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All 10 Flashcards — Reading a literary work
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Question
literary work
Answer
A novel, play, novella or set of short stories studied in full for the course. HL students study TWO, in English.
Question
narrator
Answer
The voice that tells the story INSIDE the work. It is NOT the author — a first-person "I" is a narrator, not the writer.
Question
author
Answer
The real person who wrote the work — distinct from the narrator.
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plot vs structure
Answer
Plot = what happens (the events). Structure = how the author arranges those events for effect (order, flashbacks, timeframes).
Question
theme
Answer
The big idea a work explores — usually an abstract noun (memory, loss, freedom). Inferred from what recurs, not stated outright.
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protagonist
Answer
The main character, whose journey the work follows.
Question
character arc
Answer
How a character changes across the work — from what they are at the start to what they become, and why.
Question
narrative voice
Answer
WHO tells the story: a first-person narrator (an "I" in the story) or a third-person narrator (an outside "she/he" voice).
Question
close-reading method
Answer
Detail → quotation → effect: name the detail, quote it, then explain what it does. Effect is where the marks are.
Question
How many works, in what language? (HL)
Answer
Two literary works, studied in English (the target language). The oral is built on an extract from one.
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Full study notes for Reading a literary work
Topic 8.1 hub
Studying a literary work
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English B exam skills
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