English A Lang & Lit Exemplars

About English A Lang & Lit Coursework Exemplars

The Coursework Exemplars section gives IB students (both SL and HL) access to real, high-quality samples of IB English A Lang & Lit Internal Assessments (IA) and Extended Essays (EE). Each exemplar is carefully selected to model top-scoring work, aligned with IB assessment rubrics and showcasing what examiners expect at different achievement levels.

On this page, you'll find full-length exemplars annotated with examiner commentary, highlighting strengths, weaknesses, and specific rubric-based insights. These samples demonstrate how ideas are structured, arguments developed, and criteria met to achieve high marks.

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About English A Lang & Lit Coursework Exemplars

How societal expectations and stereotypes of individuals undermine their personal identity and autonomy

How do the hegemonic norms of a society lead to fear of vulnerability and, ultimately, judgment?

Non-adherence to societal standards leads to negative experiences and trauma in individuals

How does Miyazaki effectively use visual symbolism and auditory imagery to explore the psychological effects of isolation in the film “The Boy and the Heron”?

How does Nawal El Saadawi use narrative voice in “Woman at point Zero,” to portray the oppression of women in a patriarchal society?

How, and to what effect, does RLS use symbolism and setting in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde to explore the duality of human nature?

In what ways does the motif of religion contribute to the presentation of abuse of power in The Outsider by Albert Camus?

How does Margaret Atwood use dehumanizing symbolism, irony, and negative connotations in her dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale to explore how Gilead has distorted female dynamics in order to perpetuate patriarchal oppression?

How racial discrimination affects the public service given to minority communities?

How the objectification and sexualization of women limit their pursuit of economic and professional development.

Patriarchal abuse in the context of marriage

Attachment and dependency in romantic relationships

How does George Orwell’s characterisation of Benjamin and his exploration of rhetoric in the novella Animal Farm reveal the peril of apathy in confronting exploitation?

In what ways and to what purposes does Plath explore ideas about mental health in “The Bell Jar”?

To what extent is the Victorian conception of immorality condemned in comparison to the critique of the Aesthetic doctrine in Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray?

How does Valerie Solanas use provocative rhetoric in the "SCUM Manifesto" to challenge and critique traditional gender norms?

To what extent are elements of Romanticism used to portray Tess' character and her downfall in "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" by Thomas Hardy?

How does The Last Days of Judas Iscariot use the tension between divine and human mercy to explore the paradoxes of forgiveness in the path to self-redemption while challenging hypocrisy in the institutionalised Church?

How does Ottessa Moshfegh use narrative techniques in My Year of Rest and Relaxationto critique conventional perception of mental fulfillment associated with privilege ?

How does Arundhati Roy present the impact of caste system in Kerala on personal identities and interactions of the characters in The God of Small Things?

How does Angela Carter defy archetypes to bring in a feminist lens to her folktale retellings in The Bloody Chamber, departing from their original counterparts?

To what extent do media outlets promote Palestinians as the aggressors in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to Western audiences?

how systemic injustice can impact the mental health of marginalized groups.

Traditional Notions and Evolving Societal Perceptions in 12 Angry Men: Given its historical context, how does the play 12 Angry Men reflect the evolving societal perceptions of justice, and in what ways does it challenge or reinforce traditional notions of justice?

How do the cinematic techniques in Greta Gerwig's 2019 film adaptation of 'Little Women' compare to the literary devices used in Louisa May Alcott's original novel to convey themes of feminism and individuality?

How do Patrick Süskind's Perfume: The Story of a Murderer and Walter Tevis's The Queen's Gambit depict humanity’s obsession with the pursuit of power?

To what extent does Le Fanu’s Carmilla use symbolism and characterisation to challenge the male gaze and, by extension, promote female empowerment within the text?

How does Charles Dickens portray crime as a consequence of poverty and social neglect in the novel Oliver Twist?

To what extent has the representation of female characters in Disney movie scripts evolved through the 4 waves of feminism from 1959-2012: A comparison of Sleeping Beauty and Brave

How does Gabriel Garcia creatively use literary devices to delve into societal pressures surrounding female virginity as a symbol of honor in his text Chronicle of a Death Foretold?

How does reading Virginia Woolf's "Shakespeare's Sister" alongside Carol Ann Duffy's The World's Wife explore women's identity and the impact of historical and literary contexts on their struggle for recognition in a patriarchal society?

The sound of femininity: a feminist close reading of Mitski’s Lush How does Mitski represent the female experience in her album Lush?

How does Jeanette Winterson’s The Gap of Time, as a contemporary adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale,” employ intertextuality to explore and reinterpret the themes of forgiveness, time, and identity?

How does Maya Angelou use anecdotes and symbolism to portray racism as a systemic social construct in “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” ?

How does David Fincher’s use of rhetoric contribute to the romanticization of violence, masculinity, and primal behavior in Fight Club?

To what extent do the songs by The 1975 – “Somebody Else”, “About You”, and “Give Yourself A Try” reflect the journey of healing and self-love in broken relationships.

In what ways does Carol Ann Duffy reinterpret female identities through “Mrs. Quasimodo”, “Pilate’s Wife” and “Medusa” in “The World’s Wife?

¿Cómo influye el uso de la fotografía en blanco y negro, en conjunto con la construcción de personajes, en la narrativa y la inmersión del espectador en la película Güeros?

In what way does Taylor Swift use allusion and metaphors in her songs “The Man”, “This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things” and “ my tears ricochet ” to represent her female empowerment journey in a “toxic male privileged industry”?

“How has Nike adapted language and images through advertising campaigns to continually target and include women in their consumer bases from “Generation X” (1965-1980) to “Generation Z” (1997-2012)?”

A Comparative Analysis of Little Women In Literature and Film

To what extent does Khaled Hosseini reflect major issues of feminist theories in A Thousand Splendid Suns?

How has Twitter changed and popularized English terms over the past decade?

How does Kanye West's College trilogy explore the evolution of personal and public personas through language?

Saltburn and the all-consuming desire for power: How is the symbolism from Metamorphoses used to portray power and privilege in Saltburn?

To what extent does Daphne Du Maurier explore the role of memory through the characters in Rebecca?

To what extent did Fiona Apple’s Tidal and Lana Del Rey’s Ultraviolence romanticize trauma in dysfunctional relationships in their songs, and how were these portrayals critiqued in their respective eras?

How does female agency portrayed in the lyrics of “Ultraviolence” contribute to the establishment of identity and empowerment within a post-feminist discourse?