A student-friendly guide for those studying literature remotely as part of the International Baccalaureate Diploma. 
If you live away from you home country, you may choose to study the Language A: self-taught option independently or with the help of your parents, without working with a teacher. However, the author observed that such students often do not fully understand the program requirements, which then negatively affects their exam results.
This handbook brings together information and advice primarily for independent learners, but it will also be useful for those who do have a teacher — and even for the tutors themselves, especially those just beginning to teach this course. Such tutors often contact the author for consultations, which can be replaced with this guide.
This collection of materials was developed by the author over the past 8 years of teaching IB Russian.  Thanks to the unoform requirements of the IB LIterature Guide, it has become possible to create a universal version of the handbook in English that can support studying the course in all languages. The English edition does not have the section of excercises for Paper 1 essay because these samples must be provided in the language of study. 
 
Table of Contents: 
Introduction 
SECTION 1 
Paper 1: Analysing an Unseen Text, or How to Tame the Dragon 
How to Analyse an Unseen Text 
Expressive Means of Language 
Level 1: Tropes 
Level 2. Figures of Speech 
Level 3. Mastery of Analysis 
Test Your Knowledge of Expressive Means of Language
An Example of Poem Analysis and an Assay in the Style of Paper 1 
SECTION 2 
Paper 2: The Comparative Essay — When Two Are Better Than One 
Paper 2 Essay Checklist 
Framework for Analysing a Literary Work 
Sample Paper 2 Essay 
Sample Paper 2 Questions 
SECTION 3 
Individual Oral: Two Texts, One Issue, and a Recorder That Hears Everything 
How to Write the Individual Oral 
Conclusion