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Nice words to use in IB english commentaries...

Hi guys, I think it might be appropriate to have this thread in here since it only really applies to us IB people.

I am looking for nice words to use in IB english commentaries. I don't want this thread to become a flowery exposition of rubbish, ideally I want people to suggest words which can be easily fitted into one's introduction in every essay, irrespective of title, etc.

I am sure, given the brainboxes on TSR, we wil have some fruitful responses.

Reply 1

IBblonde

um... you cant just say "these words are good". Its all about understanding how they apply to the material.

I like anthropomorphism. And ambiguity is probably the ultimate IB English word. that really does have to go in pretty much every commentary.

Reply 2

Osmosis

1

:dito: Ambiguity is definitely a big one. Irony finds its way into most of my commentaries too.

When discussing the effects of literary techniques and their relation to the piece as a whole, I always find myself using words like reflects, conveys, emphasizes and amplifies, too. I like to have synonyms / near-synonyms to play around with so I don't repeat myself too much.

Otherwise, as IBblonde said, I suppose the words you'll use will depend heavily on the context.

Reply 3

Paradiddle_man

Pathetic fallacy, diction choice, omniscient, post-modern, autonomous...

the list goes on if you're good at bs-ing :p:

Reply 4

pianofingers

10

Zeitgeist is a very popular word in our class...

Reply 5

MOORE_LAWSTUDENT

OP

12

autonomous - im aware of the meaning in terms of autonomous region but explain with relation to english m8.

Reply 6

MOORE_LAWSTUDENT

OP

12

what does zeitgeist mean. perhaps i should have made it clearer in my intro. please contextualise the term.

Reply 7

Mlzas

Portrays, illustrates, highlights, indicates etc...
Pace, tone, structure, ambiguity, imagery (natural, sensory etc.. )
Indicitave, evidence of, evident ... hope i've helped!

Reply 8

pianofingers

10

Zeitgeist: The defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time.

So one would use the word when talking about the context of the text ... possibly more appropriate for a paper II than a paper I but if the context of the text in paper I can be identified then go ahead...

Reply 9

Sadie_F

dichotomy: 1 - division into two parts, kinds, etc.; subdivision into halves or pairs.
2 - division into two mutually exclusive, opposed, or contradictory groups: a dichotomy between thought and action.

kinda like a contrasting juxtaposition

Reply 10

Teenage Pirate

13

Zeitgeist: The defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time.

So one would use the word when talking about the context of the text ... possibly more appropriate for a paper II than a paper I but if the context of the text in paper I can be identified then go ahead...

Every time I read examiner's notes I see something about too many people talking about the context instead of the text. Just something to think about for you :wink:

But it does make sense for some of the paper 2 questions, as long as you still focus on the texts and not their social context.

Reply 11

pianofingers

10

Hmm.. thanks for that...

Reply 12

altruist7

there are lots of ways to do this...also think of the 5 W's
Who
What
Where
When
Why----this is a big one..even if u state a literay feature its all about ITS EFFECT. :smile:

paper 1 is tmrw...damn lol :P :s-smilie:

Reply 13

Bandev

What about how? You have to show knowledge of the literary techniques within a passage and they create the how.

I also a nice thing to talk about is tense, eg. past, present, indicative, future, imperative.....

Reply 14

altruist7

lol thats kind of the "what" part...what doesnt mean what is goin on in the extract its more like whats being Done in the extract...i.e. lit feats..
so we were taught =D

Reply 15

Bandev

oh okay, I've just taken what to mean what is there, in more of a subject of the piece way, rather than how the subject of the piece was created eg lit feature. But I suppose whatever works for you.

Reply 16

bmanji

the popular word in my school is "plethora"

Reply 17

kyokoxy

Zeitgeist is like THE word in our TOK lessons.

I like using the word onomatopoeia (sound words) in poem analysis, though I would usually prefer the prose.

Random words: absurdity, euphumism, hyperbole, interior monologue, characterization, connotation, allusion, arbitrary, irony, metaphoric, parallelism, oxymoron, paradox, rhetoric, satire... etc etc.

SAT vocab can be useful sometimes. Hope that help. (: Then again, it really depends on the piece of work you're analyzing. Using simple diction is better than using impressive words in the wrong context...

Reply 18

Dekland

5

I think people should aim to vary their vocab. Instead of saying:
'He showed the deal to me'
'He proposed/presented/submitted the deal to me'

Its all well and good knowing a lot of words, but a tendency to attempt to memorise long 'fancy' words, usually means you will be intent upon using them in a commentary or exam and fail to use them in the correct context, which can no doubt look even worse upon you.

Reply 19

andy_cole2

14

phallic reference, if someone smokes it could be a willy tee hee tee hee

Nice words to use in IB english commentaries...

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