Paper 2: The Comparative Essay Explained

Paper 2 shifts the task from reading the unseen to comparing the studied. Here you write one essay that compares two literary works you have studied during the course, in response to one of four general questions printed on the exam. It is a closed-book exam lasting 1 hour 45 minutes, and the same for SL and HL: the difference between levels lies in the wider course, not in this paper's format.

What the paper looks like

You are given four general questions. They are deliberately broad and thematic, applicable to many works, because you bring your own texts. A question might ask about the presentation of power, the role of setting, how endings shape meaning, the treatment of an outsider figure, or how form influences a reader's response. You choose one question and answer it by comparing an