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Paper 2 exemplar questions

• Literature admits conflicts between good and good, as well as between good and evil. Which two
works would you choose to discuss to illustrate this generalization, and why might both types of
conflict be important?

• In what ways do two of the works you have studied explore the notion of happiness and/or
fulfillment?

• What questions about power has your study of two works of literature raised?

• In what ways does the concept “freedom of choice” inform your reading in any two works you have
studied?

• To what extent have two works in your study made use of features of form and/or structure.

• To what extent have you found it possible, in your consideration of literary works, to separate the
individual from his or her public role? In your answer you should refer to any two works you have
studied.

• “Fact versus fantasy; this is a clash that can have comic or tragic results.” Bearing this statement in
mind explore the results of using realism and fantasy in any two or three works you have studied.

• Compare how two works in your study have explored the themes of judgment and punishment, or
disguise and deceit, or love and friendship, and with what effect.

• Great literary themes involving love, death, survival and the like have sometimes been treated in
ways that are unique or are unexpected. Discuss how any two of the works you have studied
demonstrate this phenomenon.

• Compare the ways in which writers have explored the relationship between experience and
understanding. Refer in detail to any two works of literature in your study.

• The physical settings in works of literature are often an essential component of their overall
meaning. With reference to two of the works you have studied, how far would you agree with this
statement?

• Explore the ways in which “chance” or “coincidence” is used in any two works of literature you
have studied.

• In what ways have writers shown that things are not always what they seem? Illustrate your answers
with reference to any two works of literature you have studied.

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• How far do two of the works you have studied reflect the idea that works of literary fiction tell
truths though the medium of lies?

• Ambiguity has often been considered an enriching aspect of literature. Discuss what has been
gained or lost by the inclusion of what you define as ambiguity in two of the works you have
studied.

• “Some works challenge us more then others.” Discuss elements contributing to challenges for the
reader in two works you have studied, considering why the writers may have included such
difficulties.

• “Tension is a necessity in all works of art.” Saying what you mean by “tension” in two works of
literature, discuss how far you agree with this view.

• Compare the ways in which two of the works you have studied present more questions than
answers.

• Using two of the works you have studied, discuss how and to what extent the writers have shown
the pervasive influence of the past.

• If one of the roles of literature is to provide insight into human nature, by what techniques and to
what degree did your texts offer you such insight? Discuss with reference to two works you have
studied.

• A writer may speak in his or her own voice or take on the voice of a character or persona.
Comparing two works you have studied in the light of this statement, discuss what effects those
choices have on each work as a whole.

• The best literary works are ones that shock the reader into a new state of awareness. In what ways
could this statement be said to true of two works you have studied?

• “Look to the future and beware.” How and to what effect have writers depicted the future? Discuss
with reference to two works you have studied.

• Health and sickness may appear in the works of writers either in plots, characters, imagery or
themes. In what ways and to what effect have writers used health and sickness in two works you
have studied?

• What can a writer accomplish through the use of repetition? Respond with reference to two works
you have studied.

• “Some works of literature are universal and timeless; others seem specific to one place and/or time.”
In what ways do two works in your study explore this range of possibilities?

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• Using two of the works you have studied, discuss how and to what effect writers have used
exaggeration as a literary device.

• To what extent can it be said that the essence of any literary work lies in its narrative voice? Refer to
two works you have studied in your answer.

• Writers make many deliberate choices in the course of creating their works. Considering one or two
stylistic aspects, compare the effectiveness of some choices writers have made in two works you
have studied.

• In what ways do writers use “non-conformist” views or people as material for their writing? You
must base you answer on two works you have studied.

• “Chronological order is the most convincing way to convey a story or an idea.” Comparing two of
the works you have studied, agree or disagree with this statement.

• Much literature has been written about death and dying. How and to what effect has this subject
been explored in two of the works you have studied?

• “Although humans claim to desire freedom above all else, many prefer security.” In the light of this
statement discuss two works you have studied, showing the ways in which they have presented
attitudes to freedom and/or security.

• “Art is on the side of the oppressed.” Evaluate the means by which two works in your study either
confirm or raise questions about the validity of this assertion.

• “Works of literature are often layered, and may require close attention to discover their depth and
complexity.” With respect to two of the works you have studied, show how valid this view is.

• “A writer conveys not only experiences but a whole world in which these are possible.” With
respect to two works you have studied, discuss whether the author has created a coherent, imagined
“world”.

• To what extent is it true to say that the power of two of the works in your study emerges from the
way/s in which they develop?

• “There is no literature without conflict.” How and to what effect is conflict used in two of the works
you have studied?

• In what ways and to what effect have your writers focused on either the darker or lighter side of life
in two of the works you have studied?

• There are many ways of achieving a memorable ending to a work of literature. In two of the works
you have studied, how have your chosen authors made endings memorable?

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• “A literary work is not a mere play of the imagination, but a reflection of contemporary manners and
customs.” Discuss the validity of this statement in relation to two of the works you have studied.

• Some writers present a world view that is pessimistic and disorderly, while others present a world of
hope and possibility. How, and to what extent, do writers reflect these views in two of the works
you have studied?

• Most works of literary fiction present the ‘real world’ through the medium of metaphor. To what
extent is this true of two of the works you have studied?

• “It is the role of literature to challenge and confront the conventional values of a society.” In what
ways, and to what extent, have conventional values been challenged in two works you have
studied?

• “Memory feeds imagination.” To what effect has memory been used in two works you have studied?

• Many works of literature deal with a sense of longing. How, and to what effect, have writers you
have studied made use of a sense of longing in their works? Refer to two works in your answer.

• Fear and hope are significant in any person’s life. How have two or three writers you have studied
presented these emotions in a convincing way, and what role have they played in the works
concerned?

• “Literary works persuade us that human beings are worth caring for and writing about, no matter
what their circumstances or condition.” To what extent is this evident in two works you have
studied?

• The presence of pairs, or of doubles and doubling often appears in works of art. How and for what
purposes have at least two writers in your study made effective use of such patterns? refer to two
works in your answer.

• Consider the ways in which public places and/or private or solitary moments are used by writers in
two works you have studied and the effects achieved through such settings.

• Often an element in a work that appears early or at the beginning will appear in similar or
transformed ways in later or concluding parts of the work. How have at least two works in your
study used such elements to bring unity or surprise or other effects?

• Reminiscence can play an important role in literary works. By what means and with what effect
have at least two writers in your study included effective use of reminiscences in creating their
works? Refer to two works in your answer.

• “One of the things a writer is for is to ask difficult questions.” Choosing some of the difficult
questions posed in two works you have studied, connect their significance to the way they are

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presented by writers.

• Some writers make us see people’s lives through the lens of nostalgia. In what ways have writers
used nostalgia in two of the works you have studied?

• To what extent would you say that two of the works you have studied make use of characters or
narrators on whom we can rely?

• Urban settings are often portrayed as “spiritual wastelands”. To what extent, if at all, and by what
means, have two of the works you have studied presented urban settings in such a way?

• Images of sickness, both real and metaphorical, can reflect corruption in individuals and/or society.
To what degree and to what effect is this evident in two of the works you have studied?

• “All Art is quite useless.” With close reference to two of the texts you have studied discuss and give
reasons for the extent to which you agree or disagree with this statement.

• Literature frequently “challenges the barriers that prejudice erects”. How convincingly have two
works in your study presented such barriers and with what effect have they been opposed?

• Repeated references to objects, actions or other features of literary works often lead to such aspects
becoming symbolic in that work. Explain the ways at least two of the works you have studied have
employed such symbolism.

• “Driven by desire” is often a crucial factor in the intense or passionate forcefulness found in literary
works. Show how writers in two of the works you have studied have employed such energy to
construct their works.

• “To learn something often involves losing something.” Considering two works you have studied,
explore the relationship between learning and sacrifice and the ways different works have chosen to
incorporate such a relationship.

• In what ways, in two works you have studied, have technology or technological advances played a
role as a theme or a source of conflict?

• Texts often connect with other texts in ways which are mutually enriching. Using two works you
have studied, evaluate some significant connections that you have appreciated between or among
these works.

• Awakenings or changes in consciousness are often explored in literature. Discuss, with reference to
two of the works you have studied, how and to what effect writers have explored such phenomena.

• How and in what ways have trivial objects taken on a larger importance in two of the works you
have studied?

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• Discuss how and to what effect greed is evident in two works of literature you have studied.

• Economic circumstances can be critical elements of the way a writer presents the world through
literary forms. In what way have economic factors been included in the work of two writers you
have studied?

• Literature sometimes takes readers on an imaginary journey into a past different to their own
individual experience.” In what ways and how effectively have two works in your study provided
you with a view of times past?

• Separation and reunion are sometimes used by writers to create and maintain tension in a literary
work. In two works you have studied, show how writers have made effective use of the artistic
potential of one or both human experiences.

• I always start with a visual image,” is the way one writer describes the beginning of his work. In two
works you have studied, identify one of the earliest visual images you recall from the work and
explain how the writer uses it to engage the reader in a part or the whole of the work.

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