Paper 1 Review

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Overview

The Paper 1 is a Writing Exam, in which you are given numerous prompts and various text formats and must realistically respond to the prompt using one of the given text formats. You have 90 minutes and must write within a range of 250-400 words. This exam is unlike the Paper 2: There aren't any "grammar tricks" that can help you increase your grade...well, at least on the IB's part. Let's explore some key tips for this exam!

Resources
IB's Text Type Formats
Text Type Cheat Sheet
Visuals of Text Types
Paper 1 Example
Spanish Transitions

Why Students Struggle

Two reasons that we will tackle:

  1. Not actually answering the prompt / doing so unrealistically. Many students will create these fantastic scenarios in which, for example, Johnny Depp builds a spaceship to Pluto. Great story, just not likely to happen.
  2. Lack of complexity. Similarly, students become too afraid to incorporate anything that is complex. For example , most students would not use "individual" instead of "persona" or "la habitación" instead of "lugar". Along the same line, most will not use any tense more complicated than the preterite -- any usage of the conditional or perfect tenses are nonexistent. Let's explore some tips to increase our score on grammar.
Answering the Prompt
Grammar

Look at the Paper 1 Example. Anytime you see a "V", a "?", an "A", or a "PN" –– grammar mistake

    Example: First page

  • "A" on "diario" ---> should be "diaria" to match with "la vida"
  • "V" on "investigaron" ---> should be "investigó" to match with singular "la empresa"

All these mistakes I made on my test, and they contributed to a lower score (a 6/12).

How to fix it?

Be conscious of every tense and adjective you use. On the top of your test, write: "Don't forget about matching adjectives and verbs", so that, after you're done writing, you remember to check your work. This, in itself, could save you 10%.

Text Type

Look at the Paper 1 example. Look at my mistakes.

    Example: First page

  • "Essay?" -- my introduction was more of an essay type, and thus lost points.

How to prevent these errors?

Look at examples! Use the Cheat Sheet! Each text type has a specific format and style of writing, so make sure to memorize those and incorporate them!

Legibility

Graders read hundreds of Paper 1s...if your handwriting is bad, they probably won't put much effort into trying to see what you wrote.

How to ensure legibility?

Outline! Most people begin writing worse near the end as they have to rush. Outline what you want to write; this way, you're not wasting your time and forcing yourself to rush.

Lack of Complexity
Tenses

Students typically use three tenses: present, present progressive, and preterite. By doing so, they are displaying to the grader a very minimal understanding of gramamr.

How to fix this?

Use more tenses! This does not mean that you need to be a master of all the tenses -- you need to simply memorize a few malleable phrases that can exemplify your knowledge. Such key phrases are below:

  • He would like to ___. ---> A él le gustaría ____.
  • She would have _____ if she had known that _____. ---> Ella habría _____ si ella hubiera sabido que _____.
  • I will finish it by Monday. ---> Lo terminaré por lunes.
    • Vocabulary

    Many students use the same words numerous times in their paper. The vocabulary you learn in school and thesaurus.com is your friend!

    How to fix this?

    Learn different words for the most common words! Examples are shown below:

    Common Words Better Versions
    "la persona" "la individual", "un personaje", "la alma"
    "querer" "desear", "exigir", "esperar"
    "grande" "monumental", "enorme", "colosal"
    Sentence Structures

    Many students will use the same basic sentence structures, such as:

    • "tú quieres correr cada día."
    • "a ustedes les gusta el fútbol".

    How to fix this?

    Use more complicated structures! I linked the transition documents up above -- incorporate those! Rewritten versions of the sentences are below:

    • A ti te gustaría correr cada día; sin embargo, tú, por desgracia, irías a la hospital si tú hicieras esto.
    • El fútbol es uno de sus deportes favoritos. Permítanme a decirles, ellos habrán gastado más dinero por el fútbol que por sus niños por el año.