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Young Writers Society


Yo! Who here did IB?



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Fri Jul 01, 2016 10:44 am
Aravind says...



Basically, just moving into Grade 11 (IBDP 1) in a months time.

I'm sure there may be other writers like me who are doing the IB. I'm eager to know about English Literature next year.

I'm sure this could be a platform for those doing IB :)
Cheers :D
  





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Fri Jul 01, 2016 7:42 pm
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reikann says...



Survivor present! Just graduated this year. Oooh sweet freedom.
For all my newbie babies out there - unless you adore it, DON'T TAKE HIGH LEVEL MATH.
  





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Sat Jul 02, 2016 5:23 am
Aravind says...



Too late, I'm gonna do HL Literature and Math. Math is equally awesome as literature for me.

I know it much harder though
Cheers :D
  





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Sat Jul 02, 2016 11:33 am
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Lavvie says...



You may decide that you want to not do HL for certain courses. (This was my experience with IB History.)

I took English Lang & Lit HL as that was all my school offered. The Lit part of IB depends on who your teacher is. Mine was really adamant on choosing books that were not typical to an English classroom so I expanded my horizons. Before IB, it was expected to read all of the Western classics (as I am from North America), like To Kill a Mockingbird, Lord of the Flies, 1984, etc. There's nothing wrong with that except for the fact that it places an extreme limit on your literature studies since you're reading about, essentially, nothing more than "white issues". My teacher was an Ugandan educator refugee who was into exploring internationalism and post-colonialism in literature - which is exactly what the IB should be about. I ended up reading things like Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison and The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy.

I did appreciate the language part as we studied how words influence and affect the world around them. It definitely made me more conscious of what I was writing and how it might be interpreted. It also helped when it came to literary analysis.

Either way, no IB English course is good for a writer. Let me correct that: no IB course is good for a writer. Being a writer demands time, dedication, and imagination, and the IB requires all that and more. Once things get rolling, you will likely have no time for writing - or at least very little time, which onto results in writing you feel is mediocre or downright not-very-good. The IB is a nice diploma to have and I recommend you do it if you have a good IB program ahead of you, but keep in mind that it is extremely tough. There is lots of work to be done.

I think you will benefit from and find interest in IB English Lit, but I advise you not to have expectations of creative writing either as homework or otherwise. Especially in second year when you have oral examinations and the Written Tasks, time is of the essence and there is not a whole lot of it left to pursue passions. Still, it is a great experience and your formal writing will develop in wondrous ways!

Good luck!


What is to give light must endure burning. – Viktor Frankl
  





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Sat Jul 02, 2016 11:37 am
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Aravind says...



Thanks a ton, Lavvie! This really helps me. I'm glad to have people like you help out :)
Cheers :D
  





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Sat Aug 20, 2016 7:48 pm
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heath says...



i'm planning on doing the ib program in the future. however, it's 2 years away, so i think i have a bit of time before i start worrying about it. i trust that there are IB science programs as well?
  





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Sun Aug 21, 2016 3:38 am
Aravind says...



Hey! IB just started a couple of weeks ago for me. It was just as Lavvie had mentioned - There'll be science fairs just as every other year has. CAS is quite demanding, ToK is manageable for me as it's just frequent discussions and presentations/essays.
Cheers :D
  








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