A step-by-step writing frame for the IB Language A: Literature HL Essay. Take one literary work, develop a focused line of inquiry, and build a clear, sustained argument that analyses the author's choices and their effects — with the four assessment criteria and the 1,200–1,500-word discipline built in.
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📄 Official IB subject brief (ibo.org ↗) — your teacher or IB coordinator can share the full subject guide.
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To cite a source in your essay, click “Insert citation” on any entry while a writing box is focused — it drops an in-text citation at your cursor.
This is roughly how your exported DOCX / PDF will read. Keep the essay within 1,200–1,500 words (the Works Cited list does not count) — examiners penalise essays outside the range.
The IB Language A: Literature HL Essay is an external, HL-only assessment worth 20% of the HL grade: a 1,200–1,500-word formal essay developing a focused line of inquiry about one literary work you have studied. This examiner-written writing frame walks you through it step by step — choose a single work and an analysable focus, turn that focus into an arguable line of inquiry, state a clear thesis, and build a sequence of analytical points that examine the author's choices of form, structure, language, style and narrative technique and the effects they create. You support every point with well-chosen textual references, consider complexity and alternative readings, and close on a conclusion the body has earned, all within the word limit. Each step is paired with the assessment criteria, worked good-and-bad examples and the traps that cost marks, and your essay exports to DOCX or PDF. The planning sections are free to use; the later sections are a one-time unlock. Sign in to save your work and sync it across devices.
The HL Essay is marked out of 20 across four criteria, each out of 5: A — Knowledge, understanding and interpretation; B — Analysis and evaluation; C — Focus, organization and development; D — Language. Top-band essays sustain a clear, arguable line of inquiry on one work, analyse the author's deliberate choices and their effects rather than retelling the plot, support every point with well-chosen textual evidence, weigh alternative readings, and write in precise, formal academic English.
The essay is built on a single line of inquiry — usually a focused "How does…?" question about how the author's choices produce meaning. Treat the work as a deliberate construct: analyse how it is made, not what happens. Ground every argument in a well-chosen, briefly quoted textual reference, analyse the mechanism by which the choice creates its effect, and test your reading against a genuine alternative interpretation.
The Literature HL Essay tool is free to start: the planning sections are free, and the later sections are a one-time unlock per tool. You sign in to save your work to your own account and sync it across devices. The frame and its guidance are written by experienced IB educators.