English Literature

Course summary

English Literature at A Level is all about how you can thoughtfully and critically form an argument: you will adopt a variety of lenses, explore texts through aspects of two different genres before coming to your own conclusions. Our discursive approach will help you to explore your analytical study of the core texts and will provide you with a forum to debate different interpretations. For the first exam, you will explore Aspects of Tragedy, from Aristotelian values to contemporary approaches, and consider how far these are demonstrated in three set texts. The study of Literature has much to do with the study of human interactions, history and power: the second exam will focus on elements of Political and Social Protest Writing which tracks the suppression of individual voice as well as the pursuit of freedom from both an individual perspective and from society in general. Again you will have three set texts to focus on, but also an unseen aspect.