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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, the best ib history notes and study guide for sl/hl.

International Baccalaureate (IB)

If you want to do well on the IB History exam, you'll need to have a solid set of notes to study from. This can be difficult though if you're missing notes or feel like some of your own notes don't cover certain topics in enough depth. Luckily, we're here to help! We've assembled the best FREE online IB History notes into this complete study guide.

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What's the Format of the IB History Exam?

There are five prescribed subjects for IB History SL and HL:

Military leaders
Conquest and its impact
The move to global war
Rights and protest
Conflict and intervention

Your teacher will choose one that you'll cover, and you'll be tested on this for paper 1 (one hour in length).

There is also a list of twelve world history topics. For paper 2 (1.5 hours), you'll cover two of these:

Society and economy (750-1400)
Causes and effects of wars (750-1500)
Dynasties and rulers (750-1500)
Societies in transition (1400-1700)
Early Modern states (1450-1789)
Causes and effects of Early Modern wars (1500-1750)
Origins, development and impact of industrialization (1750-2005)
Independence movements (1800-2000)
Emergence and development of democratic states (1848-2000)
Authoritarian states (20 th century)
Causes and effects of 20 th -century wars
The Cold War: superpower tensions and rivalries (20 th century)

If you're taking IB History HL, you'll also have a final paper (Paper 3) that is 2.5 hours and will cover one of the four Depth Studies:

History of Africa and the Middle East
History of the Americas
History of Asia and Oceania
History of Europe

If you're interested in taking a look at the entire IBO IB History Guide , you can find it as a .pdf here.

How to Use This IB History Study Guide

If you're hoping for help on one subject, use Command + F to search this guide for specific IB History notes about that subject. As an example, if you want to read about the Cold War, use Command + F to cue the search function. Then type "Cold War," and it'll bring up all of the study materials for the Cold War.

The resource is separated into:

Quick reference: one-page summary of material if you just need a quick refresher.
Longer notes: notes (generally 3-10 pages) if you need more of an in-depth explanation.
Flashcards: online quizzes of key terms.

Common Study Mistakes for IB History SL/HL

Two common mistakes are:

Trying to ignore the topics you didn't comprehend from your teacher's lesson. If you didn't understand it in class, you need to find additional assistance through this IB History study guide or tutoring. You're still going to be tested over this material whether you understood it in class or not!
Only trying to learn the material a week or two before the IB papers. There is too much history to learn—one or two weeks will not be enough time to learn it (that's why IB History SL/HL is spread over a year or two). The best solution is keeping up in class and studying the material throughout the year.

Current IB History Guides

Because IB History was recently updated, there aren't that many current notes and study guides, but we've found the best available. These guides follow the syllabus of the current version of IB History. If you are studying the same topics these notes cover, they are a great resource to use because they hit all or most of the main topics you need to know to be well prepared for the IB History exam. There are guides that cover multiple topics as well as guides that cover a single topic.

Multi-Topic Guides and Overviews

IB History Duck covers similar topics. This guide focuses primarily on authoritarian leaders such as Hitler, Mao, and Stalin, as well as the Cold War, histories of China, the USSR, and Imperial Japan.

The Student Room has a plethora of resources for you. Just keep in mind that notes for the 2017 syllabus are mixed in with information from earlier exams , so make sure you're accessing and studying the correct material.

Single Topic Guides

These are notes on single topics that you'll cover on the IB syllabus.

Prescribed Topics: Military Leaders

Military leaders overview
Ghenghis Khan (c1200-1227) unit
Richard I of England (1173-1199) unit

Prescribed Topics: Conquest and Its Impacts

General overview of ideas you should know
The final stages of Muslim rule in Spain
The conquest of Mexico and Peru (1519-1551)

Prescribed Topics: Move to Global War

Move to global war Prezi notes
Move to global war longer notes
Japanese expansion in East Asia (1931-1941)
German expansion (1933-1940) unit
Italian expansion (1933-1940)

Prescribed Topics: Rights and Protest

Rights and protest US Civil Rights overview
Rights and protest Apartheid South Africa overview
Rights and protest complete unit

Prescribed Topics: Conflict and Intervention

Conflict and Intervention general overview
Conflict and Intervention workbook
Conflict and Intervention Rwanda flash cards

World History Topics: Society and Economy

Standard level economics brief
Higher level economics brief

World History Topics: Causes and Effects of Wars (750-1500)

Causes and effects of Medieval wars unit

World History Topics: Dynasties and Rulers (750-1500)

Dynasties and rulers (750-1500) unit, world history topics: societies in transition.

Societies in transition Prezi

World History Topics: Early Modern States (1450-1789)

Ferdinand/Isabella
Charles I/Phillip II
Henry VII (1485-1509)
Henry VIII (1509-1529)
Henry VIII (1529-1547)
Edward VI (1547-1553)
Mary I (1553-1558)
Elizabeth I (1558-1603)

World History Topics: Causes and Effects of Modern Wars (1500-1750)

Causes and effects of modern wars unit

World History Topics: Origins, Development and Impact of Industrialization (1750-2005)

Origins, development, and impact of industrialization notes

World History Topics: Independence Movements

Independence movements longer notes
Independence movements flashcards
Independence movements

World History Topics: Emergence and Development of Democratic States

Evolution and development of democratic states overview

World History Topics: Authoritarian States (20th Century)

Authoritarian states longer notes
Authoritarian states (20th century)

World History Topics: Causes and Effects of 20th Century Wars

Causes and effects of 20th Century wars general overview
Causes and effects of 20th Century wars unit

World History Topics: The Cold War — Superpower Tensions and Rivalries (20th Century)

Origins of the Cold War unit outline
Origins of the Cold War event overview
Origins of the Cold War longer notes

HL Depth Studies: History of Africa and the Middle East

Africa and the Middle East unit

HL Depth Studies: History of the Americas

History of the Americas longer notes
History of the Americas unit

HL Depth Studies: History of Asia and Oceania

History of China and Oceania longer notes
History of China and Oceania unit

HL Depth Studies: History of Europe

History of Europe longer notes
History of Europe unit

Past IB History Guides

These notes are based on the older (pre-2017) version of IB History. They won't fit the syllabus you're currently following in class, but since the two versions cover many similar concepts, they can still be useful for learning more about a specific topic. Just be sure not to use them as your main study resource because they may not focus on the exact same areas you're expected to know.

Peacemaking, Peacekeeping - International Relations 1918-36

1.1 Aims of the participants and peacemakers: Wilson and the fourteen points
1.2 Terms of the Paris Peace Treaties 1919-20: Versailles, St Germain, Trianon, Neuilly, Sevre
1.3 The geopolitical and economic impact of the treaties on Europe and the mandate system
1.4 Enforcement of the provisions of the treaties: US isolationism, the retreat from the Anglo-American Guarantee, Disarmament-Washington, London and Geneva Conferences
1.5 The League of Nations: effects of the absence of major powers, the principles of collective responsibility, and early attempts at peacekeeping (1920-25)
1.6 The Ruhr Crisis (1923), Locarno and the Locarno Spring
1.7 Depression and threats to international peace and collective security, Manchuria (1931 to 1933) and Abyssinia (1935 to 1936)
The Peace Treaties after World War One
The League of Nations in the 1920s
The Wall St. Crash / Depression
The League of Nations in the 1930s

Communism in Crisis 1976–89

2.1 The struggle for power following the death of Mao Zedong, Hua Guofeng, the reemergence of Deng Xiaoping and the defeat of the Gang of Four
2.2 China under Deng Xiaoping, economic policies and the Four Modernizations
2.3 China Under Deng Xiaoping, Political Changes And Their Limits, Culminating In The Demonstrations In Tiananmen Square
2.4 Domestic and foreign problems of the Brezhnev era, economic and political stagnation, Afghanistan
The Cold War c.1945-55
The Cold War c.1955-91
The Korean War c.1950-53

Causes, Practices and Effects of Wars

World War One
Causes of WW1
Course / Effects WW1
The Peace Treaties
German Involvement in Spanish Civil War
Causes of the Chinese Civil War
Causes of WW2

The Cold War

Democratic states—challenges and responses.

Weimar Germany

Origins and Development of Authoritarian and Single-Party States

Tsarist / Revolutionary Russia
Stalin's USSR
Additional Stalin's USSR materials
Hitler's Germany

Cold War Origins

Aspects of the History of the Americas

United States Civil War: Causes, Course and Effects 1840-1877
Emergence of the Americas in Global Affairs 1880-1929
Political Developments in the Americas after the Second World War 1945-79
The Cold War and the Americas
Civil Rights and Social Movements in America

Aspects of the History of Europe and the Middle East

#1: The French Revolution and Napoleon

Longer notes

#2: Unification and Consolidation of Germany and Italy

#3: The Ottoman Empire

#4: Western and Northern Europe 1848-1914

#5: Imperial Russia, Revolutions, Emergence of Soviet State 1853-1924

Longer notes: Tsarist and Revolutionary Russia to 1924
Longer notes: Alexander II
Longer notes: Alexander III
Longer notes: Nicholas II

#6: European Diplomacy and the First World War 1870-1923

Longer notes: Causes of WW1 , Course / Effects WW1 , the Peace Treaties

#7: War and Change in the Middle East 1914-49

Longer notes: The Peace Treaties after World War One
Longer notes: The League of Nations in the 1920s
Longer notes: The Wall St. Crash / Depression
Longer notes: The League of Nations in the 1930s
Khrushchev and Brezhnev
Causes for the Collapse of Communism in Europe

#10: The Second World War and Post-War Western Europe 1939-2000

#11: Post-War Developments in the Middle East 1945-2000

Longer notes: European Option

What's Next?

Looking for more practice material for IB History? Then you'll definitely want to delve into our complete collection of free and official past IB history papers .

Interested in brushing up on some of your historical knowledge? Read about the Platt Amendment , checks and balances in the US government (as well as how the executive branch checks the judicial branch ), and lighthouse keeper Ida Lewis .

Alternatively, boost your esoteric knowledge by learning about the history of the three-hole punch and the real story of David Ghantt and the Loomis Fargo heist .

Finally, you can get practice materials for other IB classes on our blog:

Every IB Biology Past Paper Available: Free and Official
Every IB Business and Management Past Paper Available: FREE and Official
Where to Find IB Chemistry Past Papers - Free and Official
Every IB Economics Past Paper Available: Free and Official
Every IB English Past Paper: Free and Official
The Complete IB Extended Essay Guide: Examples, Topics, and Ideas
Every IB Geography Past Paper Available: Free and Official
Every IB Math Past Paper: Free and Official
Where to Find IB Physics Past Papers - Free and Official

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IB History: ActiveHistory

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These consist not just of lesson plans, worksheets and teacher notes, but also multimedia lectures and interactive games and historical simulations ideal for remote learning and self-study.

Use the ActiveHistory curriculum maps and the ActiveHistory syllabus topics to design your own course effectively.

We also have you covered for the Internal Assessment , Extended Essay and Theory of Knowledge in History , not to mention Essay and Sourcework Skills , IBDP History Model Essays and IBDP History Sample Sourcework Exercises / Model answers !

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Overview and introduction

An overview of the syllabus This prescribed subject focuses on struggles for rights and freedoms in the mid-20th century. The first case study explores the civil rights movement in the US between 1954 and the passing of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. This worksheet provides students with an overview and encourages them to develop their own timeline and list of key terms.

The Big Picture: A multimedia presentation of race in American history since the Declaration of Independence This online presentation gives a big sweep of history and is designed to accompany the worksheet provided above.

Factual Test based on the lecture 15 questions testing student understanding from the lecture above.

Nature and characteristics of discrimination

Jim Crow and the Ku Klux Klan Even though the Civil War brought an end to slavery, it did not bring political and social equality for black Americans. In the South, where most African Americans lived, African Americans were then forced into a position of second-class status by local "Black Codes" embodied in the Jim Crow laws. This discrimination was supplemented by the use of terror and intimidation such as the Ku Klux Klan.

Extension: Analysing a range of Jim Crow Laws "Use the following Jim Crow laws to construct a diary account outlining the ways in which you, as a black American, have broken several of these laws in the space of just a day or two. Describe how it made you feel and how (or if) you decided to resist, and why. Alternatively, produce a classroom display resource designed to highlight a range of these laws (categorised as appropriate and including images), prioritise a selection of them in a 'Diamond 9' diagram, or even design a board game to educate players about the injustices of Jim Crow".

Sourcework: Which organisation produced this document? Students are provided with a series of extracts by and about a particular organisation associated with civil rights. Can they guess its provenance?

The beginnings of the civil rights movement

World War Two and the Presidency of Truman Some essential points of information regarding a number of mid-term and short-term factors which cover the period of World War Two and its aftermath, with suggested research tasks.

Emmett Till | Online presentation A series of questions about the shocking murder of a black teenager which helped galvanise the civil rights movement.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott Students learn about this famous event, sparked off by the protest of Rosa Parks, and use it to consider such questions as "What is the difference between law and justice? Under what circumstances do we have the right, or even the duty, to stand up against unjust laws and regulations? What forms can our resistance take? What are the advantages and drawbacks of each?"

Paper 1 Sourcework Exercise: To what extent was Martin Luther King responsible for the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott? | Model Answers A one-hour sourcework paper in the style of the IBO. 1. a) According to Source A, why did Rosa Parks refuse to give up her bus seat? [3 marks] 1. b) What message is conveyed by Source C? [2 marks] 2. With reference to its origin, purpose and content, analyze the value and limitations of Source B for a historian studying the methods used in the bus boycott. [4 marks] 3. Compare and contrast what Sources C and D reveal about the reasons why the Montgomery Bus Boycott succeeded. [6 marks] 4. "The contribution of Martin Luther King was the decisive factor in the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott". Using the sources and your own knowledge, evaluate the validity of this statement. [9 marks]

Paper 1 Sourcework Exercise: Assess the significance of the Montgomery Bus Boycott | Sample Answers A one-hour sourcework paper in the style of the IBO.

Sourcework: A memo from Bayard Rustin to Martin Luther King Students are asked read a memo by Bayard Rustin about the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, then list at least six of the reasons that he gives to explain why it worked.

Segregation and education

The school desegregation campaign: overview This worksheet breaks into three key sections: [1] The Supreme Court and Chief Justice Earl Warren; [2] Autherine Lucy and the University of Alabama; [3] What was the South so afraid of (a picture-based sourcework investigation).

Case studies: Elizabeth Eckford, Dorothy Counts and Ruby Bridges As well as a focus on the Little Rock Nine, this activity also encourages students to consider the case of Dorothy Counts (1957) and Ruby Bridges (1960)

The university desegregation campaign This worksheet considers the campaign of James Meredith to join the "Ole Miss".

Nonviolent protests

Sit-Ins and the Freedom Rides This activity is based around the episode from the "Eyes on the Prize" entitled "Ain't Scared of Your Jails". You can obtain the documentary on DVD from Amazon.com here .

Mid-unit factual test 25 factual questions and a further 5 picture questions, complete with teacher answers.

Legislative changes

Campaign 1964: Freedom Summer | Teacher notes "The 1964 Freedom Summer was a 10-week campaign in Mississippi designed to increase the amount of black people registered to vote...Listen to (or read) Fanie Lou Hamer’s “I Question America” speech and make notes on the sorts of injustices she and her people have suffered already and which she uses as compelling evidence to justify the MFDP being fully and properly recognised and respected...Produce a diagram/infographic designed to summarise the essential features of the Freedom Summer as reflected in the information shared here. Imagine this as an end-of-chapter revision summary aid. Focus particularly on presenting the statistics in an interesting way"

Legislation 1964: The Civil Rights Act The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is significant because it made the protection of civil rights the responsibility of the federal government, and removed the rights of individual states to make their own exceptions to these...Watch the video clip and make detailed notes on the main provisions of the Civil Rights Act (www.activehistory.co.uk/l/civilrightsact). Afterwards, convert your notes into an answer of no more than 100 words to answer "What were the main provisions of the Civil Rights Act?"

Sourcework Assignment with model answers: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 [Teacher password required] A complete sourcework paper in the style of the new IB Syllabus, complete with model answers by the author of this website.

Campaign 1965: Selma - The Simulation [ interactive ] "In this simulation you will learn about key figures involved in the struggle as events unfold step-by-step. For each character you will be invited to step inside their shoes and consider how you should react to the situation you face if your objective is to attract favourable media attention that will help get a Voting Rights Bill through Congress. In this way you will form a judgement about how each character helped or hindered the success of the campaign (deliberately or inadvertently!) and which people were most significant in the struggle"

Legislation 1965: The Voting Rights Act "The Voting Rights Act has recently been undermined by the case of Shelby County v. Holder (2013). Conduct some research into this case (including the article from The Guardian entitled ‘Selma leaders lament voting rights losses at congressional award ceremony’) to answer the question “To what extent has the long-term impact of the Voting Rights Act been undermined by recent events?"

Comprehensive Summary Sheet for Revision: The Civil Rights Movement to 1965

A thorough and essential revision aid over several pages.

Suggested tasks: People : Decide upon the most important individuals in the civil rights movement (highlighted in yellow). Divide these between the class to research further, then conduct a classroom balloon debate to determine the overall winner. Alternatively create a Decision Tree to help students decide "Which Civil Rights figure are YOU?". Places : Highlight all the places mentioned in this timeline. Use them to produce a Google Earth Tour of the civil rights movement, or produce a series of Historical Tripadvisor reviews. Events : Produce a Living Graph to measure the achievements and failures of the Civil Rights movement over time.

Sample Sourcework Assignments and Model Answers

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3. Prescribed Subjects for Paper 1

There are 5 prescribed subjects to choose from for Paper 1 which range from Medieval to Modern and can provide a starting point for designing your IB history programme. You can go on to choose Paper 2 and Paper 3 topics that complement and overlap with your Paper 1 topic, or, alternatively, you can choose a topic for Paper 1 that is completely different to the rest of the course e.g. this can be your medieval unit while the rest of the course focuses on 20th Century!

Each prescribed subject consists of two case studies; both of these case studies must be studied .

Questions will always be set on one of the case studies - but will not alternate between years so it will be impossible to predict!

Full details of each prescribed subject can be found here

You can find examiners' reports on Paper 1 here.

The range of topics that you can choose for Paper 1 are as follows:

Ps1: military leaders.

This prescribed subject covers the military leaders of Genghis Khan and Richard I.An outline of the key themes is given below. Full details of this prescribed subject can be found here.

PS2: Conquest and its impact

This topic covers the final stages of Muslim rule in Spain in the late 15th Century and the conquest of Mexico and Peru in the 16th Century.The main themes for this topic are outlined below but the full...

PS3: The Move to Global War

This topic covers the causes of World War Two both in Europe and in Asia. An outline of the course is given below but the full details can be found on the OCC here.It is important that you read the IB...

PS4: Rights and Protest

This topic covers the struggle for rights and freedoms in the USA and in South Africa. The main themes for this topic are outlined below but the full syllabus can be found on the OCC here

PS5: Conflict and Intervention

This prescribed topic focuses on two case studies which show the impact of both intervention and non-intervention in two very different conflicts. The main themes for this topic are outlined below but...

IB History: How to Include Historiography in Your Essays

Officially, historiography is “the writing of history” but it can generally be thought to refer to other historians’ perspectives on a historical event or figure . It is crucial you include historiography in your essays. Especially if you are aiming for a high score (6+) in IB History. The IB states in their mark scheme that in order to receive a 13-15 on a paper there must be “an evaluation of different perspectives, and it must be integrated effectively into the answer.”

It can be quite difficult at first to memorise and incorporate historiography naturally into your essays. This is usually because it is quite specific and a new concept for most students. However, there are two ways to make this aspect of IB History a little easier.

Memorising Historiography

Throughout your course, you will encounter historiography through your teacher, textbooks, or personal external research. Whenever you find a quote or a school of thought, note it down in a separate document or spreadsheet. If you are able to, create a shared spreadsheet with your classmates. Each student can update then it with any useful historiography that they find. You can further organise this spreadsheet by including additional columns for schools of thought or specific topics. Having all of your historiographies in one collective place makes it a lot easier to review them rather than having to look through pages and pages of notes.

Furthermore, you can use flashcards to help memorise some specific quotes or overarching perspectives. Write the historian or school of thought on one side. On the other side of the flashcard, write their quote or what the explanation of the perspective is. Go through them periodically and it will help you to memorise them in the long term.

With regards to which historiography to memorise, it is important to remember that it will be incredibly difficult to memorise every piece of historiography relating to your curriculum. This is Especially if there are many long quotes. Try and find historiography that can be applicable to large portions of your curriculum’s content and memorise those. That way, you can incorporate that historiography into a variety of different essay topics.

You can also memorise an overview of a historian’s perspective or a smaller section of their quote, rather than memorising the entirety of the quote provided. As cliche as the saying is: “work smarter, not harder”. Only choose the most relevant and versatile pieces of historiography instead of simply memorising everything.

One example from my personal curriculum is with Paper 2 Authoritarian States, specifically Hitler’s Rise to Power. I always used Ian Kershaw’s Hitler Myth . This is the idea that Hitler’s charisma and oratory skills were the main reasons for the Nazi Party’s success. This was so useful for this particular topic because I did not have to memorise long quotes. On top of that, it fit into most Rise to Power questions that came up in exams.

Incorporating Historiography

When incorporating historiography into your essays, it is important to remember that you should not simply be mentioning historians or schools of thought for the sake of doing so. Historiography should not replace your arguments but instead support them. One way to ensure this is to build your argument first and incorporate historiography towards the end of your paragraph. You can use phrases such as:

This perspective is shared by…
In reference to ______, [historian] stated that…
This view is contrasted by…
On the other hand, [historian] has stated that…

Once you have added historiography to your argument, offer your personal opinion on it in the context of your essay and evaluate that piece of historiography. Do you agree with this historian or school of thought, and why or why not? This helps to show that you truly understand what it is you are talking about. It also shows that the historiography is actually adding value to your essay.

One example where I did this in an essay was for the following exam question:

“Discuss the view that the use of force was the main method used to establish authoritarian rule in one state you have studied.”

“One of the more successful ways in which the Nazis rose to power was through Hitler’s cult of personality and his oratory skills. Kershaw was a strong proponent of the ‘Hitler Myth’ which is the idea that Hitler was successful for the Nazi’s rise to power and that, without him, the Nazi party would not have succeeded. Kershaw stated that it was Hitler that engaged and persuaded many people who would have otherwise only been marginally interested in the NSDAP.” (Cho, 2022)

At the end of the day, it is more important to have strong arguments and evidence rather than numerous pieces of historiography. Nevertheless, for those hoping to receive higher grades in IB History, remember to be selective in what you choose to memorise and to evaluate the historiography in your essay!

Question about Paper 1 mini essay

By Rio April 24, 2012 in History

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Use as many sources as you see fit to answer the question ; if you have time try and include 4-5, even if only for one fact / point / opinion.

Keep in mind that it's worth 8 marks, and so will need a good amount of information in it.

As well, while it is an essay, of sorts, it's mostly just about combining your own knowledge and the sources to create a full answer in reference to the specific event that the sources pertain to.

I would highly suggest reading "History -a comprehensive guide to Paper 1" as it has everything you need to know about this paper. (Pearson Baccalaureate)

http://www.amazon.com/Pearson-Baccalaureate-History-Comprehensive-Diploma/sim/0435994492/2

In order to get the top marks (7-8 marks) for the essay, you need to have a balance between outside knowledge and the sources. Using ONLY sources or ONLY outside knowledge will only get you about 4 marks if you do everything else perfectly. This means that you should have quite a few points where you bring in your outside knowledge on the topic, but you should have roughly the same number of points from the sources in your essay.

I structure my Paper 1 essays like this:

1. Thesis statement. Here I state my answer to the question. To earn the most marks, you need a multi-causal answer (meaning just stating one little factor won't get you very many marks, you need to list a few things, usually two or three). For example, if your question was "Explain the factors that led to the outbreak of World War I," you wouldn't get many marks by saying "World War I was caused by nationalism." You'd get much more by saying something like "World War I was caused by a combination of intense nationalism, increased militarism, European imperialism, and the alliance system."

2. I write a good, solid paragraph proving my first point. Sometimes my point comes only from the sources, sometimes it's only from my outside knowledge, and sometimes it is a mixture of the two. If I use a source, I will quote a line from the source.

3. Then I write my other paragraphs.

4. Then I write a short conclusion. It doesn't have to be huge, usually just a few sentences. I sum up what I have discussed so far in two-three sentences, and then I show its importance, whether it led to something else, what impact it had on international relations, etc.

Obviously you should structure your essay based on how you write and how you organize things, but this is how I was taught to approach this essay. I do this nearly every time and I have not received lower than 7 marks on the essay.

I attached a mini-response question I did a few months ago in class if you want to see what I'm talking about. It earned 7 marks, with the only suggestion just a few more details.

Using these sources and your own knowledge, to what extent do you agree with the view that the Arab-Israeli conflict was primarily the result of British intervention? 4. The Arab-Israeli conflict was primarily the result of British intervention because of their contradictory promises and desires to control the Middle East; however, conflict was inevitable between the Arabs and the Israelis as the Israelis were moving into Palestine. Great Britain became interested in the territories of the Middle East in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century for its strategic location as a center for trade routes and for resources such as oil. The declining state of the Ottoman Empire at the outbreak of World War I presented an opportunity for the British to intervene. In order to gain the Arabs’ support, the British promised to “recognize and support the independence of the Arabs in all the regions within the limits demanded by the Sherif of Mecca” and to expel the Turks from the Arab countries (Source C). However, a few years later in the Balfour Declaration, the British sympathized with the Zionists and promised “in Palestine a national home for the Jewish people” (Source E). These intentions were contradictory, as Palestine was a region that had been inhabited by Arabs for 1500 years. As a result, tensions began to rise between the Arabs and Israelis, as evident in Source D, where the Arab and Israeli are throwing pillows as Britain decides how to partition Palestine. The Arabs and Israelis were promised different things from Great Britain, which led to conflict over who was correct. However, as the Israelis attempted to establish a Jewish state conflicts were bound to occur. Zionism, a movement seeking a homeland for the Jews, called for the home to be in Palestine, “secured under public law” (Source B). The Jews felt that Palestine was their territory even though they had not lived there since the 400s and it had been inhabited by an Arab majority ever since. In the early 1900s Jews began to immigrate to Palestine to escape persecution and discrimination they faced in Europe. Over a period of several decades, tens of thousands of Jews immigrated and settled in the area where Palestine was. As the Jewish presence in Palestine grew, the existing Arab population began to become uneasy and the tensions began to rise between the two groups. The British played a part in causing the conflict with their separate, contradictory promises, which really sparked the conflict between the Arabs and Israelis. Despite this, there would have been conflicts anyways as the Israelis moved into Palestine. Thus the blame also lies with the Israelis and not only the British.

Eastcoast93

Here's my answer on the in-class test. I received 7/8 for the answer. Definitely include all sources (at least once):

Question: Using these sources and your own knowledge, analyse the reasons for German resentment of the Treaty of Versailles of 1919. [8 marks]

As a result of the Treaty of Versailles, signed in November 1919, there was widespread resentment regarding the decision that had been made. Germany was left "scourged, humiliated and resentful" (A). Nonetheless it had not been betrayed completely, therefore being able to eventually build itself up and try to reverse the terms. Germany was resentful, not least because it felt that it had not lost the war. After all troops were still stationed in France at the time of the war end, a symbolic instance showing that Germany in fact could have fought longer. This coupled with the fact that the treaty "was not negotiated but dictated to Germany" (B) heightened German anger towards the peacemakers. In November 1919, the German Weimar Government signed the treaty, accepting all its terms. The fact that people resented it and the government accepted the terms caused unpopularity of the government, resulting in the failure of democracy in Germany and ultimately Hitler's rise to power.

Aside from the feeling that the war had not ended yet, the war guild clause (231) was controversial. Germany had to accept "sole war-guilt" (B), a decision that was "neither just nor wise" (D). After all many countries had been involved and Russia had mobilized before Germany did so. This unfair war guilt caused great resentment.

The third reason for resentment is the simple hypocrisy that the peacemakers followed. "Hypocrisy was predominant and inescapable" (D). Wilson, attempting to introduce his Fourteen Points, based on self-determination, had no intention on introducing this concept to Germany, as shown by the caption under Source E. This resulted in resentment because Germany felt all nations should receive the same rights.

Additionally, resentment was caused by the losses of German territory. Over 12% were given away, including all overseas colonies that Germany had owned. One of the most resented losses was the Polish corridor and the city of Danzig, becoming a free city. In an attempt to achieve a "balance of power and imperial aggrandizement" ©, the peacemakers ignored Germany's future, economically and socially. A series of terms removed German speaking territory such as the Sudetenland to Czechoslovakia and North Schleswig to Denmark. Germany was angry at its cultural/social divisions and the term that prevented the "Anschluss" with Austria.

Reparation sums were also extremely high, fixed at 6,600 million pounds, an action which Germany felt unfair. These reparations were based on the "assumption that Germany was in the position to conduct in the future a vastly greater trade thatn she had ever in the past". This angered Germany immensely. Nonetheless it must be said that Germany could have faced harsher terms if France had "had his way" (B). This argument is used to show that Germany's resenment was not really justifiable since the outcomes could have been worse.

Additionally though resentment from the German perspective was a result of a massive disarmament clause, including the reduction of armed forces to 100,000. Germany feared security and resented the lack to do what she wanted to do. Particularly with the feeling that peace was "imperialist under the surface of Wilsonianism", Germany could never come to agree with its terms.

All in all, reasons for German resentment are varied. A reduction in arms, the loss of territory, the acceptance of war guilt, the hypocrisy of Wilson's Fourteen Points and the massive reparation sums were reasons for the feeling of Germany that they had not been treated correctly.

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Extended essay

The extended essay is an independent, self-directed piece of research, finishing with a 4,000-word paper.

One component of the International Baccalaureate® (IB) Diploma Programme (DP) core, the extended essay is mandatory for all students.

Read about the extended essay in greater detail.

You can also read about how the IB sets deadlines for the extended essay , find examples of extended essay titles from previous DP students and learn about the world studies extended essay .

Learn more about the extended essay in a DP workshop for teachers .

DP subject briefs

Find out about what each subject offers within the Diploma Programme (DP).

Our DP subject briefs—for both standard and higher level—contain information about core requirements, aims and assessment.

Explore the DP subject briefs

IB English Paper 1 Explained

Ace your IB English Paper 1 exam with the #1 IB English Resource for 2022 as Voted by IB Students & Teachers

IB English Paper 1 is one of those nerve-wracking experiences that everyone has to endure. It's especially scary because you have no idea what you'll end up writing for your final exam–and your grades depend on it!

The best preparation you can do is be acutely aware of the exam structure and proven strategies that have worked for past IB7 graduates.

If you want to fully wrap your head around the IB English Paper 1 guided analysis, then this quick guide is for you.

Meet your instructor Jackson Huang, Founder of LitLearn. His mission is to make IB English as pain-free as possible with fun, practical lessons. Jackson scored an IB45 and was accepted to Harvard, Amherst, Williams Colleges, and full scholarships to University of Melbourne & Queensland.

Photo of LitLearn instructor Jackson Huang

What is a Paper 1 exam?

In a Paper 1 exam, you are given two mysterious, unseen texts . Each text is between 1-2 pages in length.

For SL students, you're in luck! Your task is to write a guided analysis on just one of the two texts. Total marks: 20. You have 1 hour and 15 minutes.

For HL students, you're in less luck… Your task is to write two guided analysis essays–one on each of the texts. Total marks: 40. You have 2 hours and 15 minutes.

The mystery text types you'll get for Paper 1 depend on whether you're in IB English Language & Literature or IB English Literature.

For IB English Literature , Paper 1 text types belong to four neat categories (hooray!):

Fictional prose (e.g. short stories, extracts from novels)
Non-fiction prose (e.g. scientific articles, extracts)
Dramatic plays

For IB English Language and Literature , your text types could be… really… anything. Be prepared to be surprised. Typically, at least one of the text types will include some visual element like an image, photo, or cartoon. Here's the (non-exhaustive) list of Lang Lit text types:

Magazines, blogs, articles and editorials
Speeches, interview scripts, radio transcripts
Instruction manuals, brochures
Comic strips, political cartoons
… and the list goes on…

What do I write in a guided analysis?

For each Paper 1 text, the IB English Gods pose a short, open-ended question.

This question is called the guiding question , and your essay must focus on answering this guiding question using analysis (we'll explain “analysis” in a second).

Examples of guiding questions:

How does the writer characterize the protagonist's state of mind?
How and to what effect do textual and visual elements shape meaning?
How is narrative perspective used to create meaning and effect?

Even though you're technically allowed to choose your own focus and ignore the default guiding question, it's highly recommended that you go along with what's given… unless you really don't know how to answer it, or you're super confident in your Paper 1 skills.

Now, what are we supposed to do with the guiding question?

Guiding questions always ask you to explain how and why certain language or visual choices are used to build one or more central ideas .

And so the vague instruction "Answer the guiding question" actually translates to something very specific:

Explain how and why the writer uses specific language to build their central idea(s).

This sentence pretty much sums up not just IB English Paper 1, but the gist of analysis and IB English overall.

Writing Deep, Insightful Analysis

If you want to get a high score on Paper 1 (and every IB English assessment in general), you must know how to write deep, insightful analysis.

After helping numerous IB English students at LitLearn, we've found that weak analysis is the #1 reason students struggle in IB English.

Biggest Mistake

The main mistake you're likely making is that your analysis doesn't dig deep enough .

Students make the mistake of only touching the surface-level meaning of the texts. For example, common mistakes include:

only recounting the plot
mentioning techniques and ideas without digging into the how and why
not identifying the most relevant techniques for analysis.

The diagram below shows the difference between surface-level meaning, deep analysis, and deeper analysis.

Shallow and deep meaning in IB English Paper 1 analysis

If you're unsure about how to write strong analysis for IB English, or you're not confident in what to look for in your texts, then you should watch this free 7-minute video lesson from Learn Analysis: Analysis Foundations.

Learn Analysis

No sign up or credit card required.

Essential Techniques you need to know

So how do we write strong analysis that scores highly on Criterion B?

First things first, we need to know how to analyze the major literary and visual techniques (visual for Lang Lit), so that we can quickly find and analyze them under exam stress.

If you're cramming for Paper 1, here are the 7 most important techniques and concepts that you should know for IB English Paper 1. They apply to all text types in Lang Lit as well as Literature:

Tone, atmosphere and mood
Diction and voice
Metaphor, simile, and personification
The 4 main types of imagery
The 3 types of irony
Juxtaposition and contrast
Grammatical and structural techniques

There's a bunch more, but these 7 categories make a great starting point. The first step is to learn their names and definitions, and flashcards are an excellent way to do this.

Of course, memorizing isn't enough. We also need to know the common effects and purposes behind each of these core techniques, so that we can build a mental library of the most common ways to deeply analyze each technique. If you don't study each technique in detail, it's much harder to invent deep analysis on-the-spot during an exam.

We go deep into each of the techniques in Learn Analysis . Here are just a couple of them to get you started.

Level 1 Techniques

Your One Mission in Paper 1

Let's quickly recap what you need to do in a Paper 1.

You need to discuss the characters, themes and plot of a chosen literary text, OR the visual and stylistic elements (diagrams, headings, titles, images) for a non-literary text.
You then need to explain how and why these aspects were achieved by the writer or artist.

These two points are helpful as a basis for understanding, but they won't help you get concrete words onto the exam page. What we need now is a practical guide to writing an actual essay:

Deciding on a good thesis
Choosing the right points
Choosing the right structure

A Practical Guide to Writing a Paper 1 essay

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

Choosing a thesis

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!

Choosing the right essay structure for IB English Paper 1

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
sections (sequential, e.g. stanza by stanza for poems)
the ‘Big 5'
and probably a whole host of other acronyms that English teachers love to invent.

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.

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.

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.

We go into much more depth and explain it all inside Learn Analysis.

Pro members only

Writing body paragraphs: Why and How

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.

Planning ahead

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.

How do I practice for Paper 1?

Most students think that doing a lot of practice papers is the best way to improve in Paper 1. However, there's a much more efficient, targeted method to study for Paper 1.

We work our way up from the smallest, most manageable chunks of analysis to the full Paper 1 exam. It's a good idea to reserve real IB English past papers for 2 months before your final exam so that you don't run out of past papers--they are the best preparation for the final exam. Also, if your analysis skills aren't already strong, doing real past papers is a waste of an excellent exam prep resource.

Questionbank

Quote analysis exercises with exemplar IB7 solutions

Short guided analysis exercises with exemplar IB7 solutions

1 hour practice exams with detailed markschemes or video solutions

IB past paper solutions: Exemplar essay plans and full essay responses