Developing your own inquiry question (SACE Stage 2 English Literary Studies)
“Develop a focused, arguable inquiry question that drives a genuine comparison of two texts for the Comparative Text Study.”
You need to frame your own inquiry question for the Comparative Text Study that is arguable, narrow enough to answer in a single essay, and genuinely comparative - so that answering it requires analysing both texts rather than describing them.
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What this dot point is asking
The inquiry question is the foundation of the Comparative Text Study essay, which sits within the external Text Study assessment (30% of your grade, with the essay component worth 15%). A good question makes the essay almost write itself; a vague or descriptive question dooms even a hard-working student to a tour of two texts. The SACE performance standards reward knowledge and understanding of both texts, analysis of the relationship between them, and application of a sustained argument - and all three depend on the question being arguable from the start. The single most valuable habit is to refuse to start writing until the question is sharp.
An inquiry question is not a topic. A topic names a shared subject - power, memory, belonging - and leaves you to wander. A question names a problem you can argue an answer to, and the answer becomes your thesis. The test is simple: a strong inquiry question could be answered with at least two defensible positions, and your essay argues one of them with evidence from both texts.
Make the question arguable, not descriptive
The first failing of weak questions is that they ask what rather than how or why, inviting description. A question asking what both texts say about grief invites you to summarise. A question asking why the two texts locate the consolation of grief so differently - one in community, one in solitude - invites you to argue. Build the disagreement or the puzzle into the question itself.
A focused, arguable question that frames a Comparative Text Study, identifying a genuine point of comparison between two texts and demanding an analytical answer that draws on both.
Make the question genuinely comparative
The second failing is the question that could be answered about one text alone. If your question does not require both texts, your essay will not need both either, and the comparison will be an afterthought. Phrase the question so that the comparison is the point - so that the interesting answer lies in how the two texts differ within a shared concern, or agree despite different forms.
Sharpening a topic into an inquiry question
Starting topic: How do both texts present freedom? (Too broad and descriptive - invites summary, and could be answered about either text alone.)
First narrowing: How do both texts present the limits of freedom? (Better, but still descriptive.)
Final inquiry question: Why does the novel present freedom as a private achievement while the play presents it as something only a community can grant - and what does that difference reveal about each text's view of the individual?
The final question is arguable (it has a defensible answer that could be contested), focused (it names a specific tension, not a whole theme), and genuinely comparative (it cannot be answered without analysing both texts against each other).
Test the question before you commit
Before building an essay on a question, run it through a few checks. Does it have a defensible answer that someone could reasonably dispute? Can you find evidence for that answer in both texts? Is it narrow enough to answer thoroughly in the essay length you have? If any check fails, revise the question - this is far cheaper than discovering the problem in your third draft.
The fastest way to test an inquiry question is to try to answer it in one sentence. If you can write a clear, arguable thesis in response, the question works. If your one-sentence answer is a vague summary, or if you cannot answer it without choosing one text over the other, the question is not ready. A question you cannot yet answer in a sentence will not anchor an essay.
Common error
The most common downgrade begins with a question too large to answer - one that names a whole theme and invites you to say everything both texts do with it. Breadth forces description and starves analysis. The performance standards reward sustained argument, which needs a narrow, arguable target. Narrow the question until it names a specific tension or puzzle, and confirm you can state a one-sentence answer that requires both texts. A small, sharp question produces a deep essay; a large, soft one produces a shallow survey.
Finish by writing your final question at the top of your planning page and returning to it after every paragraph you draft. If a paragraph does not help answer the question, it does not belong in the essay. A strong inquiry question is the discipline that keeps a comparative essay focused, arguable and genuinely comparative from first line to last - exactly what the external Text Study standards reward.
Exam-style questions
Questions in the style of SACE Board exam questions on this dot point, each with a worked answer. They are written by ExamExplained unless tagged "Past paper"; the year shows the paper a question is modelled on.
SACE 2022-style10 marksComparative Text Study. Develop a focused, arguable inquiry question for a comparison of two texts you have studied, and explain why it works. (Text Study planning task)Show worked answer →
The inquiry question governs the whole external Comparative Text Study essay, so a strong one is focused, arguable and genuinely comparative.
Plan: draft a question that names a shared concern of both texts and invites an argument rather than a description.
Test it against three checks: is it focused enough to answer in an essay, arguable (could be answered more than one way), and comparative (it could not be answered about a single text).
Strong move: phrase it as a "how" or "to what extent" question rather than a "what" question, since those invite analysis rather than summary.
Refine: a question that is too broad produces a survey; one that is too narrow runs dry - aim for the level your best three or four comparison points can fill.
Markers reward a question that drives a genuine comparison and penalise one answerable from one text or so broad it has no spine.
SACE 2021-style10 marksComparative Text Study. Explain how you would refine a broad topic into a sharp comparative inquiry question, with reference to two texts.Show worked answer →
A 10 mark answer shows the refinement process, not just the finished question.
Plan: start from a broad topic both texts touch, then narrow it through the focused, arguable and comparative tests.
Use the frame "The topic [broad] becomes the question [how or to what extent ...], which is focused because [reason], arguable because [reason], and comparative because it requires both texts."
Strong move: show a discarded draft question and explain its flaw, since diagnosing a weak question proves you understand what a strong one needs.
Markers reward a demonstrated refinement and penalise a question presented with no account of why it works.