Paper 2 Question 4: Comparing Viewpoints and Perspectives

Question 4 is the biggest reading question on Paper 2 and the one that draws the two sources together. In the 2026 sample paper it reads: "For this question, you need to refer to the whole of Source A, together with the whole of Source B. Compare how the writers convey their different feelings and perspectives about their experiences of travelling on a train."

It is worth 16 marks and assesses one Assessment Objective, AO3: comparing writers' ideas and perspectives, and how these are conveyed, across two or more texts. AO3 is assessed only on Paper 2, and this is the question where all of it is earned.

Feature	Question 4
Marks	16
Objective	AO3 (comparison only)
Sources	The whole of both sources
Focus	Compare feelings and perspectives, and the methods that convey them

This is the synoptic question: it asks you to stand back and see both sources at once. Give it around 18 minutes, more than any other reading question, because comparison takes thinking time before you write.

The task's own bullets tell you exactly what to do: compare the writers' feelings and perspectives, comment on the methods they use to convey them, and support your response with references to both texts.

AO3 has two halves, and a strong answer does both in every point. The 2026 wording was updated to say "comment on the methods" in the second bullet, to make clear that the focus is the comparison of both the perspectives and how they are conveyed.

• Perspective: the writers' attitudes and feelings. In the sample sources, one writer is weary and contemptuous about the journey, while the other is full of wonder and awe.
• Method: how each writer conveys that feeling, through word choice, tone, structure, personification, direct address or repetition.

A point that only compares feelings ("Source A is bored, Source B is excited") is thin. A point that compares feelings and the methods behind them is what lifts the answer.

A useful sentence frame: "The writer of Source A conveys [feeling] through [method + short quote], whereas the writer of Source B conveys [feeling] through [method + short quote]." Every strong point compares both a perspective and a method.

The mark scheme also notes that references to the writers' methods "may be implicit," so you do not always have to name a technical term, but you must show how the writing conveys the perspective.

The 16-mark scheme has four levels. Each rises in how far you compare rather than describe, and how far you analyse methods rather than list them.

Level	Marks	What it takes
4	13–16	Perceptive comparison; analyses how methods are used; judicious detail from both texts
3	9–12	Clear comparison; explains clearly how methods are used; relevant detail from both
2	5–8	Some comparison; some comment on methods; some detail, not always supporting
1	1–4	Simple cross-reference; simple identification of methods; simple awareness of perspective

(Level descriptors paraphrased from the AQA 8700/2 sample mark scheme, first exam 2026.)

The mark scheme sets a firm rule about coverage:

You have to deal with both texts to reach Level 3 or above. If your answer is Level 1 quality but covers only one source, it is capped at 2 marks; if Level 2 quality but one source only, capped at 6 marks.

So the single most important habit is to keep both sources in view. Even a clever answer scores in the lower half if it forgets one text.

The choice that most affects your mark is how you organise the answer. Compare point by point, not text by text.

• Text by text (weak): a paragraph on Source A, then a separate paragraph on Source B. The examiner has to find the comparison for you, and the links are usually thin.
• Point by point (strong): each paragraph takes one idea (for example, how each writer feels about the noise of the train) and compares both sources within it.

Comparative connectives are the words that hold a point together across two texts: whereas, similarly, in contrast, on the other hand, likewise, by comparison. Using one in the middle of a sentence forces you to link the sources instead of describing them separately.

Paragraph plan	What it compares
Point 1	The writers' overall feeling about the experience
Point 2	How each writer feels about a specific moment
Point 3	The tone each writer takes (mocking vs awed, say)
Point 4	How the form or audience shapes each writer's perspective

Open with a clear line stating the overall difference in perspective between the two writers. That overview anchors the whole answer, and every paragraph then develops one strand of it.

Level 4 answers "analyse how writers' methods are used." That means moving past labelling a technique to explaining how it conveys the perspective, and comparing the two writers' choices.

Consider an original pair of examples on the same subject, a crowded platform:

• Writer 1: "a heaving crush of bodies, all elbows and impatience."
• Writer 2: "a lively bustle of travellers, everyone eager to be off."

A comparative, analytical point:

Both writers describe a busy platform, but their word choices convey opposite feelings. Writer 1's noun "crush" and the listing of "elbows and impatience" build a semantic field of discomfort and aggression, making the crowd feel hostile. In contrast, Writer 2 chooses "lively bustle" and "eager," whose warm connotations turn the same scene into cheerful anticipation. The identical setting, described through opposite vocabulary, shows how each writer's attitude to travel shapes what they notice.

Notice the shape: the shared idea, a method and short quote from each, and a conclusion about the difference in perspective. The whole subject terminology toolkit is available; the language-techniques toolkit defines each term if you need to check.

1. Covering only one source

The mark scheme caps single-source answers below Level 3. However good your analysis of Source A is, you must give real attention to Source B, and vice versa. Balance the two.

2. Writing text by text instead of comparing

A block on Source A followed by a block on Source B is not comparison. Compare within each paragraph, using a comparative connective so the two writers meet on the page.

3. Comparing feelings but not methods

Saying one writer is happy and the other is not is only half of AO3. You must also compare how each writer conveys that feeling, through their language, tone or structure.

4. Analysing language as if it were Question 3

Question 3 is close language analysis of one source. Question 4 is comparison. Do not spend the whole answer zooming into single words in one text; keep both sources and the comparison in view.

5. Forgetting the "whole" of both sources

Question 4 uses the whole of both sources, not a line range. A strong answer ranges across each text and can compare, for example, how each writer's feeling changes from beginning to end.

Working from the 2026 sample sources on train travel, with brief quotation only for analysis, a Level 4-style point might run:

The two writers convey almost opposite feelings about their journeys. The writer of Source A conveys weary contempt: his repetition and listing of "no more" catalogue everything he is glad to leave behind, so the reader feels the monotony he has endured. In contrast, the writer of Source B conveys awe from her opening line, where the noun "raptures" carries connotations of euphoria and an almost spiritual joy, making her first journey feel extraordinary. Where Source A looks back with relief that the trip is ending, Source B looks on with wonder that it is happening at all, and each writer's word choice conveys the attitude the other lacks.

That point compares both perspectives, names and analyses a method in each source, quotes briefly from both, and links them with a comparative move. Build three or four points like it, keeping both writers in every paragraph, and the answer earns the perceptive comparison the top level asks for.