In a nutshell: Most lost Paper 2 marks come from a few repeat mistakes: two mini-essays instead of a comparison, plot summary, drifting off the question, and treating the works unevenly. Learn to catch each.
Examiners see the same Paper 2 slips again and again — so you can train yourself out of every one.
🚩 The big four: writing about Work A then Work B with no real comparison; retelling the plots; answering a different question than the one set; and lavishing attention on one work while the other gets a paragraph. Fix these and you clear the band most students plateau in.
The big mistakes (and the fix)
Two mini-essays → weave
A block on A then a block on B fixes to comparative paragraphs covering both works.
Plot summary → analysis
Retelling the story fixes to analysing choices and comparing them.
Off-question → re-read the prompt
Drifting to your favourite topic fixes to answering the ACTUAL general question.
Uneven works → balance
One work dominating fixes to giving both works roughly equal weight.
The key move: Self-check for the big four: am I comparing (not two essays)? analysing (not summarising)? answering the SET question? balancing both works? Fix on the spot.
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Why it matters in the exam: These errors map onto lost criteria: two-mini-essays and imbalance cost B2 (comparison); summary costs A and B1; drifting off-question costs C. Knowing them turns vague feedback into a checklist.
Diagnose the mistakes: ‘Work A is about a soldier. He goes to war and his friend dies and he comes home changed. It is very sad. Work B is a poem. It is also quite sad and about war too.’
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Watch out: The sneakiest Paper 2 mistake is the hidden two-mini-essay: a ‘similarly’ or ‘in contrast’ dropped between two separate discussions doesn't make it a comparison. The works must be genuinely WOVEN.