E11IB: The Written Assignment Advice

How Important is the Written Assignment? It’s an opportunity to write a take-home essay (rather than a timed one) that will generate up to 66 points in the Writing category It will also account for 25% of your overall IB mark

How Many Pages is 1,500 Words? Between four and five (depending on your choice of spacing) MLA recommends double-spacing 1.5 spacing is acceptable You should be using 12-point font Be sure to include a word count on the last page

How Should the Essay be Structured? It should follow the same general structure as an in-class, interpretive essay, but it should be much more developed Introductory paragraph (including thesis) should be at least half a page (but could be even longer) You should plan on at least four body paragraphs (I recommend avoiding the five-paragraph essay) Each body paragraph should be approximately 10 sentences in length and include at least three direct quotes from the work of literature In the concluding paragraph, you may want to comment on the significance/relevance of the work or its themes

How Do I Start? You’ll want to choose a topic (called an “aspect”) to explore. This aspect should be related to your supervised writing Consider aspects related to: The role/function of minor characters The role/function of symbolism The role/function of the historical or cultural context of the work The role/function of setting The role/function of gender The role/function of social class

What about the Thesis? The thesis for this paper should function in the same way a thesis works in one of our in-class essays: it should clearly state the literary elements you plan to explore and the purpose/function of these elements as they relate to the work as a whole. Most literary prompts can be deconstructed to form this question: “How does the author use (one or more literary elements) to make meaning (or theme)?” Your thesis should serve the same purpose; it should state the literary features/elements you will analyze and the meaning they create within the work.

Scoring Knowledge and Understanding Based on the essay (and its depth and development), how well does the student understand the work of literature? Appreciation of the Writer’s Choices This criterion focuses on the depth, breadth, and insight of your interpretation Organization and Development This criterion focuses on the overall structure of your essay, including your use of appropriate quoted support Language This criterion deals with the clarity, correctness, and appropriateness of your use of language to convey ideas

Timetable Statement of aspect due by Tuesday, 4/3 Written Assignment due to Turnitin.com (10:35 AM deadline) on Thursday, 4/12