Assessments
Your NHS grades (that figure into your GPA) are separate from the IB diploma requirements, although some IB assessments may be used as course grades, such as this year’s HL Essay (see below). To prepare you for the IB assessments that will be scored by the IB examiners, I will apply various rubrics to grade your work, using a Conversion Chart to equate your grade to a 100-point scale.
Here is the Conversion Chart used in IB English.
You will get a major grade for each unit (each book we study), along with a bunch of minor grades for blogging, quizzes, and various assignments. Major Grades range from formal academic papers to creative projects, and you will generally have options from which to choose. Major grades factor in at 60%, and minor grades at 40%. Then, we devilishly factor in an exam grade at 20%. The Exam will be your first full IB assessment — the HL Essay. Here are the Higher Level Essay Guidelines.
Your IB score is based on four IB assessments over the two years of the course. The HL Essay is the only one you will encounter in the Junior year, and it is worth 25% of the overall score. Next year, you’ll submit an Oral Commentary (15%) in December, and you’ll sit for two written exams (35% & 25%) in May.
Areas of Exploration
Basically, these AoE represent the ways we look at literature in IB English. The texts for study were selected with these ideas in mind.
Readers, writers, and texts. This AoE is centered on the text itself–how does the author create meaning, what is his/her connection to the text, how do we use critical tools to interpret the text, etc. Here is where we practice good old-fashioned close reading.
Time and space. Here, we’re interested in the range of historical and/or cultural contexts–the variety of ways literary texts might both reflect and shape society at large. The focus is on the consideration of personal and cultural perspectives, the development of broader perspectives, and an awareness of the ways in which context is tied to meaning. If you are wondering how Mr. N picks the books we read, the IB requires us to read a number of works representing different geographic regions, languages, and eras.
Intertextuality. How do different literary works relate to each other? Connecting texts allows us to extend our study and make fruitful comparisons. We might explore various topics, thematic concerns, generic conventions, literary forms, or literary traditions that have been introduced throughout the course that are common to several works.
Blogging
In addition to the unit tests and projects, students will also get minor grades each semester for blogging. Here’s how the blogging requirement works.
Each semester, students will post blogs of 500 words or more, one for each of the subject works. We will occasionally have time set aside in class for students to write, or read each others’ posts and comment, but the great majority of this is done on the students’ own time.
A post must be approved by Mr. Nigro before it is published for everyone to read. If the post is too short, or inappropriate, or insufficient for some other reason, it will adversely affect your grade.
You can be analytical, satirical, poetical — whatever. But do be insightful, whether your post is serious or funny, it must directly address a specific aspect of the subject work: a scene, a character, a theme, etc.
Occasionally issues raised in the blog posts will be discussed in class. Personal opinions are encouraged, as long as they stimulate a deeper understanding of what we are studying. One firm rule is that we will be respectful of others and of their opinions in our blogging.
Core Concepts
These seven concepts can serve as discussion starters when interpreting texts. They are, in effect, lenses through which we view the literature.
Identity
The student might be interested in an aspect of the representation of identity of a particular character or group of characters in the work, or on the way in which the work itself relates to the identity of the writer.
Culture
The student might be interested in an aspect of the representation of the culture of a particular place, institution or group of people, or on the way in which the work itself relates to a particular culture.
Creativity
The student might be interested in an aspect of the representation of individual or collective creativity, or lack of creativity, within the work, or on the way in which the work itself represents the creativity of the writer.
Communication
The student might be interested in an aspect of the representation of acts of communication, or failures in communication, in the work, or on the way in which the work itself represents an act of communication.
Transformation
The student might be interested in an aspect of the representation of transformation or transformative acts in the work, or in the way in which the work itself is a transformative act either of the other works (through intertextual reference to them) or of reality (by means of a transformative effect on the reader’s identity, relationships, goals, values, and beliefs.)
Perspective
The student might be interested in an aspect of the representation of a particular perspective or perspectives within the work, or on the way in which the work itself represents the writer’s perspective.
Representation
The student might be interested in an aspect of the way in which the work itself represents different themes, attitudes and concepts, or in the extent to which literature can actually represent reality.
Homework
Unless you are working on a paper or project, or writing a blog post, homework in IB English is just reading and jotting down notes to open-ended prompts so you will be prepared to discuss the text in class (see the Course Map). In IB, even if there are no formal prompts given, “reading” means annotating the text, journaling your ideas, considering questions, and coming to class with something to say. Your notes and written work will go into your Portfolio (see below). But don’t worry; our expectations are for you to spend no more than 30-45 minutes on work between class meetings.
The Guide
Everything you ever wanted to know about IB and more…right here.
Learner Portfolio & Template
The Portfolio is basically your notebook, which you can maintain any way you want (journal, binder, digital files, etc.). The idea is that you’ll pore over this thing to consider possible ideas for various assessments. It is a requirement that isn’t assessed, a concept that seems to make sense to the IB. Here’s the official description, along with a sheet I made for your use, if desired.
Year 2
Seniors in IB English will study fewer works to allow us more flexibility in terms of time. The reasons we need this are: 1) seniors are busy! 2) Diploma students have a big March 15 deadline for their TOK and Extended Essay papers; and 3) we finish early to accommodate the May exams. Once the exams begin, we won’t have many classes with all of us present because of the exam schedule (remember, AP and IB students only need to attend school for the exams on those days), so we’ll essentially be done.
All of our Year 2 texts are classified as British Lit. Why? Because IB students miss out on English 4. Who ever heard of an honors English program that doesn’t offer British Lit? Consequently, we focus on classics.
There will be three IB assessments in the Senior year: the Individual Oral in December, and the two Exam papers in May. Together, these comprise 75% of your total score in IB English, so this year matters. No “senioritis” for us!