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Year 10
AQA

Developing Comparative Essay Writing Skills

I can develop my comparative essay writing skills.

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New
New
Year 10
AQA

Developing Comparative Essay Writing Skills

I can develop my comparative essay writing skills.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Topic sentences must be comparative when comparing texts.
  2. Comparisons should be made between ideas, intentions, themes, and messages.
  3. Correlative and comparative conjunctions are a good way to signpost your comparative writing.
  4. Within paragraphs, evidence can move back and forth between the two poems and be linked with connectives.
  5. Drawing a direct comparison of quotations should take place at least once across the essay.

Common misconception

A comparative response just needs to reference two poems.

A comparative response must explicitly compare two poems on big ideas. It is important to use discourse markers to signpost comparisons.

Keywords

  • Discourse marker - a word or phrase whose job is to organise writing or spoken language into segments

  • Imperative - give an authoritative command

  • Superlative - highest attainable level of something

The poems compared in this lesson can be replaced with other poems according to your class' needs.
Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What does it mean to compare?
explore similarities between two or more things
explore differences between two or more things
Correct answer: explore similarities and differences between two or more things
Q2.
How many poems from the Power and Conflict anthology will you be expected to compare at a time?
one
Correct answer: two
three
Q3.
The ''lone and level'' sands of 'Ozymandias' are comparable to the __________ of 'Extract from The Prelude'.
''elfin pinnace''
''solitude and desertion''
Correct answer: ''huge peak, black and huge''
Q4.
How are the ''lone and level'' sands of 'Ozymandias' comparable to the ''huge peak'' of 'Extract from The Prelude''?
Both show nature's ability to destroy
Correct answer: Both show the awe of the natural world
Both show mankind's weakness
Q5.
Match the technique to the appropriate quote.
Correct Answer:''huge peak, black and huge'',repetition of monosyllabic words

repetition of monosyllabic words

Correct Answer:''cold command'',guttural alliteration

guttural alliteration

Correct Answer:''Look on my works'',imperative

imperative

Correct Answer:''the horizon's utmost boundary'',superlative

superlative

Correct Answer:''runs in blood down palace walls'',metaphor

metaphor

Correct Answer:''marriage hearse'',juxtaposition

juxtaposition

Q6.
Both 'Ozymandias' and 'Extract from The Prelude' show how nature is powerful enough to...
give a young boy an existential epiphany
destroy magnficent statues
destroy reputation
Correct answer: destory man's ego

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of the below is a comparative conjunction designed to show comparison?
Furthermore
Thus
Correct answer: Whereas
Q2.
''Ozymandias assumed his work would be remembered for centuries to come. Thus, Ozymandias was ignorant of nature’s ability to outlast and erode all traces of his power''. The word 'thus'...
is a correlative conjunction designed to show a comparison
is a comparative conjunction designed to show comparison
Correct answer: is a discourse marker designed to signpost the argument
Q3.
Which of the below quotes contains an imperative?
''horizon's utmost boundary''
Correct answer: ''Look on my works, ye Might, and Despair''
''mighty forms that do not live like living men''
Q4.
Match the sentence stem with the purpose
Correct Answer:Neither...nor,correlative conjunctions to aid comparison

correlative conjunctions to aid comparison

Correct Answer:In conclusion,discourse marker to show progression of argument

discourse marker to show progression of argument

Correct Answer:The use of...suggests..,sentence stem to aid analysis

sentence stem to aid analysis

Q5.
When writing a comparative poetry response you should...
deal with the two poems in separate paragraphs
compare the literary movements first
Correct answer: weave ideas about both poems into one paragraph
Q6.
Order the phrases to create a coherent segment of a comparative response.
1 - In both 'Ozymandias' and 'London'
2 - the abuse of power is shown.
3 - In 'Ozymandias', the tyrant Ramesses II's ''sneer of cold command''
4 - suggests how he was cruel to his subjects who he had a duty to protect.
5 - Whereas in 'London', Blake exposes corruption via religious institutions
6 - who are complict in child labour ''every blackn'ing church appalls''.