IBDP English A: Language and Literature:

Paper 2 Question Bank – Comparative Essay

Individual Oral/HL Essay works:

Works I CANNOT use:

Meaning and Context - General

● How can we explain the continued interest in a particular work in different contexts and at different
times? Do works of literary merit both reflect the spirit of the time and challenge it?
● What do you think of the assertion that the meaning of a text is fixed and does not change over time?
● To what extent can the meaning of a literary work change over time? How does this question
apply to at least two works that you have read?
● Context - historical, cultural or social - can have an influence on the way literary works are
written or received. Discuss with reference to at least two of the works you have studied.
● How do two literary works both reflect and challenge the spirit of the times in which they were
written?
● How can you explain the continued interest of works of literature over time? Discuss with
reference to at least two of the works you have studied.
● It is often said that literature is a voice for social commentary. How is this true of at least two
works that you have read?

Context with a Particular Focus

● With regards to at least two literary works, explain how the setting both influences the
characters and reflects the author's own context.
● Show how belief or faith is represented in at least two of the literary works you have studied and
discuss how this aspect might be interpreted or understood in different historical, cultural or social
contexts.
● Analyze how justice is represented and understood in two works studied. Discuss with reference to
at least two of the works you have studied.
● Works of literature can teach us something that may not have been originally intended. To what
extent have you found this to be true in at least two of the works you have studied?
● Tension is often created between “new” and “old”. To what effect do writers make use of such tension
in at least two works you have studied?
● What is the significance of “the getting of money” in at least two works you have studied, and how is
it represented?
● Can the ends ever be said to justify the means? Consider the ways in which this idea is explored in
at least two of the works you have studied.
● Show how and to what effect at least two of the writers whose works you have studied make use of
myth, legend and other stories and tales.
● Looking closely at how weakness and strength are represented in at least two of the works
you have studied, discuss the significance of the relationship between the two.
Author’s Life

● 'Coming of age' is a common theme in literary works. With regards to at least two literary works,
explain how the author's own youth influenced their portrayal of this theme.

Reader Response

● To what degree are readers influenced by their culture and context? Explain how at least two works
could be read differently depending on the culture of their audience.
● In what ways is the reader seduced or comforted by the ideas in the works studied and in
what ways challenged or alienated? Refer to at least two of the literary works you have
studied.
● A work can be critically acclaimed in one culture and be banned in another. Discuss how at least two
works you have studied might lend themselves to various receptions.
● Show some of the ways in which the writers of at least two of the works you have studied
enable the reader/audience to discern a meaning that is only implied.
● Texts originally produced in a culture or in a language different from that of the reader’s can have a
strong impact. With close reference to at least two of the texts you have studied, show how they
challenge the reader to see the world in a new way.

Aesthetics/Literary

● If beauty is a relative term, how do one or more of the works you have studied explore this idea?
● Why are the works you have studied considered “literary” texts? Identify and discuss some of the
features that make at least two of the texts you have studied literary.
● Writing is both an art and a craft, where form and content are carefully constructed and language
and style artistically embellish the whole. Discuss in what ways at least two works you have studied
effectively combine both art and craft.
● Plays are meant to be staged; poems are often read aloud, and books are often made into movies.
What aspects of at least two of the works you have studied would appeal to an audience’s eyes or
ears?

Individuals/groups and context

● How are the characters from at least two literary works representative of people from the time and
place in which they were written?
● Explain how the authors of at least two literary works have portrayed a social group in a
particular way. How might the contexts of the authors have influenced their portrayal of these
social groups?
● To what extent do male and female literary characters accurately reflect the role of men and
women in society?
● Literary works often show men and women struggling to resolve problems and not succeeding very
well. To what degree do you find this to be true in at least two of the works you have studied?
● How valid is the assertion that literature is a voice for the oppressed?
● How do the conflicts between characters reflect the kinds of conflicts from the time and place in
which the texts were written? Discuss with reference to at least two of the works you have studied.
● “Working together” or “standing on your own two feet” – how do either or both of these ways of
behaving reflect the cultural contexts of at least two works you have studied?
Plot/Sequencing and Time

● To what purpose do authors sometimes choose not to follow a chronological sequence of events
in their literary works?
● With regards to two literary texts, explain why authors may have chosen to depict events in a
particular sequence or order.
● Time of day or time of year are often presented by a writer in such a way as to support ideas in the
work, to develop character or to establish mood, atmosphere, etc. In what ways is time used
effectively in at least two works you have studied?