English Literature

Course summary

Students who respond well to new ideas, embrace challenging texts and enjoy lively classroom discussions thrive at this school. We are passionate about our subject in the English department and, with over a hundred years of experience between us, are still excited about reading and teaching texts ranging from mediaeval literature to modern drama. We firmly believe it's important that you enjoy and appreciate Literature, develop your own views and responses as well as improving your technical and analytical skills. We'll help you refine your skills of analysis and interpretation so that you can express yourself in a structured and thoughtful manner. We want you to consider, debate and explore the thoughts of some of the greatest writers ever to put pen to paper, fingers to keyboards, but, above all, we want you to think for yourselves. The course encourages the study of a wide range of texts from comedy to tragedy and everything in between. On top of this, Unit 4 of the Pre-U paper offers you the opportunity to study texts that you've chosen, devising your own area for investigation which you'll turn into an essay question, the end product being a mini dissertation. This will give you the skills and confidence needed to tackle similar tasks at university and is really an excellent chance to develop an interest in and passion for almost any aspect of the subject.