IB English A: Language & Literature: Time and space
Context, culture and how texts are shaped by when and where they are made. 4 subtopics, 18 key terms.
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The events and values of the time a text was produced.
Cultural context
The beliefs, customs and norms of the society behind a text.
Anachronistic reading
Judging a text only by today's values, ignoring its original context.
Reception
How audiences have responded to a text over time.
Ask: How might the text have been read when it was produced? How is it read today? What has changed?
The full notes, worked example and check questions for this subtopic are in the app.
Exam tip: Integrate context into analysis (“Written during the 1930s Depression, the speech's emphasis on ‘work for all’…”), never as a separate background paragraph.
2.2Culture, identity and representation
Key terms
Representation
How people, groups, places or ideas are portrayed in texts.
Stereotype
An oversimplified, generalised representation of a group.
Marginalised voice
A perspective often excluded or silenced in mainstream texts.
Gaze
Whose point of view the text adopts (e.g. the male gaze, the colonial gaze).
Identity
How individuals and groups define themselves (gender, ethnicity, class, nationality, sexuality, age).
Ask: Who is represented? How? Who is absent or silent? Whose perspective is dominant?
The full notes, worked example and check questions for this subtopic are in the app.
Exam tip: Representation questions reward precision: name exactly which group, which technique, and what view of them the text constructs.
2.3Language, power and persuasion
Key terms
Ideology
A system of beliefs and values, often presented as natural or common sense.
Propaganda
Biased communication designed to promote a political cause or point of view.
Euphemism
A mild word used to hide something unpleasant (“collateral damage”).
Framing
How an issue is presented to shape interpretation (e.g. “tax relief” vs. “tax cut”).
Bias
A one-sided presentation that favours a particular view.
Language can include or exclude (“we” vs. “they”), legitimise power, or hide responsibility (passive voice: “mistakes were made”).
The full notes, worked example and check questions for this subtopic are in the app.
Exam tip: Look for agency: who does what to whom? Passive verbs and nominalisations often hide the agent.
2.4Translation and global texts
Key terms
Work in translation
A literary work originally written in another language.
Translator's choices
Decisions about words, rhythm, cultural references and tone that shape the translated text.
Untranslatable
A word or concept with no exact equivalent in another language.
Global issue
A significant issue with local relevance that is felt across cultures (used in the IO).
The course requires works in translation: they show how culture shapes language and meaning.
The full notes, worked example and check questions for this subtopic are in the app.
Exam tip: When writing about a translated work, avoid over-analysing single word sounds (alliteration) that belong to the translator, not the author.