IB Command Terms and Critical Lenses Vocab

Analyze

Break down in order to bring out the essential elements or structure

Compare

Give an account of the SIMILARITIES between two (or more) items or situations, referring to both (all) of them throughout.

Compare and Contrast

Give an account of SIMILARITIES and DIFFERENCES between two (or more) items or situations, referring to both (all) of them throughout.

Contrast

Give an account of the DIFFERENCES between two (or more) items or situations, referring to both (all) of them throughout.

Discuss

Offer a considered and balanced review that includes a range of arguments, factors or hypotheses. Opinions or conclusions should be presented clearly and supported by appropriate evidence.

Evaluate

Make an appraisal by weighing up the strengths and limitations.

Interpret

Use knowledge and understanding to recognize trends and draw conclusions from given information.

Investigate

Observe, study, or make a detailed and systematic examination, in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions.

Justify

Give valid reasons or evidence to support an answer or conclusion.

To what extent

Consider the merits or otherwise of an argument or concept. Opinions and conclusions should be presented clearly and supported with appropriate evidence and sound argument.

Reader Response Criticism

Focuses on the reader and experience/interpretation of and personal connection to a literary work

Formal Criticism

Focuses on how individual aspects of a text (characters, setting, tone, POV) join to create a single work

Historical Criticism

Investigates the origin of previous texts and their influences on the literary work and the context in which the piece was written

Postcolonial Criticism

Focuses on the relationship between colonial powers and colonized areas, with an emphasis on power and political structures.

Gender Criticism

Focuses on women and the construction of gender and sexuality; an extension of feminist literary criticism

Marxist Criticism (Social Class)

Emphasizes the alienation resulting from capitalist or hierarchical society

Biographical Criticism

Analyzes the relationship between an author's life and their literary works

Archetypal Criticism

Focuses on recurring myths and patterns in literary works, like symbols, images, and characters

Structural Criticism

Focuses on underlying structures to develop general conclusions about individual works and the systems from which they emerged- views the structure of the text

Deconstructionist Criticism

Examines what the text does and doesn't say to conclude that a text does not have one fixed meaning

Psychological Criticism

Using psychological theories, examines a work to better understand the author's mind and the characters and themes of the text