Paper 2 question bank and sample papers
Paper 2 Question Bank
Paper 2 questions ask students to compare and contrast two of the works they have studied. The questions may take different forms, invite examination of any aspect of content, form or style and apply to works of any literary genre. On this page you will find an extensive bank of questions organised in two different ways: firstly into categories by type of question; secondly these same questions have been shuffled and reorganised into a set of sample papers you can use with your classes.
These papers can be used for practice - whether as full-blown essays, or as a way to talk about planning, comparative technique, the importance of an argument, or how to revise and prepare for the exam.
This document has 45 questions organised into the following categories of question. Of course there is overlap between these categories and other ways of organising could be equally valid but this is designed to help students get some sense of different types of questions.
- Character, relationships & human experience
- Society, power & values
- Time, memory & change
- Setting, world & environment
- Structure, voice & form
- Language, style & literary choices
- Literature, truth & the reader
The questions can also be seen by clicking the icon below.
IB English A
Paper 2 Question Bank
1. Character, relationships & human experience
Questions about individuals, relationships, choices, emotions and change.
1. Compare the ways in which two works you have studied explore the relationship between individual desire and personal choice.
2. In what ways do two works you have studied explore the tension between freedom and security?
3. Compare how two works present characters who are, or are not, in control of their own fate.
4. In what ways do two works you have studied explore the relationship between experience and understanding?
5. Compare the ways in which two works present significant emotional experience, and consider how this contributes to their wider meanings.
6. In what ways do two works you have studied explore the significance of family or other close relationships?
7. Compare the ways in which two works encourage readers to understand characters whose behaviour may be difficult, disturbing or morally questionable.
2. Society, power & values
Questions about power, social expectations, culture, morality and the individual’s relationship with society.
1. What questions about power are raised by two works you have studied, and how are these questions developed?
2. Compare the ways in which two works you have studied explore the relationship between the individual and society.
3. In what ways do two works challenge, question or reinforce the values of the societies they present?
4. Compare the ways in which two works present people who do not conform to social expectations.
5. In what ways do two works you have studied explore prejudice, exclusion or barriers between people?
6. Compare how two works present conflicts between moral values or competing ideas of what is right.
7. To what extent do two works you have studied present cultural practices or traditions as sources of identity, conflict or change?
3. Time, memory & change
Questions about the past, memory, development and shifts in understanding.
1. Compare the ways in which the past continues to influence the present in two works you have studied.
2. In what ways, and to what effect, is memory used in two works you have studied?
3. Compare how two works represent change in a character’s understanding of themselves or the world.
4. In what ways do two works use contrasts between past and present to shape meaning?
5. Compare the ways in which two works explore learning, awakening or changes in consciousness.
6. How do two works you have studied use the passage of time to shape the reader’s understanding of events or characters?
4. Setting, world & environment
Questions about place, environment and the worlds writers construct.
1. Compare the ways in which setting contributes to the meaning of two works you have studied.
2. In what ways do two works use particular places or environments to shape characters’ experiences?
3. Compare how two works use contrasts between public and private spaces, or between exterior and interior spaces.
4. To what extent do two works you have studied create a world that reflects or challenges the values of the society in which it is set?
5. Compare the ways in which the natural or physical environment is used to develop ideas in two works you have studied.
6. How does the presentation of time and place influence your understanding of two works you have studied?
5. Structure, voice & form
Questions foregrounding the ways writers organise, shape and tell their works.
1. Compare the ways in which the structure of two works shapes their meanings and effects.
2. In what ways do two works you have studied use narrative or dramatic perspective to influence the audience’s understanding?
3. Compare how two works use beginnings to establish expectations that are later developed, challenged or transformed.
4. In what ways do the endings of two works contribute to their overall meanings?
5. Compare how two works use sequence, chronology or shifts in time to shape the experience of the reader or audience.
6. In what ways do two works use conflict or tension as a means of developing central ideas?
7. To what extent does the power of two works you have studied depend on the relationship between their form and their content?
6. Language, style & literary choices
Questions about the effects of language, imagery and other deliberate stylistic choices.
1. Compare the ways in which language and style contribute to the distinctive effects of two works you have studied.
2. In what ways do two works use imagery or symbolism to develop central ideas?
3. Compare how tone is established and used in two works you have studied.
4. In what ways do two works make use of irony, humour or both, and to what effect?
5. Compare how recurring images, objects or motifs gain significance across two works you have studied.
6. How do two works use contrasts - in language, character, setting or structure - to develop meaning?
7. Literature, truth & the reader
Broader conceptual questions about interpretation, ambiguity, truth and what literature does.
1. In what ways do two works you have studied suggest that things are not always what they seem?
2. Compare how two works use ambiguity to complicate the reader’s or audience’s understanding.
3. To what extent do two works you have studied present more questions than answers?
4. In what ways do two works use fictional or imagined worlds to reveal truths about human experience?
5. Compare the ways in which two works challenge the reader or audience to reconsider familiar ideas or assumptions.
6. To what extent do two works you have studied explore ideas that are both rooted in a particular time or place and relevant beyond it?
This document uses the same 45 questions as above but has them shuffled and reorganised into a set of sample papers (4 questions in each) which can be used for exam practice
The sample sets of questions can also be seen by clicking the icon below.
IB English A
Paper 2 Sample Question Sets
Eleven ready-made sets of four questions drawn from the Paper 2 question bank
Each set contains four deliberately mixed questions so that teachers can select a complete set for timed practice or class discussion. The questions have been shuffled across the seven areas of the bank to avoid sets that are too narrowly focused.
Sample Paper 1
Answer one question. Compare and contrast two works you have studied.
1. To what extent do two works you have studied create a world that reflects or challenges the values of the society in which it is set?
2. How do two works you have studied use the passage of time to shape the reader’s understanding of events or characters?
3. In what ways do two works you have studied explore prejudice, exclusion or barriers between people?
4. In what ways do the endings of two works contribute to their overall meanings?
Practice question set
Sample Paper 2
Answer one question. Compare and contrast two works you have studied.
1. In what ways do two works use fictional or imagined worlds to reveal truths about human experience?
2. In what ways do two works use contrasts between past and present to shape meaning?
3. In what ways do two works use imagery or symbolism to develop central ideas?
4. In what ways do two works challenge, question or reinforce the values of the societies they present?
Practice question set
Sample Paper 3
Answer one question. Compare and contrast two works you have studied.
1. Compare the ways in which language and style contribute to the distinctive effects of two works you have studied.
2. Compare the ways in which two works you have studied explore the relationship between the individual and society.
3. Compare the ways in which two works challenge the reader or audience to reconsider familiar ideas or assumptions.
4. Compare how two works use beginnings to establish expectations that are later developed, challenged or transformed.
Practice question set
Sample Paper 4
Answer one question. Compare and contrast two works you have studied.
1. Compare the ways in which two works present significant emotional experience, and consider how this contributes to their wider meanings.
2. Compare the ways in which setting contributes to the meaning of two works you have studied.
3. Compare the ways in which two works present people who do not conform to social expectations.
4. Compare the ways in which two works explore learning, awakening or changes in consciousness.
Practice question set
Sample Paper 5
Answer one question. Compare and contrast two works you have studied.
1. Compare the ways in which the natural or physical environment is used to develop ideas in two works you have studied.
2. Compare the ways in which the structure of two works shapes their meanings and effects.
3. In what ways do two works you have studied explore the tension between freedom and security?
4. Compare how two works represent change in a character’s understanding of themselves or the world.
Practice question set
Sample Paper 6
Answer one question. Compare and contrast two works you have studied.
1. What questions about power are raised by two works you have studied, and how are these questions developed?
2. How do two works use contrasts - in language, character, setting or structure - to develop meaning?
3. Compare the ways in which two works you have studied explore the relationship between individual desire and personal choice.
4. Compare how two works use contrasts between public and private spaces, or between exterior and interior spaces.
Practice question set
Sample Paper 7
Answer one question. Compare and contrast two works you have studied.
1. To what extent do two works you have studied present cultural practices or traditions as sources of identity, conflict or change?
2. In what ways, and to what effect, is memory used in two works you have studied?
3. To what extent does the power of two works you have studied depend on the relationship between their form and their content?
4. To what extent do two works you have studied present more questions than answers?
Practice question set
Sample Paper 8
Answer one question. Compare and contrast two works you have studied.
1. In what ways do two works you have studied explore the significance of family or other close relationships?
2. In what ways do two works make use of irony, humour or both, and to what effect?
3. Compare how two works use sequence, chronology or shifts in time to shape the experience of the reader or audience.
4. In what ways do two works use particular places or environments to shape characters’ experiences?
Practice question set
Sample Paper 9
Answer one question. Compare and contrast two works you have studied.
1. In what ways do two works you have studied explore the relationship between experience and understanding?
2. Compare how recurring images, objects or motifs gain significance across two works you have studied.
3. In what ways do two works use conflict or tension as a means of developing central ideas?
4. To what extent do two works you have studied explore ideas that are both rooted in a particular time or place and relevant beyond it?
Practice question set
Sample Paper 10
Answer one question. Compare and contrast two works you have studied.
1. Compare how two works present conflicts between moral values or competing ideas of what is right.
2. Compare the ways in which two works encourage readers to understand characters whose behaviour may be difficult, disturbing or morally questionable.
3. Compare how tone is established and used in two works you have studied.
4. Compare how two works use ambiguity to complicate the reader’s or audience’s understanding.
Practice question set
Sample Paper 11
Answer one question. Compare and contrast two works you have studied.
1. Compare how two works present characters who are, or are not, in control of their own fate.
2. In what ways do two works you have studied suggest that things are not always what they seem?
3. Compare the ways in which the past continues to influence the present in two works you have studied.
4. In what ways do two works you have studied use narrative or dramatic perspective to influence the audience’s understanding?
Practice question set
Additional reserve question
How does the presentation of time and place influence your understanding of two works you have studied?
This is the one remaining question from the 45-question bank.