IB English A Lit HL Extended Essay Example

The student communicates a clear overall line of inquiry and keeps the essay anchored to the two Orwell novels.

The student's planned method is visible and mostly relevant, with a sensible comparative structure and recurring links to language, power, and control.

The student makes some purposeful passage-level choices, especially when they return to slogans, commandments, and Newspeak.

The framing is still broader than it needs to be, so parts of the discussion drift into historical background instead of sustained literary analysis.

The student's method would be stronger if they explained why particular quotations, passages, or sources were selected.

The sections sometimes overlap, which reduces the sharpness of the student's line of argument.

The student shows solid knowledge of both novels and their political concerns.

The student uses a good range of relevant literary and political terminology, including terms such as allegory, propaganda, Newspeak, doublethink, and censorship.

The student's understanding of the texts is generally secure and the comparisons are usually easy to follow.

Some concepts are used as labels rather than being unpacked through close reading.

A few contextual or allegorical claims are simplified, which weakens precision.

The student's analysis of terminology is sometimes broad, so the literary effect of the language is not always fully explored.