How to get a 7 in English A1 Paper 1 (Unseen Commentary)

[Wide Eyed Wanderer]

A lot of people get scared by the prospect of doing a commentary on something they have never seen before, but really, paper 1 isn't hard at all, and a 7 is relatively easy to get.

What is required of you:

You'll be judged on five criteria, each with five markband descriptors. The highest mark you can get is 25. The criteria and the requirements to achieve five marks in each are listed below.

Criterion A : Understanding of the Text

5 : Excellent understanding of the text

# perceptive understanding of the thought and feeling expressed in the text as well as some of the subtleties of the text

# detailed and persuasive references to the text.

Criterion B: Interpretation of the Text

5 : Excellent interpretation of the text

# the candidates ideas are convincing and include an appropriate and considered personal response

# the analysis is consistently detailed and persuasively illustrated by carefully chosen examples.

Criterion C : Appreciation of Literary Features

5 : Excellent appreciation of the literary features of the text

# detailed and persuasive appreciation of the effects of the literary features of the text

# the analysis is detailed and illustrated by carefully chosen examples.

Criterion Presentation

5 : A clearly focused, well-developed and persuasive argument

# purposeful and effective structure to the commentary

# supporting examples are well integrated into the body of the commentary.

Criterion E: Formal Use of Language

5 : The language is clear, varied, precise and concise

# clear, varied, precise and concise use of language

# no significant lapses in grammar, spelling and sentence construction

# precise use of wide vocabulary and varied idiom and style

# effective choice of register.

How to fulfill the criteria.

Criterion A

There isn't a fixed way in which you can achieve this criteria. If you show that you understand the plot/theme, and make relevant references, you'll get the five marks. I'd recommend you begin your commentary by summarizing in 2-3 sentences what has happened, and what you think the underlying meaning (if any) is.

Criterion B

This is the personal response bit. Whenever you can ( or you think a particular bit means something but you aren't sure), add the phrase "I think this means..." and ta-DA! You've fulfilled this criterion! Just make sure you don't come up with extremely wacky ideas that you can't back up without examples from the text.

Criterion C

This is one criterion everyone's been taught to fulfill. Have literary terms scattered all over the essay. Four - five lit terms per paragraph that you write should normally be enough. The good part is that 'novel', 'poem', 'stanza' all count as literary terms too. Just make sure to explain their significance.

Criterion D

Presentation is important, and it can get you 5 certain points if you learn to do it right, even if you don't understand the poem/prose at all. Always make a plan before you start writing. Follow PEE and dedicate one paragraph to one point.

Criterion E

This is more or less the same as Criterion C, just make sure not to use slang or swear words ( seems obvious, but you wouldn't know)

How to prepare for the exam

Make a list of all the literary words that you can, depending on how long before the exam you realize you have to start studying. Memorize it.

How to go about the exam

coming soon...

Helpful tips

1. The prose passage is your friend. Many students make the mistake of ignoring it completely and going for poetry even when it's the harder option.

2. If you can't seem to find anything to comment about in either, don't panic. Remember, the IB will never give you poems or passages with no literary features/character development/pertinent theme.

If you have any more tips, post below, and I'll add them.

[Tony Stark]

Hmmmm. What length would you recommend? Internally, we've done two so far this year. The first I went really in-depth, theme-by-theme, before concluding that all the themes culminated to form a stereotypical 'journey' text albeit with the twist that the journey is portrayed as common and unextraordinary, illustrated both through tone and the narrator's musings. The equivalent of 7-8 double-sided IB sheets, 23/25. The second I spoke of the overall theme of humanity rendered helpless in the face of nature, used setting, de-personalisation and tone as my key aspects. Probably 4 double-sided IB sheets (was feeling tired, lazy and unwell). Also 23/25. I know quantity doesn't substitute for quality, but am I to believe that I contributed the same amount to the criteria despite writing double the content the first time round? Our teacher annotates our papers, but doesn't give us any overall feedback or even attach her marks per criteria, so I've got no clue.

Edited April 12, 2012 by Saurav Das

[Award Winning Boss]

I disagree with 'i think' because they don't really care what you think. Until the end that is. Write 'this could suggest blah blah hey look at me being all perceptive ' or words to that effect.

forgot to add, nice post

Edited May 2, 2013 by Graeme

[Danbo]

From what I gather the criteria suggests that your personal response can be accepts as long as you have evidence from the extract to support your interpretation. Does that mean it's possible for two commentaries with different themes and ideas to get more or less the same score with substantial reasoning behind each commentary?

[litgirrl]

To get a 5 for presentation, and structure, you need a clear introduction, where you refer back to the name of the extract, writer, and your thesis statement. The thesis statement is your signpost to explain how you are going to analyse the extract. We were taught to pick the one aspect of the text that struck us most, to write it down in vary casual English, and then to rewrite it in formal literary language. For example you would start off by thinking: Wow, the poor girl in the extract is clearly bonkers or mad: and why all the references to ice and snow? and then your thesis statement could read something like: The repetition of images of cold and ice emphasizes not only the increasing isolation of the protagonist, but also points to the lack of vitality and life, which culminates in the apparent death of the protagonist in an "icy black hole".

[Drake Glau]

I disagree with 'i think' because they don't really care what you think. Until the end that is. Write 'this could suggest blah blah hey look at me being all perceptive ' or words to that effect.

forgot to add, nice post

I agree with this. "I think" just shows that you might not be sure and that isn't convincing when you want to show that you know what it is doing. Just state what the feature does and move on, don't use anything that could show a possible weakness in your argument.

I'd also like to add that it is very possible to memorize a few short quotes (4-5 word quotes) that include the feature in your works. Most people just remember important sentences after reading them, rather natural. If you add in these quotes that you remember it will display a better appreciation to the feature.

DO NOT quote something large, even if you did memorize it. It's kind of iffy when you suddenly have a 10+ word quote out of nowhere.

Edit @mods: sticky this? Or merge into the pre-existing thread concerning paper1 and 2?

Edited June 24, 2012 by Drake Glau

[Slifer18]

Thanks for the advice! I have my English A1 SL Paper 1 on Monday and I am definitely doing for Prose. I will not waste any time to read the poem.

I'll just have to memorise the different criterion and hope for the best.

[13cullisonc]

Im sorry but this is ridiculously wrong! First of all there are very few 7's every year worldwide. To get a 5 in a section is doable but still very difficult. You are certainly not going to get a 25 it just doesn't happen, nobody gets 25/25. Also you NEVER use first person in the commentary; saying "I think" is a death wish. For criterion c you cant just throw out random literary and poetic devices. You have to layer them into your ideas and shouldn't be thrown around. You're not just pointing them out either you explaining your ideas such as "the poem expresses a mood of adoration through "these lines" that have for example symbolism or cacophony or metonomy which help emphasize the effect of the lines and the idea. You don't follow one particular method of organization. The acronym PEE isnt going to help you, certain organizational methods such as idea by idea or stanza by stanza are possibilities but can't always be relied on it all depends on the poem or prose. Section E is not like C at all E is the language used and it sophistication. Did you say a "weird" use of movement or did you say an "unorthodox" or "uncanny" or "imaginative" use of movement? Did you make good use of adjectives or use dull plain ones? I am curious as to what you scored on your English exam because if you did anything remotely like what you said in the guide you're looking at probably a 3 or 2.

[TykeDragon]

How ignorant to say that nobody ever achieves it - it is true it is rare, but still possible. A guy in the year above me actually did get given a 25/25 for his poetry commentary, marked by the IBO. They also have it remarked just to confirm that it is 100%.

Edited May 2, 2013 by TykeDragon

[13cullisonc]

How ignorant to say that nobody ever achieves it - it is true it is rare, but still possible. A guy in the year above me actually did get given a 25/25 for his poetry commentary, marked by the IBO. They also have it remarked just to confirm that it is 100%.

I didn't mean to say nobody achieves it but like you said it is very rare. Concerning the guy in the year above you Im not sure how he would know he got a 25/25 because at our school we don't find out what we scored on each individual section. When the scores are released in July it just says your score for each subject, its not broken down into what you scored on each section, so I'll never know what I got on it. I guess it could be different there but we were told we never find out just as we were never told our scores on the IOP or IOC or written assignment.

[cjy]

How ignorant to say that nobody ever achieves it - it is true it is rare, but still possible. A guy in the year above me actually did get given a 25/25 for his poetry commentary, marked by the IBO. They also have it remarked just to confirm that it is 100%.

I didn't mean to say nobody achieves it but like you said it is very rare. Concerning the guy in the year above you Im not sure how he would know he got a 25/25 because at our school we don't find out what we scored on each individual section. When the scores are released in July it just says your score for each subject, its not broken down into what you scored on each section, so I'll never know what I got on it. I guess it could be different there but we were told we never find out just as we were never told our scores on the IOP or IOC or written assignment.

Incorrect. The next day, the majority of IB students get a breakdown of their scores and where they lost marks so they know what to remark if they need it. And 25/25 in P1 English isn't rare. 2/15 in HL in my school got full marks in P1 and 7/15 got over 20.

[Blackcurrant]

The motto is: Easier said than done!

A list of criteria and all the good advice goes *only so far*. Everything looks neat and tidy on paper and in the mind. You already KNOW what the criteria are. And all the advice you have got so far is GOOD. So you feel reassured.

And that is just the hitch. Those illusions of security.

Sure, you CAN do well, and ALMOST ANYONE SHOULD be able to score 25/25. .... But will they, even with all the good advice and list of criteria? I don't think so. You know that too.

Practise -- lots of it. Constant. Systematic. Sustained. And with detailed feedback from your teacher (or peers, if they are expert). That is key.

Don't wait for it. Don't wait for the dying of the day: Practise, practise!

Edited March 4, 2014 by Blackcurrant

[Wicquor]

I don't mean to be offensive but I'm not entirely sure how this is a comprehensive or helpful post and I fail to see how it explains what the title claims.

For instance, I've never seen criterion B as personal connection or personal thoughts; I've always been of the opinion that interpretation really refers to talking about the themes discussed in the poems and of course, backing these claims up with quotes from the poem. Of course, this is probably what you're saying as well but I disagree with personalising it and using 'I'. It's certainly not advisable and you're encouraged to not personalise the commentary as much as possible.

And for criterion C, it's really not just 'scatter in some literary devices and you're good'. You need to know how to identify these devices and talk about how their use assist in the expression of the ideas that you believe the poem is discussing. You need to analyse them, understand the mechanics of the poem, know why those literary techniques are included in the poem and what their effect on the reader and the poem are. And ofc you need to express this in the commentary. Another important thing to keep in mind is to take note of a 'wild card'. I came across this tip a few months ago somewhere on the internet (so I'm not claiming any credit for this~) but it's basically just that all poems are different from each other and contain an element that makes them unique. In some poems it might be a certain literary device, like personification or in another it might be developing the story/character in it. Those things are definitely worth talking about, in a separate paragraph if you want to. It really does reflect on your ability to analyse and appreciate literary devices used in the poem.

Thirdly, criterion E isn't just 'don't use slang/swear words'. It really does take into consideration your use of vocabulary as well as your sentence structure and your ability to coherently express your views. For example, I could say 'the poem talks about how love is weak and complicated' but I feel like 'the poem depicts the complexities and frailty of love' will probably win me more points.

I disagree on prose being easier. I think whether the poem or the passage is easier is very subjective and I find the poem much, much easier to analyse. It has room for far more interpretation, it takes less time to read and annotate and I find it easier to pick out literary devices used in poetry and examine the reasons for their inclusion and the effect they have. I also feel like the use of literary devices in poetry just stands out more to me--I can just tell what effect the use of a certain word has over the use of a synonym of that word.

I feel like you haven't really explored what it takes to get a 7 in Paper 1. You've mentioned a lot of vague things and your tips are rather obvious, really. In addition, I get the impression that you're trying to simplify writing a commentary into 'do x and do y and you'll get a 7', which seems like a good idea but that seems like a silly way to write a commentary. Each piece of writing has traits to it that make it different and the effect they will have on you are different as well; it's hard to treat them all the same way and expect the same method to work for them. There are common things to talk about that are needed to fill out the requirements (like talking about literary devices) but say, in a poem that made significant use of personification, it would be a little weird to place your focus on the (hypothetical) minor amounts of alliteration in it.

---

EDIT: oh wow this entire post was pretty much pointless, I just realised that the OP posted this two years ago ... q.q

Edited March 9, 2014 by Wicquor

[Peyton McIntosh]

I disagree with 'i think' because they don't really care what you think. Until the end that is. Write 'this could suggest blah blah hey look at me being all perceptive :proud:' or words to that effect.

forgot to add, nice post

 

I agree. If I recall correctly, first person must not be used in Paper 1

[turtle turtle]

It'll be interesting to see how this goes, but please be entirely sure of the advice you're giving out. For example, one of the most blaring mistakes in your post was your suggesting to use first person in the commentary. DO NOT DO THIS. It's not about the reader, not about "i", not about what impact it has on you. It's about what's written, the purpose, how it was done. DON'T MAKE THE MISTAKE OF EVALUATING IT OR OFFERING PERSONAL COMMENTS!! 

[StefanoTempest]

I teach Language A: Literature, and it's encouraging to hear the wide range of opinions being voiced on this forum. The truth is there are no rules for writing the commentary. Ultimately, writing is an art and, therefore, highly resistant to strictures and rules. That said, there are many structures, habits and techniques that that have been established by tradition that allow the writer to more effectively communicate his/her ideas. Each of these suggested structures can be helpful; however, advice that works for one student/writer may be unnecessary or even unhelpful for another writer. This is undoubtedly frustrating to hear because one of the consequences of this is that interpretations of what is good and bad writing varies. More encouragingly, however, these variances occur at the higher levels and generally consist of a debate over whether a student deserves the very highest grade or not. 

 

For example, a talented and capable writer, who acknowledges and shows evidence of understanding a wide variety of writing structures, techniques and terms, can shift tones in an essay – moving from formal to less formal syntax and diction (for example, using the pronoun "I") – and still be effective, even in formal writing. For a writer like this, shifting tones may offer additional evidence of confidence and fluency. For a less talented writer with less control over their prose, a shift in tones may actually suggest a lack of coherence and fluency. Which may be why eighth grade teachers discourage their essay writers from using the pronoun "I" while twelfth grade teachers occasionally relax this rule.

[J-bone]

On 5/4/2013 at 1:07 AM, cjy said:

Incorrect. The next day, the majority of IB students get a breakdown of their scores and where they lost marks so they know what to remark if they need it. And 25/25 in P1 English isn't rare. 2/15 in HL in my school got full marks in P1 and 7/15 got over 20.

I'm from Australia and we do not find out where the individual marks are broken down, and yes it is rare, maybe you just went to a good school.