An IB English Paper 1 essay boils down to 3 separate parts:
An introduction paragraph: contains a thesis and an outline of your points
A body (usually 3 paragraphs): contains your points
A conclusion: wraps up the essay
The thesis or subject statement is a single sentence in the introduction of the guided analysis that states how the writer achieves their overall purpose.
This is also the main argument that you are trying to prove in your essay, and it's typically related to the guiding question. The examiner can usually judge the strength of your analytical skills JUST from your subject statement alone, so it needs to be well-written!
Every text works best with a specific paragraph structure. Finding this match isn't always easy, but it's also one of the most important things to get right in your Paper 1 guided analysis.
You can organise your essay by:
ideas or themes
techniques
sections (sequential, e.g. stanza by stanza for poems)
the ‘Big 5':
SPECSLIMS
and probably a whole host of other acronyms that English teachers love to invent.
Pro Tip: I recommend students to stay away from the Big 5. Sure, it's useful as a memory device to tell you what elements to look for in a text, but it's not a good essay structure for analysis.
Criterion C for IB English Paper 1 is Organisation. It's worth a whole 5/20 marks, so it's definitely in your best interest to choose the most appropriate structure for your essay.
Why? Because analysis is about examining the causal interplay between techniques, stylistic choices, audience, tone, and themes. The Big 5 and SPECSLIMS artificially silo these components in your discussion. Heed my advice or pay the price! (notice that rhyme?)
So in my opinion, there are only two types of structure that are most conducive (yep, another new vocab, omnomnom) to getting a 7. Ideas/themes and Sections. Take this as a hot tip and run with it. If your teacher is forcing you to use other structures, then you'll need to know why this is recommended.
Once you've chosen the best structure for your essay and decided on a strong thesis as your central argument, the rest of the essay needs to revolve around proving this argument.
How do you prove this subject statement? You do it by looking at individual points. These smaller points support smaller, more specific aspects of the overall thesis.
The idea is that each body paragraph, or point, aims to prove a separate, smaller aspect of the bigger thesis. It's like a jigsaw puzzle: You must piece together smaller, more manageable pieces to build the bigger argument (i.e. the thesis).
In reality, this translates into writing 2, 3 or 4 points, each of which fits snuggly it its own paragraph or multiple paragraphs (depending on the complexity of the point).
In each point, you must include:
Quotes, references to images, titles, headings, or visual elements. This is the evidence.
Analysis of language and literary techniques. Use specific quotes from the text and explain how and why they are used by the writer to shape his/her message.
Obviously, this is a quick summary of how to write a high-quality body paragraph. We dive deeper into the specific details of how to structure a body paragraph in the guided analysis.
Ironically, the most important part of IB English Paper 1 is not the analysis itself (well it is, but not really). The part you have to get right the first time is the plan. Most students do not know how to plan effectively, or get flustered in the exam and don't plan, or don't even try to plan because they think they're above it. Big mistake!
Before you even begin writing, you should plan out your essay in sufficient detail. You will lose track of time, thought and sanity if you do not have a clear road map of every part of your essay before you begin writing.
You can learn how to annotate and plan quickly & efficiently using the flowchart method, which we demonstrate inside Learn Analysis and Paper 1.
In the Pro lesson below, we go into detail on exactly how to plan a Paper 1 essay effectively and efficiently under exam conditions.