Paper 2

The good news is that, compared to all the other internal and external assessments, Paper 2 is simple. You have essay questions, you choose which ones you are most comfortable with, you write the essays in the time provided. Simple.

The difficulty comes in the preparation. For each essay, you will need to rely on knowledge from the course for argument and evidence. This means that for at least three out of the four units (HL), you will need to recall specific theorists, definitions, and case examples. If that sounds difficult - it is. But, after two years and four units of study, you might be surprised with your fluency in GloPo concepts - it is far from impossible.

There are three key areas of preparation for Paper 2:

• Similar to Paper 1, you need immediate knowledge of the GloPo command terms. Each essay question will use a different command term. Knowing what these terms require of you is critical to success. (See Left)

• Secondly, for each unit you need to memorize the key theories and definitions - there is no way around this. Refer to the unit pages of this website for key concepts, theories, and definitions.

  • Power, Sov., IR

  • Human Rights

  • Development

  • Peace and Conflict

• Finally, for each unit have a few (you don't need more than two or three for each unit) Case Studies you can use to accompany the theoretical analysis. You do not need to know these cases as well as you might for your HL extension - but you should be able to manipulate them to the needs of the question.

The markbands should also be closely examined (in the Paper 2 guide posted at left) while studying and practicing for the exam.

Each year, the IB releases an overall assessment of student work for the prior academic year. This is an invaluable resource as it shows us what we are doing well and what we need to work on. The Paper 2 section is posted at left.

Some takeaways:

• When introducing a theory be specific. Ex - instead of referencing Nationalism, reference Anderson's theory of National Identity.

• Make sure that your theoretical choices are applicable and not just thrown in because you think you need them.

• Be sure to bring in case examples to complement theory.

• You must have counterclaims and multiple perspectives - feel free to be explicit in introducing these. 'A critique of this opinion might be...'

• You must have legible handwriting. Duh.

• You must have a clear thesis in your introduction.