Part of the challenge of A2 is that you will be asked to compare texts from different periods and genres. You should begin this process by finding something that your texts share. Even if your exam board does not specify single poems or extracts to work with, your task will be more manageable if you start the process by identifying typical passages to work with. You can broaden your scope later if required. To make the comparison constructive and illuminating, you should choose pieces that form a contrast but have something in common. These two extracts represent key aspects of The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (1895) and To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf (1927).
The question you are set may ask you to focus on the language used to express the writers’ themes, or it might ask you to address more specific issues such as how the writers create a mood or compile a description. You could be asked to examine narrative techniques or explore what is unspoken. Whatever you are asked, begin by searching out what the passages have in common and how they differ.
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