Comparing Unseen Poems

English LiteratureAQAGCSEUnit: Exam Skills
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The basics

📖 Eight Marks. Two Poems. One Trap.

📖 Eight Marks. Two Poems. One Trap.

Two students open Question 27.2. Both see two unseen poems on grief. Student A writes a paragraph about Poem A, then a paragraph about Poem B. Student B writes a single paragraph in which both poems are present in every sentence. Both use the correct techniques. Only Student B is comparing. The examiner's report uses one phrase for Student A's approach every year: "sequential, not comparative".

Spotlight
🔍 What Question 27.2 Actually Is

Question 27.2 is an 8-mark question on AQA Paper 2 Section C. It assesses AO2 only — language, form, and structure — and nothing else. There is no AO1 credit for extended argument, no AO3 credit for context. The question asks you to compare the METHODS both poets use and their effects.

Exam tip

Earn the mark scheme marks

🧠 SAME-DIFFERENT-ZOOM: The Q27.2 Planning Check

SAME — DIFFERENT — ZOOM

SAME: what method do both poets use? (Both use imagery of absence.) DIFFERENT: how does the method work differently? (Poem A = concrete object; Poem B = spatial abstraction.) ZOOM: what does the difference reveal about the poets' arguments? (Grief as specific vs. grief as boundless.) Run all three steps for each comparison point before writing. SAME alone = content observation. SAME + DIFFERENT + ZOOM = integrated AO2 comparison.

Now try it yourself

Quiz · Question 1 of 10

Question 27.2 on AQA Paper 2 Section C is worth how many marks?

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