How to Compare Texts (AQA GCSE English Literature): Revision Note

What does comparing texts mean in English Literature?

Comparing texts means looking at two texts side by side and explaining how they are similar and how they are different. You compare two things:

• Ideas: what each writer says about the topic in the question, and their attitude towards it

• Methods: how each writer presents those ideas, through language, form and structure

For example, ‘Ozymandias’ and ‘My Last Duchess’ both present powerful rulers. That shared idea is your starting point. Your comparison becomes more interesting when you explain the differences, such as the very different methods Shelley and Browning use to show what power does to people.

Why does comparison matter?

Comparison questions appear on most GCSE English Literature courses. Comparing well helps your writing in three ways:

• It improves your analysis of each poem, because a contrast with the second poem makes the first poet’s choices easier to see

• It gives your essay a clear argument, because you have to decide what the most important difference is

• It shows the examiner that you understand both texts well enough to link them, which the AQA mark scheme rewards

How to compare two poems

Comparing poems is easier when you follow the same five steps each time. Here is how to compare poems at GCSE in five steps:

• Find the shared focus, which is the idea from the question that both poems explore, such as power, conflict or memory

• Compare ideas: note what each poet says about that focus, and whether their attitudes are similar or different

• Compare methods: for each idea, find a method in each poem (a word, image, form or structural choice) and decide what effect it creates

• Decide your comparative argument: write one sentence that names what the poems share and the most important difference between them

• Choose a structure for your essay, then plan which points go in each paragraph

How to compare methods as well as ideas

Many students compare ideas only, for example by saying that both poems show power is dangerous. The AQA mark scheme rewards analysis of the writer’s methods, so each comparison point needs a method from both poems.

The simplest way to do this is to compare like with like. Ask the same question of both poems, then compare the answers:

For example, in ‘Ozymandias’, Shelley tells the story second-hand, through a traveller, so the king’s voice survives only in the words carved on his broken statue. In ‘My Last Duchess’, Browning uses a dramatic monologue, so the Duke reveals his own cruelty without realising it. Shelley keeps the reader at a distance from the king, while Browning gives us access to the Duke’s own perspective.

How to plan a comparison essay

A planning grid helps you find links quickly in the exam. Draw four columns and fill in two or three rows:

The last column matters most. The difference in effect is where your argument comes from, so fill it in before you start writing.

Comparing poems essay structure: integrated or block?

Should you write about each poem separately or together? There are two common ways to structure a comparison essay, and both can work:

Choose the structure you can keep up for the whole essay. The AQA mark scheme rewards the quality of your analysis, and it doesn’t give extra marks for one structure. If you use the block structure, open each paragraph on the second poem with a link back to the first, such as “Unlike Shelley’s king, the Duke…”.

Poetry comparison phrases

Comparative connectives make your comparison clear to the examiner. Group them by the job they do:

The phrases for degree are the most useful, because they let you show that a similarity isn’t exact. For example, Shelley and Blake both criticise the powerful, but Blake is more direct when he shows the soldier’s sigh that “Runs in blood down palace walls” in ‘London’.

What does a comparison paragraph look like?

The table below shows the same point written two ways, with the comparative words in the strong version in bold.

The weak version writes about each poem separately and joins them only with “also”. The strong version opens with a comparative argument and compares the same method in both poems, which is the language of command. It then ends on the difference in effect, which gives the examiner a clear reason for putting the two poems together.

What are the common mistakes when comparing?

• Writing two separate essays: if the second half never refers to the first poem, the examiner can’t see any comparison

• Comparing ideas only: saying that both poems are about power shows you understand the content, but your analysis of the writers’ methods stays thin, which limits your marks

• Uneven coverage: spending most of your time on the poem you know best leaves the second poem underdeveloped, so your comparison looks one-sided

• Listing similarities: if you list everything the poems share with no argument, the examiner has no clear line of thought to follow

• Feature-spotting: writing that “both poems use alliteration” earns little credit on its own, because the effect of the method is what you’re comparing

• Relying on “also”: “Poem B also…” bolts the second poem on to the first, and it hides the differences that make a comparison interesting

Comparing texts in your AQA English Literature exam

AQA asks you to compare poems in two places, both in Paper 2. Each question is assessed through different assessment objectives (AOs):

• AO1: “Read, understand and respond to texts”, which includes “use textual references, including quotations, to support and illustrate interpretations”

• AO2: “Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate”

• AO3: “Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written”

In Section B, the AQA mark scheme assesses your comparison through AO1, and it rewards analysis of methods (AO2) and context (AO3) as well. In examiner reports, AQA says that no particular comparison structure gets extra reward. They also note that discussing each poem in turn is often more straightforward than forcing an integrated structure. Students who set out the connection between the poems first, then discuss each poem and draw them together at the end, are often more successful.

Question 27.2 is assessed through AO2 only, so compare the poets’ methods and their effects, and don’t spend time on context. The question is worth 8 marks, which is a third of the 24 marks for Question 27.1, so focus on two or three methods and keep your answer short.