Analysis of the question P 2

• Engels
• Upper Secondary (Key Stage 4)
• GCSE

Goals for today 

Exploring and unpacking paper 2 questions 

Asking questions about the question 

Mind mapping the question to generate a writing structure 

Example student mindmapping 

Macbeth Act II s iv

Discuss the ways that writers have presented characters that feel alienated from their society in two of the works you have studied.

Make a mind map for your title. Use the answers to the questions that will follow to generate insightful ideas about the question. 

We will share your findings in Teams and use these to construct a thesis statement. 

The question might not specifically ask you to comment on style, but you always should. 

Before you start making a mind map or developing a plan for your question, you must fully understand the question. 

How? Examine all the implications of the question. 

You can do that by using the question words, above, to explore the question. 

Discuss the ways that writers have presented characters that feel alienated from their society in two of the works you have studied

Unpacking the question.

Unpack this question. Ask What, when, where, how, why and who? 

Discuss the ways that writers have presented characters that feel alienated from their society in two of the works you have studied

- Is/are the character(s) alienated from family and friends? 

- Is the character literally exiled or emotionally cut off? 

- Is there a difference in alienation between work A and work B? 

- does the alienation have similar or different effects on the characters and plot development? 

- what message (theme) does the author want to convey through the use of the concept alienation? 

Unpacking the question. Answer these questions about the question in order to unpack it. 

The struggle against injustice is a theme that speaks to readers. Compare the ways that two authors of two literary works have depicted unjust worlds. 

What is meant by 'struggle'? Physical? Emotional?

What is meant by 'speak to readers'? Do readers identify with particular struggles?

What is meant by 'unjust worlds?' Evil? Dystopian? Unfair?

Should I compare the unjust world or the authors' 'depictions' of these worlds?

Unpacking the question. Answer these questions about the question in order to unpack it. 

Unpacking the questions 

To unpack the question we have to ask questions about the questions in order to define which aspects of the questions we will answer. This can lead to breakthroughs that will allow you to develop insightful ideas that will raise the quality of your paper 2 essay. 

For the following 4 questions develop at least 4 questions of your own that allow you to explore and unpack them. 

1. How do two of the works you have studied portray the struggle to be understood? 

• Who is struggling to be understood?  Characters? The author?
• Understood by whom? Other characters? The reader?
• How is the struggle to be understood connected to a major conflict?
• In what way does this struggle get resolved in our works?
• What is the main message that needs to be understood?

2. Some literary texts, although set in a particular place or time, convey ideas that are universal. In what ways is this true in two of the works you have studied?

• What is the exact time and place of the works being discussed?
• How are these works applicable to that particular time and place?
• What are the universal themes in the works connected to global issues?
• Are there different ways that they are true? Are there ways when it’s not true?
• What are the different ways that this is true or not true in the two works?
• Are there some universal ideas in BOTH works that are similar or perhaps are there similar WAYS used to show these themes?

3. Discuss how two works you have studied present concepts of good and bad, not as absolute notions, but as a matter of individual perception.

• What methods do authors use to show these two opposing concepts?
• How are characters more nuanced and complex?
• How are bad characters made to look sympathetic? How are good characters shown to have a dark side?
• Whose perspective are we talking about? The reader? The perception of other characters?
• Are there forces besides characters to represent good and bad? Government? Nature? Society?

4. Referring to two works you have studied, discuss how the author has created a convincing “world”

• What does “convincing” mean? Authentic?
• How does the text seem like a microcosm of something bigger?
• Who or what are the different groups in this “world”?
• What dominant features are used to create this world?
• Are there different ways that authors create worlds?
• Does the genre play a role here?
  

Choose one of the questions 

1. Look at the list of questions that you have generated. 

2. Develop rudimentary answers which focus on how you will address the question. 

3. Now you can start to brainstorm the ideas that you can use from your two works to answer this question. We will look at a mind map approach. 

Discuss the ways that writers have presented characters that feel alienated from their society in two of the works you have studied.

Thesis statement 

A good thesis statement offers a clear direction for your paper. It should: 

1. Identify the two works and authors being used

2. Use the wording of the question

3. Acknowledge the similarities and differences

4. Make an argument and share insightful ideas 

Unpacking a question is best done by annotating it or creating a mind map around it. Underline the key words in the question and connect those to two of the works that you have read. On the next slide is an example of how The Great Gatsby and The Reluctant Fundamentalist relate to a question about justice. 

Mindmapping the question 

Mindmap your thesis statement 

Using mindmup.com construct a mindmap for your thesis statement. Upload to the dropbox by the end of the lesson. 

Thesis statement connected to question. 

insightful idea connected to Q

Evidence work 1 

Evidence work 2 

Technique

insightful idea connected to Q

Mind Mapping 

Subtopics to be explored 

Thesis statement 

Evidence 

Stylistic feature/ technique 

Example thesis statement 

In The White Tiger by Adiga and Nineteen Eighty-Four by Orwell both authors present the reader with a protagonist who is alienated from the social mores of the society in which the plot is set. For one protagonist this results in their destruction and loss of humanity and for the other there is success; however also moral ruination. 

Discuss the ways that writers have presented characters that feel alienated from their society in two of the works you have studied

 In what ways and to what effect has the freedom to act, speak and think been explored in two of the works you have studied?