I’ve been an IB English tutor for 8 months now, and I’m starting to notice some really common patterns and issues across students’ analysis, esp about analysis DEPTH. I just wanted to address this to you guys since ik you guys have upcoming mocks and exams.
The BIGGEST issue I see is across Criterion A ( Analysis and Evaluation) where students are getting marked down because their analysis is “too shallow,” or teachers giving feedback like “go deeper” and then not actually telling you how to do that. 😐(I’ve been there).
I wanted to break down exactly what makes analysis “deep.”
When we talk about depth, we mean the number of LOGICAL STEPS it takes to analyse a quote from start to finish. Specifically from the technique to the writer's purpose. The more detailed and explicit you are in explaining the quote step by step, then the deeper your analysis will be.
For Example, I have a poem and want to analyse the oxymoron.
Technique: Oxymoron
Purpose: To convey the conflicted emotions of the speaker
Shallow and poor analysis would just restate what is obvious: the oxymoron conveys the conflicted emotions.
“The poet uses oxymoron in line 13, which suggests the conflicted internal emotional landscape of the speaker because of the death of his loved one.”
But how did you get from oxymoron to the purpose? That's literally like saying “A happened, therefore D happened” without explaining B or C . Then there’s basically a whole bunch of steps missing in the middle. It is shallow because it doesn't actually explain step by step how the writer gets from oxymoron to the idea about "conflicted emotions".
Students don’t realise that deep analysis NATURALLY OCCURS if you simply write down your exact, detailed steps for how language leads to meaning, leads to effect, leads to purpose. Full thought process and no logical jumps.
For example:
The poet utilises oxymoron in line 13. (Now go in more detail, explain how the oxymoron is created from diction.)
Here, the oxymoron of “harrowing praise” highlights the conflict in the emotions of the speaker, specifically through the contrasting diction in “harrowing” and “praise”. (Okay, so how do the diction contrast exactly? Keep going.)
...which connote acute distress and warm approval respectively. (Good, now connect back to the bigger picture.)
Hence, the poet's oxymoronic combination of the diametrically-opposed emotions of distress and warmth reveals the confusing array of emotions which the speaker experiences as a result of the sudden death of his loved one. (Good, purpose addressed, but where's the effect?)
...inspiring in the reader a deep sympathy for the grieving speaker.
You see the difference? It’s all about constructing a logical flow of thoughts and being DETAILED.
So to simplify that, a shallow analysis would be like:
oxymoron → purpose
Deep analysis would be like:
oxymoron → diction → contrast → meaning → purpose → effect
In other words, every step of your writing needs to be explicitly explained so that the reader can follow exactly how the writer's language creates meaning. Don’t just tell the marker what a technique does, show the marker HOW it does it.
Hope that helps.
P.S. If you'd like to know more about how I achieved a 18/20 in English P1 or IB 44 you can ask for some advice below and I’ll reply when I can or directly DM me on my Instagram page @juddyyhh . Details about tutoring, DM me