English Literature

Course summary

The first year of English Literature is an exciting exploration of both classic texts and unique modern poetry. It focuses on an in-depth knowledge of these texts; the specialist teachers in the department know these texts extremely well and will take students on a guided tour of the author’s literary skills and some interesting critical ways of approaching them. Students study the following, in addition to revising all Year 12 work: • An anthology of critical essays on tragedy • Wider critical reading for coursework and examination • Two coursework texts selected from a list provided (see ‘Coursework’ below) • Hamlet, King Lear, Othello or Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare • A collection of works by a named poet (for example, Geoffrey Chaucer, John Keats, Christina Rossetti, T.S. Eliot, Philip Larkin) • Unseen poetry skills and advanced critical skills for examinations and coursework