car accident changed my life essay

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How Car Accident Affected My Life, Essay Example

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I remember the day as if it were yesterday. My mother and I were in the car on our way to a family member’s house- just like any other day. We were driving down the main road in my town when the car was t-boned by another car that had run a red light. Our Honda Accord was smashed to pieces in the middle of the intersection. My mother was bleeding and the front of the car had crashed on top of my legs- I couldn’t feel either leg, but at the same time, tremendous pain shot through my body, not to mention fear. I looked over at the car that hit us and it was just as demolished- the front of the car was smoking; honestly, I feared that one of the vehicles might combust.

I tried to get out of my vehicle, but I could not open the door. The impact from the crash caused too much damage and my injured mother and I had no choice but to wait for the EMTs to arrive to help us get out of the vehicle.

Several cop cars, two ambulances and a fire truck rushed to the scene. The doors to our car were pried open with the jaws of life as the man who hit us was placed onto a gurney and lifted into the ambulance. I don’t know what his condition was, but if it even paled in comparison to the way his car looked after the accident, he was in serious medical condition.

When my mother was removed from our vehicle, she was treated by EMS workers for cuts and scrapes associated with the accident, but the EMS technicians said that she would be fine. I wasn’t as lucky.

When the doors on my side of the car were pried away, it revealed to the medical help that I had broken at least one of my legs, if not both. I was carefully removed from the vehicle and placed in a wheelchair then brought to the ambulance. The EMTs drove me to the local hospital where they took X-rays of both of my legs.

I waited anxiously in my bed for the results of the X-rays as the nurses cleaned up my cuts from the shattered glass. My mother sat by my bedside praying over me, but most of me was just thankful that I was the one in the hospital bed instead of her.

The doctor came into the room with my X-ray results. As an athlete and an overall busy person who relies on my legs heavily, I feared for the worst. Luckily, it could have been worse. The doctor revealed to me that I shattered my right knee but that my left leg did not break in the impact. Although I would have to undergo intense surgery and physical rehabilitation to repair my right knee, the doctor assured me that I would be walking fine again within several months. It wasn’t the greatest news I had ever received, but through my eyes, my mother and I were okay, and I was grateful.

The accident changed me. The surgery was difficult but I got through it with the support of my family. I may have walked out of the hospital with a broken right knee, but I also carried with me a greater appreciation for my family, as well as my life. In the accident I realized the preciousness of every moment and ultimately the car crash changed my life for the better.

Since the accident I have become closer to God, my family and my friends. I understand the importance of what true love is and what it means to savor each moment. My rehabilitation for my knee might have been a physical healing process, but I also went through an emotional rehabilitation, where my spirit healed from the accident.

I could have died that day. Worse, I could have lost my best friend and my mother that day. I carry the accident with me in my mind every day- it is my constant reminder to cherish life and appreciate every moment. I have a set of rosary beads that I know hang off the rear view window of my own car, as my personal reminder of that day. When I look at those beads, I think of my mother, I think of God, and I am truly grateful for being where I am today.

For a long time I struggled to look at my glass as half full after the accident. I wanted reasons for questions that had no answers. Why us? Why me? Why my knee? For months I took those questions and fostered them into hostility.

Today is different though. Today I carry my scars like badges of honor. Yes I did get in a horrible car accident, and here I am today. Clearly I wasn’t meant to die that day- and I know that ultimately I am on this earth to serve a larger purpose. Instead of being ashamed of my scars, today I look at them as markers of strength- proof that I can overcome anything. That accident may have broken my knee but it didn’t break my spirit. If anything, it made my spirit stronger and helped me get to where I am today.

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How A Car Accident Impacted My Life And Changed Me Forever

It was the conclusion of a holiday weekend gone right. As someone who usually was not a fan of Thanksgiving, I found myself very grateful for the things I did have.

I spent Wednesday night drinking beer with friends, and the celebration on Thursday was met with jokes and catching up with family. Saturday was spent working about a 9-hour shift, and I got out early enough to meet my friends.

They wouldn’t hear from me until the next day, as that drive home in my 2008 Santé Fe would be my last in that car.

I was no more than five minutes into driving, but my mind was only thinking about a million other things, including what I’d have to eat and drink once I got to where I was going. It was within minutes that I collided at the intersection.

There is no way to really describe accidents accurately. I don’t remember the sound of a horn at all; I don’t remember my car spinning and almost hitting the nearest pole.

I just remember the sound of crashing metal against one another, and then silence. My shoulder hit the steering wheel, and I was frozen for only a moment, as I thought about one of my teammates whose mass card hung from my mirror.

Then, I jumped out of my car and ran across the street to see the car I hit. It was a green van with two passengers. They rolled down their window and I was trembling uncontrollably. They said they were okay and told me to be the one to call the cops.

I stood in front of my car as incoming traffic ran over the broken pieces left on the highway, a combination of two cars ruined. The sound drew crowds and it was like a movie I never thought I’d play a part in, as I stood in center of it all in shock.

I dialed 911 not even remembering it, or remembering how I got there. The color of blue and red lights were the only thing lighting up the night sky at 10:05 that evening. They asked if I was okay and I moved my shoulder to feel a slight pain, but I ignored it. “I’m fine, are they okay?”

Tow trucks came and they removed what was left and took my car away. My father pulled up and got out just hugging me. The car ride was silent.

We got home and I stayed awake just looking at my ceiling. My best friend called, who was out with the friends I probably would have met.

Screams and noise circulated in the background and the only thing clear was, “At least no one was hurt. That is what is important,” he said.

I fell asleep crying wearing my Carly sweatshirt. It was the ugly brown one I purchased the weekend I went to her funeral in Michigan, as I couldn’t seem to pack properly for the weather because it went from hot to freezing in a matter of minutes.

I hugged the bear her and the team made me and just looked at the bracelet with her name on it. “You saved me tonight,” was all I could whisper in quiet prayer.

How I wish I could have done the same for her. But, I knew like always, she had my back since day one, and nothing was changing that.

My first reaction wasn't, "Okay, you no longer have a car," but rather, everyone was okay. I wasn’t in a hospital bed; I wasn’t visiting someone else. My coach wouldn’t have to make that dreadful phone call twice in one year because no one deserves to do that even once.

I woke up in pain tossing and turning only to readjust my shoulder. But, I woke up the next day crying and I walked to my friend’s house and completely fell apart. “I’ve never seen you cry. I’m not good at this,” he said laughing, which made me laugh.

But, reflecting on it, it’s these moments that forever impact us. The things in life that cause the greatest trauma end up shaping you if you find the lesson it is trying to teach you.

I consider myself so lucky, and I think luck comes in the form of an angel named Carly, as I truly believe in guardian angels.

What I learned more in and after that moment is the responsibility that comes with owning a car. It isn’t something you can mess around with; it is something to which you need to give your complete attention.

As someone who is in constant motion, it taught me to slow down a little. It taught me to be aware of my surroundings. Although during my accident, I wasn't on my phone, I admit that in the past I was guilty of texting and driving on occasion.

But, then, I realized how one single moment can change your life.

No text message, no call, no thought is worth distracting you enough to lose your life or live with having killed someone else. The possibility of that happening became more real to me than ever before on that fatal Saturday night.

If you are someone who is naïve the way I was, don’t be. Learn from me and learn from Carly. I don’t want someone learning by having to experience an accident.

Your life is too valuable to even risk it. When you are on the road, focus on the road only because every time you get into that car, there is a chance you may not make it to your destination.

Your friends and your family are going to be wondering why they haven’t heard from you, so don’t do that to them, and don’t do that to yourself.

A recent study shows texting while driving makes a driver 23 times more likely to crash, and 15- to 19-year-olds are the largest proportion of distracted drivers.

Eleven teens die every day from texting while driving, and 60 percent of teens admit to being distracted while driving.

In 2012, 3,328 people were killed because of a distracted driving accident, while 421,000 were injured in accidents. One in four teens respond to texts they receive while driving, and 14 percent of people admit to reading emails while driving.

It’s time these statistics stop rising.

I don’t know if it is just in my community, but there have been way too many accidents lately. No one deserves to be just another statistic. No parent deserves to lose a child, and no child deserves to lose a parent.

I’m tired of losing my friends and acquaintances to car accidents. I’m tired of reading the stories, and I’m tired of people being naïve to it the way I was.

It was a louder wake-up call than anything else. It is completely and totally within our control to reduce accidents, and it is time we take control.

To anyone reading this, make a promise with me to not let anything distract you while driving. If you ever consider answering a text or call, or you admit to driving carelessly the way I did, take a moment and ask yourself, “Is this more important than my life?”

Cars are not toys; life is not something with which you can gamble, and I sure as hell know there are a lot of people in your life who do not want to go to your funeral.

Home — Essay Samples — Life — Car Accident — How a Driving Accident Affected on My Life

How a Driving Accident Affected on My Life

• Categories: Car Accident Memories

About this sample

Words: 1155 |

Published: May 7, 2019

Words: 1155 | Pages: 3 | 6 min read

Impression of a Memory

• Works Cited
• Brown, R. (2003). Memory and Aging: Four Hypotheses in Search of Data. Annual Review of Psychology, 54(1), 203-225.
• Cohen, G., & Faulkner, D. (1986). Age Differences in Source Forgetting: Effects on Reality Monitoring and on Eyewitness Testimony. Child Development, 57(2), 386-396.
• Conway, M. A., & Pleydell-Pearce, C. W. (2000). The Construction of Autobiographical Memories in the Self-Memory System. Psychological Review, 107(2), 261-288.
• Fivush, R., & Nelson, K. (2004). Culture and Language in the Emergence of Autobiographical Memory. Psychological Science, 15(9), 573-577.
• Loftus, E. F. (1975). Leading Questions and the Eyewitness Report. Cognitive Psychology, 7(4), 560-572.
• Neisser, U. (1982). Memory Observed: Remembering in Natural Contexts. Freeman.
• Rubin, D. C. (1996). Remembering Our Past: Studies in Autobiographical Memory. Cambridge University Press.
• Schacter, D. L. (1996). Searching for Memory: The Brain, the Mind, and the Past. Basic Books.
• Tulving, E. (1983). Elements of Episodic Memory. Oxford University Press.
• Wheeler, M. A., Stuss, D. T., & Tulving, E. (1997). Toward a Theory of Episodic Memory: The Frontal Lobes and Autonoetic Consciousness. Psychological Bulletin, 121(3), 331-354.

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Saturday, May 04, 2024

How my life changed after the car accident

By Ryan Byars November 14, 2019

Can I still play the sport I love? Will I still go to college for the sport I love? Those were some of the questions I asked myself after Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2016. 

I was in the 12th grade when this happened. My life- changing experience.  It was my senior season for basketball and it was a huge season for me. I had a few colleges looking at me. The year before we won a state championship, and I wanted to lead my team to back-to-back state championships. 

That was my goal all summer getting ready and I knew I was ready. I knew I was about to have a big season. 

  I just got my license the summer going into 12th grade and just got a car one month before the accident.  

On the morning of Saturday, Dec. 28, I was on my way to my girlfriend’s basketball game. I was driving to merge onto the highway when it happened.   

 It happened so fast. I didn’t even see it coming. I heard it. Then everything went dark. 

I opened my eyes and everything was blurry. I was laid out on my back. I tasted blood in my mouth. I was scared, I couldn’t feel my legs or my hands. I started telling myself it was a dream and this wasn’t real. 

I was the youngest in the car accident and I took most of the hit. I was aware that everybody was trying to help me and the ambulance was on its way. I finally stood up and walked around to see the car scrunched up like a piece of paper.

The average number of car accidents in the U.S. every year is 6 million. According to driverknowledge.com, More than 90 people die in car accidents every day says, 3 million people in the U.S. are injured every year in car accidents. Around 2 million drivers in car accidents experience permanent injuries every year.

After the car accident, my whole perspective changed on life.” Any day could be your last in this world.  I became more appreciative of everything: my family, friends and the sport I loved to play.

I started having lower back issues after the accident. It started to hurt my performance on the basketball court. When I first got into the accident I didn’t tell my coaches. This was my last year of high school basketball. This was my last year to prove to college coaches I could play at the next level.  

My coaches started asking me why I wasn’t playing as I play. I ended up telling them about the accident and my back problems. 

My back problems were getting so bad it was tough to sit in class. My back would start hurting, I would always go use the bathroom just so I could walk around. I couldn’t really focus in class either. 

My coaches made me go to physical therapy. They gave me the news I didn’t want to hear. 

“Your physical therapy will be about 10 to 13 weeks and you won’t be able to finish your season,” the doctor said. 

This was the worst news for me and why I didn’t go to physical therapy at first. Sitting out my senior season was the hardest thing I’ve done. Seeing my team struggle without me and I couldn’t do anything about it.   

I tell people all the time now to be grateful for what you have. It’s some people that lost everything because of one moment in their life. I now live life by the day. Everyday I make the best out of it. I talked to my loved ones every day now and tell them I love them every time before I get off the phone.   

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The Car Accident That Changed My Life

In this story my family and I were in a bad car accident that leaves me left in the hospital. This is about how the accident started and what was left behind after the whole thing ended from the damages to the car and the damages to my family and myself. Chapter 1: December Night Accidents they can happen to anyone at any given time with no warnings. My family and I didn’t think that it was ever going to happen to us, wow were we wrong. It was a cold December night in 2007, A night I will never forget. It was just my mother and stepfather in the front seat, my little younger brother and sister in the back seat and my older brother and I in the farther seats of our 2001 grey van. We were on our way home from my grandmothers house after an anniversary party for my mother and stepfather’s one year marriage. We were all getting ready for the big Christmas dinner the next morning, But then something took a huge turn. We were not even five minutes away from our home when then the next thing I hear is a loud “BANG” tires skidding class braking and screams coming from inside our car. A red truck with no headlights drove straight into the right side of our van. My sight was becoming very blurry after my head had came into contact with the window. I sat there thinking that the world was spinning faster than ever, not realizing it was our car rolling not the earth. After the car stop rolling I tried to move but something was pushing down on me. The last thing I could remember was my older brother grabbing my hand while screaming my name. Chapter Notes: The last thing I ever remember from the accident. Chapter 2: The Hospital “Doctor, Doctor will she be okay?” my mother screamed at the doctor as I layed there in the hospital bed in a coma helpless. I had machines that did everything for me fed me, breathed for me, used the bathroom for me even kept my heart beating. Every night my mother slept in the hospital bed right next to me waiting for me to wake up. It was a warm May morning in 2008 when I slowly opened my eyes. “Mother are you there?” I cried. My mom leaped out of her chair ran down the halls to get the doctors, when my vision became clear there was everyone standing around my bed with tears in their eyes. Doctors and nurses were surprised to see me awake after taking a few vital signs everything came back normal. Chapter Notes: This was the day that I woke up from my coma, doctors not believing that I would have a full recovery. Chapter 3: Getting Back On Track The next few weeks were tough, I had to learn how to walk and and feed myself again. It took about two weeks before I had learned to use the bathroom on my own and be able to wash my hands. I wanted to become independent again and not have to worry about having someone doing the work for me. I had to attend therapy 3 times a week for two months. It wasn’t an easy process but when you have parents there to support you and cheer you on then you know you are able to accomplish things you never thought possible. I worked so hard those two months to gain back my independence and after a few months I was able to walk, eat, shower, use the restroom and dress myself without any help. The doctors were impressed with the progress that I had been making. When they took an MRI of my brain the left side was smooshed up, the doctors weren’t sure if it would have an effect on my learning. I was sent to a tutor and they were dumbfounded when they realized that I could learn the same speed as other students in my grade. Chapter Notes: This was the two weeks that I had to learn how to do everything on my own. Chapter 4: The Struggle Summer had already started and as a little child it was the time that we could let all the knowledge we learned drain out of our ears. Me on the other hand had to attend summer school or I would have been held back. It was a very challenging time, I had the sound that is made when you jump into the pool on a hot June day. I had the smell of hamburgers on the grill. I lost my focus very easily and I got angry at the teacher who was trying to help me. I didn’t think that it was fair that I had to pay for someone elses mistake. My mom seen the struggle I was having with the class work, she was upset how I was spending my summer in a classroom most of the day. It only took 9 weeks and I had finished the work that I was behind on and I passed summer school and I was able to go onto the next grade. Chapter Notes: I had to go to summer school to make up the work I missed Chapter 5: Remembering The Accident It was October of 2008 almost one year after the horrible accident. It was brought up every night at the dinner table how blessed my family was that I survived. I wasn’t too sure on what happened that night, so one night at dinner I asked my parents “What happened in the accident?” My parents both looked at each other and had me sit down in the living room, they out a tap in the VCR it was a recording of the news report of our accident. It was the van that my family and I were riding in, the windows were all broken, the doors were pulled off and in the back the roof of the car was bent in. I looked at my parents and they told me “We were on our way home when a drunk driver in a red pickup truck smashed into the side of the van. The van rolled over six times, you smashed your head against the window causing your head injury. Your brother were beat up pretty bad with cuts from the glass and hitting their heads on the seats. Your little sister survived with just a little bruised chin. While your mother and I had a few broken ribs and slight headaches from the airbags.” I sat there with nothing to say, until I stumbled out “Why was I hurt so bad?” My mother said with tears in her eyes “Your seat belt snapped and while the van was rolling it hit a curb on your side which caused the roof to cave in and squish you.” Chapter Notes: What happened in the accident Chapter 6: My Story It took over two years to get over the accident that put me and my family into danger. We never drove down that street after the accident, because we were too scared to see the damages left behind. It was in December we drove down that street after the car accident five years and driving on the road you can feel a dent in the road left behind from the van. I wouldn’t change what happen to me because it opened my mind about the dangers of the road and I have a story to share with everyone and how this accident has changed mine and my family’s lives but how it also brought us closer together. Every time my family and I get into our family car and drive on the road we keep a sharp eye out for the little dangers that can occur, because the accident that we experienced was unexpected.

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A Memoir of Courage After a Life-Changing Accident

Read an excerpt from Lynne Greenberg's memoir about a life-changing accident.

March 24, 2009 -- Decades after a sudden car crash left Lynne Greenberg severly injured and in immeasurable pain, she is learning that recovery is a long process.

After discovering that neck injuries from the accident had never quite healed, she is forced to deal with a life of chronic pain and all of its repercussions .

You can read an excerpt of Greenberg's mesmerizing memoir, "The Body Broken" below.

I was nineteen. Home from college for the summer. A third date. A reckless boy. I find myself initially unable to recall his name, having blocked it years ago—Walter, perhaps? My mother, emphatic, reminds that his name was Martin. All I remember is his stocky build and that, like a wrestler, his center hung low in his hips.

On our first date, we rode horseback. My horse bolted, and I fell. On our second date, he took me skeet shooting at his father's hunting club. The gun backfired, and I fell again. Shouldn't these falls have presaged another? Grounded, solid, he had a gravitational pull on me.

On our third date, we drove out from the suburbs of St. Louis, my hometown, to a friend's farm in rural Missouri. Huge party. Lots of beer stowed in his trunk, still unopened. He sped along faster and faster, eager for the fun to begin. Racing and bumping along the dirt road, the car hit a small ditch. Martin lost control of the wheel, and the car pitched, rolled, and tumbled off a thirty-foot drop. Those were the days before laws prescribed seat belts; none of us bothered to wear them. I flew out of the open window and fell, yet once more, landing in a cornfield far below. The car was totaled; people assumed that I was dead somewhere inside all of that bent metal. Martin suffered few injuries, a mere broken collarbone, and barreled out of the wreck.

I felt only a vague annoyance during the accident, at first, because hitting the ditch made me bungle my attempt to put on more lipstick. As we began catapulting off the embankment, I still felt no fear, anxiety, or even premonition, just more annoyance.This is so stupid, I thought. Now we're going to be late to the party. And then the sudden whoosh of being lifted high into the air, so brief this flight before the free fall, followed only by blackness.

News of the accident spread through the party. My neighbor Clayton Varley, hearing, raced to get to the car, taking a shortcut through a cornfield. He never found the car; he found me instead, lying among the ripening stalks. Dress ripped off. Unconscious.Covered in filth, rocks, glass, and blood. I was later told that he took his shirt off and covered my exposed body. Such a sensitive, protective gesture. One that sometimes creeps up on me unawares. I still find myself using it as a way of gauging individuals, particularly men. How would they behave in a moment of female vulnerability?

I came to in an ambulance, strapped to a gurney. I couldn't move. I could barely open my eyelids. They were swollen shut, but a man inches from my face demanded attention. He kept questioning me—my name, age, address, where I hurt. Again, I felt annoyance. I wanted to go back to sleep. My neck hurt. My arms hurt. My legs hurt. My face hurt. I answered a few of his questions but then drifted. Darkness again.

I awoke to a torture chamber of cures. A team of doctors was cleansing and stitching up my wounds. Screaming, I tried to writhe away from the several nurses who were holding me down. The doctors, waiting on X-ray results of my neck, would not give me pain medication, even a topical numbing agent, until they had identified my injuries. The doctors took for granted that I should endure my leg being sewn back together—the prick and then shudder of thread as it sliced through my skin—at the same time as they gouged pieces of glass out of my face and set my two shattered arms with no anesthesia, manipulating and yanking the bones into alignment. It was the night I first learnedthe many faces of pain, his different guises, sensations, and methods, and how clever he is at shape-shifting.

My mother reassured me that everything was going to be all right, but then I heard her sobbing outside in the hallway a few minutes later. The sound terrified me, but my mouth, too swollen and bruised, couldn't form the words to bring her back into the room.Later that night, a doctor told me that my neck had been fractured. Without further explanation, he finally gave me pain relief—morphine—and for the next weeks in the hospital, time and consciousness bled. The days were sordid and vague. Constant pain. Constant nausea. The morphine made me throw up repeatedly, but, because I had to remain immobilized, I needed three nurses to do so. I would frantically press the call button, and nurses would rush into the room. Together, on a count of three, they would lift the sheet in one quick motion. My whole body would roll sideways so that I could reach the basin by my head.

Background noise during the first week of internal injuries, questions about future fertility, the risk of paralysis. Visitors punctuated the hours of unconsciousness. A Hallmark card arrived from Martin. "Get well soon!" it cheerfully announced. Noticeably absent were the words "I'm sorry," and in carefully crafted rhetoric, he denied any accountability for the accident.Martin had been in the ambulance with me as we went to the hospital. Sitting on a cot above me, he had casually swung his feet too close to my body. I was going in and out of consciousness, but I remember clearly that foot of his. I worried that it would hit me in the face. He seemed oblivious to me and my injuries as he talked to the medic. I remember him wanting attention, babbling on about his shoulder. Ignoring Martin, themedic had knelt over me and eventually pulled a curtain across the ambulance to separate us. I never saw Martin again.

I underwent some kind of procedure for my neck fracture, but I'm not exactly clear when that occurred. I awoke to find my head no longer resting on the bed. I lifted one of my arms to try to feel why. My fingers met metal—a brace that encircled myhead protruded about four inches from my skull. Further inspection of the contraption revealed that four holes had been bored into my skull and that the brace had been screwed into my head at these four sites. The device, called a halo brace, emphasizing the metal ring around my head, was held in place by a tight-fitting corset that encased my entire torso. I had metamorphosed into Frankenstein's monster.

Released from the hospital once I was stable, I spent the next two months recuperating at my parents' house. I didn't experience high levels of pain, mostly discomfort at having to wear the brace and a slight revulsion at having to clean around the four holes in my skull. My mother cared for me all summer to the point of exhaustion. Slivers of comfort, of sensory pleasure, came by way of food and music. My mother took to driving weekly to a bakery twenty minutes from our house to get my favorite cake—seven thin layers of yellow cake separated by fudge. Rather than regular icing, the entire cake was dipped in gooey chocolate. What had once been an annual birthday indulgencebecame my daily fare. I ate slice after slice at nearly every meal. I whiled away the days of boredom watching James Bond movies and Zeffirelli's La Traviata. My best friends Peggy Schmidt, Betsy Schechter, June Varley, and Miriam Tennenbaum came overregularly to keep me company in this period of enforced immobility. Listening to Rickie Lee Jones and Elvis Costello, we would chat about all of the typical things that college students on summer break discuss: their waitressing jobs, dates, parties, sunbathing at the public pool, diets, and more dates. I am ashamed to admit that I have lost touch with all of these women except for Betsy; mostly because when the halo brace came off, I barely set foot back in St. Louis again.

At the end of the summer, the doctors told me that I was something of a medical miracle. Apparently, this vertebra, the C2, is so high in the neck that it juts into the skull, nearly touching both the brain stem and the spinal cord. The bone, destabilized, usually slices one or both in half, causing, if not death, then permanent paralysis. It seems that only the barest percentage of people live (5 percent)—let alone walk (5 percent of the 5 percent)—after breaking this bone. Yet my neck had healed; I had full mobility and no other internal injuries of any consequence. I would be just fine.

Most of the adults in my life attributed my good fortune to divine intervention. In my jaded opinion, however, no greater spiritual source accounted for either the accident or my recovery. When various well-meaning friends of my parents sent me copies of Harold Kushner's now classic book When Bad Things Happen to Good People (if I remember correctly, I received five copies in all), rather than read it or glean any moral or religious lesson from my experience, I instead laughed in the face of larger meaning. My friends and I had a ritualistic bonfire in my wastebasket, burning every last one of the books. I was young, fearless.

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Essay on An Incident That Changed My Life

Students are often asked to write an essay on An Incident That Changed My Life in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on An Incident That Changed My Life

Introduction.

Life is a series of events. Some leave a deep impact on us. For me, it was my first camping trip that changed my life.

The Incident

I was ten when I joined the Scouts. Our first camping trip was a challenging experience. We were lost in the woods at night.

That incident made me brave. I learned to face challenges head-on. It also ignited a love for nature in me.

That camping trip was a turning point in my life. It taught me resilience and made me a better person.

250 Words Essay on An Incident That Changed My Life

Life is a continuous journey, marked by profound moments that shape our character and destiny. For me, one such incident stands out distinctly – the day I volunteered at a local homeless shelter. This event not only changed my perspective but also became a pivotal point in my life’s trajectory.

A Day at the Shelter

One cold winter’s day, I found myself in a bustling homeless shelter, surrounded by faces marked with hardship and resilience. The shelter, a beacon of hope for many, was a place where the less fortunate could find warmth, food, and a sense of community. My task was simple: serve meals and engage in conversation.

The Encounter

Among the many people I met, one man’s story struck a chord. A former engineer, he had fallen victim to circumstances beyond his control and lost everything. Despite his dire situation, he radiated positivity and hope. Our conversation was a stark reminder of life’s unpredictability, and it shattered my preconceived notions about homelessness.

Life-altering Realizations

The encounter made me reflect on my privileges and the transient nature of success. I realized that compassion and understanding were more valuable than material wealth. It also unveiled my passion for social work and ignited a desire to contribute to society more actively.

The day at the shelter was an incident that profoundly changed my life. It taught me to value humanity over materialism, and it guided me towards a path of social service. Life is indeed unpredictable, but it’s these unexpected moments that hold the power to redefine our purpose and transform our lives.

500 Words Essay on An Incident That Changed My Life

Life is a series of events, some ordinary and others extraordinary. Often, it is the extraordinary incidents that have the power to transform our lives completely. This essay delves into one such incident that not only changed my perspective but also my life’s trajectory.

The Unexpected Encounter

During my sophomore year in college, I volunteered at a local homeless shelter. One winter afternoon, I met John, an elderly gentleman with a warm smile and eyes that held a thousand untold stories. His welcoming demeanor contradicted the harsh reality of his life. He was homeless, yet he carried an aura of contentment that was inexplicably infectious.

A Lesson in Resilience

John was a retired teacher who had lost everything due to a series of unfortunate events. Despite his circumstances, he never lost his spirit or his love for teaching. He would gather the children in the shelter every evening and teach them with an enthusiasm that was truly inspiring. His resilience in the face of adversity was a lesson in itself.

The Life-Changing Conversation

One day, I mustered the courage to ask John how he managed to remain positive. His reply was simple yet profound, “Life is not about what happens to you, but how you respond to it.” He explained that he chose to focus on the things within his control, like his attitude and actions, rather than dwelling on his misfortunes.

John’s words resonated deeply within me. I realized that I had been living my life in constant fear of the future, letting my anxieties dictate my actions. This encounter with John made me rethink my approach to life. I decided to adopt his philosophy and focus on my responses to situations rather than the situations themselves.

This incident was a turning point in my life. It taught me that our perspective shapes our reality. I learned to embrace life with all its ups and downs, understanding that the power to overcome challenges lies within me. John, the homeless man with an indomitable spirit, changed my life in ways I could never have imagined. His resilience and positivity continue to inspire me, reminding me that life is less about the circumstances we find ourselves in, and more about how we choose to respond to them.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

• Essay on An Important Day in My Life
• Essay on A Special Day in My Life
• Essay on Importance of Girl Child Education

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Happy studying!

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Life after your Accident

What has life been like for you since your accident?

For Mr. D, recovery has been really hard.

Just like any other day, he was driving back home from his office. He didn't know he was about to be blindsided by another car entering the intersection going way too fast.

His car accident left him bedridden for months, and it also put his family in a difficult situation. He is still learning to cope mentally.

The Dawson family had to deal with the medical bills for his ongoing treatment and post-accident care. The trauma his spine suffered during the accident left him immobile for months. He still has difficulty walking without support.

Even after six years, he is still dealing with the accident. There are times when his family is reminded of the pain brought about by that day.

For Mr. D himself, well, he will never forget the accident. He still deals with guilt for having put his family into difficult times, even though it wasn't his fault. He can now drive again by himself, but he knows his wife will always worry when he gets into a car.

There are many individuals and families thrown into similar circumstances every year, forced to deal with life after an accident.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 32.6 thousand people died in a car crash in 2014, and 2.34 million people were injured as a result of a traffic accident. ( Find latest traffic accident data here .)

Those who have experienced an accident can feel the shock , physical discomfort and posttraumatic stress long after the actual event. Depression can take a stronghold, sometimes precluding recovery to a normal life after the accident.

And it's not just the people in the accident who suffer and need to recover.

Family members and loved ones can also see their lives change like day into night.

If you or someone you care about is struggling to deal with an accident, or looking for ways of coping mentally, you need to know you're not alone. Even if it's been years and you feel like things should be 100% back to normal and they're not – know that there are others dealing with this too.

Common feelings you may experience long after an accident

After an accident, it's common to feel uneasy, confused and overwhelmed.

You may even develop a fear or phobia. It is common for people who were in a car crash to become very fearful of driving again. Many victims and their families often express that these feelings don't go away even after months of counseling or rehabilitation.

These collective feelings can change how you think about everyday tasks, and even your approach to life.

That accident is now a part of your history, a part of who you are, like everything else you've experienced in this journey called life.

Post-traumatic stress may bring about serious depression, nightmares, insomnia and a distressed feeling that lingers. Ongoing memories of the accident that pop into consciousness at any time may leave you feeling helpless and stressed.

Coping mentally after an accident

You may feel troubled after an accident, and you may search for a way to address the emotional stress in order to move beyond it to greater recovery.

The best way to start the process of healing may be to talk with close ones. Counselors often advise the victims to interact with friends and family members first.

Just having that first conversation may be the hardest, but sharing your experience, thoughts about the accident and feelings that came about in the days after the accident can be a step toward healing.

Forgiveness may be a concept to think about. Forgiving the other person, or forgiving yourself – or both.

See how a young driver discusses how to get past his driving accident and rallies a number of great responses worth reading.

Stay active to counter emotional stress

Exercise may look different to you after an accident, especially if the injury left you severely affected physically .

However, engaging in physical activity can produce feel-good hormones that combat stress, improve outlook and speed recovery.

Your doctor can create a safe workout regimen and a schedule for you based on your physical condition and stage of recovery. While on prescribed medication, you may need to follow a strict exercise and physical activity regimen as provided by your doctor and a physical therapist.

Recovery After an Accident Overview

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Return to normal as much as possible

It is best to get back to your regular life and daily activities as soon as possible after an accident, as much as physically and mentally realistic. If you can regain some sense of normalcy, some peace may be regained.

This may be easier said than done for many who have been in an accident.

It may mean embracing a new normal for you.

Building up an everyday routine – especially one that includes enjoyable activities no matter how small - will help someone who has been in an accident begin to come to terms with the event and life after it. After the Crash – The Mental Battle discusses the importance of getting back to regular activities.

Some people who have strong feelings of fear and helplessness look for ways to feel more in control again. For example, if you had a car accident, consider a defensive driving course if you are physically able to drive again, to help you gain a stronger sense of mastering the roads.

Meet with friends even if you feel things may be weird at first. You might feel they are looking at you funny, searching for anything that's different, and making you feel self conscious. But leaning on your friends, and opening up to them can be a great way to surround yourself with the support you need right now.

The role of a personal injury attorney

While dealing with the physical and emotional aftermath of an accident, don't neglect to consider enlisting professional help to assist you in legal procedures and financial recourse.

Although the process of bringing a personal injury claim may feel like one more thing you just can't deal with at the time of an accident, an experienced personal injury attorney can easily guide you. That's what they do, and they are prepared to carry that burden with you.

A personal injury lawyer can assist you in filing the insurance claim. They will also help you document everything , including details of health and emotional problems after the accident. Plus, the attorney can help you understand the state laws before you file the claim.

Documented lists of symptoms and emotional distress are used as a part of the evidence while filing the accident insurance claim. The personal injury attorney works closely with you to record everything so that he or she can create a strong case for the lawsuit and insurance claims.

The severity of physical and emotional distress should also be documented by a licensed medical provider and perhaps in the presence of your personal injury attorney. This is to highlight and prove that your emotional distress didn't begin until after the accident while filing the personal injury claim.

These emotional conditions can be very difficult for the person during a long rehabilitation. Therefore, the compensation section in the personal injury claim may allow for your pain and suffering.

Apart from the physical and psychological impacts, accidents can cause a major impact on a person's family life, career and financial circumstances. Taking legal assistance from a personal injury lawyer is also highly recommended.

When you're looking for help to get over an accident, don't discount the greatest healer of all: time.

What has life been like for you and your family since your accident? What has been the most helpful for you as you begin to put it behind you?

ib hl english essay structure

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IB English, the HL Essay: All You Need to Know

Written By Our IB++Tutor Birgitte J.

What You Need to Know

• The HL Essay is a 1200-1500 word formal essay and it is based on a literary work studied as part of the course. You cannot use the same work for the IO or the Paper 2 [1] for this essay.
• In the IB Language and Literature course [2] , the essay can also be based on a non-literary or collection of non literary text(s).
• You develop a line of inquiry , a question that lends itself to an argument focused on how a theme or message is conveyed through literary features.
• The essay is completed in your own time and you should get some feedback from your teacher during the development of the essay.
• You do not have to incorporate secondary sources beyond the text you are working with.

The paper is externally assessed, meaning the final grade given is from the IB Examiner, not from your teacher. However, your teacher will give a predicted grade that is sent to the IB [3] .

How to Approach the Essay

The essay requires you to construct a focused, analytical argument, examining the work from a broad literary or linguistic perspective. It also requires you to adhere to the formal framework of an academic essay, using citations and references.

Connection to the Learner Portfolio

The HL essay is based on the exploration you have engaged with in the Learner Portfolio [4] . In the lead-up to the drafting of the essay, you must decide which text to focus on for further investigation, and which topic to write about. In choosing the topic, you can consult the course’s seven central concepts. You can choose any text with the exception of the texts used for the Internal Assessment (the IO) or the Paper 2.

How to choose a text

Don’t wait until the last minute and talk with your teacher about the text you want to use and the focus you are considering. Write your ideas out to make sure your line of inquiry is focused and appropriate for an analytical argument of a paper of this length.

In the case of a collection of short stories, poems, song lyrics or any short literary text, you may choose to use just one literary text from the work. However, It may be necessary to use more than one literary text from the work chosen.

The Language and Literature course only *

In the case of short non-literary texts, it may be necessary to use more than one from the same text type by the same author, for example the same creative advertising agency, cartoonist, photographer or social media user. At least one of these texts must have been studied in class. (If using a text in translation it must be a professional and published translation).

Determining the Topic and the 7 Course Concepts

It’s helpful but not mandatory to start with the seven central concepts of the course in generating or determining a topic for the essay. The questions below are meant as starting points for the focus of the essay, not as complete lines of inquiry which should be more specific to the chosen text (see examples of lines of inquiry below).

Questions may include; How is identity represented in the text? How are the characters in the text representative of a group? How does the text reflect the identity of the writer?

Questions may include; How is an aspect of the text representative of a culture or a particular place? How is a group of people or an institution conveyed? How is the text representative of a cultural perspective?

3-Creativity

Questions may include; How is the text representative of an individual or collective creativity, or lack of creativity? How is the text a reflection of the creativity of the writer?

4-Communication

How is communication or lack of communication conveyed in the text? How does the text itself communicate with the reader? How are aspects of communication illustrated through literary features?

5-Transformation

How is change or development illustrated in the text? How are characters transformed through action, communication or events in the text? What is the relationship between transformation and the goals, values and beliefs conveyed in the text?

6-Perspective

How is a perspective or different perspectives represented in the text? How is a shift in perspective portrayed? How is the writer’s perspective revealed through the text?

7-Representation

How does the text represent a particular theme or message? How are attitudes conveyed? In what way is reality or the world within the text represented?

IB English Language and Literature Guide examples of lines of inquiry

• Identity —how does Ralph Ellison, in his novel Invisible Man, succeed in making his narrator a convincing spokesperson for the concerns of African-Americans in the 20th century?
• Culture —how does Robert Capa represent post-Second World War France to qualify/exemplify the brutalities of the French population on former Nazi collaborators in La Femme Tondue? (Language A: language and literature only)
• Creativity —how do Mario Testino’s portraits manage to convey the personalities of those portrayed in original ways? (Language A: language and literature only)
• Communication– which view of love does Matt Groening convey in Love is Hell? (Language A: language and literature only)
• Transformation– in what ways does The Alan Parsons Project’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination offer a transformative re-reading of Edgar Allan Poe’s tales?
• Perspective– how does Mary Shelley’s protagonist in Frankenstein use the motif of dangerous knowledge to show the perspective of fear and anxiety of excesses in scientific enterprise in early 19th century Europe?
• Representation– through what means does Juan Rulfo successfully convey the representation of realistic and non-realistic characters and situations in Pedro Páramo?​

A Final Note on the Learner Portfolio and the HL Essay

The Learner Portfolio is not assessed but schools are required to keep it on file. It is intended to be a platform for reflecting on the texts studied, facilitating development of independent thinking. The reflections may include responses to cultural perspectives and values, inter-relationships and identities as it relates to topics and themes in the texts studied. The reflections may serve as a springboard for the line of inquiry in the HL essay. For example, you may keep a record of themes present, reflections on how particular passages within the texts reflect those themes, or how themes and passages convey one of the 7 central concepts.

[1] Paper 2 is cancelled for the 2022 cohort. No announcement has been made for the 2023 at the time this article was written.

[2] There are 3 IB English courses. The two most common are IB English A: Literature SL/HL, a course focused on literature (Poetry, drama, short stories and novels) and the IB English Language and Literature SL/HL course, focused on literature AND a variety of non-literary (non-fiction) text types.

[3] The examiner’s grade is independent from your teacher’s predicted grade.

[4] An individual collection of student work compiled during the course in which you explore and reflect on the texts throughout the course.

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Ultimate Guide To IB English – Language A: Literature HL Exam

What’s covered:, ib hl vs sl: what’s the difference, how do hl papers/exams work, how are the ib english sl papers/exams scored, how does the ib english hl exam affect my college chances.

IBDP, which stands for The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme , is a common high school diploma alternative to the AP system, a system very popular here in the U.S. The IB system is much more internationally accepted, and considered a lot more rigorous in academics and exams. 

The exams can be a hard spot for IB for many students, and one of its flagship subjects, English Literature, is considered difficult and its exam is no different. Hopefully this guide can break down the exam into some digestible information and make it easier for you to approach the examination. 

All IB classes/courses have two versions, higher level (HL) and standard level (SL) . The most prevalent  difference between these two versions is mostly the amount of coursework expected, as well as some key differences to what’s being provided to the student as learning material. 

Language A is separated by not only the difficulty of exams but, there are different kinds and options for reading material for the class. Reading material matters here because the exams are based on reading material. 

HL papers for the Literature exam are divided into two components:

• Paper 1 is a 2 hour and 15 minute long essay-based examination that requires you to analyze unseen texts.
• Paper 2 is a 2 hour and 15 minute long examination that will require you to answer questions based on the required texts for the course, and questions can be picked based on which texts you chose to read. 

This paper is a bit more difficult for most students because the questions are based on unseen excerpts as opposed to the reading materials you’ve read during the two year curriculum. These unseen texts are hard to prepare for, but based on the type of student you are, you might find this more approachable as they’re concise and require more reading between the lines. For these texts it’s important to get to the motive and theme of the text as soon as possible, as opposed to understanding the actual context. Skim reading and breaking down sections into groups based on common themes is a common hack for this paper. 

Ideally you’d want to have a general plan before you step into paper 1. The plan should detail your approach to reading the exam and its texts. Breaking the texts down to the following subcategories would be useful for literature analysis:

• Contextual and Content
• Author Motives

By breaking the text down like this, you can identify the purpose of the excerpt and hence answer any question that involves the analysis of the literature pretty easily, because your plan has already been executed as you were skimming or reading. 

This plan should make paper 1 much more manageable, but some practice goes a long way. Make sure to use previous examinations and specimen papers to your advantage and practice older questions to perfect your skills.

Paper 2 can be considered a little easier given that you’re aware of the texts that will be used for the examination, and you can choose which questions you wish to solve out of the provided options. These options make it even easier to implement the plan as described previously! Paper 2 is only as difficult as you come underprepared so study those texts and provide literature!

The texts refer to readings that have been assigned from a board at IBO, and these selections are sent to schools all over the world. The way the paper is designed, no matter which option you choose to read for a text, there will be an exam question that pertains to your selection. There will also be numerous generalized questions that can refer to many texts and be pretty-opened. 

There’s ample time to create answers that are more concrete and proofed compared to responses in paper 1, therefore the grading expectations for this paper are less lenient than paper 1. Understanding your provided reading material is key to excelling in this paper, so making sure to come in prepared is the key difference of passing and failing this paper.

Both papers are scored out of 20 points, and are based off a rubric/criterion chart that can be used to pick a score based on performance. 

The criteria can be clearly seen in the diagram above, with level 1 being the weakest performance in each criteria, up to 5 being the strongest.

You should study the criteria thoroughly because it shows you what the grader is looking for in a  good, well-written essay/response. 

The scores out of 20 are then used along with your performance in internal assessments to determine a grade out of 7 for the class . The table below, called a grade boundary table, is used by graders to determine this score out of 7.

To calculate your grade, you would take the total score on both papers (which is out of 40) and your internal assessment grades, a total isn’t as clear here as it’s based on what your teachers would decide. Divide your earned points by the number of available points to score, and multiply the decimal by a 100.

Read Early 

Given that paper 2 is completely dependent on how well you’re prepared by understanding your literature options, read earlier and get a head start. The sooner you understand your text, the earlier you can analyze prior to the exam. By getting this over with, when the exam rolls around you’re already done with the prep work required to solve the prompts and questions.

By reading earlier you may also notice the text you chose isn’t quite suited for you, or you simply don’t enjoy reading it. The extra time from starting it earlier, gives you a chance to swap our selections if required.

Exam Stress Management

A more general, but equally as important tip! Managing stress during exam season can be difficult, but a couple healthy practices can make it easy! Start by telling yourself exams are not as important as schools make them out to be! They are not going to decide our future, and certainly have less impact on your chances of college admission than you’d think! Understanding this can remove a lot of stress off you, which funnily enough might make you even perform better due to feeling less inclined to exceed those expectations that were previously placed on you!

In short they do not! Scores don’t mean much when it comes to college admissions, but showing the will to be in a hard class like English Literature HL is more important. Colleges are inclined to favor students with a set of more difficult classes as opposed to high scores and other metrics. 

A nifty tool, CollegeVine’s admissions calculator , takes all factors that do matter in college admissions, ranging from extracurriculars, GPA, and standardized test scores, along with a lot more, and provides you with your unique chances of getting into a college/university of your choosing. 

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

English Collaborative

IB English A Language and Literature: HL Essay Assessment Considerations

Please note:  The purpose of this information is to elaborate on the nature of the IB assessment task, define and explain the assessment criteria and their implications, share observed challenges in students’ submitted assessment work, and offer strategies and approaches for assessment preparation. 

This post is not meant to replace a reading of the IB Language A Subject Guides or the Teacher Support Materials available on MYIB.  Those resources should always be a first stop for teachers when checking the requirements of each assessment task and how the task should be facilitated. 

HL Essay Overview

Nature of the task.

• Students are asked to develop a line of inquiry of their choice in connection with a work or body of work studied in the course.
• In this context, teachers serve as advisors.  The HL essay is an opportunity for students “to develop as independent, critical and creative readers, thinkers and writers” [1] which suggests there should be some degree of autonomy in choosing a work or body of work and determining the line of inquiry.
• The final essay is a focused argument critically examining a broad literary or linguistic perspective in one of the works or bodies of work studied in the course.  The focus of the critical examination should be appropriate for the discipline; while there may be some overlap with other disciplines (e.g., art or film), teachers will need to use their professional judgement to evaluate appropriate boundaries for the line of inquiry [2] .
• The essay should be developed “over an extended period of time” [3] .  Adequate time should be given for students to refine their ideas, plan their arguments, draft, and revise their essays.  Teachers are expected to play an active role guiding and facilitating this process.
• The essay is formal and should adhere to the conventions of an academic essay in its structure and use of citations.  
• In the marking of the assessment task, there is equal quantitative value placed on the ideas presented in the essay (10 marks) and the essay’s organization and use of language (10 marks).  Maximum: 20 marks. [4]
• The final essay produced for submission needs to be 1200-1500 words in length.  Examiners will not read more than 1500 words. [5]

Explanation of the task

• It is important that students develop a line of inquiry that is focused, analytical, and (when relevant) literary before they begin researching and writing.  Students do not need to name literary or textual features in their question; however, the question should lend itself to an analytical investigation of the work that is appropriate for the discipline.
• The seven course concepts (identity, culture, creativity, communication, transformation, perspective, and representation) may serve as a starting point when developing a line of inquiry. [6]
• The discussion, ideas, and inspiration for the HL Essay will ideally come from the student’s Learner Portfolio.  Students may expand on an idea, activity, or smaller-scale assessment explored in class as inspiration for selecting a topic and developing a line of inquiry.  Students may also explore their own, self-generated lines of inquiry.
• Each student’s line of inquiry should develop from their own work or ideas about the work.  Ideally, the learner portfolio will document this evolution (in some form).

Selection of work

• Students base their essays on one work or body of work studied in the course. Students may choose any work or body of work, except for the works/body of work used for the Individual Oral or the works chosen for the Paper 2 exam. 
• Students should consult with their teachers when selecting a text, work, or body of work to ensure the material is rich enough to support a focused, analytical argument of this length.
• Documentaries and full features films are full, non-literary “works” and are acceptable material on which to base a line of inquiry for the HL Essay.
• Literary bodies of work include collections of short stories, poetry, essays, graphic narratives, etc.
• Non-literary bodies of work may include an advertising campaign, a journalist’s published articles or editorials, a photojournalist’s series of photographs, related public service announcements or campaigns, research and relevant publications by an organization (such as Human Rights Watch), a series of texts or shows by an interviewer, commentator or satirist, a podcast series, an editorial cartoonist’s publications, etc. [7]  
• The texts in the body of work must share authorship.  This means the texts are written or produced by a single author or are written and produced by collaborators that share a single authorship (such as an advertising agency, corporation, non-profit organization, television show, writer and graphic illustrator, etc.) [8]
• Students may base their essay on one text in a body of work (e.g., one short story in a collection), however students need to be careful to sustain a “broad literary [or linguistic] investigation” as opposed to a close reading or commentary.  They are expected to make explicit connections in the essay between the text and the author’s body of work. [9]  
• In most cases, it will be appropriate for a student to reference at least 2-3 texts in an author’s body of work. 
• Students may explore and use any texts from an author studied in class, even if the specific texts were not part of the course study.  This might be appropriate if the student’s specific literary investigation cannot be supported with the specific texts studied but could be supported with other texts by the author. [10]

Determining the topic (and line of inquiry)

• The essay needs to be focused on a broad literary or linguistic investigation that addresses a concept developed in the work or body of work. 
• Students who struggle to identify a suitable concept can use one of the seven course concepts as a starting place to develop their line of inquiry (e.g., What does the work communicate about…? In what ways does the work transform our perspective on…?  To what extent does the work represent…? )
• Students should be encouraged to explore a concept that is significant to them and their reading of the work. 
• Teachers can advise and coach students through the process of selecting a topic and developing a line of inquiry, but teachers are not supposed to assign topics (or works) to students. [11]

What is the HL Essay Assessing?

Criterion a:  knowledge, understanding, and interpretation (5 marks), defined terms.

• Students need a clear, cohesive thesis statement in the introduction of the essay that states the conclusions the student has drawn in response to the line of inquiry.  The “conclusions” are the student’s central argument for the essay. 
• Students need to understand the difference between demonstrating understanding of a work and offering interpretations of the work’s meanings.  An essay must offer interpretations of the work’s implications to score at least a “satisfactory” mark in Criterion A.
• Good to excellent knowledge and understanding comes from knowing the works very well which usually requires multiple readings .  Clear references, explanations, and detailed analysis in support of asserted interpretations are a more effective demonstration of knowledge and understanding than summary.  
• When analyzing texts from a “body of work”, students are expected to make claims and connections to the body of work.  If the focus of the essay is on an individual text (such as a short story or poem), it is important that the analysis be treated as a “broad literary [or linguistic] investigation”.  Teachers will need to evaluate the extent to which this is possible for each individual text.  It may be helpful for teachers and students to consult articles in scholarly journals to see examples of how a broad literary investigation can be approached with a shorter, individual text.

Activities and protocols that develop skills related to knowledge, understanding, and interpretation.

Formulating Interpretive Statements

This activity scaffolds the process of developing an “interpretive statement” in response to a text or work.  This is achieved through a sentence completion exercise […]

Continue Reading

Concept Formation

In this activity, students use small examples to establish what a concept is (and is not).  This inductive strategy works to give depth, ownership, and […]

Critical Lenses

Critical lenses help students engage with different perspectives with which to approach the reading and interpretation of a work.  Each lens contains questions that provoke […]

Journal Writing

Journal writing helps students develop important thinking skills.  There are the traditional approaches used in the younger years, like imagining a minor character’s point of […]

Criterion B:  Analysis and evaluation (5 marks)

• This criterion asks students to critically analyze, evaluate, and compare how meaning is constructed and communicated in a work or body of work.
• The discussion, analysis, and evaluation of literary or linguistic features must work to develop the line in inquiry and central argument for the essay.  This is a common shortcoming in student essays.
• The interrelationships of authorial choices and their effects may be complex, which requires thoughtful organization in the planning stage of the essay. 
• Assertions that make judgements about a writer’s competency or simply state a preference for an author or style are not literary evaluations.
• An insightful literary analysis usually includes an appreciation of form-specific features.

Activities and protocols that develop skills related to analysis and evaluation

Why might this detail matter?

This activity gets students to think about the significance of minor details in a work.  These details can be used as evidence to form the […]

Ladder of Abstraction

This activity allows students to process the ways in which details from a work might represent larger abstract ideas. Process Divide students in groups of […]

Appoint a Devil’s Advocate

This protocol invites divergent thinking in a group and works to facilitate a culture where different ideas are viewed as collaborative rather than combative.  Preparation […]

This activity helps students visually see and appreciate the ways in which parts make up a whole.  One of the challenges many students have is […]

Criterion C:  Focus, organization, and development (5 marks)

• The line of inquiry (which includes the topic) should be clearly stated either as the title or in the introductory paragraph of the essay. 
• The thesis (or argument) for the essay should be clearly communicated in the introductory paragraph. 
• Effective organization helps students maintain focus, achieve cohesion, and develop claims.  This means considering the most effective way to present the argument and its supporting evidence and analysis (chronologically, most persuasive evidence first, by sub-topic, cause and effect relationships, first impressions vs. later reflections, claims and counter claims, etc.).
• Each paragraph should be a point of development that supports the conclusions drawn from the line of inquiry (i.e., the essay’s central argument).  The nature of the argument and the substance of the analysis should determine the number of paragraphs, their length, and their order.  Forcing an argument into a formulaic essay structure can be limiting.
• Purposeful transitions create cohesion and logically take the reader through the essay’s evidence-based claims.
• Essays organized by authorial choices tend to be limiting because they struggle to appreciate the interdependency of features’ effects.
• One citation method should be sustained throughout the essay.

Activities and protocols that develop skills related to organization and development

Generate, Sort, Connect, Elaborate: Concept Mapping IDEAS in a Work

This activity asks students to individually identify ideas and issues developed in a work and collaboratively connect and develop one another’s ideas.  This ultimately helps […]

Making a Précis

This activity guides students on how to distill a text into 100-200-word précis or summary.  This is a helpful skill for preparing a passage response […]

This protocol helps students consider which ideas, issues, and feelings are playing a significant role in shaping their personal response to a work. Process Give […]

Sort Card Activity

This activity helps students organize information and identify conceptual trends.  This activity models a process that students can use when planning their own essays and […]

Significant Quotes

Who said it?  What is the context? and Why is this quote significant? may seem like an archaic exercise in today’s educational landscape, but the […]

Criterion D:  Language (5 marks)

• A wider vocabulary and knowledge of sentence structures gives students more language tools to express abstract and complex thoughts. 
• Correct use of terminology may be considered in awarding marks in this criterion; however, jargon is not the sole focus. 
• When students use vocabulary and sentence structures that are comfortably in their repertoire, they usually express their thinking more clearly.  When students stretch to use words or sentences structures with which they are not familiar, they risk miscommunication.
• An essay does not need to be flawless to earn top marks in this criterion, however the expectation for language to be clear, varied, and accurate is higher in this component.  This is because students have an opportunity to revise their essays.
• Voice is welcomed in all IB assessment tasks: formal writing does not need to be turgid.

Activities and protocols that develop skills related to use of language

Interpretive Statement Wall

This protocol helps students develop revision skills by asking clarifying and critical questions about each other’s interpretive statements or thesis statements.  This helps students develop […]

Evaluating Thesis Statements

This activity helps students understand the role language plays in communicating specific and complex ideas in a thesis statement.  The approach invites active collaboration, and […]

Discussion Posts and Personalized Learning

This formative assessment gives students an opportunity to personalize their learning while engaging in collaborative discussion with their peers around their chosen text(s) or work. […]

This protocol helps students generate ideas in response to a work. Process Give students a writing task, asking them to identify one thing they think […]

[1] Language A: Language and Literature Guide, First assessment 2021 , IBO: 2019. pp. 42.

[2] To gain an understanding or confidence in evaluating analysis that is “appropriate for the discipline”, teachers may want to invest some time perusing scholarly articles written on works they teach or are familiar with using a database such as JSTOR or Ebscohost.  These titles and articles an also be shared with students as guides and exemplars.

[4] Ibid, pp. 45.

[5] Ibid, p. 42.

[6] Ibid, p. 43.

[7] A list of text types can be found on p. 22 of the Language A: Language and Literature Guide.  As mentioned in the guide, the list is not exhaustive.

[8] “Selection of work”. Language A: Language and Literature Guide, First assessment 2021 , IBO: 2019, p. 43.

[11] Language A: Language and Literature Guide, First assessment 2021 , IBO: 2019. p. 44.

[12] Definition:  a short statement of the main points.

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, the best ib english study guide and notes for sl/hl.

International Baccalaureate (IB)

Are you taking IB English and need some help with your studying? No need to reread all the books and poems you covered in class! This study guide is for IB English A students (students in IB English A: literature SL/HL, IB English A: language and literature SL/HL, or IB English literature and performance SL ) who are looking for additional guidance on writing their commentaries or essays.

I've compiled this IB English study guide using the best free materials available for this class. Use it to supplement your classwork and help you prepare for exams throughout the school year.

What's Tested on the IB English Exams?

The IB English courses are unique from other IB classes in that they don't have a very rigid curriculum with exact topics to cover. Instead, your class (or most likely your teacher) is given the freedom to choose what works (from a list of prescribed authors and a list of prescribed literature in translation from IBO) to teach. The exams reflect that freedom.

On the exam for all English A courses, you're asked to write essays that incorporate examples from novels, poems, plays, and other texts you've read. You're also asked to interpret a text that you've read for the first time the day of the exam.

The exact number of questions you'll have to answer varies by the course , but the types of questions asked on each all fall into the two categories listed above.

What's Offered in This Guide?

In this guide, I have compiled materials to help teach you how to interpret poetry and how to structure your essay/commentary. I've also provided notes on several books typically taught in IB English SL/HL.

This should be most of the material you need to study for your IB exam and to study for your in-class exams.

How to Interpret Poetry Guides

Many people struggle the most with the poetry material, and if you're one of those people, we have some resources specifically for making poetry questions easier.

Here is a full explanation of how to interpret poetry for the IB exam with term definitions, descriptions of types of poems, and examples. We also have tons of poetry resources on our blog that range from explaining specific terms all the way to complete, expert analyses of poems you should know.

Here are some resources to get you started:

• Imagery defined
• Everything you need to know about Point of View 
• The 20 poetic devices you should know 
• Understanding allusion 
• A crash course on Romantic poetry 
• Understanding personification 
• Famous sonnets, explained
• An expert guide to understanding rhyme and meter, including iambic pentameter
• The eight types of sonnets 
• Expert analysis of "Do not go gentle into that good night" by Dylan Thomas

This is another great resource with poetry terms defined on "flashcards" , and you can test yourself on the site by clicking "play."

How to Write Your Essay Guide

If you're not sure how to write your essay, here's a guide to what your essay should look like for the IB English SL/HL papers. This guide gives advice on how you should structure your essay and what you should include in it. It also contains a few sample questions so you can get a better idea of the types of prompts you can expect to see.

IB English Book Notes

Based on the list of prescribed authors and literature from IBO, I picked some of the most popular books to teach and provided links to notes on those works. What's important to remember from these books is key moments, themes, motifs, and symbols, so you can discuss them on your in-class tests and the IB papers.

• Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
• A Farewell to Arms
• Animal Farm
• All the Pretty Horses
• A Streetcar Named Desire
• Anna Karenina
• As I Lay Dying
• Brave New World
• Crime and Punishment
• Death of a Salesman
• A Doll's House
• Don Quixote
• Dr. Zhivago
• Frankenstein
• Great Expectations
• Heart of Darkness
• Lord of the Flies
• Love in the Time of Cholera
• Love Medicine
• One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
• Romeo & Juliet
• Sense and Sensibility
• The Awakening
• The Bluest Eye
• The Great Gatsby
• The Picture of Dorian Gray
• The Stranger
• The Sun Also Rises
• Waiting for Godot

The Best Study Practices for IB English

Hopefully, this guide will be an asset to you throughout the school year for in-class quizzes as well as at the end of the year for the IB exam. Taking practice tests is also important, and you should also look at our other article for access to FREE IB English past papers to help you familiarize yourself with the types of questions asked by the IBO (and I'm sure your teacher will ask similar questions on your quizzes).

Make sure you're reading all of the novels and poetry assigned to you in class, and take detailed notes on them. This will help you remember key themes and plot points so you don't find yourself needing to reread a pile of books right before the exam.

Finally, keep up with the material you learn in class, and don't fall behind. Reading several novels the week before the IB exam won't be much help. You need to have time and let the material sink in over the course of the class, so you're able to remember it easily on the day of the IB exam.

What's Next?

Want some more study materials for IB English? Our guide to IB English past papers has links to every free and official past IB English paper available!

Are you hoping to squeeze in some extra IB classes ? Learn about the IB courses offered online by reading our guide.

Not sure where you want to go to college? Check out our guide to finding your target school. Also, figure out your target SAT score or target ACT score .

Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

As an SAT/ACT tutor, Dora has guided many students to test prep success. She loves watching students succeed and is committed to helping you get there. Dora received a full-tuition merit based scholarship to University of Southern California. She graduated magna cum laude and scored in the 99th percentile on the ACT. She is also passionate about acting, writing, and photography.

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Our new student and parent forum, at ExpertHub.PrepScholar.com , allow you to interact with your peers and the PrepScholar staff. See how other students and parents are navigating high school, college, and the college admissions process. Ask questions; get answers.

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HLE Planning Guide

Don’t fear the HLE! Let us guide you through the entire process. We’ll leverage five complete HLE samples and show you how it’s done. Start with the Line of inquiry and end with 1500 words you can celebrate!

The HLE Planning Guide includes:

• 100-page course book
• 5 sample papers across genres
• Line of inquiry guidance
• Step-by-step approach to building the HLE
• Complete set of graphic organizers

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IBDP English A: Language & Literature

Website by Neil Allen

Updated 7 March 2024

P1 - Examination Questions

P2 - examination questions, individual oral.

• The Learner Portfolio

Essential knowledge,     home  .

• Paper 1 - Examination Questions
• Paper 1 - M22 Responses
• Paper 1 - M21 Responses
• Paper 2 - Examination Questions
• Paper 2 - Exemplar Response
• Paper 2 - Planning during the Exam
• About the Author, this Site & the IB Diploma
• The Course at a Glance
• A Conceptual Framework
• May 2022 - Examinations in the Epoch of Corona
• Marking Criteria - The Basics
• Paper 1 - Frequently Asked Questions
• Paper 1 - Structuring a Guided Textual Analysis
• Paper 1 - Video Guide to Textual Analysis
• Paper 1 - Writing Guiding Questions
• Paper 1 - Student Examples: Comic Strip
• Paper 1 - More Samples
• Paper 1 - Dealing with Infographics
• Paper 1 - Examination Strategy
• Paper 2 - Frequently Asked Questions
• Paper 2 - Making Analytical Points
• Paper 2 - Features of the Literary Genre
• Paper 2 - Structuring an Essay
• Paper 2 - Unpacking the Criteria
• Paper 2 - Examination Strategy
• Individual Oral - Frequently Asked Questions
• Individual Oral - Establishing a Global Issue
• Individual Oral - Organising the 10 minutes
• Individual Oral - More Student Samples
• Individual Oral - Boiling it down
• Individual Oral - To mock, or not to mock?
• Individual Oral - Global issue?
• Individual Oral - Preparation
• Individual Oral - Body of Work Preparation
• Individual Oral - Text Choices

HL Essay - The Basics

Hl essay - choosing a topic.

• HL Essay - Great Examples (Literature)
• HL Sample: Non-literary Body of Work - George Monbiot's Essays

HL Essay - Gaining Level 7

• The Learner Portfolio - Reflections
• The Learner Portfolio - Classroom Activities
• Extended Essay - Choosing your Category
• Extended Essay - Literary Examples
• Extended Essay - Non-Literary Examples
• What is a theme?
• Words and Phrases for Writing about Text
• What is intertextuality (and why does it matter)?
• Inquiry through Essential Questions
• The Language of Photography
• Glossary of Terms
• Understanding Command Terms
• Marking Criteria

The Higher Level (HL) essay is a formal academic essay of between 1,200 - 1,500 words. It is, obviously, a task that is only completed by HL students. Based on what you study in your course, the essay gives you the opportunity to choose an area that is of particular interest to you and, with guidance from your teacher, write a focused essay that shows an understanding of a literary work or a non-literary body of work you have studied. This website has been written to help you gather and formulate your ideas, and to draft and write an excellent academic essay.

Essential Questions

What are the requirements for the Higher Level Essay?

On what stimulus material should the higher level essay be based, can i write the higher level essay on a single non-literary text, how do i design a suitable line of inquiry for the higher level essay, what does a really good higher level essay look like.

This section will:

• Give you a more detailed insight into the requirements and expectations of the assessment;
• Help you with how to choose a topic - an essential requirement and the difference between success and failure;
• Share student work with you, and allow you opportunity to assess and see examiners' comments.

This page provides you with a clear and basic introduction to the HL Essay, an academic essay based on literary works or non-literary texts studied during your course. Later pages provide you with tips, models, and activities to help you...

For Higher Level students, the fourth assessment component is the Higher Level essay. What to choose for a topic is the biggest challenge.

HL Essay - Student Samples

 Here you will find examples of real student HL Essays. Take a read and, using the marking criteria, grade them. You can compare your marks with those of the examiner.

Being able to see really good model examples is essential to learning skills. All the better if those models are truly assessed by examiners as part of a session, and if they adhere to our guidelines for organising and structuring an excellent...

Which of the following best describes your feedback?

IB English Paper 1 Explained

Ace your IB English Paper 1 exam with the #1 IB English Resource for 2022 as Voted by IB Students & Teachers

IB English Paper 1 is one of those nerve-wracking experiences that everyone has to endure. It's especially scary because you have no idea what you'll end up writing for your final exam–and your grades depend on it!

The best preparation you can do is be acutely aware of the exam structure and proven strategies that have worked for past IB7 graduates.

If you want to fully wrap your head around the IB English Paper 1 guided analysis, then this quick guide is for you.

Meet your instructor Jackson Huang, Founder of LitLearn. His mission is to make IB English as pain-free as possible with fun, practical lessons. Jackson scored an IB45 and was accepted to Harvard, Amherst, Williams Colleges, and full scholarships to University of Melbourne & Queensland.

What is a Paper 1 exam?

In a Paper 1 exam, you are given two mysterious, unseen texts . Each text is between 1-2 pages in length.

For SL students, you're in luck! Your task is to write a guided analysis on just one of the two texts. Total marks: 20. You have 1 hour and 15 minutes.

For HL students, you're in less luck… Your task is to write two guided analysis essays–one on each of the texts. Total marks: 40. You have 2 hours and 15 minutes.

The mystery text types you'll get for Paper 1 depend on whether you're in IB English Language & Literature or IB English Literature.

For IB English Literature , Paper 1 text types belong to four neat categories (hooray!):

• Fictional prose (e.g. short stories, extracts from novels)
• Non-fiction prose (e.g. scientific articles, extracts)
• Dramatic plays

For IB English Language and Literature , your text types could be… really… anything. Be prepared to be surprised. Typically, at least one of the text types will include some visual element like an image, photo, or cartoon. Here's the (non-exhaustive) list of Lang Lit text types:

• Magazines, blogs, articles and editorials
• Speeches, interview scripts, radio transcripts
• Instruction manuals, brochures
• Comic strips, political cartoons
• … and the list goes on…

What do I write in a guided analysis?

For each Paper 1 text, the IB English Gods pose a short, open-ended question.

This question is called the guiding question , and your essay must focus on answering this guiding question using analysis (we'll explain “analysis” in a second).

Examples of guiding questions:

• How does the writer characterize the protagonist's state of mind?
• How and to what effect do textual and visual elements shape meaning?
• How is narrative perspective used to create meaning and effect?

Even though you're technically allowed to choose your own focus and ignore the default guiding question, it's highly recommended that you go along with what's given… unless you really don't know how to answer it, or you're super confident in your Paper 1 skills.

Now, what are we supposed to do with the guiding question?

Guiding questions always ask you to explain how and why certain language or visual choices are used to build one or more central ideas .

And so the vague instruction "Answer the guiding question" actually translates to something very specific:

Explain  how and why the writer uses specific language to build their central idea(s).

This sentence pretty much sums up not just IB English Paper 1, but the gist of analysis and IB English overall.

Writing Deep, Insightful Analysis

If you want to get a high score on Paper 1 (and every IB English assessment in general), you must know how to write deep, insightful analysis.

After helping numerous IB English students at LitLearn, we've found that weak analysis is the #1 reason students struggle in IB English.

Biggest Mistake

The main mistake you're likely making is that your analysis doesn't dig deep enough .

Students make the mistake of only touching the surface-level meaning of the texts. For example, common mistakes include:

• only recounting the plot
• mentioning techniques and ideas without digging into the how and why
• not identifying the most relevant techniques for analysis.

The diagram below shows the difference between surface-level meaning, deep analysis, and deeper analysis.

If you're unsure about how to write strong analysis for IB English, or you're not confident in what to look for in your texts, then you should watch this free 7-minute video lesson from Learn Analysis: Analysis Foundations.

Learn Analysis

No sign up or credit card required.

Essential Techniques you need to know

So how do we write strong analysis that scores highly on Criterion B?

First things first, we need to know how to analyze the major literary and visual techniques (visual for Lang Lit), so that we can quickly find and analyze them under exam stress.

If you're cramming for Paper 1, here are the 7 most important techniques and concepts that you should know for IB English Paper 1. They apply to all text types in Lang Lit as well as Literature:

• Tone, atmosphere and mood
• Diction and voice
• Metaphor, simile, and personification
• The 4 main types of imagery
• The 3 types of irony
• Juxtaposition and contrast
• Grammatical and structural techniques

There's a bunch more, but these 7 categories make a great starting point. The first step is to learn their names and definitions, and flashcards are an excellent way to do this.

Of course, memorizing isn't enough. We also need to know the common effects and purposes behind each of these core techniques, so that we can build a mental library of the most common ways to deeply analyze each technique. If you don't study each technique in detail, it's much harder to invent deep analysis on-the-spot during an exam.

We go deep into each of the techniques in Learn Analysis . Here are just a couple of them to get you started.

Level 1 Techniques

Your One Mission in Paper 1

Let's quickly recap what you need to do in a Paper 1.

• You need to discuss the characters, themes and plot of a chosen  literary text, OR the visual and stylistic elements (diagrams, headings, titles, images) for a non-literary text.
• You then need to explain how and why these aspects were achieved by the writer or artist.

These two points are helpful as a basis for understanding, but they won't help you get concrete words onto the exam page. What we need now is a practical guide to writing an actual essay:

• Deciding on a good  thesis
• Choosing the right  points
• Choosing the right structure

A Practical Guide to Writing a Paper 1 essay

An IB English Paper 1 essay boils down to 3 separate parts:

• An introduction paragraph : contains a thesis and an outline of your points
• A body (usually 3 paragraphs) : contains your points
• A conclusion : wraps up the essay

Choosing a thesis

The thesis or subject statement is a single sentence in the introduction of the guided analysis that states how the writer achieves their overall purpose.

This is also the main argument that you are trying to prove in your essay, and it's typically related to the guiding question . The examiner can usually judge the strength of your analytical skills JUST from your subject statement alone, so it needs to be well-written!

Choosing the right essay structure for IB English Paper 1

Every text works best with a specific paragraph structure. Finding this match isn't always easy, but it's also one of the most important things to get right in your Paper 1 guided analysis.

You can organise your essay by:

• ideas or themes
• sections (sequential, e.g. stanza by stanza for poems)
• the ‘Big 5'
• and probably a whole host of other acronyms that English teachers love to invent.

Criterion C for IB English Paper 1 is Organisation . It's worth a whole 5/20 marks, so it's definitely in your best interest to choose the most appropriate structure for your essay.

Pro Tip: I recommend students to stay away from the Big 5 . Sure, it's useful as a memory device to tell you what elements to look for in a text, but it's not a good essay structure for analysis.

Why? Because analysis is about examining the causal interplay between techniques, stylistic choices, audience, tone, and themes. The Big 5 and SPECSLIMS artificially silo these components in your discussion.  Heed my advice or pay the price! (notice that rhyme?)

So in my opinion, there are only two types of structure that are most  conducive (yep, another new vocab, omnomnom) to getting a 7. Ideas/themes  and Sections . Take this as a hot tip and run with it. If your teacher is forcing you to use other structures, then you'll need to know why this is recommended.

We go into much more depth and explain it all inside Learn Analysis.

Pro members only

Writing body paragraphs: Why and How

Once you've chosen the best structure for your essay and decided on a strong thesis as your central argument, the rest of the essay needs to revolve around proving  this argument.

How do you prove this subject statement? You do it by looking at individual points. These smaller points support smaller, more specific aspects of the overall thesis.

The idea is that each body paragraph, or point, aims to prove a separate, smaller aspect of the bigger thesis. It's like a jigsaw puzzle : You must piece together smaller, more manageable pieces to build the bigger argument (i.e. the thesis).

In reality, this translates into writing 2, 3 or 4 points, each of which fits snuggly it its own paragraph or multiple paragraphs (depending on the complexity of the point).

In each point, you must include:

• Quotes, references to images, titles, headings, or visual elements. This is the evidence.
• Analysis of language and literary techniques.  Use specific quotes from the text and explain how and why they are used by the writer to shape his/her message.

Obviously, this is a quick summary of how to write a high-quality body paragraph. We dive deeper into the specific details of how to structure a body paragraph in the guided analysis.

Planning ahead

Ironically, the most important part of IB English Paper 1 is not the analysis itself (well it is, but not really). The part you have to get right the first time is the plan. Most students do not know how to plan effectively, or get flustered in the exam and don't plan, or don't even try to plan because they think they're above it. Big mistake!

Before you even begin writing, you should plan out your essay in sufficient detail. You will lose track of time, thought and sanity if you do not have a clear road map of every part of your essay before you begin writing.

You can learn how to annotate and plan quickly & efficiently using the flowchart method, which we demonstrate inside Learn Analysis and Paper 1 .

In the Pro lesson below, we go into detail on exactly how to plan a Paper 1 essay effectively and efficiently under exam conditions.

How do I practice for Paper 1?

Most students think that doing a lot of practice papers is the best way to improve in Paper 1. However, there's a much more efficient, targeted method to study for Paper 1.

We work our way up from the smallest, most manageable chunks of analysis to the full Paper 1 exam. It's a good idea to reserve real IB English past papers for 2 months before your final exam so that you don't run out of past papers--they are the best preparation for the final exam. Also, if your analysis skills aren't already strong, doing real past papers is a waste of an excellent exam prep resource.

Questionbank

Quote analysis exercises with exemplar IB7 solutions

Short guided analysis exercises with exemplar IB7 solutions

1 hour practice exams with detailed markschemes or video solutions

IB past paper solutions: Exemplar essay plans and full essay responses

Question​bank

Paper 1 Practice Exams

Past Paper 1 Solutions

Paper 2 Guide

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Marking your Language and literature HL essay

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7 Tips to Achieve a Level 7 on the IB HL English Essay

What is the IB English HL Essay?

The IB English HL Essay is usually written at the end of the first year of IB English in international schools and constitutes 25% of the IB English grade. For IB HL English Language & Literature, the source for the 1200-1500 word essay will be a non-literary or literary text studied in the course; for HL English Literature, this will be a literary text studied in the course.

As an International Baccalaureate Higher Level English student, one of the most daunting tasks is achieving a level 7 on the essay. However, with the right approach and mindset, it’s definitely achievable. Here are the top tips to help you achieve a level 7 on your IB HL English essay.

• Analyze the question carefully: Before diving into writing, read the prompt carefully and identify the key themes and ideas. Make sure you understand what the question is asking for. This will help you to stay focused and on-topic throughout the essay.
• Develop a strong thesis statement: Your thesis statement should reflect the main argument of your essay. It should be clear, concise, and specific. Remember, a strong thesis statement is the foundation of a successful essay.
• Use evidence effectively: Include specific quotes and examples from the text to support your arguments. Make sure to explain how the evidence relates to your thesis statement.
• Analyze literary techniques: IB exams often require students to analyze literary techniques such as symbolism, imagery, and metaphors. Make sure to identify these techniques in the text and explain how they contribute to the overall meaning.
• Plan your essay: Before writing, take some time to plan out your essay. Create an outline or a rough draft to organize your thoughts and ideas. This will help you to structure your essay effectively and ensure that you cover all the necessary points.
• Edit and revise: After finishing your essay, take some time to edit and revise. Check for grammar and spelling errors, and make sure that your sentences are clear and concise. Also, ask someone else to read your essay and provide feedback.
• Stay calm and focused: Finally, stay calm and focused throughout the exam. Remember to manage your time effectively, and don’t panic if you encounter a difficult question. Take a deep breath and approach the question logically and systematically.

In conclusion, achieving a level 7 on your IB HL English essay requires careful planning, effective use of evidence, and a clear and concise writing style. By following these tips, you’ll be well on your way to success.

Are you ready to improve your exam performance?

Previous post tips to achieve a level 7 on the ib mathematics ia, next post top study tips to succeed in your upcoming igcse exams.

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IB English Literature HL

IB Literature Higher Level is an intensive course and part of the IB diploma program taught over two years. The IB Lit HL curriculum focuses on the study of 13 literary texts from different periods and cultures (Time and Space). Through critical analysis and interpretation, students in the Eng Literature HL develop an in-depth understanding of the connections between texts (Intertextuality) and their role as readers and writers in shaping meaning. (Readers, Writers, and Texts) The IB Lit HL course explores, analyzes, and develops a more nuanced understanding of Literature than the SL course. The Eng Lit Higher Level course is highly demanding. It requires strong analytical skills, very good usage and understanding of language, detailed knowledge and understanding of genre conventions, and literary and stylistic features.

Develop your analytical skills through in-depth study of a variety of texts. No pre-reading required!

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Course Structure and Content

The Higher Level course requires students to study thirteen literary texts. These must be balanced between literary form, period, and place and include a variety of forms.

At the end of the program, all English Literature HL students sit papers 1 and 2. Paper 1 consists of two literary texts for analysis. Each text has a guiding question as an entry point from which to write the response. Lit HL students must complete both written pieces in two hours and 15 minutes. Paper 2 is a comparative essay of two literary works. The paper offers four questions and should be completed in 1 hour and 45 minutes. The third component HL students complete is the Individual Oral, which consists of two parts: a 10-minute oral analysis by the student, where the student presents two extracts (one from a text originally written in English and the other in translation) examining how a global issue is presented both in the selected extracts and the complete works. This part is followed up by a 5-minute conversation about the extracts and the global issue led by the teacher. Finally, English Literature HL students complete a fourth component, the HL essay, which is completed in class and consists of exploring a line of inquiry in connection with a literary work/s by the same author. The work must have been studied in class. The essay must be between 1200-1500 words.

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IB English A (Lit) HL Essay IA examples

Type a search phrase to find the most relevant English A (Lit) HL Essay IA examples for you

Not sure what to search for? You can always look through our example English A (Lit) HL Essay Internal Assessments below for inspiration.

All English A (Lit) HL Essay IA Examples

Filter exemplars, how does keats construct images of femininity in order to express fear in his odes, how does kafka utilise religious imagery in order to reject ideas of human superiority in ‘the metamorphosis’, want to get full marks for your ia allow us to review it for you 🎯, what does humbert humbert’s abjection of the feminine reveal about his own existence, the nature of loss in elizabeth bishop’s poetry, in what ways does albert camus use the characterisation of meursault to present him as a vehicle of absurdism in 'the outsider', fast track your coursework with mark schemes moderated by ib examiners. upgrade now 🚀, how does kurt vonnegut use satire in his novel “cat’s cradle” to criticise the search for absolute truth in 1960s american society, how do alan moore and david lloyd use the character of v in their graphic novel v for vendetta to dismantle the theory behind contemporaneous power structures, what effect does the characterisation of the narrator have on the reader’s perception of narrative conclusions in kurt vonnegut’s cat’s cradle, how does carol ann duffy give female characters in greek mythology a voice to redefine their role in relationships in her anthology ‘the world’s wife’, the depiction and significance of natural world imagery in fly away peter., what level of importance does david malouf ‘an imaginary life’ (1978) place on the landscape in the process of ovid’s spiritual metamorphosis during his exile in tomis, how does kate chopin utilize naturalism in ‘the awakening’ to display edna’s inability to obtain individualism, to what extent does humbert deserve to have a voice in nabokov’s ‘lolita’, arthur miller’s portrayal of the quiet desperation of the american family in his play death of a salesman, the projection of fears in oedipus rex, how does arthur miller portray willy and biff’s perpetual dissatisfaction through an exploration of urban and rural lifestyles, in the play death of a salesman.

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• Higher Level coursework essay: a student guide
• Higher Level Essay

A page and download for HL students...The notes below are designed to give you some guidance with preparing and writing the coursework essay. There are also some links in the text to other areas of this site, which provide further help and support. Do check them out!

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The HL Essay (HLE) is a 1200-1500 word essay about a text studied in the IB English course. For Lang Lit, the work you choose to analyze can be literary or non-literary, but for IB English Literature the text must be literary. The HLE will make up 25% of your final IB English HL grade, and it is graded externally.

The HL Essay is a 1200-1500 word formal essay and it is based on a literary work studied as part of the course. You cannot use the same work for the IO or the Paper 2 [1] for this essay. In the IB Language and Literature course [2] , the essay can also be based on a non-literary or collection of non literary text(s).

Andrew and Dave love poetry for the HLE. They are complete "mini works" with a clear beginning, middle, and end. They are rich in techniques. They are complex and have deep meaning. In short, they rock. Just remember that for the HLE, "short texts need friends.". Document: HLE Student Sample - Poetry.

The HL essay offers students an opportunity to develop as independent, critical and creative readers, thinkers and writers by exploring a literary or language topic over an extended period of time, refining their ideas by means of a process of planning, drafting and re-drafting. The essay requires students to construct a focused, analytical ...

IA English A (Lang & Lit) HL Essay HL 7. High scoring IB English A (Lang & Lit) HL Essay Internal Assessment examples. See what past students did and make your English A (Lang & Lit) HL Essay IA perfect by learning from examiner commented examples!

Demands of the IB English HL Essay. Examples of Level 7 IB English HL Essay Titles. IB English HL Essay Overview. 1. Consider the Source you Wish to Write About. 2. Decide on your Topic by Brainstorming Wider Themes. 3. Consolidate your Line of Argument in a Thesis Statement.

HL papers for the Literature exam are divided into two components: Paper 1 is a 2 hour and 15 minute long essay-based examination that requires you to analyze unseen texts. Paper 2 is a 2 hour and 15 minute long examination that will require you to answer questions based on the required texts for the course, and questions can be picked based on ...

The HL essay offers students an opportunity to develop as independent, critical and creative readers, thinkers and writers by exploring a literary topic over an extended period of time, refining their ideas by means of a process of planning, drafting and re-drafting. The essay requires students to construct a focused, analytical argument ...

The discussion, ideas, and inspiration for the HL Essay will ideally come from the student's Learner Portfolio. Students may expand on an idea, activity, or smaller-scale assessment explored in class as inspiration for selecting a topic and developing a line of inquiry. Students may also explore their own, self-generated lines of inquiry.

Visit us at https://ibenglishguys.com/This is video three of a FIVE-VIDEO SERIES demonstrating the entire HL Essay process from choosing the text to submitti...

HL Essay: final checklist for students before submission This page is designed for students as a guide for a final check of their essay before submission.These guidelines can also be downloaded as a document here: HL Essay: final checklist HL Essay: final checklistIt is vitally important that you take time before final submission to ensure your work is of the best possible standard. At this ...

In this guide, I have compiled materials to help teach you how to interpret poetry and how to structure your essay/commentary. I've also provided notes on several books typically taught in IB English SL/HL. This should be most of the material you need to study for your IB exam and to study for your in-class exams.

Let us guide you through the entire process. We'll leverage five complete HLE samples and show you how it's done. Start with the Line of inquiry and end with 1500 words you can celebrate! The HLE Planning Guide includes: 100-page course book. 5 sample papers across genres. Line of inquiry guidance. Step-by-step approach to building the HLE.

The Higher Level (HL) essay is a formal academic essay of between 1,200 - 1,500 words.It is, obviously, a task that is only completed by HL students. Based on what you study in your course, the essay gives you the opportunity to choose an area that is of particular interest to you and, with guidance from your teacher, write a focused essay that shows an understanding of a literary work or a ...

Choosing the right structure. A Practical Guide to Writing a Paper 1 essay. An IB English Paper 1 essay boils down to 3 separate parts: An introduction paragraph: contains a thesis and an outline of your points. A body (usually 3 paragraphs): contains your points. A conclusion: wraps up the essay. Choosing a thesis.

The Higher Level Essay is a 1200-1500 word essay completed internally but externally assessed by an examiner. It is a processed piece of writing that is completed over time and with guidance from the teacher. It is the only opportunity for Higher Level students to write an essay not under exam conditions, and as the title suggests, this is for HL students only.Students may write about a single ...

Take a deep dive into best practices for Marking your Language and literature HL essay. Through an in-depth, clear explanation of each marking criterion, overall marks, and best fit you are equipped to practice marking real student samples at your own pace. You will sharpen your marking skills by receiving feedback from real IB examiners on ...

Weighting - 20%. The HL essay offers students an opportunity to develop as independent, critical and creative readers, thinkers and writers by exploring a literary or language topic over an extended period of time, refining their ideas by means of a process of planning, drafting and re-drafting. The essay requires students to construct a ...

Here are the top tips to help you achieve a level 7 on your IB HL English essay. Analyze the question carefully: Before diving into writing, read the prompt carefully and identify the key themes and ideas. Make sure you understand what the question is asking for. This will help you to stay focused and on-topic throughout the essay.

At the end of the program, all English Literature HL students sit papers 1 and 2. Paper 1 consists of two literary texts for analysis. Each text has a guiding question as an entry point from which to write the response. Lit HL students must complete both written pieces in two hours and 15 minutes. Paper 2 is a comparative essay of two literary ...

Advertise with Clastify. High scoring IB English A (Lit) HL Essay Internal Assessment examples. See what past students did and make your English A (Lit) HL Essay IA perfect by learning from examiner commented examples!

Assessment. Higher Level Essay. Higher Level coursework essay: a student guide. A page and download for HL students...The notes below are designed to give you some guidance with preparing and writing the coursework essay. There are also some links in the text to other areas of this site, which provide further help and support. Do check them out!

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• How a car accident has changed my life

How a car accident has changed my life - Essay Example

• Subject: People
• Type: Essay
• Level: Masters
• Pages: 3 (750 words)
• Downloads: 36
• Author: rhiannonwiegand

Extract of sample "How a car accident has changed my life"

How a car accident has changed my life I would start this essay by saying that it is very few times that lives change with a single accident. My case is not any different. This accident brought a sense of responsibility within me which I did not have within me in the past. I would understand that such accidents do happen once in a while and it is right that one such accident shook my basis in particular and made me feel what I was doing in my life. Accidents are always sad and talking about them makes one feel even sadder.

Since I am narrating the whole story here, a sense of sadness has come inside me. But I will be stating what I went through and how my life changed with just a single accident. This essay describes an accident which changed my life in a very horrific way. As far as this accident is concerned, it happened in front of H and R block where I ended up on being a one way street. My black 1999 Chevy Cavalier was hit in the back by this lady’s car which was silver 2007 Grand Pri. There was a sudden sound which resembled more like a big bang.

When I saw in the rear mirror, it was a car that was speeding up towards my car. Since I was parking in front of the H and R block, the speed of the other car came down from 40 mph to zero in just 2 seconds. This was one horrific scene that I saw but much happened after that. Moving ahead here, I did not have any time at all to get hold of the steering wheel and do something to either avoid or at least minimize the impact of the collision from behind. It just happened so quickly that I did not realize what I really had to do.

However all I knew was that I was up for something really bad. As soon as the girl hit her car into mine, my car had a momentum, as my car moved forward by about 20 yards across the road. I was shaken very badly due to this accident. The drink in my center drink holder exploded right across the windshield, leaving me full of expressions, but none that I could understand so quickly. By this time, I had to get out of the car to know what had actually happened with me. After this when I finally came out of my car, I was left very surprised by the entire accident.

I came at the back of the car to witness much damage that had happened. My car had been completely smashed in the trunk. The girl was very lucky as her car did not have that many dents. It had just a single dent in the hood where one of the lenses was smashed off of the headlight but the car was in pretty stable and drivable condition. I was amazed how my car received so much yet the girl’s car experienced very few problems. This was a point that still amazes me a lot. I would say that due to such a tragic experience, I received a whiplash and had to undergo treatment.

I was put on medicines by the doctor as well as wear a neck brace for more than a week. This was a time of finding where I was going wrong. I started to recall how I had taken my life for granted for so long. A single moment could change life and this happened all just so quickly. It changed me as a person and made me realize how I need to be close to my near and dear ones more and more. It made me feel how fragile life is and how sad things can turn out to be if care is not taken properly. In conclusion, I would summarize the essay by saying that accidents do happen to everyone on different occasions.

I am of the opinion that sadness does come in when one thinks of these accidents but then again it is always good to think about the past and explore the basis of life. All said and done, this accident is the most life-changing event of my life and whenever I think about it, I start feeling really sad about the whole accident. However I try finding a few lessons every now and then, which can be regarded as a positive aspect.

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