Paper 2 Instructions
The Paper 2 exam booklet contains 4 unseen questions, with a cover page. The cover page text includes the following instructions. These instructions are relevant for both higher and standard level students of the Literature course and the Language and Literature course. Please note that the cover page does not include four exam questions. Please see the pages on Practice Paper 2 questions or Past Paper 2s for exam-style questions.
Instructions
- Do not open this exam until instructed to do so.
- Answer one of the four essay questions only. You must base your answer on two of the works you have studied and compare and/or contrast these works in response to the question.
- You may not bring copies of the literary works that you have studied into the exam room.
- Class of 2025: The maximum number of marks that you can earn for this exam is 30 (class of 2025) Class of 2026 and after: The maximum number of marks that you can earn for this exam is 25.
- You have 1 hour and 45 minutes to complete this exam, after 5 minutes of silent reading.
Assessment tips
Notice the phrase "compare and/or contrast these works" in the instructions. That's right! You can compare OR contrast or BOTH. While it's more common for students to compare than contrast, ask yourself: "What is more significant in relation to the question?" Essentially there are things that you should be looking at when comparing and contrasting literary works: the themes, the literary techniques and the readers' responses. If the writers' styles are different or similar, so what? Why does this similarity or difference matter in relation to the question and the reader's experience of the works? Ask yourself these questions and you'll open up possibilities for Criterion B2: Comparative analysis
Related pages
- P2 criteria SL/HL
- Practice Paper 2 questions
- Past Paper 2s