PAPER 2 WRITING ASSIGNMENT

The aim of paper 2 is to assess the student’s ability to communicate accurately in writing for a variety of purposes. It requires the student to demonstrate his or her productive skills.
HL paper 2 is divided into two sections.

• Section A (250–400 words): Based on the options—customs and traditions, cultural diversity, health, leisure, science and technology
• Section B (150–250 words): Based on the core—social relationships, communication and media, global issues

In section B, the student writes a reasoned argument in response to a stimulus text dealing with a topic linked to the core. The text could be a news report or a comment by a public figure. The response should engage with details of the text in order to develop some coherent discussion of the topic area, informed by what has been learned during the study of the core. There is no prescribed answer—what is assessed is the student’s ability to express his or her reflection on, or personal response to, the stimulus.
The examples of student work are based on the following task.

Write an essay based on the following statement using between 150 and 250 words.
In recent years we have been predicting that printed newspapers will disappear. With the latest digital editions of newspapers being widely read, it seems clear that the printed newspaper format will disappear.

SAMPLE