IB HL Lit – Practice Essay Reflection

14/02/20

For my practice essay, I looked at the poem, ‘Medusa’ by Carol Ann Duffy

The general feedback that we got included these points:
1. Included your Question (a clear line, and incorporating the course concepts)

2. Structure (introducing the text and writer, the question referenced throughout the essay, topic sentences that answer the question, be selective about parts of the text, foreground the writer and do not waste time rewriting the story)

3. Word Counts and Formatting Quotations (be concise and thorough. be consistent with the format of quotations and don’t let them be too long)

4. Secondary Reading (take it from reputable and relevant sources, let experts speak for you, and expand and challenge the secondary reading)

The personal feedback that I got from Ms Markham is shown in the pictures below:

My thoughts on this feedback are that I need to cite experts and specific secondary texts to support my ideas to make my essay more ‘enlightening.’ I also accidentally did a psychoanalytical reading of the text and if I rewrote my question and did more secondary reading, my essay could be better. I rewrote a possible new question for my ideas: How does a psychoanalytical reading of Carol Ann Duffy’s poem ‘Medusa’ impact our understanding of the poem?

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One thought on “IB HL Lit – Practice Essay Reflection

  1. Cara, I haven’t read the poem but am now intrigued to read it fully so that I can try to see where you made the connections. I am very impressed with your analysis and the connections you have made between the modern and the ancient. I never would have been able to write an essay of this calibre about a poem. Very proud. Well done and keep at it.

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