How to Prepare for IB English All Year
When students think of their IB exams, they often think of stressful cramming sessions and looming test dates. However, there is a much better way to prepare than staying up late desperately trying to remember the key themes in every work you studied. Instead, you can walk into your exams feeling calm and confident by preparing year round, not just in exam season. Achieving high marks in IB English is possible, but it requires consistent habits and steady work across the two years of the IBDP. Today we will talk about three habits which can benefit you: a reading log, a connections tracker, and regular analysis practice.
Why is Preparing Year-Round Important?
Preparing year-round will benefit you because the IB English exams require students to be comfortable not only analysing unseen works, but also with recalling and commenting on studied texts. This is the case whether you are taking Literature or Language and Literature. If you are still choosing between the two courses, see our guide on similarities and differences here. Paper 2 requires you to compare and contrast two works you have studied, and the Individual Oral (IO) also requires you to refer back to two different works. You will study many works over the two years of the IBDP, and it would lead to an incredibly difficult revision process to try and both remember their key themes and formulate commentary at the same time. Try and think of a book you read two years ago – can you remember anything about it? Instead, by consistently preparing you will be able to recall works more easily and understand how they might be compared.
Top 3 Habits for IB English Success
The first thing any IB English student should do is keep a reading log. As you read a work and discuss it in class, take notes on key themes and connections to global issues. For example, if you read Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, you would want to make a note of general themes like hysteria and moral panic, power and authority, and justice and injustice. Within each of those, include specific plot points, linguistic devices, or quotes to demonstrate them. From there, draw connections to global issues. Under the politics, power, and justice field of inquiry, you could note how The Crucible demonstrates the malleability of the law to favour those in positions of power. Inputting a work into your reading log requires you to think critically rather than read passively, and having an existing log will make revising texts you learned in the beginning of the course significantly easier when it comes to exam season.
The reading log also helps you track potential connections between works. After having studied The Crucible, when you encounter a work that deals with similar themes your reading log will prompt you to compare them. Does this work have the same general stance? In what way do they differ? Using your reading log to track connections will give you a catalogue of works which have rich themes, and would be able to be effectively compared. In both Paper 2 and the IO, you must deal with two works that relate to one another. Having an existing list of commonalities and differences will make this selection of works much simpler!
Finally, practice analysis on any text you encounter, even outside of school. Read opinion pieces in the news, paying attention to how the author constructs their argument and what larger commentary they are making. If you see an interesting social media post, ask yourself how text and image come together to enhance the point. Although that second example is primarily relevant for LangLit students, it is important regardless of whether you are studying LangLit or Lit to pay attention to the text around you. Regular practice builds the analytical reflexes that will come in handy during your exams. For practicing your writing skills for those exams, see our top tips for strong IB English essays here.
Next Steps
Once you have started your reading log, your work is not over. To truly prepare effectively year-round, you need to be regularly revising and going through previous works. This helps you find new connections and integrate each new work into the log as you progress through the course. Also, make sure that you include analysis and commentary, rather than simply plot summaries or quotations. We understand that the analysis expected from IB students can be overwhelming, and this is where an IB English tutor can help. Contact Aegis Advisors today to learn more about our tutoring services and meet our experienced team.