IB English A: Paper 2 Start to Finish Video #5 - Thesis and Outline
Summary
TLDRIn this video, Andrew and Dave guide students through the process of preparing a strong comparative essay for IB English Paper 2. They break down the importance of understanding the exam question, specifically analyzing the key terms such as 'how,' 'struggle,' and 'understood.' By focusing on two texts, 'A Family Supper' and 'Stones,' the presenters discuss comparative thinking, family conflict, silence, shame, and father-son dynamics. They emphasize authorial choices, developing a thesis, and structuring an outline for the essay, while encouraging students to engage deeply with their chosen works.
Takeaways
- đ Before writing a strong Paper 2 response, it's crucial to break down the question and understand its key components.
- đ Analyzing the question thoroughly involves identifying command words, nuances, and understanding what the question is asking.
- đ€ Important questions to consider include: who is trying to be understood, who is doing the understanding, and what message the characters want to convey.
- đĄ Comparative analysis should focus on key themes and motifs in both texts to answer the question effectively.
- đ ïž The authors' choices, such as characterization, symbolism, and the ending, are central to analyzing how the struggle to be understood is portrayed.
- đšâđŠ In both 'A Family Supper' and 'Stones,' family conflict, especially between fathers and sons, is a major theme linked to the struggle for understanding.
- âïž In 'A Family Supper,' the father's silence and conservative background create a barrier to understanding, while in 'Stones,' PTSD and shame are central obstacles for the father.
- đœïž Symbolism plays a significant role in both stories, with cooking symbolizing indirect communication in 'A Family Supper' and the hammer representing anger in 'Stones.'
- đ The thesis statement for the essay should compare the two fathersâ inability to articulate their emotions, leading to family discord and fragmentation.
- đïž Organizing the essay requires discussing the fathersâ characterization, symbolism, and the resolution of their struggles, ensuring a structured and coherent response.
Q & A
What is the primary focus of the video?
-The video focuses on preparing to write a strong Paper 2 response in IB English, specifically discussing how two works portray the struggle to be understood.
Why is it important to break down the essay question before starting the response?
-Breaking down the essay question is crucial to understanding the key terms, command words, and nuances in the question. It ensures the response addresses all aspects of the prompt effectively.
What is meant by 'how' in the essay question?
-The word 'how' in the essay question refers to examining the author's choices, including narrative techniques, literary devices, and stylistic elements, to convey meaning and themes.
Why is the concept of 'struggle' emphasized in the question?
-The concept of 'struggle' emphasizes the difficulty characters face in trying to be understood, exploring themes of conflict, communication barriers, and emotional expression in the stories.
What are some key questions students should ask when analyzing the question?
-Students should ask who is trying to be understood, who is doing the understanding, what message the character or author is trying to convey, and whether the struggle to be understood is resolved in the text.
What role does family conflict play in the comparison of the two stories?
-Family conflict is central in both stories, where characters face struggles to be understood by family members, often due to generational differences or cultural contexts.
How does silence function in both stories?
-Silence is a recurring element in both stories, symbolizing unspoken tension and emotional barriers. In 'A Family Supper,' the father's silence reflects his conservative background, while in 'Stones,' silence is related to the father's PTSD and shame.
How is the theme of shame explored in both stories?
-In 'A Family Supper,' shame stems from cultural expectations and family failures, while in 'Stones,' the father's shame is tied to his war trauma and inability to reintegrate into his community.
What are some differences in the endings of the two stories?
-The ending of 'A Family Supper' is ambiguous, leaving unresolved tensions, while 'Stones' provides a more definitive sense of closure, particularly in the father's death and his final wishes.
What is the thesis statement created for this comparative essay?
-The thesis statement is: 'While the circumstances of their struggles are vastly different, the two fathers in A Family Supper and Stones both struggle to articulate their feelings and cope with their emotions. This struggle has dire consequences for the family dynamic and in both cases results in fragmentation and discord.'
Outlines
đŹ Introduction to the Paper 2 Response
Andrew and Dave introduce the topic of preparing a strong Paper 2 response in IB English. They've already discussed the stories 'A Family Supper' and 'Stones,' and how to approach comparative analysis. They emphasize the importance of breaking down the question to understand its components, such as command words and nuances. The question they focus on is: 'How do two of The Works you have studied portray the struggle to be understood?'
đ Breaking Down the Question
The presenters dive into the key terms of the question, beginning with 'how,' which prompts an analysis of authorial choices. They discuss the word 'struggle,' associating it with conflict, and examine the idea of being understood. This leads to a deeper exploration of who is struggling to be understood and by whomâwhether it's the characters, the reader, or the author. This analysis is critical to forming a thoughtful response.
đ§ Asking Questions to Clarify the Topic
Andrew and Dave encourage students to ask questions about the question itself, such as who is trying to be understood and what the message is that needs to be understood. They also reflect on whether the struggle for understanding is resolved by the end of each story. They suggest focusing on key themes, motifs, and comparing beginnings and endings to address the question.
đ Using Comparative Charts for Analysis
The presenters refer back to the comparative chart created in previous lessons to identify key relationships between the two texts. They emphasize the importance of comparing themes such as family conflict, generational differences, and silence. These elements are critical in both stories, and understanding them is key to answering the question about the struggle to be understood.
đšâđ©âđ§âđŠ Family Conflict in Both Texts
Family conflict is at the core of both 'A Family Supper' and 'Stones,' with characters struggling to understand one another. The presenters highlight how flashbacks and cultural contexts contribute to this lack of understanding, and how generational conflict plays a significant role. They also discuss the silence that exists between characters as a form of unspoken tension.
đ¶ Silence and Shame in the Struggle to Be Understood
The presenters analyze how silence in 'A Family Supper' is tied to the fatherâs inability to express himself due to cultural and emotional barriers. In 'Stones,' silence stems from PTSD and shame, preventing characters from communicating. They further compare the themes of shame in both stories, linking it to the families' breakdowns and decisions regarding self-harm and emotional detachment.
đ Comparing Endings and Resolutions
Andrew and Dave compare the endings of the two stories. While 'A Family Supper' has an ambiguous conclusion, leaving the struggle unresolved, 'Stones' provides more closure with a definitive ending. They reflect on how these different endings reflect the charactersâ struggles and the authors' narrative choices, highlighting the importance of authorial decisions in shaping the stories.
𧩠Crafting a Thesis Statement
The presenters create a thesis statement focusing on the similarities between the two fathers in 'A Family Supper' and 'Stones.' Despite their different circumstances, both fathers struggle to articulate their emotions, which has destructive consequences for their families. They stress the importance of clearly structured, concise thesis statements, encouraging students to focus on both similarities and differences in their analysis.
âïž Structuring the Essay: Authorial Choices
They guide students on how to structure their essays, starting with character analysis. They suggest focusing on the characterization of the fathers in both texts, using broad authorial choices as a framework. The authorsâ portrayal of the fathersâ struggles to be understood through narrative and symbolism will be the core of the analysis.
đš Symbolism and Indirect Communication
Symbolism is explored as a key element in both stories. In 'A Family Supper,' the father expresses his emotions indirectly through cooking, a reflection of cultural traditions. In 'Stones,' the father's emotions are conveyed through violent outbursts, with the hammer symbolizing his anger. These symbolic choices illustrate how the fathersâ inability to communicate directly reflects their internal struggles.
đ Analyzing the Endings for Meaning
The final part of the analysis focuses on the endings of the two stories. In 'A Family Supper,' the ambiguous ending reflects the unresolved nature of the father's struggle to be understood. Conversely, in 'Stones,' the fatherâs final wish to be buried as a stone among stones symbolizes closure and acceptance. This comparison emphasizes the different narrative approaches taken by the authors.
đ Preparing for Writing the Paper 2 Response
The presenters conclude by summarizing the importance of planning and preparation before writing a Paper 2 response. They encourage students to break down the question, refer back to their comparative charts, and focus on authorial choices when crafting a thesis. The process of drafting an outline is crucial to structuring a coherent, well-argued essay.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄPaper 2
đĄStruggle to be understood
đĄAuthorial choices
đĄComparative analysis
đĄBreaking down the question
đĄFamily conflict
đĄCultural context
đĄShame
đĄSilence
đĄThesis statement
Highlights
Breaking down the question is crucial to understanding its components before writing a strong response.
Focus on the command words and nuances of the question to ensure a well-structured answer.
The word 'how' in the question refers to analyzing the author's choices and how they shape meaning for the reader.
The word 'struggle' indicates difficulty faced by characters, which can be explored through conflicts in the texts.
Consider who is trying to be understood and who is doing the understanding when analyzing the text.
The struggle to be understood could be seen from the perspective of the character, the reader, or the author.
Analyze the resolution of the struggle in both texts and whether it is resolved by the end of the story.
The comparative chart helps organize key themes and ideas for comparison between the two works.
Both stories feature family conflict and generational struggles, key themes in understanding the characters.
Silence in both stories symbolizes unspoken tension and the inability to communicate, impacting the struggle to be understood.
Shame is another significant theme, influencing how characters feel misunderstood or disconnected from others.
The ending of 'A Family Supper' is ambiguous, whereas 'Stones' offers a more definitive sense of closure.
Symbolism, such as the use of cooking in 'A Family Supper' and the hammer in 'Stones', reflects emotional expression in both stories.
Fathers in both stories struggle to express their feelings, which has severe consequences for their relationships.
Creating a clear, comparative thesis statement is essential, and itâs acceptable to use two sentences to maintain clarity.
Transcripts
hi I'm Andrew and I'm Dave and we are
the IB English guys today is video
number five where we're going to talk
about preparing to write a strong paper
to response we've already looked at a
family supper in detail we've looked at
Stones we've talked about these two
stories individually and we've done our
comparative thinking in our comparative
chart and now we're ready to write yeah
I remember students and teachers if you
like this style of teaching and learning
this is part of our whole school
resources and students you can also find
this resource in the paper 2 exam review
it's part of our four students page now
Mr Giles today I think we want to talk
about breaking down the question can you
talk about why that's so important yeah
absolutely before we can actually write
a strong paper to response we need to
choose a question and then we need to
break down that question by breaking
down the question we're going to look at
what are the different components of
that question what are they asking us to
do yeah if we don't understand all the
command words and all the nuances of the
words in the question itself we're not
going to write a good response we have
to make sure we we take time pause and
break that down why don't you start us
off today Mr Giles yeah let's take a
look at the question that we're being
asked that we've chosen to focus on and
that is as follows how do two of The
Works you have studied portray the
struggle to be understood all right on
how do two of The Works you have studied
portray the struggle to be understood
all right Giles let's talk about some of
the key words that we want to think
about if we were answering this question
okay so one of the I mean the first word
I see that is the word how and
oftentimes we're going to be asked how
when we think about how what are we
being asked to do we're thinking about
authorial choices we're thinking about
the author's craft and how they make
deliberate choices to shape meaning for
the reader or for the audience depending
on what text type you're working with uh
Giles we must include that because we
know that's part of Criterion B of our
assessment rubric I also see some other
powerful words in there as well I think
the word struggle is really important
what might you say about the word
struggle well a struggle you know
conveys this idea of difficulty
something that that's that a character
or the author or someone that they're
they're trying to get through and of
course the struggle in this case is the
struggle to be understood and that's an
interesting idea I like to be understood
by someone else right yeah and I think
about struggles I'm immediately thinking
about the word conflict and I'm thinking
about all the different types of
conflict we can explore in our two
respective texts and again thinking
about are those characters being
understood there's a lot to think about
here just breaking down the language of
the question yeah that's right now we
want to also we want to ask questions
ask questions of the question this is
again what you need to do with your
brain and think about well how can I
tackle this question for my chosen works
so what are some questions that we could
ask of this question like the struggle
to be understood yeah I think a really
good question is who who's doing the
understanding is it the character
themself is it the reader is it the
author trying to be understood through
the character I think there are a lot of
different angles we can play when we
look at this idea this notion of being
understood that's right what are some
questions you might want to ask Mr Giles
I I might want to once I've thought
about out who is trying to be understood
and who is who is the unders who is
understanding right right we have two
sides I also want to think about well
what actually is the message that they
want to be understood I need to
understand that too yeah that's critical
you want to think about the key themes
and motifs of The Works themselves
because that's probably going to be the
main backbone that goes through your
whole response you're not going to come
up with some obscure interpretation you
want to go through the meet Mr Giles
yeah that's good and lastly I might want
to think about well is this struggle to
be understood actually resolved in this
in this story or in this text how they
resolved that yeah that's actually
really smart because we know we have
different types of endings in our two
works that we do we can think about
beginnings and endings as broad
authorial choices when we're examining
works okay that's great so that's kind
of thinking about the question so we're
thinking about that struggle to be
understood and we're thinking about how
authors are trying to convey that so now
that we've done all this heavy lifting
in our previous videos we need to go to
that comparative chart and do some
thinking about well how can we tackle
this question yeah it'd be a shame to
make that compare part of the chart and
then come back to it we made that
because we know we want to come back to
it so let's look at that comparative
chart let's look at the themes and Big
Ideas down the left hand side and let's
see if we can find some interesting
relationships that we can compare and
contrast as we go through these two
texts that's great the first thing that
we came up with when we made that chart
is family conflict we've we know that
but in both of these stories you know at
the heart of these stories are families
and they're thinking about that the
conflict that exists and within that can
be that struggle to be understood family
members trying to understand each other
sure and we think about the cultural
context of both works we think about how
flashback is used and how one character
in stones for example has experience
something other characters have not we
see many reasons for this lack of
understanding within the two respective
works yeah I love that and I think
that's interesting is generational too I
think the generations are something I
want to we're at my head around we also
talked about silence there's a lot of
Silence in both of these stories and of
course when their cylads people aren't
talking and that could convey they the
fact that there's unspoken tension yeah
you know I know I think about the father
from a family supper and his silence
really Taps into that notion that he is
not understood but because of his
conservative background and his
traditional Japanese Society he doesn't
really have the skills or the emotional
wherewithal to be understood and
communicate directly that's that's a
huge difference from the other texts
what's the the lack of understanding the
lack of speaking the other text comes
from something else yeah it's it's
mental illness it's PTSD and like the
fact that he feels this deep shame and
he can't really Express himself again
those are really powerful you mentioned
the word shame and I see that's another
big idea down the left hand side of our
chart can you talk about that comparing
and contrasting the two stories because
ultimately that's what we have to do
yeah I think in in a family supper this
idea of Shame this shame that that
Watanabe the business partner felt um
when they lost their company but also a
little bit of the shame that the father
might feel because his his kids have
left the family
and I think the shame that the mother
fell when her son left for the U.S
that's again that that is at play in
this story and they're not expressing
that shame in a in a positive way and
unfortunately they choose self-harm as a
way to express that yeah it's that's
damaged and I think about that lack of
understanding in a family supper now
conversely if we look at Stones the lack
of understanding yes it has to do with
the family but it's also between the
father and this community at large as
well uh when he comes back from diep he
doesn't feel like he fits well he feels
a great sense of Shame and that prevents
him from successfully interacting within
his community so I think those are
similar but they're also a bit different
as well yeah that's good why don't we
move forward and talk about the ending a
little bit as well yeah that's right the
endings we know again we we see this
sort of ambiguity in a family supper and
how things are kind of left hanging
again perhaps things haven't really been
resolved like we talked about and then
in in Stones is a much more definitive
sense of closure and and and and and and
a more a less ambiguous ending so we
have other things that we talked about
we talked about the use of Darkness that
could convey in a sense history we
talked about different settings and how
settings sort of tap into that idea I'm
being understood based on where the
authors chose to put their two works
yeah and then lastly we talked about
lonely fathers and we thought about you
know the fact that these fathers are
very isolated and and I think the
stories are very much about Fathers and
Sons uh and in both stories these these
fathers can't express their feelings now
I think this is again where we ended up
focusing on this idea of the Fathers as
characters now remember when we start
actually getting into this rudimentary
outline which we're going to construct
in a moment we want to think about the
how how are the authors showing these
connections we want to think about the
keyword struggle and we want to maintain
our focus on the word understood as we
go down Giles now that we've sort of
gone through and done this comparative
thinking we have some ideas where we'd
like to go what do you say we get to
that thesis statement yeah absolutely
let's do that so again we're thinking
about a comparative thesis statement
we're focusing on the wording of the
question that idea of struggled to be
understood and in this case we're
focusing on the fathers hopefully all of
our comparative discussion got you like
showed you how we eventually arrived at
that idea so here's the thesis statement
we came up with well the circumstances
of their struggles are vastly different
the two fathers in a family supper and
Stones both struggle to articulate their
feelings and cope with their emotions
this struggle has dire consequences for
the family Dynamic and in both cases
results in fragmentation and Discord
okay Giles first of all some things I
notice I love the fact that this writer
has opted for two sentences in the
thesis statement that's perfectly fine
don't try to smash a bunch of ideas
together and sacrifice your grammatical
accuracy I love how the initial sentence
starts with the word while then we have
a comma then the second half of that of
that Clause I I think we've done well
they're putting in ideas and would you
say this writer is going to focus on
similarities or differences definitely
similarities I mean although there's
there's situations are different and the
way that they struggle is different we
clearly both fathers are unable to
articulate their feelings great now that
we've sort of taken you through our
thesis statement for our texts again
you're thinking about okay you're doing
the comparative work with your attacks
you're thinking about a thesis for your
two texts we'll show you our rudimentary
outline and then we'll encourage you to
do the same Giles how might our writer
organize this response after the
introduction they're going to move into
their first set of body paragraphs yeah
we have to think about what are our
comparative points the first comparative
point is just the characterization of
the Father the way that that father is
characterized again through that first
person narrator in both cases it's a
stun talking about their fathers and
again that's first we're going to talk
about how the character of a family
supper is characterized in relation to
that struggle to be understood and then
we're going to look at the
characterization of the father that
we're going to do that in Stones as well
looking at the characterization of the
father in stones and his struggle to be
understood notice folks that
characterization is a broad authorial
choice we're sort of pinning our idea
into that broad authorial choice of
characterization then we're going to use
other supporting elements and textual
references to talk about how the authors
characterize the respective fathers yeah
the next comparative Point really is
looking at symbolism in fact it's it's
another broad authorial choice and we're
going to look at actually how the father
and a family supper does kind of
communicate his feelings not through
words but through cooking and through
kind of that indirectness that is again
I think typical of sort of traditional
Japanese culture yeah there's some
really rich symbols there and similarly
in Stones we see some more Rich symbols
how the father expresses his anger and
emotion more in a violent way I think
I'd be focusing on the symbol of the
hammer uh with respect to this emotional
characterization and then finally Mr
Giles when we're out of characterization
we're out of symbols I think the last
place I'd want to focus on would be the
ending that's a broad authorial Choice
as well what might we say about the
endings of these two respective works I
think the final like struggle that that
that ability to kind of overcome the the
that struggle at the end of a family
supper the sort of ambiguity of that
um and then his his attempt to discuss
Watanabe is again his way to kind of
show that that he loves his kids and
he's not he was not he doesn't condo
what not Watanabe did that's important
and then and similarly we see in uh
stones that his final the father's final
wishes to kind of be buried his for his
to be a stone among Stones I think
that's part of the closure yeah I think
we've done well here Mr Jaws we've
looked at the both these stories in
detail we have some broad authorial
choices that's the how the authors make
choices to show that struggle to be
understood and we're thinking about how
those choices shape meaning folks now
we'd like to encourage you to go through
a similar process uh we'd like you to
take a paper two question we have some
sample questions in the video
description below we'd like you to go
back first we'd like you to choose a
question and then go back to your
comparative table and start playing with
ideas craft a thesis and think about
what are the broad authorial choices in
your two texts that can help answer the
question create that rudimentary outline
and then Giles we're going to see them
back for our next video when we start
finally with the writing process in the
end we want you to remember that it
takes a lot of planning and a lot of
preparation don't just jump right in and
start writing break down the question
reference all that great work we've done
and we believe you're on your way to
paper 2 success thanks for watching and
we'll see you next time on the channel
thanks guys
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