From Ibstudy

English A is one of the Group 1 subjects for the IB Diploma.

Contents 1 Handling Different Works of Literature 1.1 Poetry 1.2 Prose Fiction 1.3 Drama 1.4 Nonfiction 2 English-Language Literature 2.1 British and Irish Literature 2.1.1 William Shakespeare 2.2 North American Literature 2.3 Other English-Language Literature 3 Works in Translation 3.1 Americas 3.2 Europe 3.3 Middle East and North Africa 3.4 Sub-Saharan Africa 3.5 Central and South Asia 3.6 East Asia 3.7 Oceania and Polynesia

Handling Different Works of Literature

Poetry

Poetry is best dealt with the way one would deal with a prose passage analysis. Typically one reads through the poem once or twice, and then looks for specific themes and literary devices.

With a poem, the best is to look for literary devices such as repetition, assonance and consonance, and plays on words. Depending on the poem, you also might want to look for the meter. Oftentimes, looking for overarching themes or motifs is more difficult because, since poems tend to run short (unless you are dealing with an epic), you will probably find only a handful of examples of a specific theme.

Prose Fiction

Drama

• A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams (United States)

Nonfiction

English-Language Literature

For information works originally written in English.

British and Irish Literature

• The Caretaker by Harold Pinter (England)
• Dubliners by James Joyce (Ireland)
• Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett (Ireland)
• Equus by Peter Shaffer (England)

William Shakespeare

• Hamlet

• Much Ado About Nothing

North American Literature

• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (United States)

• Grendel by John Gardner (United States)

• Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison (United States)

• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (United States)

• Fifth Business by Robertson Davies (Canada)

Other English-Language Literature

• Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (Nigeria)

Works in Translation

For information on works originally written in a language other than English. Please include the original language as well as the country of origin.

Americas

• Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Colombia, original language Spanish)

Europe

• The Stranger by Albert Camus (France, original language French)

• Night by Elie Wiesel (Hungary/France, original language Yiddish)

• The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum by Heinrich Boll (Germany, original language German)

• Perfume by Patrick Suskind (Germany, original language German)

• Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (France, original language French)

• Antigone by Jean Anouilh (France, original language French)

Middle East and North Africa

• Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz (Egypt, original language Arabic)

Sub-Saharan Africa

Central and South Asia

East Asia

• The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima (Japan, original language Japanese)

Oceania and Polynesia