In simple terms
A friendly intro before the formal notes — no formulas yet.
From Local Page to Global Stage
The 'global issue' is the central argument of your Individual Oral. It's not just a topic like 'love' or 'war'; it's the specific, real-world tension or conflict that your chosen literary and non-literary texts explore.
Think of your literary text as a detailed, local street map of a single neighbourhood. The global issue is the satellite view of the entire world. Your job in the IO is to show how the specific streets, buildings, and people on your local map (the characters and events in the text) are a perfect example of a larger pattern (the global issue) that you can see repeating in different forms all over the world.
- 1
Identify a significant theme or conflict in your literary work (e.g., a character's struggle against social norms).
- 2
Broaden this specific struggle into a wider, real-world problem. Ask: 'What is the bigger human conflict here that exists across cultures and time?'
- 3
Phrase this problem as a statement of tension or a question. Instead of 'social class', try 'The conflict between inherited social standing and the pursuit of individual merit'.
- 4
Test your issue: Is it transnational (affects people in more than one country)? Does it have a significant impact? Is it visible in both your chosen texts?
Explore the concept
Use the live diagram and synced steps — play it or tap a step card to walk through.
Full topic notes
Formal explanation with the rigour you need for the exam.
Defining a 'Global Issue' for the IO
In the context of the English A: Literature course, a global issue is not merely a topic. 'War', 'love', and 'racism' are topics. An examiner-approved global issue is a more specific and debatable exploration of that topic. It is a tension, a conflict, or a question that arises from the topic and has relevance across different cultures and societies.
It must be transnational: The issue should not be confined to a single community or nation. It must have relevance and impact on a global scale.
It must have local manifestations: You must be able to show how this broad, global issue is specifically represented and explored within the 'local' contexts of your chosen texts.
It must be significant: The issue should have a degree of weight and importance in the contemporary world.
It must be a point of tension: The most effective global issues are framed as a conflict or question, for example: 'The conflict between cultural preservation and the pressures of globalisation' is much stronger than 'Globalisation'.
From Textual Theme to Global Issue: A Practical Process
The best global issues emerge organically from the texts you have studied. Do not choose a global issue first and then try to force the texts to fit. Instead, work from the inside out. Start with the specific details of your literary work and build outwards to a global concept. This ensures your argument is grounded in textual evidence.
Step 1: Brainstorm Themes. In your literary work, what are the central conflicts, ideas, and recurring motifs? Think about character motivations, settings, and resolutions (or lack thereof).
Step 2: Connect to a Field of Inquiry. Consider how your brainstormed themes relate to the five Fields of Inquiry (e.g., Culture, identity and community; Politics, power and justice). This helps to categorise and broaden your thinking.
Step 3: Formulate a Tension. Rephrase your theme as a conflict. Instead of 'Identity', try 'The tension between collective and individual identity'. Instead of 'Power', try 'The ways in which institutions use language to legitimise power'.
Step 4: Test and Refine. Does this issue connect meaningfully to your non-literary body of work? Is it specific enough to be explored in 10 minutes? Can you articulate it in a single, clear sentence? If not, refine it until you can.
Examiners reward specificity. Avoid vague, universal statements. 'The human condition' is not a global issue. 'The ways in which individuals confront their own mortality in secular societies' is a global issue. The latter gives you a clear, arguable thesis to explore through your texts, which is essential for a high score in Criterion C (Focus and Organisation).
Choosing a Non-Literary Body of Work to Match
Your non-literary body of work should not be an afterthought. It must connect to your literary work through the shared global issue. The connection should be insightful, not superficial. For example, connecting a war poem to a news report about war is too obvious. A more sophisticated choice might connect a war poem about propaganda to a series of modern political advertisements, both exploring the global issue of 'the manipulation of language to sanitise conflict'.
Crafting a High-Impact Introduction
The first minute of your IO sets the stage for everything that follows. A powerful introduction clearly identifies your texts, your extracts, and your precise global issue. It acts as a roadmap for your examiner, demonstrating from the outset that you have a focused, well-structured argument. This is your primary opportunity to impress upon the examiner your command of Criterion C (Focus and organisation).
Worked examples
See the formulas applied — reveal one step at a time, like the exam.
Using the poetry of Sylvia Plath, formulate a global issue and explain how it is present in her work.
- 1
A student might initially identify a theme of 'sadness' or 'mental illness' in Plath's poetry. To elevate this to a global issue, they must broaden and specify the tension. A strong formulation would be: 'The struggle for an authentic female voice in societies that impose restrictive definitions of womanhood.' This formulation is effective because it is transnational (patriarchal structures exist globally), significant, and framed as a tension ('struggle for... in societies that impose...'). In Plath's poem 'Daddy', this global issue finds its local manifestation in the speaker's violent attempt to break free from the oppressive memory of her father, a figure who symbolises a broader patriarchal authority. The authorial choices, such as the suffocating 'black shoe' metaphor and the fractured, aggressive language, are not just expressions of personal pain but are Plath's tools for dissecting how societal power structures can silence and infantilise women, making this personal struggle a representation of a global one. This approach directly addresses Criterion A (interpretation) and B (analysis of authorial choice).
Draft an introduction for an Individual Oral connecting an extract from George Orwell's 1984 and a series of targeted social media advertisements, using a shared global issue.
- 1
A top-band introduction would be structured and precise, like this: "Good morning. For my Individual Oral, I will explore the global issue of how powerful entities use surveillance and personalised communication to control individual behaviour and thought. I will investigate this issue through two texts. My literary work is George Orwell's novel 1984, and I will focus my analysis on an extract from Part 1, Chapter 2, where Winston Smith describes the Telescreen. My non-literary body of work is a collection of three targeted advertisements from Facebook's platform in 2023, which demonstrate algorithmic personalisation. Through a comparative analysis, I will argue that while Orwell's Telescreen represents a crude, overt form of control, modern digital advertising achieves a similar end through more subtle and seductive means, revealing a shift in how our privacy is commodified and our choices are engineered." This introduction is strong because it: 1) States the global issue with precision. 2) Clearly identifies both texts and the specific extracts. 3) Presents a clear line of argument ('I will argue that...'). 4) Uses sophisticated vocabulary ('surveillance', 'algorithmic personalisation', 'commodified', 'engineered'), satisfying Criterion D.
How it all connects
The big idea sits in the middle — tap a linked idea to explore the link.
Tap a linked idea to see how it connects back to the main topic — that connection is what examiners reward.
Glossary
Try to recall each definition before you reveal it.
Quick check
Answer in your head first — then tap to check. No pressure.
Revision flashcards
Flip the card. Test yourself before the exam.
Global Issue
A significant issue of common interest that has a transnational scope and is represented in specific local contexts. It must be a debatable tension or conflict, not just a topic.
Key takeaways
Review these before you close the topic — retrieval beats re-reading.
- ✓
It must be transnational: The issue should not be confined to a single community or nation. It must have relevance and impact on a global scale.
- ✓
It must have local manifestations: You must be able to show how this broad, global issue is specifically represented and explored within the 'local' contexts of your chosen texts.
- ✓
It must be significant: The issue should have a degree of weight and importance in the contemporary world.
- ✓
It must be a point of tension: The most effective global issues are framed as a conflict or question, for example: 'The conflict between cultural preservation and the pressures of globalisation' is much stronger than 'Globalisation'.
Practice — then mark it
The whole point: a real Cambridge question, marked mark-by-mark.
Test Your Global Issue Formulation
Test Your Global Issue Formulation
Extra simulations & links
PhET, GeoGebra and other curated tools — open in a new tab.
Frequently asked
Checkpoint
One marked question is worth ten re-reads — close the loop before you move on.
Reading it isn’t knowing it — prove it.
Before you move on: do Test Your Global Issue Formulation on paper, snap a photo, and get examiner-style feedback on exactly where you win and lose marks.