ib comparative essay example

IB English Paper 2 Explained

Free introductory guide to IB English Paper 2 by IB45 and IB7 graduates.

This guide will explain IB English Paper 2 and what you need to ace the exam come May or November, when the IB Gods throw you this (seemingly) insurmountable task.

If you don't know all about Paper 1 already, do check out LitLearn's amazing guide  for IB English Paper 1. Paper 1 is all about on-the-spot thinking and  adrenaline-pumping analysis . What about Paper 2?

Well, IB English Paper 2 is  all of those things , plus extensive preparation . But don't fret! I survived Paper 2, and so have many others before you. All you need is a couple sprinkles of guidance from a seasoned Paper 2 veteran (ahem).

Meet your instructor Jackson Huang, Founder of LitLearn. His mission is to make IB English as pain-free as possible with fun, practical lessons. Jackson scored an IB45 and was accepted to Harvard, Amherst, Williams Colleges, and full scholarships to University of Melbourne & Queensland.

What is IB English Paper 2?

You're in the exam room. You stare at the page and wipe the sweat from your forehead and try to focus on the words on the page:

"We are all prisoners of ourselves.” Discuss how the sense of imprisonment shapes the meaning and the effect on the audience of at least two texts you have studied."

A Paper 2 exam consists of four of these prompts. From these options, you choose one prompt and write a 1000 to 1300-word essay on it.

How long do you get? 1 hour 45 minutes for both Standard Level (SL) and Higher Level (HL) students.

In these 1000 to 1300 words, your task is to write a comparative essay , which — you guessed it — means comparing similarities and contrasting differences between the texts you've studied in class for Paper 2 (i.e., poems, novels, plays or short stories) .

Now that you understand what a Paper 2 essay involves, let's jump into how to properly answer one of these IB English Paper 2 prompts.

How to answer a Paper 2 Question

Let's stick with the above example about the theme of “imprisonment”.

First, see that philosophical quote at the start of the prompt? It's there to spark ideas, to get the juices flowing in your brain. You don't have to refer to it directly unless the questions explicitly asks you to do so. So the take-away message here is to not be ‘imprisoned' by the philosophical quotes at the start of the prompts.

Second, notice the command term “discuss”. This is usually replaced by words like “evaluate”, “analyse”, “examine”. Don't worry about it too much : it doesn't mean anything too important, because at the end of the day you still have to analyse, you still have to compare, and you still have to contrast.

The key of the prompt

The part after the command term is the most important part of the prompt:

"[…] how the sense of imprisonment shapes the meaning and the effect on the audience […]"

Here the “sense of imprisonment” — the key of the prompt — tells us exactly what we need to write about in the essay.

Can you find the key in this next prompt?

"Compare and contrast the effectiveness of the use of irony in two or more texts you have studied."

Notice the command term “compare and contrast” and the important part after it. The key of this prompt is “ the use of irony “.

Get comfy with morphing stuff

More often than not, our texts do not contain anything explicitly related to the prompt's key, say, the theme of “imprisonment”.

Pay attention to this next paragraph…

The secret to scoring a 7 in IB English Paper 2 is to get very comfortable with bending, morphing and twisting your texts and/or the prompt so that they are as compatible with each other as possible.

There are two ways that this can be achieved:

1. Morphing existing ideas in your own texts to fit the prompt

While Jane Sherwood's (some random character) nostalgia in your Incredible Text 1 may not directly relate to “imprisonment”, you could twist the character's nostalgia into the idea that emotions can trap or “imprison” an individual in a treasured memory or a past experience.

Nostalgia and imprisonment seem like unlikely brothers at first, but with a bit of justification they look almost like identical twins.

2. Redefining the prompt (reasonably)

The key of the prompt can often be vague . For example, there was a real IB exam prompt that asked whether “male characters were more interesting than female characters.” What does “interesting” even mean?

The IB Gods are inviting you to constrain the topic in a way that works for your texts specifically. You could write in the first sentence of your introduction:

"Interest, an important part of dramatic works, is often generated by emotional conflict and the subsequent creation of tension." "

Here I have restricted the broad topic of “interesting” to the more clearly-defined topic of “emotional conflict” because this redefinition works well for the texts I've studied for IB English Paper 2. You should do the same.

In reality, you have to morph both your texts and the prompt in order to reach a snug fit between the two. Getting to this point, which all happens during the planning stage, is the most difficult part of the Paper 2 process because it requires you to know your texts so well that you can apply the ideas in your texts to different situations.

How many texts to compare and contrast?

Before we continue with this introductory guide, we need to address the age-old question of how many texts should we compare and contrast in an IB English Paper 2 comparative essay?

In the old syllabus, you had the choice to compare and contrast up to three texts.

Luckily, in the new syllabus (First assessment 2021), you don't have to make a choice: the IB requires you to compare and contrast just two texts . One less decision for you to make!

However, you are still recommended to prepare three texts, so that you have 3 possible combinations of texts to answer your prompts (Texts 1 & 2, Texts 1 & 3 and Texts 2 & 3).

Now that we agree on how many texts to compare and contrast, let's see how we can make the texts work together.

Choosing the best points across your two texts

There's an easy way, and there's a hard way.

If you want a score of 5 or below , you can simply think of two points to answer the prompt for Text 1 and two other points to answer the prompt for Text 2. Then, slap them together into different paragraphs, regurgitate some shallow comparison and contrast, and call it a comparative essay. That doesn't sound very sophisticated, does it?

On the other hand, if you want a score of 6 or 7 , you'll need to use a lot more brainpower and insight. The points that you choose for your two texts are very important, in terms of how the points relate to each other and to the prompt. The points need to have enough overlaps that similarities can be analysed, but not too much similarity because you also want to contrast differences.

What ends up happening is you enter an algorithm — a set of steps, sort of like a recipe — where you repeatedly attempt to find good points for the prompt, gradually morphing them while re-defining the prompt itself, until you reach a good plan for your Paper 2 essay.

What does a good plan generally look like?

• Your re-defined prompt has not strayed far, or at all, from the original prompt.
• The points for Text 1 fit well with the prompt.
• The points for Text 2 fit well with the prompt as well as the points your chose for Text 1.

The million dollar question is: How do we get to this optimum stage where the prompts and the texts and married so harmoniously ? The answer is brainstorming.

In these Pro lessons from our study guide, we go into detail about the exact strategies for brainstorming for Paper 2 under exam conditions, choosing the right Paper 2 essay structure, and writing a strong Paper 2 thesis.

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How to best prepare for Paper 2

We've talked a lot about the skills and questions necessary to tackle an IB English Paper 2 prompt, but all of that happens during the exam itself. What can we do before Paper 2 to put ourselves in the best position?

• (Really) understanding your text
• Choosing great quotes for your Paper 2 (covered in a later lesson )
• Practice past Paper 2 exams

Let's go through Steps 1 and 3.

Understanding your text

IB English Paper 2 tests skills that require a deep understanding . First, to compare and contrast effectively, you need to know your texts well enough that you can find similarities and differences in the micro-details and in the macro themes, in the characters and in the techniques. Second, in order to adapt the ideas in your text to the prompt , you need to know how far you can stretch those ideas while maintaining their validity.

Without a deep understanding, you're dead in the water.

In our Paper 2 Preparation guide, we tell you exactly how to prepare your Paper 2 knowledge and notes, down to the specific questions you should be able to answer. The preparation is organized into Level 1 to Level 4 to give you a structured study roadmap for Paper 2. That way you don't get overwhelmed.

No sign up or credit card required.

Practising Past Paper 2s

The most challenging part of Paper 2 is bringing together three aspects:

• The quotes you've memorised
• Your analysis skills
• Your ability to adapt the quotes and ideas to a new prompt that you've never, ever encountered before

Grabbing that 7 in IB English Paper 2 requires that you are solid on all three fronts . You cannot just practice each of these aspects individually. Practising to plan and write Paper 2 responses ensures that you practise this core trifecta of skills together, all at once.

Practising past Paper 2s was the core of my IB English Paper 2 preparation schedule. It helped me to memorise quotes, learn which quotes are better than others, and learn certain pairs of themes, characters and techniques that work well in my texts for comparison and contrast.

By practising Paper 2s extensively, you increase your awareness of what works (and what doesn't) for your texts. Hence, the main thing you have to worry about on the day of your exam is the prompt itself--the only variable that you cannot control.

In the Paper 2 study guide, we have an exemplar IB English Paper 2 essay from a past exam: See the exemplar essay .

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IB Lang Lit SL/HL Paper 2 Comparative Essay: Journey

A critical commentary responding to a IB Lang Lit Paper 2 prompt comparing Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman and Henrik Ibsen's A Doll House on their use or presentation of journey/s.

The Question: Journey

Referring to two works you have studied, discuss how the writers portray the significance of a journey..

Some questions will have philosophical quotes to open the question , functioning as a frame for your thinking and interpretation of the literary/dramatic texts you choose to compare. Luckily (or perhaps unluckily), this question does not have such a feature . This means you will need to frame the topic/motif word, "journey", yourself.

Identify specific instances or moments and/or motifs/symbols in the literary texts for a sharper , more targeted comparison .

Ensure that the question/prompt/topic you choose should be quite clearly or easily seen/noticed in the texts of your choice.

Of course, this could be after allowing yourself some time to reframe/slightly re-define the topic . For instance, a journey is an act of travelling , it includes a starting point and a destination , or multiple destinations . It takes you from place/space/state to place/space/state . It involves some forms of movement or even displacement . To do so, agency is often required . You could examine both physical/literal journeys/movements and spiritual/metaphorical ones. So feel free (of course with restraint and discretion), to redefine or reframe the prompt/concept word such that it allows more space and applicability to your texts . However, do exercise discretion when doing so. Ensure that you are not distorting the topic or the prompt into something unrecognisable!

Do be acutely sensitive to the similarities or differences in literary form and structure of the texts you have studied. Even if they are of similar form (prose, drama, poetry), there are often differences or nuances to their styles , and the socio-historical and literary contexts in which the texts have been produced, shaped and situated .

The Essay for IB Lang Lit Paper 2

The characters in Death of a Salesman (henceforth Salesman ) by Arthur Miller and A Doll’s House (henceforth Doll) by Henrik Ibsen undertake various journeys of great significance. On the surface, these journeys symbolise immense promise, fundamentally altering the course of characters’ lives toward fortune and success. However, this potential is deeply deceptive. For both Willy Loman and Nora Helmer, these journeys represent their deepest insecurities and fears as well, embodying their greatest failings in the eyes of society. At the end of the two texts, both characters embark on final journeys to leave their lives behind definitively. While Willy’s last journey into death is a culmination of his empty life of failure and broken dreams, Nora’s departure represents a fresh beginning for her, journeying away from her old life of restriction and dependence toward a new future of freedom.

Both Salesman and Doll have significant journeys at their core, travelling to faraway lands in pursuit of fortune and salvation. In Salesman , Miller employs Willy’s older brother Ben’s journey to Africa, where he made his fortune discovering diamond mines, as a potent symbol of the American Dream. When Ben first appears to Willy, Miller’s stage directions describe him as “a stolid man, in his sixties, with a moustache and an authoritative air”, painting a striking portrait of his confident stature and presence. Indeed, he is “utterly certain of his destiny, and there is an aura of far places about him” – his commanding, well-travelled presence embodies respect, power, and wealth to Willy, wholly encapsulating his ultimate conception of consummate success. Indeed, Ben’s journey into the jungle with its diamonds is a repeated motif throughout Salesman . Existing as a figment of Willy’s imagination, Ben and his journey symbolise the American Dream, feeding into the pipe dream of rags-to-riches success that Willy has chased his whole life. Willy’s belief that, “the jungle is dark but full of diamonds” demonstrates his unwavering faith and hope in an exotic journey to lead him towards the glittering promise of precious diamonds, delivering him the fortune and fulfilment that he desperately desires.

In Ibsen’s work, it is the Helmers’ journey to Italy to cure Torvald’s illness that forms the foundation of their life of bliss and luxury thereafter, serving as a central symbol of Nora’s love and commitment to her role as Torvald’s wife and their happy life together. Nora explains to Mrs Linde, “It was to me that the doctors came and said that [Torvald’s] life was in danger, and that the only thing to save him was to live in the south.” Indeed, the life-threatening stakes of the journey are evident, underscored by the absolute “only” suggesting its sheer importance for Torvald’s survival. As such, she tells Mrs Linde that “I too have something to be proud and glad of. It was I who saved Torvald’s life.” Her repetition of the personal pronoun emphasises her role and agency in saving her husband, evincing the magnitude of her happiness and sense of achievement in her efforts. Indeed, the journey is Nora’s greatest triumph. Just as Ben’s journey is a symbol of the riches and success that Willy dreams of, the Helmers’ journey is likewise a symbol for Nora of their good fortune, single-handedly saving her beloved and ensuring the future of their “beautiful happy home”.

However, these journeys harbour deeper, darker significances as well. These journeys serve as portentous symbols of betrayal and deceit in the texts, burdening the characters with their heavy, leaden weight. In Salesman , while both Willy’s father’s journey to Alaska and Ben’s journey to Africa represent their pursuit of great riches and success, they are also painful symbols of the betrayal and abandonment he suffers. As Willy reminisces, “Dad left when I was such a baby and I never had a chance to talk to him and I still feel– kind of temporary about myself” – the polysyndeton adds a plaintive, child-like quality to his speech, emphasised by his forlorn admission of his feelings of “temporar[iness]”, demonstrating his deep sense of hurt and betrayal from his father’s journey to Alaska. Similarly, Willy “longingly” pleads “Can’t you stay a few days” as Ben moves to leave the scene, desperately trying to get Ben to remain with him. For Willy, these expeditions are traumatic reminders of his father’s and brother’s betrayals of him, leaving him behind to fend for himself in the dust, revealing the dual significance of their journeys.

For Doll , it is Nora’s act of deceit and subterfuge that forms the core of the Helmers’ journey to Italy. Not only was her forgery to borrow the money for the trip a criminal act, but her deception of doing so behind Torvald’s back represents a massive transgression against the societal expectations of female obedience and financial dependence. As such, the significance of her betrayal and deceit lies in her desperate attempts to conceal her disgraceful secret, lest it ruin the Helmers’ happiness and reputation it had brought about. In criticising Krogstad’s own act of forgery, Torvald unknowingly comments on his wife’s own situation, saying, “A fog of lies like that in a household, and it spreads disease and infection to every part of it. Every breath the children take in that kind of house is reeking of evil germs.” Ibsen employs the metaphor of infection to describe perceived moral bankruptcy, proliferating and eating away at all in its vicinity. Powerfully, he even adopts the idea of an all-consuming “fog” that envelopes everyone in its shroud, invasively entering the “breath” of children and thoroughly corrupting them. The Helmers’ journey to Italy is one such act of deceit, suggesting that in Nora’s greatest act of love and salvation lies a symbol of her deepest disgrace and betrayal of society’s conventions and expectations of her.

Damningly, the two playwrights also demonstrate the ultimate hollowness of the fortunes promised by these journeys. In Salesman , Miller deflates the symbol of the American Dream with the sharp pin prick of reality, exposing the beguiling riches and fortune of exotic journeys as empty promises. When Willy asks Linda about the “diamond watch fob” that Ben brought back from Africa for him, Linda reminds him that he “pawned it… for Biff’s radio correspondence course.” The symbolic riches of Ben’s journey to Africa are undermined by the harsh reality of the Lomans’ poverty, exposing the hollowness of the lofty fortune and success that Ben’s journey promised. Moreover, Willy’s own journeys as a salesman are a far cry from the exciting, fortune-filled adventures of Ben’s expedition, with his dull, dreary travels earning him a paltry income that barely supports his family. When Willy initially recounts his business journey to Linda, he proudly declares that he made “five hundred gross in Providence and seven hundred gross in Boston”. Yet, these inflated boasts are quickly punctured as Linda works out his actual earnings of a meagre “seven dollars and some pennies”, only worsened by the overwhelming cumulative list of mounting debts in “…nine-sixty for the washing machine… for the vacuum cleaner there’s three and a half due on the fifteenth. Then the roof, you got twenty-one dollars remaining”. Far from the alluring promise of wealth and adventures embodied by the “diamonds” , Willy’s own journeys merely offer the mundane reality of broken household appliances and indigent poverty, exposing the drab truth belying the glittering journey towards the American Dream.

Likewise, Ibsen demonstrates the inherent hollowness of the blissful family life gleaned from the Helmers’ journey. Just as Willy realises that the promise of Ben’s epic journey is a mere pipe dream, it becomes evident that the apparent good fortune of love and happiness brought about by the Helmers’ trip is a lie, with their marriage built primarily on Torvald’s desire for respect, control, and reputation, rather than any genuine feeling. Upon discovering Nora’s secret, Torvald’s reaction is not one of gratitude but instead of deep reproach and fury, exposing his preoccupation with social approval above all else. He tells Nora, “The thing must be hushed up at all costs”, only able to refer to her act of selfless sacrifice obliquely as “the thing”, and even demanding continued secrecy around the truth of their journey to the extent of the absolute in “at all costs”, demonstrating the intensity of his shame and emasculated humiliation. Cruelly, he declares, “All we can do is save the bits and pieces from the wreck, preserve appearances…”. The ideal life of a loving husband and happy family crumbles as Torvald reveals his true colours, callously referring to Nora’s greatest act of love as a disastrous “wreck”, leaving behind the ruined remnants of “bits and pieces” from their former, blissful façade. Instead, he is focused on the maintenance of “appearances”, suggesting his prioritisation of his social image over any true affection or love for Nora. As such, Ibsen demonstrates the superficiality of their love, exposing their joyful domestic life together, made possible by their trip to Italy, to be lacking in true happiness and only possessing frivolous, foolish “merry”.

Ultimately, both plays end with their respective protagonists’ departure from their old lives. For Salesman , Willy takes his car and commits suicide, embarking on a tragic final journey into the “dark jungle” of death. In the Requiem, Linda tells Willy, “I made the last payment on the house today. Today, dear. And there’ll be nobody home”. Despite the fulfilment of one of the Loman’s life goals, the “diamonds” reaped are completely hollow, without any happiness, family, or meaning behind it. We are confronted with the inherent meaninglessness of the various journeys of Willy’s life, as well as the ultimate emptiness of his final journey into death, demonstrating the yawning chasm between reality and the grand symbolism of Ben’s journey and the American Dream. In the closing moments of Salesman , the stage is filled with the enchanting “music of the flute”, alluding to the tantalising journey into the wilderness that eluded Willy all his life. Even in death, he is haunted by the glimmering potential of what could have been, leading away towards riches and success just out of reach.

Conversely, Nora’s flight is much more empowering and hopeful. While Willy’s death is merely the final meaningless journey of a long life of meaningless journeys, Nora’s departure stands in contrast to the Helmers’ trip that catalyses the play. The woman who embarked on that initial journey, naïve and wholly self-effacing in the face of her husband’s needs, is different from the woman who leaves her husband at the end of the play, independent and free from the restrictions of his patronising iron fist of control. The play ends with “the sound of a door shutting”, with its resounding note of finality ringing out across the stage in a decisive end to her old life of dependence and captivity.

While both plays employ journeys as a glimmering symbol of reward, promising great fortune and fulfilment, Miller and Ibsen recognise the deceptive quality of these false promises. In time, these journeys come to harbour darker significances of deceit and betrayal for the characters, with their apparent promises of happiness and riches exposed to be hollow illusions. At the end of each play, both protagonists embark on final journeys to leave their old lives behind. While Willy’s final journey into death encapsulates a lifetime hopelessly spent chasing dreams just out of reach, Ibsen illuminates a brighter, hopeful future for Nora as she begins her new life.

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Structuring Your IB English Paper 2 Essay

The blueprint for a perfect essay.

IB English Paper 2 is your chance to shine by demonstrating your ability to compare and analyze literary works effectively. A well-structured essay is crucial for conveying your ideas clearly and scoring high marks. Let’s break down the ideal structure for your Paper 2 essay to ensure you hit all the key points and impress the examiners.

Understanding the Basics

Exam overview.

• Duration : 1 hour and 45 minutes
• Format : Comparative essay based on one question chosen from a set of six.
• Texts : Compare at least two works from the prescribed reading list.

Key Elements of the Essay

• Thesis Statement : Your central argument or perspective on the chosen question.
• Comparative Analysis : Balanced examination of similarities and differences between the texts.
• Textual Evidence : Quotations and references to support your analysis.
• Coherent Structure : Logical flow of ideas with clear paragraphs.

Detailed Essay Structure

Introduction (1 paragraph).

• Example: "In the realms of literature, the portrayal of human struggle often reveals profound truths about society and the individual."
• Example: "Both George Orwell's  1984  and Aldous Huxley's  Brave New World  explore dystopian futures, yet their approaches highlight different aspects of societal control."
• Example: "While Orwell's  1984  focuses on the overt oppression of a totalitarian regime, Huxley's  Brave New World  depicts a subtler form of control through pleasure and conditioning, revealing the multifaceted nature of human subjugation."

Body Paragraphs (4-6 Paragraphs)

Each body paragraph should focus on a specific aspect of comparison, such as themes, characters, settings, or literary techniques. Use topic sentences to introduce the main idea of each paragraph.

• Example: "One of the central themes in both novels is the manipulation of truth."
• Example: "In  1984 , Orwell illustrates this through the Ministry of Truth, where historical records are continuously altered to fit the Party's current narrative. A prime example is the character Winston Smith, who works to falsify documents, creating a reality where the Party is always right."
• Example: "Conversely, in  Brave New World , Huxley presents a society where truth is manipulated through the use of hypnopaedic conditioning. The constant repetition of slogans like 'Ending is better than mending' ensures that citizens accept the engineered reality without question."
• Example: "Both authors reveal how the manipulation of truth serves to maintain control, albeit through different mechanisms."

Repeat this structure for each aspect you are comparing, ensuring that each paragraph transitions smoothly to the next.

Conclusion (1 Paragraph)

• Example: "In conclusion, Orwell and Huxley offer compelling insights into the nature of societal control, with  1984  emphasizing overt oppression and  Brave New World  highlighting the insidious power of pleasure and conditioning."
• Example: "While both novels address the manipulation of truth and the subjugation of individuals, their differing approaches underscore the complexity of totalitarianism."
• Example: "As we navigate our own rapidly evolving societies, these dystopian visions prompt us to reflect on the subtle ways in which our perceptions of truth and freedom may be shaped."

Tips for Writing a Strong Paper 2 Essay

Plan your essay.

Spend the first 5-10 minutes planning your essay. Outline your main points, textual evidence, and how you will structure your analysis. A clear plan will help you stay focused and organized.

Use Comparative Language

Throughout your essay, use comparative language to highlight similarities and differences. Phrases like "similarly," "in contrast," "both," and "whereas" can help create a coherent comparative analysis.

Stay Relevant

Ensure that every point you make is directly related to the question and your thesis. Avoid tangents or overly broad statements that do not contribute to your argument.

Be Concise and Clear

Clarity is key. Express your ideas succinctly and avoid unnecessary jargon. Ensure that each paragraph contributes to your overall argument.

If time permits, proofread your essay for any grammatical or spelling errors. Ensure that your arguments are clearly articulated and that your essay flows smoothly.

Mastering IB English Paper 2

A well-structured essay is crucial for success in IB English Paper 2. By following the outlined structure and incorporating the tips provided, you can write a coherent, insightful, and persuasive comparative essay that impresses the examiners.

Ready to master IB English Paper 2? Join RevisionDojo today and access personalized study tools, curriculum-specific question banks, and resources enhanced by Jojo AI. Let us help you navigate your reading list, practice your comparative analysis, and achieve your academic goals with ease.

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Paper 2 - Specimen Question Response #1

How do two of the works you have studied portray the struggle to be understood?

Communication and collaboration are two essential qualities of human nature, but different perspectives and cultural differences continue to lead to challenges of communication and the struggles to be understood in life. This is reflected in literature, too, and can be seen in Alan Moore and David Lloyd’s graphic novel V for Vendetta and Emile Zola’s Therese Raquin. Through the use of the symbol of the roses in V for Vendetta, the didactic features of the naturalism movement in Therese Raquin, and the plights of the protagonists and other key characters in both novels, both works suggest that, unless struggles to be understood are overcome, the future for humanity could be quite bleak.

Lloyd and Moore employ symbolic roses to represent life and hope amidst apocalyptic despair. The rose is first introduced to the reader in Book 1 as V enters the Priest’s house with a white rose already plucked. The rose is initially given to the people V murders out of revenge, a reminder of the people like him harmed in the concentration camps for being minorities. In Larkhill Camp, V grows roses, and uses their fertilizer ultimately to destroy and escape the camp. By the end of the novel, as V’s social experiment moving through Anarchy to Anarchism, of reinventing society in the interests of all, comes to fruition, the rose symbolises new life, something beautiful and natural blooming out of the rubble of despair and destruction. He leaves Evey Hammond with a stark warning, though, when he says that ‘we, as gardeners, must beware… For some seeds are the seeds of ruin, and the most iridescent blooms are often the most dangerous’. Essentially, he says that new seeds represent new life, that a new day will always dawn and change is possible, but warns her of the usual human mistakes: of trusting the most beautiful, most sweet-talking leaders (‘iridescent blooms’) rather than taking a more collective responsibility, will lead to the familiar outcomes. Thus the rose both symbolises V’s own struggle to be understood, leading to his incarceration for being an outsider and his revenge for that incarceration, as well as the easy manner in which humans allow themselves to misunderstand others through their attractive presentation rather than their true intentions.

By contrast, Zola pioneers a literary movement in order to adapt the very purpose of literature in order to explore the reasons why people behave as they do, being successful or struggling with interacting and understanding each other accordingly. In his Preface to the Second Edition, Zola says that ‘he had believed, naively, that this novel might do without a preface,’ but that ‘the critics ha[d] given this book a hostile and indignant reception’ because they didn’t understand that in the novel Therese Raquin, he ‘set out to study, not characters, but temperaments’. Zola himself argues that, in pioneering the movement of Naturalism, his characters are ‘human animals’ and he is employing certain settings, situations and temperaments that then display how humans behave with each other. Zola states directly that ‘my objective first and foremost was a scientific one’, and thus it is argued that he is using literature to predict human behaviour. A character with a nervous temperament like Therese, coupled with the lazy peasant, Laurent, captured in the dingy setting of Passage du Pont Neuf, and in a passionate, forbidden affair - evidenced by their first act of lovemaking being ‘silent but brutal’ - will inevitably lead, according to Zola, to a downward spiral and the possible sequence of events that follows. Therese and Laurent become ‘murderers’ and ultimately kill themselves. However, overriding this is Zola’s key purpose of using his novel as a form of social science, to explore human beings and how they are bound to misunderstand each other and lead complicated lives as a result. 

Both authors use key characters’ struggles to be understood at climactic moments of the novels as integral to the advancement of the plot and to the ultimate resolution of their plights. After discovering the truth about her son’s death, Madame Raquin - by now a paralysed invalid - had been ‘fervently looking forward’ to the set-piece Thursday night gathering so she could attempt to unmask the murderers. Despite Laurent’s confidence that ‘she’s hardly going to start blabbing to them’, Madame Raquin indeed gained the attention of the group and began spelling out the names of Therese and Laurent, making ‘the murderers… crazed with terror’. However, at the moment of highest tension, she failed to make herself understood, as ‘the avenging hand… fell back into a spasm’ and the moment was lost. By contrast, in V for Vendetta it is Evey Hammond who goes on a journey of discovery and understanding as V tricks her into thinking she is incarcerated and ‘tortures’ her. When she discovers the truth, Evey is broken by learning it was V all along, while he claims to be ‘set[ting her] free’ from the ‘prison’ she’s been in ‘all her life’. This metaphor suggests she is blind to the truth of the world and he has had to educate her through tough means. However, his ambiguity in manner leads her to say, ‘you think you’re so good that you don’t have to make sense,’ and, ‘nothing you say means anything’. He is, then, intentionally creating a struggle for her to understand him, in order for her to learn about herself and the world, something she sees and does at the end of the novel.

Martin Luther King Jr. said, ‘Every step towards the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering and struggle’. In order for societies to be most effective, human beings have had to strive to overcome their struggles to understand each other in order to learn the truth about themselves, about the world, and in order to live and work together more effectively. V for Vendetta is an explicitly politically-motivated novel which expresses this through the opaque behaviour and characteristics of its title character, while Therese Raquin is a literary study of temperaments and how certain conditions lead to certain outcomes, and how certain characters struggle to understand each other, to live together, and to share hidden truths more widely. 

Examiner's marks

Narrated discussion of student response.

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Individuals may struggle while trying to be understood, pursuing freedom as a response. It is essential for humans to find a way in which not only can they understand each other, but feel understood, otherwise as a consequence of this there could be various differences and unwillingness of groups to work with one another. This component is essential to the existence and survival of human beings. Authors David Lloyd, Alan Moor, and Emilie Zola, created pieces which help explore the concept of not being understood, and the consequences rising from this. It can be said that through the use of the mask as symbolism, in V for Vendetta, Therese’s characterisation in Therese Raquin, and literary genre in both with Dystopia and Naturalism, authors Alan Moor, David Lloyd, and Emilie Zola portray how the struggle to be understood leads to the inability to compromise and perusal of freedom.

Emile Zola portrays the struggle to be understood through characterisation in Therese Raquin. Therese was a character which was misunderstood by her familiars, she would remain silent during most occasions, without her opinion taken into account. Yet, when Laurent appeared in her life he triggered the uncovering of a new, not seen side of Therese to the reader in which one could see her resentment towards her husband and her aunt. After years Therese at last reveals to the reader how, “ I would have preferred abandonment to their hospitality, I had a desperate need for wide-open spaces; as a little girl, I dreamt of roaring barefoot along dusty roads”.  The extract above demonstrates Therese’s desperation towards this family, although they had saved her from facing poverty, she would have still chosen to be abandoned. Therese is constantly pushed around without being able to be given a chance for her opinion, as a result she holds resentment and bitterness towards her familiars throughout her entire life. Once she sees an escape out of this life it is clear that she would take any means necessary to finally be liberated and free. This shows the desperation Therese had as she clearly wanted to be understood, and once she felt like she was, she would even kill to change her life and head it towards what she wanted it to look like. All in all, Thereses specific characteristics being presented to this situation made her want to take an extreme measure that would make her feel understood at once, showing the complexity of beings and how far some could go for comfortability and happiness.

Alan Moor and David Lloyd use symbolism to portray the struggle to be understood. V for Vendetta is a novel which shows a society where there were no minorities or people of color, and the population was oppressed by their government. V is a character which due his difference, and inability to fit the perfect society with ‘ideal people’ the right wing government wanted to achieve is cast away to a concentration camp to be tested on. The incapability of the government to understand others which are not what they deem as superior, and different, is what greatly inspires V to pursue freedom through anarchy. V utilizes a mask to represent that what he is pursuing is greater than just himself, “Behind this mask there is more than just flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea... and ideas are bulletproof.”. The symbol of the mask is essential throughout the entirety of the comic, as it shows that there is an idea which rose due to several factors. V, a survivor from this persecution, pursued freedom, not only individually, but for all, he wanted to dismantle the government and let the population be free after so many years of being oppressed, without understanding each other. The government essentially separated and held the population back, as the only one being able to stand up for themselves was V, which later spread his ideology. 

Alan Moor, David Lloyd and Emile Zola use literary genre to depict the struggle to be understood. In these two novels there is use of  various features which help aid the creation of characters which are struggling in their environment, and how they deal with this. Irrespective of their environment, there is the same outcome of the two, individuals who want freedom after suppressing their feelings. Emile Zola used genre as he showed that the human nature of these characters in this specific situation was inescapable, and eventually would occur one way or the other In "Therese Eaquin," I have sought to study temperaments and not characters. In that lies the entire book. I have selected personages sovereignly dominated by their nerves and their blood, destitute of free will, led at each act of their life by the fatalities of their flesh.”. Alan Moor, and David Lloyd use dystopia in the novel where the world is controlled by a far right government with extremist ideas, essentially suppressing everyone's feelings to not be understood. One of the government's recurring phrases was “Strength through unity and faith”, ironically, as without individuals being understood there is no unity.

Humans are complex beings which mainly desire to be understood by others. At times some individuals may struggle as everyone is different, therefore leading to differences with one another. If people cannot manage to get past their differences and understand each other, there is no collaboration or work from either party. V for Vendetta and Therese Raquin depict this idea of the struggle to be understood and what it does to a person which oppresses their feelings in such a way. With V for Vendetta using symbols, Emile zola using characterisation, and both using literary genre they make it clear and highlight the consequences of not being understood on individuals.

Examiner's Comments 

This essay has enormous strengths. It makes clear, analytical points that address the question with relevance, and some of the analysis and evaluation - the presentation and deconstruction of evidence - is very effective. The third paragraph is a little too general even though it is effective in ensuring the comparative nature of the essay. And there are language slips, including discussing works and authors in the past rather than conventional present tense. Overall, though, a strong essay.

Examiner's Marks

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HL External Assessments, first examinations 2021

HL Paper 2: Comparative essay (1 hour 45 minutes)

The paper consists of four general questions. In response to one question, students write a comparative essay based on two works studied in the course. (30 marks) 25%

SL Paper 2: Comparative essay (1 hour 45 minutes)

The paper consists of four general questions. In response to one question, students write a comparative essay based on two works studied in the course. Students are required to answer one question only.(30 marks) 35%

The only difference between HL and SL is that HL Paper 2 is weighted less at 25% while SL Paper 2 is weighted at 25%.

Comparative essay on literary texts

Paper Two Explained

Paper Two Rubric

High Exemplar and Comments

Mid Range Exemplar and Comments

Producing a Paper Two: Compare and Contrast Two Texts Analysis, IB External Assessment (May of Senior Year)

Compare and Contrast Two Texts, Similarities and Differences

Compare and Contrast Two Texts, Point by Point Method

Compare and Contrast Two Texts, Block Method

Developing a Thesis

TWO WORKS: Writing the thesis statement for a compare/contrast essay

In (Name of Work), (Full Name of Author) (uses, employs, utilizes), (device/strategy/technique), and (device/strategy/technique) to (show, reveal, emphasize, argue, insist, point out) that (effect/purpose/theme), while in (Name of Work), (Full Name of Author) (uses, employs, utilizes), (device/strategy/technique), and (device/strategy/technique) to (show, reveal, emphasize, argue, insist, point out) that (effect/purpose/theme).

In (Name of Work) and (Name of Work), both (Full Name of First Author) and (Full Name of Second Author) (use, employ, utilize, rely on) (device/strategy/technique) to (show, reveal, emphasize, argue, insist, point out) that (effect/purpose/theme)