Overview:

The IB Language A1 programme is designed to permit students to explore and interact with literature that covers a time period from early Greece to the 20^th-Century, with an emphasis on 19^th and 20^th-Century works. Representative of several cultures and written by both females and males, the literature is rich with material to promote in students an appreciation of language and of craft. Further, the Language A1 programme seeks to facilitate critical thinking and the precise presentation of argument in both oral and written discourse. IB students will enter the global 21^st-Century with an international perspective on literature and humanity.

1. To develop students’ powers of expression, both in oral and written communication, and to practice and develop the skills involved in writing and speaking in a variety of styles and situations.
2. To encourage a personal appreciation of literature and develop an understanding of the techniques involved in literary criticism.
3. To introduce students to literary classics and to a range of modern writing in different literary genres, styles and contexts.
4. To promote an international perspective through the comparative study of works from the students’ own culture and other cultures.
5. To introduce students to approaches to studying literature, leading to the development of an understanding and appreciation of the relationships between different works.
6. To develop the ability to engage in close, detailed and critical examination of written text.
7. To promote in students an enjoyment of, and lifelong interest in, literature.

1. Demonstrate an ability to express ideas with clarity, coherence, precision and fluency in both written and oral communication.
2. Demonstrate a sound command of the language appropriate for the study of literature and a discriminating appreciation of the need for an effective choice of diction and style in both written and oral communication.
3. Demonstrate a sound approach to literature through consideration of the works studied.
4. Demonstrate a sound knowledge of both the individual works studied and of the relationship between groups of works studied.
5. Demonstrate an appreciation of similarities and differences between literary works from different ages and/or cultures.
6. Demonstrate a proficient ability to engage in independent textual commentary on both familiar and unfamiliar pieces of writing.
7. Demonstrate a wide-ranging appreciation of the techniques and styles employed by authors and of their effects on the reader.
8. Demonstrate an ability to structure ideas and arguments, both orally and in writing, in a sustained, persuasive and sophisticated manner, and to support ideas and arguments with precise and relevant examples.
9. Express a personal response to literature and demonstrate the ability to engage in independent literary criticism.

The selections contain many overlapping archetypal themes; among them are:

• Alienation and indifference
• Appearance versus reality
• Death and suffering
• Hypocrisy
• Injustice (especially related to class and race issues)
• Relationships in families, marriage & society
• Revenge and retribution
• Search for identity
• Societal roles

1. Antigone, Sophocles
2. Kiss of the Spider Woman, Puig
3. A Doll’s House, Ibsen

Part II: Detailed Study

1. Hamlet, Shakespeare
2. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare
3. Poems by Donne, Keats & Atwood
4. The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne

Part III: Groups of Works: The Art of the Novel

1. Great Expectations, Dickens
2. Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald
3. Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Marquez
4. The Bluest Eye, Morrison

Part IV: Free Choice

1. Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston
2. Things Fall Apart, Achebe
3. Jane Eyre, Bronte
4. The Glass Menagerie, Williams

Semester Sequence: 11^th Year, Semester 1

1. Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston
2. Things Fall Apart, Achebe
3. Jane Eyre, Bronte
4. The Glass Menagerie, Williams

IB Assessment: Oral, both formal and informal (II and IV combined for 30%)

Semester Sequence: 11^th Year, Semester 2

1. Antigone, Sophocles
2. Kiss of the Spider Woman, Puig
3. A Doll’s House, Ibsen

IB Assessment: Paper 1: Study of an aspect, 1200-1500 words (10%)

Paper 2: Analysis or comparative study, 700-1000 words (10%)

Semester Sequence: 12^th Year, Semester 1

1. Hamlet, Shakespeare
2. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare
3. Poems by Donne, Keats & Atwood
4. The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne

IB Assessment: Oral, both formal and informal (II and IV combined for 30%)

Semester Sequence: 12^th Year, Semester 2

1. Great Expectations, Dickens
2. Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald
3. Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Marquez
4. The Bluest Eye, Morrison

IB Assessment: Written, formal essay and commentary (4 hours, 50%)

In addition to the IB required assessments mentioned above, students will also be evaluated on: class discussion and participation (especially to prepare for oral assessments); tests and quizzes on texts covered, based on the levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy; vocabulary and grammar-building activities and presentations; creative writing assignments based on literature; role playing exercises; dramatic presentations; both written and oral formal commentaries; and practice analyses, comparisons, essays and papers evaluated by IB descriptors.