Comparing and Connecting Texts

Why comparison is central

Much of the IB Language and Literature course — from the individual oral to Paper 1's guided analysis and Paper 2's comparative essay — asks you to put texts side by side. Comparison is intertextuality made into method. When you set two texts against each other, meanings emerge that neither text reveals alone: a shared theme handled two different ways, a convention one text uses straight and another subverts, an image that means one thing in a poem and another in an advertisement. This lesson offers tools for building connections that are genuine and illuminating rather than forced.

The difference between comparison and connection

A weak comparison merely notes that two texts "both talk about" a topic. A strong one identifies a meaningful point of connection and t