IB concepts
Culture
You may be familiar with more than one culture. You will certainly have a direct connection to at least one and relate to it closely. Literary texts are similarly linked to culture and this concept asks how this might affect the text and how far it can be seen as a product of that culture rather than as something that stands completely alone.
Questions or tasks for reading log entries: Some of the works you have read might be very difficult for someone to understand who was unfamiliar with the cultural context in which the work is set. Was this your experience with any of the works you have read for the course so far? Can an author write successfully about a culture of which they are not a part? How is the cultural context of the work you are studying at the moment revealed?
Creativity
Creativity describes the imaginative activity by which a writer processes ideas and experiences in the writing of a text. Just as important is the creativity needed by the reader to realize the potential meanings of the text.
Questions or tasks for reading log entries: Consider which of the works you have read so far has been particularly successful in drawing you into the world created by the writer. What do you think went into the creation of that world? Think about another work you have read which was more open or ambiguous in connection with its meanings. How creative do you need to be as a reader to explore the possible different meanings of a work? Try to find many possible interpretations of the work you are reading or of one of its elements. Write an alternative ending or part of the book you are reading that changes its interpretation, but that tries to replicate the author’s style.
Communication This concept asks whether literary texts aim primarily to communicate an idea or teach something to the reader, or whether they are opportunities for selfexpression or entertainment.
Questions or tasks for reading log entries: Think about a work which has been very difficult for you to understand and required you to do some research before you could fully comprehend it. You could also think about works which were easily understood at a first reading but then revealed other meanings. What caused one to be more easily understood than the other? What is the main aim of the work that you are studying? How do you know this? How accessible is this work to you as a reader? What might prevent a reader understanding this work?
Identity
Each literary text usually contains different characters with different traits. When you study these characters you may find that implicit behind them are the views or thoughts of the author. In other words, these characters may represent some aspect of the identity of the author. At the same time, characters can also be a mirror that helps you to recognize yourself. Studying literary characters may also result therefore in an exploration of your own identity.
Questions or tasks for reading log entries: Consider a character from those in the works you have studied that you really admire. How far do you think it was the intention of the work to elicit this response in you? List the personality traits of any one character: label the ones that you think represent some aspect of the author’s identity and the ones that you find similar to your own.
Perspective
The concept of perspective revolves around both the way that readers may understand a text in different ways and also the way that text presents a particular viewpoint.
Questions or tasks for reading log entries: Consider to what extent you have identified with or felt challenged by perspectives offered in the works you have read. Explore how a work has confirmed or deepened your views on a particular issue. How successfully has the work you are reading right now presented a particular point of view?
Representation
This concept asks us to consider how far the world of a text corresponds to the real world. Some writers may aim to represent the outside world as faithfully as possible. Some others may instead choose to create more abstract literary texts. If you think about painting, this difference might become clear if you contrast the portraits of Leonardo da Vinci with those of Picasso. Similarly, among the texts you have read, there might be some which offered a very realistic portrait of the world they represented, while others might give us a portrait of life and the world which is fragmented, distorted or idealized.
Questions or tasks for reading log entries: How similar is the world in the work you are reading to the real world? How recognisable are the characters and their attitudes? In what ways does the use of language in the works you have read represent in itself a view of the world?
Transformation
This concept is about the act of reading a text and the nature of the change that reading brings about. Studying a text is a complex process where as we read and think about the text, the text for us changes and we as a reader change because of what we have read. At the same time, as we read more texts and make connections between them, another transformation occurs in how we regard the texts.
Questions or tasks for reading log entries: From your own reading, think about a work that has impacted your thinking about writing, a topic or issue, or reading. What was it about the work that transformed your thinking? Write about a work that is changing your thinking. What is being transformed: your views on reading, on writing or on an issue? Compare two works that you have read in the course. How does comparing them change how you understand each work? How do the works seem different after this comparison?
Global issues
During the two-year course, you will investigate how a range of texts connect clearly to a variety of global issues. You will then explore the ways in which these issues are present in your booklist and how different authors and texts represent, reflect and/or explore them through their choice of literary form, structure, language use or literary devices. The global issues you select will shape your focus for the individual oral.
Properties of a global issue
A global issue incorporates the following three properties:
• it has significance on a wide or large scale
• it is transnational
• its impact is felt in everyday, local contexts.
The following list contains some suggested fields of inquiry.
Culture, identity and community
This study could focus on the way in which works explore aspects of family, community, class, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality and nationality, and the way that these impact on individuals and societies. You could, for example, examine issues concerning migration, multiculturalism, colonialism and nationalism. One global issue which could be examined here relates to the way that identities are constructed and the role of the community in shaping or suppressing identity.
Beliefs, values and education
You could focus on the way in which works explore the beliefs and values nurtured in particular societies and the ways they contribute to the shaping of individuals and communities. You could investigate the tensions that arise when there are conflicts and the value and effects of education. One global issue in this field of inquiry that you could examine is how different individuals and communities respond to change and whether their system of beliefs resists or accepts change.
Politics, power and justice
The ways in which works explore aspects of rights and responsibilities could be looked at, along with the workings and structures of governments, the hierarchies of power, the sharing of wealth and resources, equality and inequality, the limits of justice, and the law, peace and conflict. One global issue which could be explored here is how the relationships of power are represented in the works and whether there is any individual or group which is deprived of power and silenced or marginalized.
Art, creativity and the imagination
The study could focus on the ways in which works explore aspects of aesthetic inspiration, creation, craft, and beauty, the shaping and challenging of perceptions through art, and the function, value and effects of art in society. One global issue that could be explored within this field of inquiry is the role of the artist in the world of the work. If any of the characters in the work is an artist, it could be interesting to consider what view of the role of the artist and of art is expressed through this character.
Science, technology and the environment
The study could examine the ways in which works explore the relationship between humans and the natural environment, the implications of technology and media for society and the consequences of scientific development and progress. One global issue you could explore here would be the extent to which science is presented in the work as realizing the potential of human beings or threatening and limiting it.
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