AQA A-Level English Literature A Paper 2: Texts in shared contexts (2B), June 2025: Question 18

25 marks · Hard difficulty · Extended Response

Compare the significance of the struggle for identity in two texts (one drama and one poetry, with at least one written post-2000).

Practise this question

Question

Question 18 from an AQA A-Level English Literature paper: 'Compare the significance of the struggle for identity in two other texts you have studied. Remember to include in your answer reference to how meanings are shaped in the texts you are comparing. You must use one drama text and one poetry text in your response, at least one of which must be a text written post-2000. You must write about at least two poems. [25 marks]'
Question text

and

18 Compare the significance of the struggle for identity in two other texts you have studied.

Remember to include in your answer reference to how meanings are shaped in the texts

you are comparing.

You must use one drama text and one poetry text in your response, at least one of

which must be a text written post-2000.

You must write about at least two poems.

[25 marks]

Mark scheme

Show the mark scheme Mark scheme for Question 18 outlining assessment objectives: AO5 (interpretations of the significance of the struggle for identity), AO4 (connections of similarity/difference across texts), AO3 (contexts of identity and psychological effects), AO2 (dramatic and poetic methods used to shape meaning), and AO1 (argument quality, organization, and terminology), marked out of 25.

Question 18

Compare the significance of the struggle for identity in two other texts you have studied.

Remember to include in your answer reference to how meanings are shaped in the texts you are

comparing.

You must use one drama text and one poetry text in your response, at least one of which must be a

text written post-2000.

You must write about at least two poems.

[25 marks]

Possible content:

Please refer to pages 4 to 7.

AO5 Explore literary texts informed by different interpretations

Focus might be on:

• interpretations of the significance of the struggle for identity as expressed in their two texts

• the extent to which the contrasting genres of the two texts affect the ways in which the struggle for

identity are presented

• etc.

AO4 Explore connections across literary texts

Focus might be on:

• connections of similarity and/or difference at the level of subject matter/genre/attitudes and/or

methods

• etc.

AO3 Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which

literary texts are written and received

Focus might be on:

• differing representations of the struggle for identity and its possible effects and impact

• the psychological effects of the struggle for identity

• an analytical comparison of characters who respond to the struggle for identity in various ways

• how the struggle for identity may be viewed differently over time

• how the theme of the struggle for identity contributes to a text or texts as a whole

• etc.

AO2 Analyse ways in which meanings are shaped in literary texts

Focus might be on:

• methods of presenting and explaining the reasons for the prevalence and significance of the theme

of the struggle for identity in modern literature

• possible purposes and effects of the presentation of the struggle for identity

• prose methods such as: narrative structure; point of view; chronology; use of dialogue; indirect

46 speech; development of settings; ways of influencing the readers’ response to character and

incident

• dramatic methods such as: explicit structural devices; dramatic irony; stage directions; indirect

ways of communicating the writers’ messages and ideas; naturalistic, non-naturalistic,

expressionist and other styles of representing character, incident and narrative

• poetic methods such as: types of verse form; explicit and implicit structural features; use of tropes

for rhetorical effect; use of aural devices for rhetorical effect; elliptical use of language

• etc.

AO1 Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated

concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression

• quality of argument

• organisation of ideas

• use of appropriate concepts and terminology

• technical accuracy

• comparing texts.

Accept any valid interpretations, any valid comments on contexts and any valid discussion of

authorial methods.

How to answer it

Paper 2: Texts and Perspectives • Modern Times: Literature from 1945 to the Present Day

Comparing the Struggle for Identity (Question 18)

What this question tests

This 25-mark comparative essay assesses your ability to synthesise modern texts across genres under the theme of personal, social, and cultural identity.

Key Assessment Objectives:
  • AO1 (Technical Fluency & Argument): Coherent, unified debate using precise literary terminology.
  • AO2 (Authorial Method): Comparative analysis of dramatic and poetic forms, structures, and language.
  • AO3 (Contextual Significance): Historical, socio-cultural, and gender contexts influencing identity formation.
Comparative & Evaluative Objectives:
  • AO4 (Connections Across Texts): Illuminating points of convergence and divergence between poetry and drama.
  • AO5 (Debate & Interpretation): Engaging with multi-faceted readings of the "struggle" and its ultimate resolution or tragedy.

Question Rubric & Mandatory Rules

Deconstructing the Exam Instructions

Question 18 [25 marks]: "Compare the significance of the struggle for identity in two other texts you have studied. Remember to include in your answer reference to how meanings are shaped in the texts you are comparing. You must use one drama text and one poetry text in your response, at least one of which must be a text written post-2000. You must write about at least two poems."

📐 Rubric Requirement Checklist

  1. Two texts only: 1 Drama text + 1 Poetry text.
  2. Date threshold: At least one text must be written post-2000 (e.g. Top Girls [1982] paired with Feminine Gospels [2002], or A Streetcar Named Desire paired with post-2000 poetry).
  3. Poetry requirement: Minimum of two individual poems analysed in detailed relation to the drama text.
❌

Rubric Infringement Traps

  • Comparing two plays or two poetry collections (violates genre requirement).
  • Writing about only one poem from the selected collection (severely caps AO2 and AO4 marks).
  • Selecting two pre-2000 texts, failing the post-2000 specification.

Assessment Objectives in Practice

How the Mark Scheme Distinguishes Band 5 (Top Level) Responses

💡

AO2: Contrasting Genre Mechanics

  • Drama: Do not treat plays like novels. Analyse stagecraft, explicit/implicit stage directions, dramatic irony, naturalistic vs. non-naturalistic staging, lighting, proxemics, and dialogue rhythms.
  • Poetry: Scrutinise verse forms (sonnet, monologue, free verse), caesura, enjambment, tropes, volta, rhetorical devices, and elliptical language shaping the speaker's internal consciousness.
🧠

AO4 & AO5: Conceptual Linking

  • Integrated Structure: Connect texts at paragraph level around sub-arguments (e.g., identity fractured by patriarchal institutions; performativity vs. authenticity).
  • Interpretative Debate (AO5): Explore whether the struggle for identity is depicted as an empowering liberation, an inevitable defeat, or an ongoing social performance.
✅

What Top-Level Students Do

  • Treat "significance" as both the meaning within the text and the impact on the audience/reader over time.
  • Seamlessly interweave micro-analysis of language with broader historical and ideological context (AO3).
  • Compare authorial intention directly: contrasting how a playwright uses theatrical space with how a poet uses white space and lineation.
❌

Common Misconceptions & Lost Marks

  • "Context Dumping": Writing biographical paragraphs or historical essays that are disconnected from the textual methods.
  • Block Comparison: Writing half the essay on the drama text and half on poetry with a rushed comparative conclusion (weakens AO4).
  • Passive Paraphrase: Describing characters' struggles as real-life events rather than deliberate constructs created by authorial techniques.

Exam Technique: Structuring a Band 5 Comparative Argument

Exemplar Thematic Framing for the "Struggle for Identity"

Introduction (Thesis Formulation)

Define the central tension of identity. Establish that in both texts, identity is not static but an active battleground against socio-political suppression, mediated through distinctive genre conventions.

Comparative Body Paragraph 1

The Social Construction of Self: Compare how societal expectations constrain personal agency (e.g., examining set design/costume in drama alongside syntactical restriction or rigid rhyme in poetry).

Comparative Body Paragraph 2

Psychological Fragmentation & Resistance: Explore the breakdown of identity. Contrast dramatic soliloquies/overlapping dialogue with poetic enjambment and shift in voice across two selected poems.

Comparative Body Paragraph 3 & Conclusion

Resolution or Subjugation: Evaluate whether identity is reclaimed or eradicated. Address AO5 by questioning whether the struggle provides catharsis or reinforces institutional power structures.

Topics

Modern times: literature from 1945 to the present day · Feminine Gospels · Skirrid Hill · Top Girls · A Streetcar Named Desire · Translations · All My Sons · Our Country’s Good · Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Question and mark scheme from the AQA A-Level English Literature A examination, Paper 2: Texts in shared contexts (2B), June 2025. QuestionVault is an independent revision resource; questions remain the copyright of the awarding body.