Clodagh Havel

An honours student must do Shakespeare at some stage in paper two.

The second question is the comparative, where you are linking three different types of text.

Could be a novel, a play, a film.

And you're interlinking those with how a playwright, a novelist or dramatist tell a story.

And then, of course, the poetry question, which is divided into prescribed poetry and unseen poetry.

There's 48 texts for, well, we're supposed to allow students to have an opinion, but I would say in most classrooms across the country, the teacher chooses.

And they choose because they're going to try and find a link between how a dramatist tell a story, how a novelist, whatever.

So, for instance, I've chosen the film Barbie.

That's how comparative links you can take really modern stuff.

And I'm comparing it to Pride and Prejudice.

And I'm comparing it to Sive and I'm looking at the role of women and how different eras and different timeframes look at the presentation of women.

It's actually a really interesting question, but you must link.

It is unfortunately a topic that students fall into narration of the plots.

They are not.

They are to be connected.

And that is the skill of that question, to remember to link and compare and contrast.

So link words like similarly or as well as or in contrast to.

You dot your essays with that, the marks are going to spiral.

You must link between the two.

But it is a fabulous question.