English Literature

Course summary

While studying English Literature you will study the three main genres: poetry, prose and drama. From September 2015, new A levels in English will be linear qualifications, with all assessments at the end of the course. AS will become a standalone qualification and will not contribute towards an A level. A Level of English Literature involves studying the three main genres: poetry, prose and drama. You will read critics and theorists who bring different critical readings and theoretical approaches to bear on the set texts. You will learn how to engage in close reading and stylistic analysis as well as consider the wider social and historical factors which have shaped and influenced the writer. You will also consider how literary language and its effects work on different readers, shaping and influencing their responses. The ability to think independently and critically is the hallmark of a good English student. In the English department, we emphasise the need for students to be able to weigh up a variety of interpretations and come to a reasoned and balanced response. Our teaching of individual texts is informed by different critical approaches: Marxist/historicist, feminist, stylistic and post-colonial. Whatever approach is adopted, the aim is always the same: to make students aware of how their critical response to a text has been informed by a whole set of cultural practices, values and assumptions. As a reader, the text “reads” us just as much as we read it. Doing this subject will enable students to acquire skills in critical thinking, writing and speaking which will be of benefit to them for the rest of their lives. DLD College is a proud member of the London Library. Books from this world-famous library can be borrowed by students through DLD’s associate membership scheme. Year 13 English students are allowed to take part in a departmental study day at the London Library to help them research their coursework essays.