: The character’s agency develops through choices she can explain and defend.
- autonomy — The ability to make one’s own informed choices. Example: The story questions whether the apparent freedom amounts to meaningful autonomy.
- legitimacy — The grounds for regarding authority or action as justified. Example: The conflict centres on the legitimacy of a decision made privately.
- hierarchy — An arrangement of ranked status or power. Example: The formal titles preserve a hierarchy even during an intimate exchange.
- privilege — An advantage not equally available to everyone. Example: The narrator’s privilege shapes which obstacles remain invisible to her.
- exclusion — Being kept outside access or participation. Example: The welcoming language disguises the practical exclusion created by the rule.
- belonging — A sense of acceptance and meaningful connection. Example: The work presents belonging as both reassuring and restrictive.
- conformity — Following established group expectations. Example: The uniform responses suggest pressure towards conformity.
- resistance — Opposition to pressure or control. Example: The quiet refusal becomes a form of resistance.
- solidarity — Mutual support around shared concerns. Example: The speech invokes solidarity while leaving some experiences unmentioned.
- commodification — Treating something as a product for exchange. Example: The campaign’s commodification of belonging links friendship with purchase.
- authenticity — The quality of being genuine. Example: The deliberately informal style constructs an impression of authenticity.
- transformation — A substantial change in condition or understanding. Example: The transformation involves a new understanding of the familiar place.
- memory — The representation or recollection of past experience. Example: Memory gives the ordinary object an importance absent from its price.
- ethics — Principles used to consider right conduct. Example: The discussion connects the ethics of representation with whose voices appear.
181–200. Academic control and independent authorship
- coherence — The quality of making sense as a whole. Example: The revised structure improves coherence by developing one argument steadily.
- cohesion — The connections that hold sentences together. Example: Precise reference words strengthen cohesion without excessive linking phrases.
- precision — Exactness in meaning and expression. Example: The verb suggests offers greater precision than proves in this context.
- clarity — The quality of being readily understandable. Example: Clarity improves when the sentence identifies who holds the opinion.
- conciseness — Expressing what is needed without unnecessary repetition. Example: Conciseness creates room for the explanation the evidence requires.
- consistency — Compatibility across parts of an argument. Example: Check the consistency between the thesis and the final qualification.
- balance — Proportionate attention to relevant considerations. Example: The comparison needs balance without giving identical space to every feature.
- judgment — A considered conclusion based on reasons. Example: The judgment explains why the structural difference matters.
- assertion — A statement presented as true. Example: The assertion remains unsupported until the textual detail is examined.
- speculation — A possible explanation lacking sufficient support. Example: The claim about the author’s private motive remains speculation.
- assumption — An idea accepted without adequate examination. Example: The question exposes an assumption about what success should mean.
- attribution — Identification of the source of an idea. Example: Accurate attribution separates the narrator’s opinion from the critic’s interpretation.
- citation — A reference acknowledging a source. Example: The citation allows the reader to locate the borrowed interpretation.
- acknowledgment — Recognition of another’s contribution or a relevant fact. Example: The acknowledgment of the source remains necessary after paraphrasing.
- integrity — Honesty and responsibility in intellectual work. Example: Academic integrity requires students to represent sources and authorship accurately.
- revision — Reconsideration that improves ideas or expression. Example: The revision changes the claim after the evidence reveals a complication.
- reflection — Careful consideration of decisions and learning. Example: The reflection identifies why the first interpretation needed adjustment.
- transfer — Applying understanding in a different situation. Example: Transfer becomes visible when the vocabulary works with an unfamiliar text.
- independence — The ability to make and explain one’s own decisions. Example: The essay demonstrates independence through an argument the student can defend.
- ownership — Responsibility for work and the decisions behind it. Example: The student retains ownership by understanding every sentence in the draft.
List check: 200 entries in 10 groups of 20, with no repeated headword within this article. The list is a reference bank, not a target to insert into one essay.
Choose your next useful step
Use the word bank immediately, then choose the help you need.
Guide contents
Sections 1–5: Understand the stage and build clear sentences
Sections 6–9: Worked examples and practice
Sections 10–14: Review, revise and continue
The IB Diploma Programme is a two-year programme for ages 16–19. Year 1 develops the knowledge and habits needed across that programme. School assessment schedules vary; some students take one or two SL subjects as anticipated candidates after the first year, as explained in the IB assessment guidance.
English A: Language and Literature
The official guide for first assessment 2026 gives the current component structure:
- Paper 1: guided analysis of unseen non-literary texts. SL students analyse one of two texts; HL students analyse both.
- Paper 2: a comparative essay responding to one question using two studied literary works.
- HL essay: 1,200–1,500 words developing a line of inquiry about a studied literary work or non-literary body of work.
- Individual oral: an oral analysis connecting a literary work and non-literary body of work through a global issue.
For Paper 2, select two studied literary works by different authors and exclude works already used for other assessment components, as specified in the IB’s 2026 examiner instructions.
These components require related but different decisions. The unseen text in Paper 1 supplies the immediate evidence. Paper 2 requires detailed knowledge of studied works. The HL essay develops a sustained inquiry rather than a general account of a theme. Confirm current requirements and permitted choices with your teacher.
English B and the DP core
English B is a language acquisition course. Its writing tasks require attention to text type, audience and purpose; its Paper 2 assesses listening and reading. Do not prepare for English B by assuming the English A paper structure applies.
The core also includes a TOK essay of up to 1,600 words and an extended essay with a maximum of 4,000 words. The updated extended essay is first assessed in May 2027; the 2027 subject brief explains its requirements. Learn the guidance for your examination session rather than treating every older online checklist as current.
Start a revision page with the complete course name, level and examination session. “IB English” is too broad to determine the task. The Language A: Language and Literature guide, Language A: Literature overview and Language B overview explain the different course models.
| Course | Important task distinction | Useful practice with this list |
|---|---|---|
| English A: Language and Literature | Paper 1 examines unseen non-literary texts; Paper 2 compares two studied literary works. | Connect verbal and visual choices in unfamiliar texts, and keep detailed comparative notes on literary works. |
| English A: Literature | Paper 1 examines unseen literary writing; Paper 2 compares two studied works. | Develop close literary reading and explore how form, narration and language shape meaning. |
| English B | Paper 1 is task-based writing; Paper 2 assesses listening and reading. | Practise suitable register, clear organisation and language that fulfils a particular communicative purpose. |
The suggested practice in the final column is eduKate guidance. For example, an English B student may need to write an effective speech, while an English A student may analyse how a speech works. Both benefit from understanding audience and purpose, but the finished responses have different jobs.
Keep the distinction visible when collecting model work. A fluent response from a different course is not automatically a model for your assignment. Ask what the writer was required to do before borrowing its structure, tone or vocabulary. Then choose the part of this article that supports your own task.
SECTION 3 OF 14
3. Make the transition from naming devices to developing an argument
Start here: connect grammar with a supported reading
Review audience, imperative, modality, positioning and qualification. This original eduKate invitation says: “Join the workshop. You may observe before deciding whether to participate.” Write two or three sentences explaining how the wording combines direction with choice. Use the terms that clarify your reading; this is practice, not an assessment rubric.
A sound answer identifies “Join” as an imperative and reads “may” here as permission to observe. It connects the second sentence with reduced pressure to participate immediately. That interpretation can be persuasive without claiming that every reader feels reassured or inventing an image, colour or audience response.
If meaning is weak, paraphrase the invitation before naming a technique. If grammar is weak, practise one complete analytical sentence. If evidence is weak, attach each interpretation to its exact wording. If independence is weak, close the model and explain how replacing “may observe” with “must participate” changes the relationship. Keep any claim about readers’ reactions appropriately qualified.
A new DP student may recognise metaphor, imagery and repetition yet struggle to write a convincing paragraph. The hidden difficulty is often that the terms are learned as labels. An essay needs a claim about the text’s meaning and an explanation of how particular choices support that claim.
Use a feature, relationship and significance check
Identify the feature precisely. Explain its relationship with surrounding language, images or structure. Then state why that relationship matters to the question. “There is an imperative” identifies grammar. “The imperative converts a personal uncertainty into an immediate instruction to buy” connects grammar with a persuasive movement. The second statement still needs evidence, but it gives the paragraph an analytical direction.
Keep intention and effect separate. You can observe that a text uses direct address, then argue that it may create intimacy. Claiming that the writer secretly intends to exploit every reader goes beyond those observations unless additional evidence supports it. Measured language protects the strength of a defensible interpretation.
Choose vocabulary around your actual course work
For an advertisement, start with audience, positioning, imperative, layout and commodification only if the text supports that concept. For a novel, select words such as focalisation, characterisation, chronology and ambivalence. A term does not become relevant merely because you learned it recently.
Practise with ordinary alternatives. If you write foregrounds, be able to explain what receives prominence and how. If you use ideology, identify a connected belief rather than labelling every opinion ideological. If you write agency, show what choices the character can make and what constrains them.
Keep a vocabulary record beside your reading notes. Include a natural phrase, a short example, a mistaken use and its repair. Revisiting the same word across different text types helps reveal its limits. Do not turn the record into a collection of sentences to reproduce unchanged in examinations.
SECTION 4 OF 14
4. Build analytical sentences with accurate verbs and clear relationships
A useful analytical verb identifies what changes in the reader’s understanding. The verb should fit its object. Foreground concerns prominence; position concerns a relationship; undermine concerns weakened support; complicate concerns an interpretation becoming less simple. These verbs are not interchangeable upgrades for shows.
| Pattern | Original example | Evidence needed |
|---|---|---|
| foreground a concern | The headline foregrounds the future value of ordinary objects. | A choice that gives that concern noticeable prominence. |
| position an audience as something | The invitation positions residents as potential contributors to history. | Wording or design that establishes that relationship. |
| undermine a claim | The missing source undermines the claim to verified expertise. | A reason the support for that particular claim is weaker. |
| complicate an interpretation | The reassurance complicates a reading of the notice as purely demanding. | A detail the simpler reading fails to explain. |
Let the grammar identify the agent
Consider “By reading the headline, the poster creates curiosity.” The opening phrase makes the poster appear to do the reading. Repair it according to the idea you mean: “Reading the headline may make visitors curious” focuses on reception; “By posing a question in the headline, the poster invites curiosity” focuses on a textual choice. Do not keep the second version if the actual headline contains no question.
The same check helps with attribution. “The narrator believes…” reports a fictional voice’s position. “The narrative exposes a gap in that belief…” makes an interpretation about the work’s construction. A paragraph may need both, but should not quietly turn the narrator’s belief into the author’s personal opinion.
Use qualifications where the uncertainty belongs
For a hypothetical headline containing the word you, “The headline may perhaps possibly use direct address” weakens an observable fact. State the feature directly, then qualify the effect if appropriate: “The headline addresses the reader as ‘you’, which may create a sense of personal invitation.” The wording is certain; the individual response is not guaranteed.
For an optional exercise, write one analytical claim in plain language, then choose the most useful verb from the table. Add the detail that supports it and explain the connection. Finally remove the target verb and check whether you can still explain the thought. If the meaning disappears, return to the relationship before polishing the language.
When English is an additional language, rehearsing the idea orally can separate conceptual understanding from a difficult sentence pattern. Keep the strongest clear version you can explain. A concise sentence with a precise verb often provides a better foundation for the next layer of analysis than a long sentence assembled from unfamiliar academic phrases.
For a grammatical check, Cambridge’s explanation of passive forms shows that a passive clause can name its agent with a by phrase. Omitting responsibility is therefore a possible choice, not an automatic effect of every passive construction.
The Fencing Method begins with something correct, adds one controlled layer and checks each addition. Here it is used as a rehearsal for analytical thinking, not as an official IB paragraph formula. The advertisement below is invented. For this exercise, it is a retailer’s promotion of a bag offered for sale.
“Still searching for your place? Carry the bag that says you belong.” Beside the words, a single bright bag stands against a blurred group of students.
Core: identify an observable choice
The advertisement addresses the reader with a question. This is clear and verifiable. It does not yet explain the question’s role, but it provides a stable start.
Layer 1: specify the concern being introduced
The question addresses the reader as someone uncertain about belonging. The phrase “searching for your place” supports that reading. Check the difference between offering this position and establishing that every reader actually feels insecure.
Layer 2: connect the next textual choice
The imperative “Carry” then presents the product as a response to that uncertainty. The analysis now follows the movement of the text rather than listing disconnected techniques. The grammatical term helps explain what changes between the sentences.
Layer 3: integrate the image
The bag’s visual salience reinforces its role as the proposed route into the group, while the blurred students make the promised community less individualised. This is an interpretation of the described design. If the actual image were different, the claim would need revision.
Layer 4: state significance with a limit
The advertisement thus links belonging with ownership, although readers who reject that association may find the promise unconvincing. The concluding qualification identifies a genuine condition of reception. It avoids declaring a guaranteed psychological effect.
Repair a draft that says, “The bag symbolises freedom and manipulates everyone.” Neither freedom nor universal manipulation has been established. Return to the supported connection between ownership and belonging. Transfer the method to an invented public-library invitation that offers membership without a purchase: the same analytical words may now describe a different relationship. The Fencing vocabulary guide develops this practice of controlled transfer.
A connected paragraph about the invented advertisement
The advertisement positions belonging as a problem that ownership can solve. Its opening question, “Still searching for your place?”, addresses the reader through an unresolved personal concern. The imperative “Carry” then turns that concern into a specific action, giving the product a role beyond practical use. This relationship is reinforced visually by the bright bag’s prominence against the blurred group. The combination can be read as a commodification of belonging: the social connection is presented through an object for purchase. The claim depends on accepting that association, however, and a reader may question whether carrying the product establishes any meaningful relationship.
The paragraph develops one central argument. It includes terminology, but the terms name relationships that have already been explained. Imperative identifies the instruction; prominence describes the image; commodification names the wider relationship between an intangible value and a product.
Now compare two invented literary moments
Work A, practice extract: Leena kept the key after moving away. It no longer opened anything, but she pressed it into her palm whenever the new room felt unfamiliar.
Work B, practice extract: Before leaving, Tomas placed the key on the kitchen table. For the first time, he could not be asked to return and lock the door.
Practice comparison: Both extracts use a key to make a relationship with home tangible, but its significance differs. Leena’s unusable key preserves continuity after departure; its physical presence offers a connection when the new room feels unfamiliar. Tomas’s relinquished key instead represents release from an obligation. The parallel object therefore supports contrasting experiences of leaving: one character retains a material connection, while the other establishes a boundary.
What transfers and what changes
The need for evidence and explanation transfers from the advertisement analysis. The scope changes: a real Paper 2 response concerns two studied literary works, not merely two short invented extracts. You would need relevant knowledge across those works to support a broader argument about their development. Do not treat this small exercise as a substitute for reading them.
Build a comparison around a shared question. The object is not automatically a symbol with a fixed meaning; its actions and context develop that meaning. The same key could represent trust, restriction, responsibility or memory in another work. Accurate vocabulary helps you describe the particular relationship rather than importing a universal interpretation.
SECTION 7 OF 14
7. Analyse an unfamiliar invitation through words, layout and sequence
This original eduKate workshop describes a fictional poster for a community exhibition. No actual exhibition, policy or research finding is being reported. For the exercise, imagine a large photograph of a chipped household mug in the centre, a bold headline above it, and the last two sentences below the main invitation in smaller, still readable type.
MEET TOMORROW’S HISTORY.
One ordinary object. One extraordinary story.
Bring a household object to our community exhibition.
Objects will be photographed and returned.
Selected stories may appear online.
Practice question: How do the words and the described design encourage people to value an ordinary contribution?
Read for a movement before collecting devices
The poster first gives the familiar a future significance. It then pairs an ordinary object with an extraordinary story, asks for participation and supplies conditions. The mug supports the idea that a contribution need not be expensive or exceptional in appearance. Because this exercise provides a description rather than an actual image, restrict visual claims to the specified layout and object. Do not invent a colour scheme, a camera angle or a facial expression.
Choose two relationships worth explaining
First, connect the contrast between ordinary and extraordinary with the household object. The contrast relocates value from the object’s appearance to the story attached to it. Second, connect the command to bring something with the promise that objects will be returned. The practical reassurance may reduce a concern created by the request. These relationships support the question more directly than an inventory of every noun and punctuation mark.
A developed practice paragraph
The invitation presents ordinary possessions as possible contributions to a shared historical record. Its headline, “Meet tomorrow’s history”, makes future significance seem available in the present, while the parallel phrases distinguish an unremarkable object from the exceptional story it may carry. The described photograph of a chipped mug gives that claim a concrete focus: visible wear can be associated with use and memory rather than with display value alone. The instruction to bring an object then turns this recognition into participation. Its accompanying assurance that objects will be returned addresses a practical concern about giving up a possession. Together, these choices invite residents to see their everyday experiences as worth recording, although the notice makes clear that only selected stories may appear online.
Notice where a claim could become too large
The model does not say the mug proves a particular family history; no such history is supplied. It does not claim that every contributor will be published. Nor does the smaller type automatically establish deception: the conditions are described as readable. You could argue that the headline receives greater prominence while the conditions require closer attention, but any stronger judgment about concealment would need more evidence.
An alternative reading might place greater emphasis on preserving memories than on gaining public recognition. The promise to photograph and return objects supports that possibility. Decide whether this replaces your first interpretation or develops another aspect of the invitation. A counter-reading is useful when it helps explain a detail that the first account overlooked.
Transfer through one change
As a suggested exercise, move “Selected stories may appear online” immediately below the headline in equally prominent type. Explain how the reading sequence changes. Publication and selection would become earlier considerations, which may affect how a contributor understands the invitation. The response should describe the new relationship between prominence and purpose rather than claim a guaranteed change in behaviour.
Finish by checking whether each analytical sentence answers the practice question. A correct observation about the poster is not automatically relevant. Keep the details that explain how value is constructed, and reserve other observations for a different task.
Task 1: keep a close-reading record
Select a short non-literary text from class. Record its text type, apparent audience, purpose and two choices worth investigating. Develop one claim that connects those choices. If you cannot explain why a detail matters, leave it out of the paragraph until you have a reason to include it.
Task 2: write a comparison by idea
Choose two moments from the literary works you are studying. Identify a shared concern, then explain a significant difference in how the writers construct it. Use accurate references rather than invented quotations. The task is to practise a relationship between works, not to produce a miniature summary of each plot.
Task 3: examine a counter-reading
Return to the bag advertisement. Could the question be playful rather than anxious? Identify the evidence that would make that reading stronger or weaker. Then decide whether it replaces the original interpretation or qualifies it. An alternative is useful when you can investigate it, not merely announce that everyone has different opinions.
Task 4: revise a sentence without adding length
Repair this invented draft: “The author uses the technique of imagery to make all readers very emotional about society.” Name the precise image, a supported response and the issue actually being presented. Your new sentence may be shorter while containing more useful information.
Task 5: practise under an adjustable limit
Try a fifteen-minute paragraph exercise followed by five minutes of revision if that suits your current fluency. These are suggested practice limits, not official paper timings. During revision, check one claim for overstatement, one quotation for accuracy and one transition for a genuine logical relationship.
For independent coursework, keep records of sources and decisions from the beginning. A vocabulary notebook can support your drafting, but the reasoning and submitted work must remain your own. Ask your teacher how feedback, collaboration and digital tools may be used within the task’s rules.
SECTION 9 OF 14
9. Build reading notes that can support more than one Paper 2 question
First-year notes are more useful when they preserve the relationship between a moment, a writer’s choice and a possible line of argument. A list headed “identity” or “power” can become too broad to help you select evidence later. Record exactly what happens and how the work presents it before adding a conceptual label.
Keep four kinds of information together
| Record | Question to answer | Why it helps |
|---|---|---|
| Accurate reference | Where does this moment occur, and what happens? | Prevents invented quotations and vague plot recollection. |
| Writer’s choice | What matters about the narration, form, language or sequence? | Connects knowledge of events to analysis. |
| Possible argument | Which question or concern could this detail help explain? | Keeps evidence selection responsive to the task. |
| Limit or complication | What would make this reading too broad? | Protects important differences within and between works. |
Use the invented key extracts earlier in this guide as a small rehearsal. Leena retains a key that no longer opens anything; Tomas leaves his key behind. Those are accurate references. The actions give the same kind of object different significance: continued attachment in one case and release from an obligation in the other. A possible argument concerns how departure changes a relationship with home. The limit is that these miniatures cannot establish how complete novels develop that concern.
Make a genuine connection between works
For your studied works, pair details because they illuminate the same question, not merely because both include a room, journey or family. Ask what one work helps you notice about the other. Perhaps both characters leave, but only one has a meaningful choice. Perhaps both narrators recall childhood, but one account revises its earlier confidence while the other preserves it. The relationship should be supported by the actual works you read.
When a question concerns change, collect evidence from moments that allow you to trace that change. When it concerns conflict, identify the competing commitments and how form or narration makes them visible. The point is to keep notes flexible. A memorised thematic paragraph may contain accurate information yet fail to address the question in front of you.
Revisit the first interpretation
After later reading, return to one early note. Does a new scene reinforce, qualify or overturn it? Record the reason. This creates a history of your understanding and gives you concrete examples of development across a work. It also helps distinguish a character’s temporary opinion from the position suggested by the work as a whole.
Test the record with a new practice question chosen by your teacher. Select a small set of relevant references and explain why each belongs. The notebook has done its job when it helps you make a fresh argument, rather than encouraging you to reproduce every observation you have collected.
When the paragraph becomes a device inventory
Choose the argument before the list of techniques. If a paragraph discusses a metaphor, an imperative and an image, explain how they work together or why their relationship matters. Three unconnected labels do not automatically create a developed analysis.
When the essay confuses narrator and author
A narrator’s judgment belongs to the voice telling the story. The work may expose, complicate or undermine that judgment. Attribute the statement carefully and examine the surrounding choices before treating it as the author’s own belief.
When context replaces close reading
Context helps when it explains a textual choice or interpretive possibility. A long historical introduction that never returns to the wording can displace the analysis. Select the relevant background, cite its source where needed and show exactly what it helps you understand.
When comparative writing separates the works completely
After each major point, ask what the second work helps you see differently. A comparison can use several organisational patterns, but the relationship must remain visible. Avoid saving every connection for the final sentence.
When precision becomes inflated language
“The juxtaposition problematises the hegemonic paradigm” is useful only if the writer can identify the juxtaposed elements, the difficulty exposed and the actual system of power. If not, state the point in ordinary language and rebuild it. Difficulty of expression is not evidence of depth.
SECTION 11 OF 14
11. Use models, sources and feedback while keeping the argument your own
A model paragraph can reveal how an argument works, but copying its sequence of claims into unrelated material can hide the reading you still need to do. Use models to study decisions: what the writer selected, what was left out, how evidence was connected and where the conclusion was limited.
Separate text, borrowed interpretation and your own inference
In the exhibition exercise, “ordinary object” is wording from the invented notice. The model’s argument that the notice gives ordinary possessions historical value is an interpretation developed in this guide. Your own response might investigate a different relationship, such as how reassurance supports the request. Keep those categories visible when taking notes. Changing a few words in another person’s interpretation does not remove its source.
The IB course guide’s academic integrity guidance requires acknowledgement of borrowed ideas and material, including paraphrases. Use the referencing approach required by your school and the rules for the particular component. Keep source details when you read, rather than trying to reconstruct them after drafting.
Practise an independent route through the same text
Close the model. Write a one-sentence answer to the practice question, choose two details and explain their connection aloud. Then draft your paragraph. Reopen the model to compare decisions, not to replace your wording sentence by sentence. If the model includes an observation you had missed, return to the source and decide whether you understand and accept that reading.
For a useful feedback request, ask “Where does my evidence stop supporting the claim?” or “Which part of the comparison needs another explanation?” These questions invite a response you can act on. After revising, write one sentence explaining the change. If you cannot explain a phrase in your draft, replace it with an idea and wording you can defend.
Check the argument before the surface
Read the introduction and each paragraph’s main point together. Do they develop a consistent answer? Next check the selected details against the source. Finally examine syntax, word choice and repetition. This is a suggested editing sequence, not an IB requirement. Its purpose is to prevent a smooth final edit from concealing an unsupported interpretation.
Keep a short portfolio of a first attempt, focused feedback, a revised response and an unfamiliar follow-up task. Progress appears when the improvement survives that change of material. An accurate analytical verb, an appropriately limited claim or a clearer comparison is valuable because you can use it independently again.
Build the routine around work already set by your school. Choose eight words for a fortnight: three for the current text type, three for analytical relationships and two for qualification or revision. Use fewer when the concepts need more time.
- Explain each word without copying its definition.
- Identify one relevant example in a text you have actually read.
- Write a correct core sentence using the word.
- Add evidence and reasoning through the Fencing Method.
- Record an unsuitable use and explain why it fails.
- Revisit the word after a break without looking at your notes.
- Apply it to another text or a comparative question.
- Keep or revise the entry after teacher feedback.
For literary works, organise notes around questions and relationships as well as individual scenes. For non-literary texts, vary the text types you examine. The goal is flexible understanding: a term should help you read unfamiliar material rather than pull every new text into the same memorised argument.
Are these words enough for a high grade?
No word list can guarantee a grade. Vocabulary helps communicate knowledge, interpretation and reasoning. The relevant assessment requires a complete response to the task, supported by the appropriate evidence and organised clearly.
Must every Paper 1 paragraph name a technique?
Explain the choices that matter to your argument. A recognised term can make the explanation precise, but naming a feature without analysing it adds little. You may describe a choice accurately in ordinary language when that communicates your point better.
Does Paper 2 require memorised quotations?
The current guide expects detailed reference to the works but does not require quotations. Know the works well enough to use accurate, relevant examples. Never invent wording and present it as a quotation.
Can I use the same vocabulary for TOK and the extended essay?
Some words transfer, but their use must fit the subject. In TOK, evidence and justification support discussion of knowledge. In research writing, claims about methods and limitations must describe what you actually investigated. A literary-analysis paragraph does not become a TOK response by changing a few nouns.
What if I am taking English B?
Use the list selectively and follow your course’s writing tasks. Attention to audience, purpose, register and text type is especially useful. Do not assume you must produce the English A comparative literary essay described here.
What should I aim to achieve by the end of Year 1?
Aim to make your thinking explainable: identify a question, choose relevant evidence, develop an interpretation, recognise a limitation and revise independently. Use your school’s feedback and schedule to set specific goals rather than treating this article as a universal Year 1 syllabus.
Assessment facts are grounded in the official sources linked in the requirements section. Confirm your subject, level and examination session with the school. All glossary examples and practice passages are original; they are not official examination questions or excerpts from real literary works.
- IB: Language A Language and Literature guide, first assessment 2026
- IB: Language B
- IB: extended essay updates
- eduKate: Fencing Method for vocabulary
Additional references used to check assessment conditions and technical vocabulary:
Where this guide sits in the IB pathway
| Reader band | Approximate ages | Programme route |
|---|---|---|
| School Years 1–6 | About ages 5–11 | PYP writing foundations; school-year bands selected for this series |
| School Years 7–11 | About ages 11–16 | MYP Years 1–5 |
| School Years 12–13 | About ages 16–18 | DP Years 1–2 |
The IB programme overview gives broader age ranges: PYP 3–12, MYP 11–16 and DP 16–19. This school-age series begins around age five; it does not cover every PYP early-years age or the separate Career-related Programme.
Explore the Age 12 vocabulary reference · Use the Fencing Method for vocabulary · Choose another vocabulary guide
Continue through the IB vocabulary series
Choose your programme stage. The school-year labels are approximate reader bands; start where the writing tasks fit your current needs.
Primary Years Programme: school-age writing foundations
- PYP · School Year 1
- PYP · School Year 2
- PYP · School Year 3
- PYP · School Year 4
- PYP · School Year 5
- PYP · School Year 6
Middle Years Programme: Years 1–5
- MYP Year 1 · School Year 7
- MYP Year 2 · School Year 8
- MYP Year 3 · School Year 9
- MYP Year 4 · School Year 10
- MYP Year 5 · School Year 11
Diploma Programme: Years 1–2
- DP Year 1 · School Year 12 · this guide
- DP Year 2 · School Year 13
Previous stage: MYP Year 5 · School Year 11 · Next stage: DP Year 2 · School Year 13