Criterion A
True or False: You only need to reference context if the guiding question asks for it.
False
What is the correct ratio of evidence to analysis in a body paragraph?
About 1:2 or 1:3 — analysis should outweigh evidence.
Your thesis is essentially a direct answer to the ________
guiding question
Give three examples of an analytical verb.
Reveals, demonstrates, underscores, conveys, critiques, suggests. etc
Who is Percy Jackson's father?
Poseidon
What is the purpose of summarizing both texts in the introduction?
To show understanding of both texts and that you can relate them to the question
True or false you should compare and contrast authorial choices.
True
True or False: It’s okay to introduce new arguments in your conclusion if you forgot them earlier.
False
Give two words of transition words that can be used for contrast
However, on the other hand, in contrast, nevertheless.
What should you do during the reading time?
Select your question and identify keywords to identify/define.
Themes are best used as one word.
False, themes are not one word.
Why is it important to compare/contrast the two texts directly instead of analyzing them separately?
Because Paper 2 assesses comparative insight; direct links strengthen evaluation and meet IB expectations.
A thesis needs:
A clear claim or central argument (introduces the discussion)
Key supporting points (roadmap of body paragraphs)
The two works being analyzed (titles/authors)
The intended effect or significance (what the comparison shows)
Replace this vague phrase with a precise one: “This shows society is not working.”
This highlights the author’s critique of rigid class structures and how they impede the upward mobility of it's citizens.
Which large cat is the best swimmer?
Jaguar
Take this guiding question: “To what extent do two works you have studied present literature as timeless?” Provide an interpretation that goes beyond a surface-level answer — show originality by linking each work to a broader idea.
Both Human Acts and 1984 present literature as timeless, not simply because they depict injustice, but because each reveals how resistance to authority becomes an enduring human condition across cultures and eras
Rewrite this weak claim into an analytical one: “The author uses imagery.”
“The author employs vivid imagery of confinement to emphasize how the character’s lack of freedom reflects broader social oppression.”
List five different comparison words you can use for paper 2
Correspondingly
In the same way
Likewise
Similarly
Equally
In a similar fashion
In like manner
Along the same lines
Just as
As well as
Question: Rewrite the following sentence so that it retains the same meaning but demonstrates more complex syntax and nuanced diction:
“The author uses imagery to show that the character feels trapped.”
“By layering imagery of confinement and enclosure, the author renders the character’s sense of entrapment as both physical and psychological.”
How many marks is paper 2
25
Question: Formulate an original interpretation of this guiding question: “How do two works you have studied portray the struggle for identity?” Your thesis should be both defensible and insightful — moving past the obvious.
“In Kafka on the Shore and Night Sky with Exit Wounds, identity is not portrayed as a stable or predetermined essence but as a fluid negotiation between the self and forces that seek to define it whether metaphysical boundaries or inherited histories. Both works suggest that identity is constructed through the act of navigating, and at times resisting, these external inscriptions.”
What makes an interpretation “analytical” rather than “descriptive” in Paper 2?
An analytical interpretation explains how or why an authorial choice creates meaning or effect, while description only states what happens.
Rewrite this weak Topic sentence into a stronger one: Both authors write about characters who are confused.
Both authors depict confusion with vivid imagery as the threshold through which characters confront the instability of identity, transforming uncertainty into a site of meaning.
Question: Condense the following convoluted sentence into a more precise and rhetorically effective statement, without losing meaning:
“In many different ways over the course of the narrative, the author makes repeated use of a wide range of literary and rhetorical techniques that work together in order to emphasize and bring attention to the ways in which the characters are consistently and systematically subjected to unfairness and injustice within the society in which they live.”
“The narrative orchestrates recurring motifs and structural contrasts to expose the characters’ systematic subjugation to societal injustice.”
What animal has the largest population in the world? (not counting insects)
Chickens