Paper 2 Exam Format and Assessment Criteria
An overview of Paper 2's format, timing, and word count, plus a breakdown of the five assessment criteria (A, B1, B2, C, D) that determine your /25 score.
Paper 2 asks you to write a comparative literary essay using two of the works you've studied. You'll be given four open-ended essay prompts in the exam and must choose the one that best suits a pairing of your prepared texts. You then write a single essay that puts both works into genuine conversation with each other.
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Duration | 1 hour 45 minutes (same for SL and HL) |
| Length | ~1000–1300 words |
| Task | Choose 1 of 4 prompts; compare 2 studied works |
| Total marks | /25 |
| Criterion | Focus | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| A | Knowledge, understanding, and interpretation | 5 |
| B1 | Analysis and evaluation of textual features and/or broader authorial choices | 5 |
| B2 | Comparative analysis | 5 |
| C | Focus and organisation | 5 |
| D | Language | 5 |
Paper 2 prompts often open with a broad philosophical or thematic statement (e.g. "We are all prisoners of ourselves") followed by a specific task. You do not need to respond to the philosophical claim itself unless the prompt explicitly asks you to — your job is to address the key terms in the actual task, such as "tension between personal desires and social expectations."
Each criterion rewards a different skill, and understanding what they demand shapes how you plan and write:
- Criterion A rewards depth of understanding of both texts — not plot summary, but interpretation of what the works mean and how their parts connect.
- Criterion B (B1 + B2) rewards analysis of how techniques and authorial choices create meaning, and crucially, comparative insight — genuine dialogue between the two texts rather than two isolated discussions.
- Criterion C rewards a clear, balanced structure where both texts are given equal, integrated treatment throughout, not siloed into separate halves of the essay.
- Criterion D rewards precise literary vocabulary and a controlled, academic register.
Although you only write about two texts in the actual exam, prepare three in advance. You won't know which prompts will appear, and different prompts favour different pairings depending on theme, genre, or technique — a third text gives you strategic flexibility on exam day.
Common mistake: writing a "block" essay — a few paragraphs entirely about Text A, then a few entirely about Text B, with only a token comparison tacked onto the end. This scores poorly on Criterion B2 (comparative analysis) and Criterion C (organisation), even if the analysis of each individual text is strong. Examiners want texts examined in conversation, paragraph by paragraph.
- Paper 2 = 1h45m, ~1000–1300 words, choose 1 of 4 prompts, compare 2 studied texts
- Marked out of /25 across five criteria: A (5), B1 (5), B2 (5), C (5), D (5)
- Prepare 3 texts even though you'll only write about 2 in the exam
- Focus on the task's key terms, not the opening philosophical statement, unless asked
- Avoid block structure — compare texts within each paragraph, not in separate sections
Understanding the Paper 2 Prompt Structure
Paper 2 prompts open with a philosophical statement you don't need to answer directly — success depends on isolating the command term and key concept in the task itself.
Every Paper 2 exam gives you four open-ended prompts, and you must choose one to answer with a comparative essay on two of your studied works. The biggest trap for students under time pressure is misreading the prompt's structure. Most prompts have two distinct parts, and only one of them is actually the task you must complete.
Consider this typical prompt:
"Literature often explores the tension between personal desires and social expectations." Compare how this tension is presented in at least two of the works you have studied.
The first sentence is a broad, philosophical framing statement. The second sentence is the actual instruction. You are not required to agree with, challenge, or discuss the truth of the opening statement. Its only job is to introduce the topic. Your essay must respond to the task that follows it — here, comparing how tension between personal desires and social expectations is presented.
,
- Paper 2 prompts usually have two parts: a philosophical opening statement + the actual task sentence.
- You are NOT required to respond to the opening statement unless it directly instructs you to.
- Focus your entire essay on the key terms in the task sentence — that's what examiners are marking.
- Step 1: identify the command term (Discuss, Evaluate, Compare and contrast, Analyse) — these all require comparative analysis.
- Step 2: identify the key concept (often thematic or stylistic) and rephrase it in your own words.
- Step 3: adapt or 'morph' your texts to fit the concept if it isn't an obvious fit (e.g. nostalgia = emotional imprisonment).
Step 1: Identifying the Command Term
Paper 2 prompts use command terms like Discuss, Evaluate, Compare and contrast, and Analyse, but all of them require the same thing: a comparative analytical essay, so don't waste time overanalysing the verb.
Every Paper 2 prompt opens with a command term. Students sometimes freeze here, wondering whether Discuss demands something different from Evaluate, or whether Analyse requires less argument than Compare and contrast. In Paper 2, this distinction barely matters. The exam is, by definition, a comparative literary essay, so regardless of which command term appears, your task is the same: analyse two of your studied works side by side, in conversation with each other, in response to the prompt's key concept.
This is Step 1 of a four-step approach to unpacking any Paper 2 prompt: (1) identify the command term, (2) identify the key concept, (3) morph your texts or the prompt to fit that concept, (4) brainstorm overlapping points across both texts. Step 1 is quick by design — its purpose is to reassure you that the verb is not the hard part of the question, so you can move your attention immediately to what actually is: the thematic or stylistic concept the prompt is testing.
| Command Term | What It Might Suggest | What It Actually Requires in Paper 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Discuss | Present a balanced consideration of an idea | Comparative analysis of how two texts treat the idea, with your own argued position |
| Evaluate | Judge the merit or effectiveness of something | Comparative analysis that assesses how successfully each author achieves an effect |
| Compare and contrast | Note similarities and differences | Comparative analysis structured explicitly around convergence and divergence |
| Analyse | Break something into its parts to examine it | Comparative analysis of technique, theme, or character across two texts |
A Paper 2 prompt often opens with a philosophical or thematic statement (e.g. "Literature often explores the tension between personal desires and social expectations.") followed by a task using one of these command terms. You do not need to respond directly to the philosophical statement unless the task explicitly asks you to evaluate or discuss it — it exists to frame the key concept, not to be argued with. Focus your energy on the key terms in the actual instruction (here, "tension between personal desires and social expectations") across at least two studied works.
Spending five minutes debating whether Discuss is 'softer' than *Evaluate' wastes precious planning time. Since every Paper 2 essay must be comparative and argued regardless of the verb used, treat command-term identification as a one-second checkpoint, not a strategic decision. Redirect that time to Step 2: identifying the key concept.
Because all Paper 2 command terms funnel into the same comparative-analytical task, examiners are really rewarding your ability to construct a focused, evidence-based comparison (Criterion C: Focus and organisation) — not your ability to parse the verb. Spend your planning time deciding how your two texts will be organised in conversation with each other, since this is what Criterion C actually rewards.
- Common Paper 2 command terms: Discuss, Evaluate, Compare and contrast, Analyse
- All of them require the same underlying task: a comparative literary essay using two studied works
- Don't overthink or over-analyse the command term — it does not change your approach
- Skip past the philosophical opening statement unless the prompt directly instructs you to respond to it
- Move quickly from identifying the command term (Step 1) to identifying the key concept (Step 2)
Step 2: Identifying the Key Concept
How to locate the thematic or stylistic core buried in a Paper 2 prompt and restate it in your own words so your entire essay stays focused on what actually matters.
Every Paper 2 prompt looks philosophical on the surface, but underneath it is really asking about one specific idea: a theme like imprisonment or identity, or a stylistic device like irony or setting. Step 2 of prompt analysis is about digging past the decorative opening statement to name that idea precisely, in words you understand and can hold onto for the next two hours.
Take this example prompt:
"Literature often explores the tension between personal desires and social expectations." Compare how this tension is presented in at least two of the works you have studied.
The opening quotation ("Literature often explores...") is scaffolding — you do not need to agree, disagree, or philosophically engage with it unless the prompt explicitly instructs you to. The actual task, and therefore the key concept, is buried in the second clause: the tension between personal desires and social expectations. That is what you must trace through both texts.
Key concepts are usually one of two types:
- Thematic — e.g. imprisonment, identity, memory, power, gender roles
- Stylistic — e.g. use of irony, impact of setting, narrative voice
Name which type you're dealing with immediately. It determines whether your comparative points will centre on what the texts say or how they say it (or both).
Once you've spotted the concept embedded in the prompt's second half, rephrase it in your own plain words. This is not busywork — it's a diagnostic step. If you can't restate the concept simply, you don't understand it well enough yet to organise an essay around it. For the prompt above, you might rephrase "tension between personal desires and social expectations" as: characters wanting something for themselves that conflicts with what their society demands of them. That sentence is now your compass for the entire essay — every paragraph should visibly serve it.
Don't confuse the command term (Step 1: discuss, compare and contrast, analyse) with the key concept (Step 2: the thematic or stylistic idea itself). The command term tells you the task is comparative; the key concept tells you what you're comparing. Students who skip Step 2 often write two competent but unfocused essays glued together, because they never pinned down the single idea both texts must be read through.
This restated key concept becomes the thread that Criterion C (Focus and Organisation) rewards when it stays visible in every paragraph, and the anchor that Criterion A (Knowledge, Understanding, Interpretation) rewards when your interpretation of both texts clearly answers to it. A vague or misidentified key concept at Step 2 weakens every later step, since Steps 3 and 4 (morphing your texts to fit the prompt, and brainstorming overlapping points) both depend on knowing exactly what idea you're morphing towards and overlapping around.
- The key concept lives in the second half of the prompt, not the opening philosophical quotation
- Key concepts are either thematic (identity, power, memory) or stylistic (irony, setting, narrative voice)
- Rephrase the concept in your own plain words before planning — if you can't, you don't understand it yet
- This rephrased concept becomes the compass every paragraph must visibly serve
- Don't conflate the command term (Step 1) with the key concept (Step 2) — they answer different questions