The big idea: Compare HOW each writer uses a technique, not just whether both use it: same device, different effect — or different devices reaching the same effect. Always tie technique to meaning.
Two writers can use the very same device and mean completely opposite things — and that gap is where Paper 2 marks live.
🔧 Don't stop at ‘both use imagery’ (true of almost every book). Ask: what KIND of imagery, to what EFFECT, and how does that differ? Two poets might both use light imagery — one for hope, one for exposure and threat. Comparing the effect, not just the label, is the skill.
How to compare techniques
Name the shared technique
Both use imagery / structure / a motif / a narrator — the common ground.
Compare the EFFECT, not the label
‘Both use light imagery’ is weak; ‘but A's light means hope, B's means exposure’ is strong.
Or: different devices, same effect
Sometimes two writers reach the SAME effect by different means — also a rich comparison.
Always tie to meaning
End every comparison on what the difference REVEALS about each work.
The key move: Compare technique → effect → meaning in BOTH works: same device with different effects, or different devices with the same effect. Never stop at ‘both use X’.
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Why it matters in the exam: Criterion B1 rewards analysis and evaluation of authorial choices, and B2 rewards comparing them. Comparing HOW techniques work (not just naming shared devices) is what lifts a Paper 2 essay into the top bands.
Compare the use of a first-person narrator in two works: Work A's narrator is honest and reliable; Work B's narrator is subtly self-deceiving.
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Watch out: ‘Both use imagery / a metaphor / a narrator’ is almost always TRUE and almost always WEAK. Push to the effect and meaning, and how those DIFFER, or it isn't really a comparison.