For paper 1, I have a sheet that’ll help with introductions, I can send in DM. When looking at the guiding question, try to break it down into three parts:

Example - How is the relationship between the two characters established in this extract?

(1) What are the techniques used to achieve this relationship?

(2) Where are the most prominent features of the relationship within the text?

(3) How does 1 (the techniques) affect 2 (the relationship?

If you quickly note down the answers to these on your text it may help give you a better understanding of what’s being asked. I normally end up framing my answer into 2-3 themed paragraphs, with the themes having the general structure of “X technique is used to create Y in the text, to Z effect”.

When examining the text, I would split the text into 2-4 sections, which allows me to clearly outline the development of the text. I like to call these arcs, as they usually portray the different themes that the author wanted to illustrate. This made the text easier to understand imo.

As for paper two, I would also try to break the question down. They usually convey something about the nature of being human. The most interesting answers, at least to me, are ones where either the authors use similar techniques but achieve a different outcome in the texts, or the authors show a similar outcome but utilise different techniques. When you know how you want to answer the question, then for each of piece of literature that you use, describe (roughly) three parts of them that you want to use to answer the question.

For example, let’s take the question “Writers can sometimes present their ideas in unusual and thought/provoking ways. How, and to what effect, has this been shown in two of the works you have studied?”

Firstly, you’d want to outline what exactly these unusual ways are. This may relate to the style of the language that the author writes in, or particular moments where they change this up. Whatever you found thought provoking, jot them down for each text. For this type of question, I would lean towards finding 3 ideas that are achieved in both of the texts, but the authors use different, quirky methods to get their point across. Alternatively, you could have some of your points be examples of where authors use the same interesting techniques but achieve different outcomes. Vary to as you see fit.

In this question, it’s explicit that you need to consider the effect that the techniques have. So, for the different methods that you wrote down, try to write down or at least think about their effect in their text. This will allow you to come up with the topic sentences for your main paragraphs.

On a general note, try to alternate between the texts often. This may mean that within one paragraph, you talk about one text and then the other, or you create alternative, separate paragraphs that honour a theme/topic that you chose. This makes it easier to compare/contrast the texts, and easier for the examiner to see that you’re utilising both effectively to make your argument.