Comparative essay introduction leaving cert

The Leaving Cert Higher Level English Comparative is worth 70 marks: that’s a big chunk of the English Paper 2 (200 marks in total). Lots of students find it very difficult to get their heads arounds the Comparative.

Here’s some general advice on how you might structure your comparative essay, but I repeat, adapt, adapt adapt to the question asked. Theme or Issue: Address the Q, introduce your theme, then your texts – genre, name, author and mention the central character who you will focus on in your discussion of this theme.

Lots of students find it very difficult to get their heads arounds the Comparative. There are lots of combinations of texts, but have a look at these sample essays to understand what is being asked of you in the Comparative section!

Use comparative language ( Contrastingly, similarly, comparatively etc.) Ensure prior to the exam that you have built up a stock of comparative phrases to use on the day. Here is a link to the fantastic Leaving Cert English blog, the particular blog post I was looking at highlights the importance of linking words in the comparative study.