The Taj Mahal is a symbol of India's connectedness to the rest of the world. The mausoleum, built under the Indo-Muslim Mughal empire ruled by people of Turkic-Mongolic origin, sourced its materials from various territories spanning Central and South Asia - regions with diverse religious backgrounds. The background illustrates India's historic religious and cultural diversity, and status as an economic and political hub of the world. The foreground demonstrates that this is still true: the different hats worn by the train men (the turban, symbolic of Sikhism, versus the kufi, an Islamic cap) shows that the religious and cultural diversity persists. Similarly, the 'vintage' metal train symbolises India's routing and international networks with the rest of the world created during and after British colonisation. The colour contrast may suggest the difference in natures of the two empires that India lived under.
Something else I would suggest about the cultural context of India when related to the two men riding the front of the locomotive: one is a Sikh (in the red turban) and the other (seated) appears to be a Muslim. That adds an intriguing political, social, historical and religious undertone to this excellent photograph.
Hi Dave and Andrew, How lucky I am to be able to see and comment on a recent video of yours. I would like to start by saying this was a great video alongside the rest of your Paper 1 videos on analysis and technique. My teacher had provided this channel saying it provided up to date methods for the revised Paper 1 and he's right. These videos are a godsend for me since the only videos I found were ones based on the old syllabus since the new syllabus is well... really new haha. In addition, there really aren't that many PPQs on the syllabus and I was thinking of just making guiding questions for past papers (though I'm unsure of the effectiveness of doing so). Regarding the photo analysis, I had paused the video early on and using the techniques you provided, I came upon a slightly different analysis of the photograph which I would like to share. Admittedly, colonialism never came to mind though thinking back on it now, it does seem quite obvious. The guiding question I came up with while analyzing was: "How does the photographer convey a message about progress using visual elements?" I ended up doing quite a bit of analysis so I'll just throw in the brief plan I made afterwards(inspired by your brief plans in other videos): Introduction (Big message conveyed is the evolution and growth of India) Technological and Economical progress of India (The Taj Mahal contrasting the train. The two working class men on the train) Duality of Progress (Innovation and opportunities V. Reckless ambition and pitfalls) Danger of Progress (Erasure/ Forgoing arts and culture in favour of science. The men's hats (religion and culture) V. their work life sacrificing it) Conclusion (Subtle message/meaning: India should progress forward without forgoing its past and its cultural heritage and should integrate/reflect on it. There should be a coexistence of old & new instead of competition) Ultimately, looking back at this now, there are some potential far-stretched weak points in this given my current academic writing ability but it could work. I can share my full annotated analysis of the photograph and a written paragraph on it via email if you're interested. Apologies for this turning into a lengthy comment haha. I've only seen these Paper 1 videos for a few days and know that if I revisit these text types, my analysis and writing will gradually improve. I look forward to what you have to say about this :)
What a thorough and detailed comment and I love your plan for an analysis of the image and you have some very interesting ideas for each paragraph. The idea of the GROWTH and PROGRESS of India seems very sound and some of your points are interesting, The duality is clearly seen in the contrast of new and old and perhaps this is something that you would integrate into those last two body paragraphs. I’d love to read this and see how you are integrating some of the features of the image and deconstructing it as a Paper 1. While all Paper 1 texts will definitely have SOME language, I think practicing on a solely visual text is a great challenge and a great idea. Go to our website (ibenglishguys.com) and shoot us a message there with your email and send us your paper.
@@ibenglishguys Hi, just saw this. Thank you so much for replying and I'll send my thesis and the starting paragraph soon! It was a difficult but rewarding process, especially since I recently realised I struggled with text-specific techniques (hence why your videos were so helpful and why I also used some extra resources when analyzing this photograph).
Hi Dave and Andrew, I am a substitute IB teacher (former full time IB teacher) filling in for a staff member on maternity leave. Can you please tell me how my student should present the excerpt with the line numbers if the student excerpt is from a graphic novel? Should they number the panels only? Should they separate out the text from the panels? Any advice would be helpful. Can't seem to find the answer online anywhere. Thank you!!!
They should number panels instead of using line numbers. If there are only 8-10 panels, that would be easy to do. No need for line numbers. Be sure they are well versed in the comic terminology to be able to talk about the graphic text and the illustrations. We have some resources for comics that should be helpful. Check our website www.ibenglishguys.com. How to read a comic (Paper 1 page). Good luck!
I would say object placement has to do with composition since this is the arrangement of visual elements. Framing and cropping are good to talk about as well but are somewhat different.
Hi, legends of the IB English game. Had a small doubt: in this case of India, can we use cultural contexts like the importance of the man wearing Khaki clothes if we know about the Indian culture. I am pretty confident it is not essential to use context but would it benefit our essay to use cultural contexts?
Students should avoid writing entire paragraphs focused on context. However, using some contextual knowledge to add insight to analysis and interpretation seems reasonable to us. After all, Time and Space is one of the Areas of Exploration for our course.
The Taj Mahal is a symbol of India's connectedness to the rest of the world. The mausoleum, built under the Indo-Muslim Mughal empire ruled by people of Turkic-Mongolic origin, sourced its materials from various territories spanning Central and South Asia - regions with diverse religious backgrounds. The background illustrates India's historic religious and cultural diversity, and status as an economic and political hub of the world. The foreground demonstrates that this is still true: the different hats worn by the train men (the turban, symbolic of Sikhism, versus the kufi, an Islamic cap) shows that the religious and cultural diversity persists. Similarly, the 'vintage' metal train symbolises India's routing and international networks with the rest of the world created during and after British colonisation. The colour contrast may suggest the difference in natures of the two empires that India lived under.
Something else I would suggest about the cultural context of India when related to the two men riding the front of the locomotive: one is a Sikh (in the red turban) and the other (seated) appears to be a Muslim. That adds an intriguing political, social, historical and religious undertone to this excellent photograph.
Great point! We did not think about that. Thank you!
Hi Dave and Andrew,
How lucky I am to be able to see and comment on a recent video of yours. I would like to start by saying this was a great video alongside the rest of your Paper 1 videos on analysis and technique. My teacher had provided this channel saying it provided up to date methods for the revised Paper 1 and he's right. These videos are a godsend for me since the only videos I found were ones based on the old syllabus since the new syllabus is well... really new haha. In addition, there really aren't that many PPQs on the syllabus and I was thinking of just making guiding questions for past papers (though I'm unsure of the effectiveness of doing so).
Regarding the photo analysis, I had paused the video early on and using the techniques you provided, I came upon a slightly different analysis of the photograph which I would like to share. Admittedly, colonialism never came to mind though thinking back on it now, it does seem quite obvious. The guiding question I came up with while analyzing was:
"How does the photographer convey a message about progress using visual elements?"
I ended up doing quite a bit of analysis so I'll just throw in the brief plan I made afterwards(inspired by your brief plans in other videos):
Introduction (Big message conveyed is the evolution and growth of India)
Technological and Economical progress of India (The Taj Mahal contrasting the train. The two working class men on the train)
Duality of Progress (Innovation and opportunities V. Reckless ambition and pitfalls)
Danger of Progress (Erasure/ Forgoing arts and culture in favour of science. The men's hats (religion and culture) V. their work life sacrificing it)
Conclusion (Subtle message/meaning: India should progress forward without forgoing its past and its cultural heritage and should integrate/reflect on it. There should be a coexistence of old & new instead of competition)
Ultimately, looking back at this now, there are some potential far-stretched weak points in this given my current academic writing ability but it could work. I can share my full annotated analysis of the photograph and a written paragraph on it via email if you're interested. Apologies for this turning into a lengthy comment haha. I've only seen these Paper 1 videos for a few days and know that if I revisit these text types, my analysis and writing will gradually improve. I look forward to what you have to say about this :)
What a thorough and detailed comment and I love your plan for an analysis of the image and you have some very interesting ideas for each paragraph. The idea of the GROWTH and PROGRESS of India seems very sound and some of your points are interesting, The duality is clearly seen in the contrast of new and old and perhaps this is something that you would integrate into those last two body paragraphs. I’d love to read this and see how you are integrating some of the features of the image and deconstructing it as a Paper 1. While all Paper 1 texts will definitely have SOME language, I think practicing on a solely visual text is a great challenge and a great idea. Go to our website (ibenglishguys.com) and shoot us a message there with your email and send us your paper.
@@ibenglishguys Hi, just saw this. Thank you so much for replying and I'll send my thesis and the starting paragraph soon! It was a difficult but rewarding process, especially since I recently realised I struggled with text-specific techniques (hence why your videos were so helpful and why I also used some extra resources when analyzing this photograph).
Hi Dave and Andrew, I am a substitute IB teacher (former full time IB teacher) filling in for a staff member on maternity leave. Can you please tell me how my student should present the excerpt with the line numbers if the student excerpt is from a graphic novel? Should they number the panels only? Should they separate out the text from the panels? Any advice would be helpful. Can't seem to find the answer online anywhere. Thank you!!!
They should number panels instead of using line numbers. If there are only 8-10 panels, that would be easy to do. No need for line numbers. Be sure they are well versed in the comic terminology to be able to talk about the graphic text and the illustrations. We have some resources for comics that should be helpful. Check our website www.ibenglishguys.com. How to read a comic (Paper 1 page). Good luck!
Thank you so much sir ❤️
Glad you liked it. We’ll keep them coming.
Hi sir, I just had one question regarding the composition and cropping... Which part covers object placement across the frame?
I would say object placement has to do with composition since this is the arrangement of visual elements. Framing and cropping are good to talk about as well but are somewhat different.
Hi, legends of the IB English game. Had a small doubt: in this case of India, can we use cultural contexts like the importance of the man wearing Khaki clothes if we know about the Indian culture. I am pretty confident it is not essential to use context but would it benefit our essay to use cultural contexts?
Students should avoid writing entire paragraphs focused on context. However, using some contextual knowledge to add insight to analysis and interpretation seems reasonable to us. After all, Time and Space is one of the Areas of Exploration for our course.
Ah yes
Last minute for tomorrow exam :)
very good