The aim is for all students to experience a diverse and interesting collection of texts throughout the two-year course. English Literature will encourage all students to learn new and challenging ways to study a variety of writing styles. At the heart of the course is the desire to develop and enhance students’ love of reading, giving them opportunities to debate and question a broad range of themes and issues raised by the texts studied. Love Through the Ages This topic area aims to encourage students to engage with aspects of a central literary theme as seen over time. Students will explore representations of love across a range of diverse and thought-provoking texts. Aspects of love that students will explore include: romantic love of many kinds; love and loss; social conventions and taboos; love through the ages according to history and time; love through the ages according to individual lives (young love, maturing love); jealousy and guilt; truth and deception; proximity and distance; marriage; approval and disapproval. Students study one play by Shakespeare, Othello, one prose text, The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald), and an anthology of love poetry through the ages. They will also engage with a wide range of unseen poetry. Texts in Shared Contexts: Modern Times: Literature from 1945 to the present day Having explored how a central issue is represented over time, students will explore texts written in a much narrower period. This topic area takes WW2 as its historical starting point and students will explore how modern and contemporary Literature engages with the social, political, personal, and literary issues of the modern era. Students will study texts from the latter half of the 20th century and the early decades of the 21st century. Aspects of this period that will be explored include wars and the legacy of wars; personal and social identity; changing morality and social structures; gender, class, race, and ethnicity; political upheaval and change; resistance and rebellion; imperialism, post-imperialism, and nationalism. Students will study one prose text, The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood), one play, ‘Translations’ (Brian Friel), and Carol Ann Duffy’s anthology of poetry, Feminine Gospels. They will also engage with a wide range of unseen prose extracts. Independent Critical Study Students will independently study two texts and produce a comparative critical essay. The unit provides students with a challenging opportunity to pursue their own literary interests and critical writing style.
Students wanting to study at EHC are required to achieve 5 or more standard GCSE passes or higher (grade 4 or higher) including GCSE Maths and either English Language or English Literature at a grade 4 or above. Students who have previously studied this at GCSE would be expected to have achieved at least a grade of 4.
Paper 1: Love through the Ages Written exam: 3 hours. Closed book in Section C only 75 marks, 40% of A Level. Paper 2: Texts in Shared Contexts Written exam: 2.5 hours. Open book. 75 marks, 40% of A Level. Non-exam assessment: Independent critical study: texts across time Comparative critical study of two texts, at least one of which must have been written pre-1900. One extended essay (2500 words) and a bibliography. 50 marks, 20% of A Level.
About Education Provider
| Region | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| Local Authority | Leeds |
| Ofsted Rating | Outstanding |
| Gender Type | Co-Educational |
| Address | Clifford Moor Road, Boston Spa, Wetherby, LS23 6RW |
The aim is for all students to experience a diverse and interesting collection of texts throughout the two-year course. English Literature will encourage all students to learn new and challenging ways to study a variety of writing styles. At the heart of the course is the desire to develop and enhance students’ love of reading, giving them opportunities to debate and question a broad range of themes and issues raised by the texts studied. Love Through the Ages This topic area aims to encourage students to engage with aspects of a central literary theme as seen over time. Students will explore representations of love across a range of diverse and thought-provoking texts. Aspects of love that students will explore include: romantic love of many kinds; love and loss; social conventions and taboos; love through the ages according to history and time; love through the ages according to individual lives (young love, maturing love); jealousy and guilt; truth and deception; proximity and distance; marriage; approval and disapproval. Students study one play by Shakespeare, Othello, one prose text, The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald), and an anthology of love poetry through the ages. They will also engage with a wide range of unseen poetry. Texts in Shared Contexts: Modern Times: Literature from 1945 to the present day Having explored how a central issue is represented over time, students will explore texts written in a much narrower period. This topic area takes WW2 as its historical starting point and students will explore how modern and contemporary Literature engages with the social, political, personal, and literary issues of the modern era. Students will study texts from the latter half of the 20th century and the early decades of the 21st century. Aspects of this period that will be explored include wars and the legacy of wars; personal and social identity; changing morality and social structures; gender, class, race, and ethnicity; political upheaval and change; resistance and rebellion; imperialism, post-imperialism, and nationalism. Students will study one prose text, The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood), one play, ‘Translations’ (Brian Friel), and Carol Ann Duffy’s anthology of poetry, Feminine Gospels. They will also engage with a wide range of unseen prose extracts. Independent Critical Study Students will independently study two texts and produce a comparative critical essay. The unit provides students with a challenging opportunity to pursue their own literary interests and critical writing style.
Students wanting to study at EHC are required to achieve 5 or more standard GCSE passes or higher (grade 4 or higher) including GCSE Maths and either English Language or English Literature at a grade 4 or above. Students who have previously studied this at GCSE would be expected to have achieved at least a grade of 4.
Paper 1: Love through the Ages Written exam: 3 hours. Closed book in Section C only 75 marks, 40% of A Level. Paper 2: Texts in Shared Contexts Written exam: 2.5 hours. Open book. 75 marks, 40% of A Level. Non-exam assessment: Independent critical study: texts across time Comparative critical study of two texts, at least one of which must have been written pre-1900. One extended essay (2500 words) and a bibliography. 50 marks, 20% of A Level.