Understanding Paper 2

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Analyzing how the deeper meanings (implications) of the text relate to the specific question.

Proving a convincing and well-supported argument

Providing a detailed summary of the plot and character names to show you read the book.

Showing a deep, "perceptive" understanding of the works in relation to the prompt.

Listing every literary device found in the works to show a wide range of analysis.

Explaining how specific authorial choices—like structure or setting—actually work to shape the reader's understanding of the meaning.

Summarizing the plot in detail so the examiner understands the context of the textual features.

Compare and contrast the authors' main ideas.

Writing one full paragraph about Work A and then a separate, unrelated paragraph about Work B.

Listing three facts about the first book in relation to the prompt and three facts about the second book.

Focusing only on the plot similarities while ignoring the differences in how the authors use style.

Consistently examining the meaningful ways the two works are similar or different in relation to the prompt.

Maintaining a "clear and sustained" focus on the specific prompt from the introduction all the way to the conclusion.

Ensuring that the amount of time and analysis spent on each of the two works is "well-balanced."

Connecting ideas in a "cogent" manner so that each paragraph builds logically toward a persuasive argument.

Including "some lapses" in focus because you have a creative idea or having an "unbalanced" treatment of the two works because one work is more closely connected to the prompt than the other.

To provide a highly detailed summary of two books, ensuring the examiner knows every plot point while using complex vocabulary to organize the essay.

To use a clear, logical structure to argue how the authors' specific stylistic choices create deeper meanings in relation to the prompt, while maintaining a balanced comparison and contrast between both works.

To focus primarily on one "main" book while using a second book briefly to show that you have read more than one text in the course.

To list as many literary devices as possible (like metaphors and similes) to prove you can identify "authorial choices" regardless of whether they relate to the prompt.

2 hours and 15 minutes

1 hour and 30 minutes

1 hour and 45 minutes

1 hour