Overview of the Comparative Study:
A FILM OR PLAY MUST TELL ITS STORY IN A COMPRESSED TIME FRAME, WHERE A NOVELIST CAN EXPAND OR CONTRACT AS NEEDED
The Comparative Study is the heavy hitter of Paper 2. It’s worth 70 marks and needs to be the longest essay you write for Paper 2. I would recommend that you plan and write around five pages for this task. To prepare for this section you need to know your three texts very well. Students also need to know and understand the three modes that are on the course for 2018; Cultural Context, General Vision and Viewpoint, and Literary Genre. The easiest way to grasp the point of these three modes is to understand them all as different lenses through which to view your texts.
Cultural Context requires that students explore their texts in terms of the world of each one. What impact does the time and place of where each text is set have on the story, the characters, the conflicts they face and how they are resolved? Thereafter, you need to compare and contrast the cultural context of each of the texts. There will be many similarities and differences. A great way of organising this information is by creating summary tables/charts with bullet points to show each important similarity and difference between them.
General Vision and Viewpoint refers to the world view of each author/director as seen through the text they created. There is an overall viewpoint apparent in each text. It can be described as; negative/positive, pessimistic/optimistic, bleak/bright. Once you have discovered what the overall vision and viewpoint of each of your texts is, your next job is to find the different kinds of viewpoint that are apparent in different moments of the text. Every text has different moments that show either negative and positive viewpoint, regardless of their overall viewpoint. You will need to compare and contrast these different moments. Again, a summary table/chart can be helpful here.
Literary Genre is the study of how stories are told in different mediums. Films, plays and novels, all of these are stories. However, each medium employs its own techniques in the telling. Films, plays and novels all have characters, settings and plots. However, film has techniques that are unique to this medium; montage, special effects, and elaborate sets. A filmmaker who avoids narration has the challenge of communicating the past – or the inner life of the character – through dialogue, or flashback, or setting. Plays and films share techniques such as costume, makeup and sound effects whereas a novel has none of these. A film or play must tell its story in a compressed time frame, where a novelist can expand or contract as needed. As you evaluate the genres, list these similarities and differences between your texts and use the summary table/chart method to organise your points.
Once you have completed this task, you need to practise writing comparative essays for your two chosen modes from the past papers. Out of the three possible modes, two appear on the paper. You will notice that there is a choice of two question types for each mode that appears on the paper. There is a 70-mark essay that requires you to write one full essay of around five pages. The other type of question is broken into two parts; part a) asks you about one text for 30 marks, part b) asks you about the two other texts that you have studied for 40 marks. It is my experience that students find the two-part question trickier to deal with. Oftentimes, students write too much for the 30-mark question and not enough for the 40-mark question. My advice is that it’s easier to plan and write the 70-mark essay. You need to try both of these options to see which type of question suits your writing style.
The key aspects of a successful comparative essay are; continued reference to the question, evidence of clear knowledge and understanding of the mode and the texts, and most importantly, continuous comparisons and contrasts between each text. Don’t forget to plan your essay on the rough work page. Students often use the inside page of their answer book for this purpose. The plan will ensure that your essay is focused and coherent. Write an introduction that answers the question asked, shows clear understanding of the mode and introduces a flavour of what will be discussed in the main body. Thereafter, your main body paragraphs all need to focus on answering the question and comparing and contrasting the similarities and differences between your texts. Finally, your conclusion needs to restate your answer to the question and sum up your main points. Et voila! A successful comparative essay.