Section B: Comparative text analysis
The key words in the Section B examination instruction are ‘analyse’ and ‘how’. To analyse means to examine, consider and evaluate. These are all verbs – they imply doing and action – so effective responses will actively compare and contrast the two texts. An evaluation or analysis also suggests that you need to come to an understanding or conclusion about the issues and ideas presented in the texts. But what precisely do we evaluate or analyse? We analyse the different ways in which authors, playwrights, biographers and filmmakers tell us their story – this is the ‘how’ of the exam question. Some students will explain or summarise the narrative and hope that this is analysis: a very easy mistake to make, especially under time pressure in an exam. It is important to analyse in your response, rather than simply listing, explaining or describing.
The following activities and strategies will help you to clarify how texts present ideas and issues; use them as part of your revision and preparation for Section B of the English exam.
1. Make a list of specific differences between the two text types of your text pair.
Play v Novella?
2. Make a list of specific similarities between your selected texts.
3. Locate significant quotes from both texts that support the similarities and differences mentioned above.
Aim to find quotes that are not too long, as these will be difficult to memorise and to incorporate into your analysis.
4. Create a bank of useful sentence starters that enable you to discuss how ideas are conveyed.
5. Develop a set of comparative language phrases to recall quickly in an exam situation.
If you practise these in your paragraphs, they should come to you easily because you have written them and used them in your analysis several times before the exam. For example:
The following activities and strategies will help you to clarify how texts present ideas and issues; use them as part of your revision and preparation for Section B of the English exam.
1. Make a list of specific differences between the two text types of your text pair.
Play v Novella?
2. Make a list of specific similarities between your selected texts.
3. Locate significant quotes from both texts that support the similarities and differences mentioned above.
Aim to find quotes that are not too long, as these will be difficult to memorise and to incorporate into your analysis.
4. Create a bank of useful sentence starters that enable you to discuss how ideas are conveyed.
5. Develop a set of comparative language phrases to recall quickly in an exam situation.
If you practise these in your paragraphs, they should come to you easily because you have written them and used them in your analysis several times before the exam. For example:
- Murray-Smith’s concerns are … but, in contrast, Atwood’s interest is mainly in …
- Write a list of statements on the different ways Atwood and Murray Smith address the idea of patriachy.
- Use one example of how both texts illustrates this, from your list.
- Incorporate quotes (no longer than ten words) to support your findings.
- Incorporate quotes to support your findings, as above.
- Write a concluding statement – if each of the statements in the paragraph is true, what conclusion can you come to? Try to avoid using the personal pronoun ‘I’. Instead, try: ‘Atwood and Murray Smith suggest that the role of men and women in society is...