IB DP Language A Language and Literature -sample text analysis – Princess Diana magazine cover

Text: “The World Mourns Diana Princess of Wales 1961-1997.” Hello! https://www.hellomagazine.com/imagenes/royalty/2017080441196/princess-diana-hello-magazine-cover-story-behind/0-214-364/0474-Hello-Cover-princess-diana-dies-a.jpg

Before you read the “spoiler” bullet points below take a careful look at the text. Imagine it is a text you are using for your DP Language A Language and Literature assessments ( Paper 1, the individual oral, the HL essay,) and analyze it accordingly. This text would not be appropriate for Paper 2.

Paper 1: first take a careful look at criteria A and B . Then, consider how you would approach this particular text in light of the requirements of criteria A and B.

Individual oral: Start by looking at criteria A and B for the IO. There are some similarities between the criteria in the individual oral and those in Paper 1. However, the individual oral also requires students to make connections between extracts from a work and body of work. The individual oral must make connections with the global issue that the student has chosen. Consider how this text is linked to different global issues.

HL essay: The HL essay is an in-depth analysis of a non-literary body of work or a literary work the student has studied in class. Imagine this text is from a non-literary body of work and consider possible approaches you could take with the 1200-1500 word HL essay. This could include evaluating connections between this text and the seven central concepts in DP Language A Language and Literature.

Some elements of this text to consider:

  • The dark / somber tone of the text and the different visual elements that are used to create this.
  • The font style / sizes at the top of the magazine cover.
  • The visual elements of the portrait of Princess Diana – the look on her face, the darker shadows on the left, the dark dress, etc all of which match the overall tone of this text.
  • Consider what the editor wanted to convey in the choice of title (e.g. “The World Mourns…” and photo and the effect on the reader.

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