What is the course?

In Hamlet's nutshell, the course is a study of literary works, and non-literary bodies of work in equal measure. You need to show your understanding of these works, their thematic meaning and how meaning is impacted through stylistic choices of the authors, how they connect in the history and future of their genres, and what role context of author and of reader plays in the construction of meaning.

Literary works include prose fiction, prose other than fiction, plays and poetry. Non-literary bodies of work can be anything from the street art of Banksy, collected essays of Naomi Klein, Charlie Brookers' Netflix series Black Mirror, the speeches of Greta Thunberg, to the photography of Robert Capa.

The course is framed around three areas of exploration: Readers, writers, and texts; Time and space; Intertextuality - connecting texts. And there are seven concepts that should be considered and applied in the work: Identity; Culture; Creativity; Communication; Perspective; Transformation; Representation.

You must maintain The Learner Portfolio throughout the course, logging and reflecting upon your journeys of learning in the course. This is submitted to your teacher at the end of the course and they must maintain it if and when the IB ever asks to see it. This is not an assessed component, though, and so is a formative tool to help you to develop effective study and self-management skills rather than being something that directly affects your final grade.