Key Idea: Paper 1 gives you two unseen non-literary texts, each with a guiding question. At HL you write two separate guided analyses in 2 hours 15 minutes. Each is out of 20, so 40 in total.
The guided-analysis method
- Get the gist — Before you analyse, find the text type, purpose, audience and message.
- Name the choice — Pick a choice the writer made, with a brief reference.
- Explain its effect — Say what it does to the reader.
- Link to meaning — Show how it serves the purpose or message. This is Criterion B.
Working the guiding question
- Underline its focus before you read the text.
- Turn it into a one-sentence thesis for your introduction.
- Analyse only the choices that prove that thesis.
- You may argue a different focus, as long as you stay focused and support every point.
Two texts, two analyses
- Read both texts first (about 5 minutes) and choose the order.
- Then give each text about 65 minutes, the harder one included.
- Each analysis has its own thesis and its own conclusion.
- Never write one combined essay.
| Criterion | Marks | What it checks |
|---|---|---|
| A Understanding | 5 | Grasp the text; back each idea with evidence |
| B Analysis and evaluation | 5 | How choices work, and how WELL |
| C Focus and organisation | 5 | One line of argument; intro, paragraphs, conclusion |
| D Language | 5 | Your own writing: clear, precise, academic, accurate |
| Total | 20 per text | 40 for both texts |
Analyse choices, not features: a device you only name earns very little.
Must you answer the guiding question? No. But your analysis must stay focused and supported.
Where do most students struggle? B (describing instead of evaluating) and C (listing devices with no focus).
How are the two HL analyses marked? Separately. Each gets its own A–D mark out of 20, then the two are added.
Why does a rushed second analysis hurt so much? It is worth the same 20 marks as the first one.
Why does feature-spotting score low? It names a device but never says what it achieves.