IB Lang Lit HL Paper 2 Study Guide: No Exit & good kid, m.A.A.d city

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering IB Lang Lit Paper 2 criteria, Jean-Paul Sartre's existentialist drama No Exit, Kendrick Lamar's narrative concept album good kid, m.A.A.d city, and comparative writing methods.

Criterion A (Knowledge, understanding and interpretation)

A 10-mark assessment objective measuring how thoroughly you understand both texts and how effectively your interpretation addresses the essay prompt.

Criterion B (Analysis and evaluation)

A 10-mark assessment objective evaluating your ability to identify authorial choices (devices, structure, voice), explain their functional effects, and integrate comparative analysis.

Criterion C (Focus and organization)

A 5-mark assessment objective requiring each paragraph to maintain focus on the question, ensure neither text is neglected, and maintain balanced comparative development.

Criterion D (Language)

A 5-mark assessment objective evaluating clear, accurate, and formal academic writing that utilizes comparative phrasing.

Central link

A single-sentence statement that defines the foundational common ground shared by both examined texts regarding a specific essay question.

Comparative thesis

A concise, two-sentence claim that incorporates the exact wording of the prompt, identifies the central link, and introduces two to three contrasting arguments.

Huis clos

The original French title of Jean-Paul Sartre's play No Exit, meaning "closed doors," written and premiered in Paris in May 1944 during the German occupation.

Existence precedes essence

The core existentialist tenet stating that human beings possess no predetermined nature or divine purpose; an individual defines their identity entirely through their choices and actions.

Radical freedom and responsibility

The existential philosophy asserting that individuals possess complete agency over their lives and must bear full ownership of their actions, where choosing inaction still represents a choice.

Bad faith

The act of lying to oneself or adopting self-deceptive excuses to evade radical freedom and moral culpability, exemplified by Garcin's rationalizations and Estelle's denial.

The gaze of the other

The existential concept wherein being observed reduces an individual to an object in another person's consciousness; in No Exit, the absence of mirrors forces characters to perceive themselves solely through others' judgement.

"Hell is other people"

Garcin's concluding revelation in No Exit, demonstrating that torment in hell is psychological and relational—stemming from inescapable entanglement with others when relationships are corrupted.

Garcin

A deceased pacifist journalist executed for desertion who tormented his wife; he spends the afterlife in bad faith, desperate for Inès to validate his courage and deny his cowardice.

Inès

A former postal clerk who drove her cousin and Florence to suicide; she is cruel, openly embraces her moral nature, and denies Garcin the validation he craves.

Estelle

A vain society woman who drowned her illegitimate child; she copes through superficial denial, refusing to acknowledge her crime while demanding male admiration to confirm her existence.

The paper knife (No Exit)

A prop utilized by Estelle to stab Inès, functioning symbolically to show that physical harm is impossible among the dead and that hell's true punishment is exclusively relational and psychological.

m.A.A.d (acronym expansions)

The dual subtitle meanings given by Kendrick Lamar: "My Angel's on Angel Dust" and "My Angry Adolescence Divided," both characterizing an innocent youth corrupted by a violent setting.

K.Dot

Kendrick Lamar's adolescent street persona, representing the external façade of bravado and conformity created to survive peer pressure and urban violence.

Idem and ipse

Dual dimensions of personal identity: 'idem' represents permanent, recognizable attributes over time, while 'ipse' represents the inner moral core capable of transformation and ethical growth.

The Sinner's Prayer

A spoken Christian prayer framing good kid, m.A.A.d city at the beginning and after Dave's death, symbolizing spiritual conviction, communal redemption, and a pathway out of cyclic violence.

Dave's death

The climactic tragedy and pivotal turning point in good kid, m.A.A.d city, where a friend is killed in gang retaliation, shifting Kendrick's path from destructive conformity toward repentance.

Bildungsroman framework

A literary lens tracking the coming-of-age journey of a flawed protagonist who departs from familiar comforts, confronts moral tests, and matures into an authentic identity.

Couplet approach

A comparative essay structuring method wherein a full paragraph discussing the first text is followed by an alternating paragraph on the second text that explicitly links back.

Integrated approach

A comparative essay structuring method where each individual body paragraph analyzes both texts concurrently, comparing their choices and effects point by point.