English Literature

Course summary

English Literature A-Level is taught by a pair of highly experienced, enthusiastic individuals who share a common love of written and spoken English. We draw on a range of specialist interests and knowledge including drama, Shakespeare, contemporary and Victorian prose, Dystopian fiction and Gothic fiction within the department, to name but a few. At Queen’s we have chosen to teach the OCR A Level, believing that it is structured to best support students through final exams, whilst also offering the broadest range of choices of Literature. All A Level syllabi include Shakespeare (the greatest writer of them all) and we opt for ‘Hamlet’; it builds beautifully on the exploration of the human psyche seen in ‘Macbeth’. A study of texts on a given context is a key part of the course, and we have opted for the Gothic tradition. Coursework covers a poet, a play and a novel and all are modern texts, post-1900, chosen according to the teacher’s own interests and passions. As with GCSE, we believe that flair in teaching comes from a love of the Literature itself, and we are best equipped to bring that Literature to life when teaching what we most enjoy.