IB english paper 2

Authority and Freedom - Similarity

dramatize the crushing of individual desire

Authority and Freedom - Burial at Thebes

Critiques the tyranny f the rational state that suppresses moral freedom

Authority and Freedom - Blood Wedding

Reveals that freedom as passion is an uncontrollable and fatal force of nature

Authority and Freedom - Implication Heaney

the fallibility of political authority

Authority and Freedom - Implication Lorca

the supremacy of natural forces over social control

Character and Flaw - Similarity

feature protagonists whose actions trigger tragedy

Character and Flaw - The Burial at Thebes

argues fate is a consequence of a character’s personal flaw of hubris

Character and Flaw - Blood Wedding

suggests character is a vessel for an impersonal and inescapable fate

Character and Flaw - Implication Heaney

the avoidable nature of human error

Character and Flaw - Implication Lorca

the illusion of human agency against destiny

Passion and Society - Similarity

show that suppressing passion leads to ruin

Passion and Society - The Burial at Thebes

frames passion as a moral conviction against a corrupt state

Passion and Society - Blood Wedding

presents passion as an amoral, elemental force that defies social control

Passion and Society - Implication Heaney

Passion as a righteous tool for political change

Passion and Society - Implication Lorca

passion as a destructive, pre-social power

Justice and Violence - Similarity

conclude with devastating violence

Justice and Violence - The Burial at Thebes

presents violence as the avoidable result of political tyranny

Justice and Violence - Blood Wedding

frames violence as a poetic and inescapable ritual demanded by tradition

Justice and Violence - Implication Heaney

violence as a failure of reason and leadership

Justice and Violence - Implication Lorca

violence as an integral part of cultural code

Gender Roles - Similarity

use female protagonists to defy social norms

Gender Roles - The Burial at Thebes

focuses on a woman’s political and religious defiance of a male ruler

Gender Roles - Blood Wedding

focuses on a woman’s personal and passionate defiance of a female matriarch

Gender Roles - Implication Heaney

female defiance as a catalyst for public change

Gender Roles - Implication Lorca

female defiance as a disruption of private tradition

The Past - Similarity

show characters trapped by past events

The Past - The Burial at Thebes

explores a curse, but focuses on how present choices create the tragedy

The Past - Blood Wedding

presents the past as a cyclical blood feud that makes tragedy inevitable

The Past - Implication Heaney

the primacy of present day responsibility

The Past - Implication Lorca

the deterministic power of history

Structure and Form - Similarity

Use their dramatic structure to amplify tragedy

Structure and Form - The Burial at Thebes

uses a linear, logical debate to create political tension

Structure and Form - Blood Wedding

uses a shift form realism to mythical symbolism to create a sense of fatalism

Structure and Form - Implication Heaney

tragedy as a rational didactic lesson for the citizenry

Structure and Form - Implication Lorca

tragedy as a mythic, emotional experience

Hook

In literature, the exploration of [Question Word] often serves as a powerful lens through which playwrights critique the fundamental values of a culture

Thesis Part 1

While both plays [Similarity] in their treatment of [Question Word], Heaney ultimately [Heaney Argument], Whereas Lorca [Lorca Argument]

Thesis Part 2

This fundamental distinction reveals their divergent authorial aims: Heaney offers a political warning about [Implication], while Loca presents a mythic lament on [Implication]

Characterisation - Heaney

defying authority is a rational political act

Characterisation - Lorca

defying convention is an elemental impulse of passion

Symbolism - Heaney

the failure of man-made political symbols is the core conflict

Symbolism - Lorca

the supremacy of natural, mythic symbols drives the tragedy

Setting - Heaney

the breakdown of civic order occurs on a public stage

Setting - Lorca

the eruption of natural order requires a journey from the domestic to the wild

Structure & Catastrophe - Heaney

Tragedy is the avoidable consequence of human error

Structure & Catastrophe - Lorca

tragedy is the inescapable fulfilment of a fated ritual

Topic Sentence 1

In The Burial at Thebes, Heaney utilises [Lens] to argue that [Heaney’s argument]

Topic Sentence 2

In a different vein, Lorca employs [Lens], to reveal how [Lorca’s Argument]

Topic Sentence 4

Heaney’s construction of [Heaney’s argument] is further achieved through his deliberate use of [Lens]

Topic Sentence 5

Lorca, by contrast, leverages [Lens] not for political critique, but to shape the audience’s understanding of [Lorca’s argument]

Characterisation - Core Concept

Human Agency

Heaney’s Overall implication

His text operates as a rational critique, suggesting that tragedy is the avoidable consequence of flawed human systems and poor moral choices.

Lorca’s Overall Implication

His text functions as a mythic lament, revealing that human society is a fragile construct, easily shattered by the elemental forces of passion, tradition, and fate.

Characterisation - Heaney Audience Experience

Critical Judgement

Characterisation - Lorca Audience Experience

emotional surrender

Symbolism - Core Concept

Power

Symbolism - Heaney’s Implication

His text presents a world where power is a man-made, political construct that can and should be challenged by moral reasoning

Symbolism - Lorca’s Implication

His text reveals a world where true power is natural and mythic, making societal authority seem fragile and irrelevant

Symbolism - Heaney Audience Experience

Intellectual decoding

Symbolism - Lorca Audience Experience

Mythic immersion

Setting - Core Concept

Society versus the individual

Setting - Heaney’s Implication

his text frames this conflict on a public stage, implying that the struggle for identity is a political and civic responsibility

Setting - Lorca’s Implication

his text moves this conflict form the domestic to the wild, implying that the true self can only be realized outside the bounds of society

Setting - Heaney Audience Experience

political observation

Setting - Lorca Audience Experience

primal unease

Structure & Catastrophe - Core concept

justice and fate

Structure & Catastrophe - Heaney’s implication

His text functions as a didactic lesson, presenting a world where justice is a clear, cause-and-effect consequence of human action

Structure & Catastrophe - Lorca’s implication

His text operates as a fatalistic ritual, presenting a world where justice is a predetermined, cyclical shedding of blood

Structure & Catastrophe - Heaney Audience Experience

didactic learning

Structure & Catastrophe - Lorca Audience Experience

fatalistic acceptance

Topic Sentence 3

Ultimately, then, while both playwrights deploy [Lens] to [Shared Purpose], their methods diverge to reflect their profoundly different conceptions of [Core Concept]

Topic Sentence 6

Thus, the divergent application of [Lens] creates two distinct audience experiences: Heaney invites a [Heaney Audience Experience], while Lorca evokes a [Lorca Audience Experience]

Paragraph 3 - Comparison Sentence 2

Heaney’s use of [Lens] is consistently political, constructing a world where [Heaney Argument Summary]. In direct opposition, Lorca’s approach is overwhelmingly mythic, shaping a reality where [Lorca Argument Summary]

Paragraph 3 - Comparison Sentence 3

This distinction in method is not merely stylistic; it reveals their fundamentally different authorial projects [Heaney Implication] [Lorca Implication].

Paragraph 3 - Comparison Sentence 4

Therefore, the difference in their technique illuminates the profound gap between a didactic, political worldview and a mythic, fatalistic one.

Paragraph 6 - Comparison Sentence 2

Both playwrights aim to immerse the audience in the play’s central tension. To achieve this, Heaney' employs [Lens] in a rational manner [Heaney’s method]. Lorca, conversely, uses [Lens] to apeal to the subconscious, [Lorca’s method]

Paragraph 6 - Comparison Sentence 3

The resultant experience could not be more different. Heaney positions the audience as a citizen in a tribunal, encouraged to rationally judge the political arguments presented. In contrast, the experience of Lorca’s play is one of emotional surrender, where the audience is made to feel the inescapable pull of fate and primal forces

Paragraph 6 - Comparison Sentence 4

Ultimately, this contrast in audience experience is a direct reflection of their different authorial intentions: to teach a political lesson versus to evoke a poetic tragedy

Evaluative Angle - Purpose Heaney

a didactic political lesson

Evaluative Angle - Purpose Lorca

a mythic, poetic lament

Evaluative Angle - Worldview Heaney

a rational critique of human systems

Evaluative Angle - Worldview Lorca

an immersion into a fatalistic worldview

Evaluative Angle - Relevance Heaney

A contemporary commentary on power

Evaluative Angle - Relevance Lorca

A timeless exploration of primal forces

Conclusion Sentence 1

In their dramatic exploraitons of [Core Concept 1] and [Core Concept 2], the fundamental divergence between Heaney and Lorca becomes clear

Conclusion Sentence 2

Ultimately, the comparison reveals more than just different authorial styles; it illuminates the profound gap between [Heaney’s Project] and [Lorca’s Project], a distinction that speaks to the enduring power of tragedy to both instruct and overwhelm.