Paper 2 Questions

Specimen Paper
1. Analyse how jus ce is represented and understood in at least two works studied.
2. Writers o en use a character who is alienated from his or her culture or society in order to explore
cultural or social values. Examine this idea with reference to at least two works studied.
3. What impact does se ng have on your understanding of the central ideas or themes presented in at
least two works studied?
4. Literature is o en said to be meless. To what extent is this true of at least two works you have studied?
5. It has been said that history “cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.” To
what extent do at least two works studied “face” history in order to ensure that its wrongs “need not be
lived again”?
6. Looking closely at at least two works studied, show that more than one interpreta on could be made of
those works.

May 2013
1. Works of literature can teach us something that may not have been originally intended. To what extent
have you found this to be true in at least two of the works you have studied?
2. Show how belief or faith is represented in at least two of the literary works you have studied and discuss
how this aspect might be interpreted or understood in different historical, cultural or social contexts.
3. Why are the works you have studied considered “literary” texts? Iden fy and discuss some of the
features that make at least two of the texts you have studied literary.
4. In what ways is the reader seduced or comforted by the ideas in the works studied and in what ways
challenged or alienated? Refer to at least two of the literary works you have studied.
5. Context – historical, cultural or social – can have an influence on the way literary works are wri en or
received. Discuss with reference to at least two of the works you have studied.
6. Literary works o en show men and women struggling to resolve problems and not succeeding very well.
To what degree do you find this to be true in at least two of the works you have studied?

November 2013
1. Time of day or me of year are o en presented by a writer in such a way as to support ideas in the work,
to develop character or to establish mood, atmosphere, etc. In what ways is me used effec vely in at least
two works you have studied?
2. “Working together” or “standing on your own two feet” – how do either or both of these ways of
behaving reflect the cultural contexts of at least two works you have studied?
3. Wri ng is both an art and a cra , where form and content are carefully constructed and language and
style ar s cally embellish the whole. Discuss in what ways at least two works you have studied effec vely
combine both art and cra .
4. A work can be cri cally acclaimed in one culture and be banned in another. Discuss how at least two
works you have studied might lend themselves to various recep ons.
5. What is the significance of “the ge ng of money” in at least two works you have studied, and how is it
represented?
6. Tension is o en created between “new” and “old”. To what effect do writers make use of such tension in
at least two works you have studied?

May 2014
1. Show some of the ways in which the writers of at least two of the works you have studied enable the
reader/audience to discern a meaning that is only implied.
2. Texts originally produced in a culture or in a language different from that of the reader’s can have a
strong impact. With close reference to at least two of the texts you have studied, show how they challenge
the reader to see the world in a new way.
3. Plays are meant to be staged; poems are o en read aloud, and books are o en made into movies. What
aspects of at least two of the works you have studied would appeal to an audience’s eyes or ears?
4. Can the ends ever be said to jus fy the means? Consider the ways in which this idea is explored or
discussed in at least two of the works you have studied.
5. Show how and to what effect at least two of the writers whose works you have studied make use of
myth, legend or other stories and tales.
6. Looking closely at how weakness and strength are represented in at least two of the works you have
studied, discuss the significance of the rela onship between the two.

November 2014
1. It could be argued that in some socie es or cultures women are at a disadvantage to men or even
ac vely discriminated against. To what degree is this evident in the way women are represented in at least
two of the works you have studied?
2. The depic on of violence in some form (cultural, poli cal, physical, psychological, etc) is a central
preoccupa on of many works of literature. In at least two of the works you have studied discuss how
violence is depicted and explore its significance.
3. “Nature is flee ng and life is in a state of flux.” What is the significance of brevity and/or change in at
least two of the works you have studied?
4. How do authorial choices regarding se ng ( me and place) create order and influence meaning in at
least two of the works you have studied?
5. In the past it was believed that literature achieved its importance due to its ability to show people the
way to goodness and virtue. To what extent can this be said of the importance of at least two of the works
you have studied?
6. Symbols can help a writer convey ideas, develop characters, establish atmosphere, etc. To what effect
were symbols employed in at least two of the works you have studied?

May 2015
1. Discuss the significance of the rural and/or the urban in at least two of the works you have studied.
2. With reference to at least two of the works you have studied, analyse the techniques used by writers to
evoke an emo onal response in the reader.
3. With reference to at least two of the works you have studied, show how sub-plots or secondary themes
contribute to the reader’s understanding and apprecia on of the work as a whole.
4. How are challenges to authority presented in at least two of the works you have studied, and what
impact have such challenges had on readers or audiences?
5. The personal history of an author can have a significant influence on the way meaning is
constructed in his/her wri ng. Comment on specific instances of such influence in at least two of the works
you have studied.
6. Examine the presenta on of male and female views of the central concerns or issues in at least two of
the works you have studied, and discuss the ways in which these views differ.

May 2016
1. Iden fy some of the forms intolerance can take, and discuss how its effects on both the vic ms and
the intolerant are presented in the two works you have studied.
2. O en the appeal for the reader of a literary work is the atmosphere a writer creates (for example,
peaceful, menacing or ironic). Discuss some of the ways atmospheres are conveyed and to what
effect in the two works you have studied.
3. Writers o en choose words, phrases and names of characters and places not only for their literal
meaning, but for further meanings that they suggest to the reader. With reference to the two works
you have studied, discuss how such words and their associa ons contribute to your understanding
and apprecia on of the works.
4. In what way (s) can the term “ar ficial” be applied to the two works you have studied?
5. Referring to the two works you have studied, discuss both how and why the text invites the reader
to iden fy with situa ons, characters and/or ideas.
6. How is “home” depicted in the two works you have studied and what is the significance?
May 2017

1. How and why might the two works you have studied be considered inspirational?
2. How do the writers of the two works you have studied convey a sense of place to their readers and
to what purpose?
3. To what extent do the two works you have studied show that an individual is in control of his or her
own destiny?
4. How can examining a literary work from different perspectives enrich our understanding of both the
work and the techniques used by the writer? Base your answer on the two works you have studied.
5. Analyse the role non-human elements play in the two works you have studied.
6. Some say ignorance is bliss. How is “not knowing” presented in the two works you have studied and
to what effect?

November 2017

1. Many works are concerned with human suffering. How has this concern been expressed in a way
that engages audiences of various times and/or places in the two works you have studied?
2. Tension often builds to a critical point in a piece of literature. How is tension created in the two works
you have studied and for what purpose?
3. Explore the presentation and significance of jealousy in the two works you have studied.
4. In what ways do the form and content of the two works you have studied reflect the time and place
in which they were written?
5. What techniques did your two writers use to convey the “thoughts” of their characters, narrators or
speakers and to what effect?
6. In what ways have your two writers explored the role of the individual within society and what
conclusions might be drawn from these explorations?

May 2018

1. In what ways do at least two of the works you have studied (in form and/or content) question or
subvert norms, conventions or traditions?
2. Explore how women are represented as stronger than men in at least two of the works you have
studied.
3. How do at least two of the works you have studied show that good can come out of destruction or
violence?
4. How and to what effect are strangers or strangeness represented in at least two of the works you
have studied?
5. Discuss how one or more of the formal characteristics of a genre influence meaning in at least two
of the works you have studied.
6. Show how aspects of at least two of the works you have studied can be better understood with a
knowledge of the time and context in which they were written.

Nov 2018

May 2018

THANK YOU