English Literature

Assessment

This comprehensive course covers literature written in English from 1300 to the present day. Pupils will learn to compare texts from different periods, to evaluate the importance of their contexts, to appreciate schools of criticism and to evaluate other readers’ responses to their texts. There are four components to the A level: Paper 1: Drama Pupils study one play by Shakespeare and one other drama text from the following list: Shakespearean tragedy: Antony and Cleopatra, Hamlet, King Lear, Othello; Shakespearean comedy: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Measure for Measure, The Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night. Other tragedies: Doctor Faustus, The Duchess of Malfi (pre1900); Les Blancs; A Streetcar Named Desire (post-1900). Other comedies: The Importance of Being Earnest; The Rover (pre-1900); Sweat; Waiting for Godot (post-1900). Paper 2: Prose Pupils compare two thematically linked texts from a large selection. At least one text must be pre-1900. Examples of such pairings include Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (science and society); Dracula by Bram Stoker and The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters or Beloved by Toni Morrison (the supernatural); The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins and In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (crime and detection). Paper 3: Poetry Pupils study an anthology of poems published post-2000 (Poems of the Decade). In the exam, they must compare one poem from this anthology with an unseen poem. They also study one selected collection of poetry from a specific poet or literary period from the twelve options below, and write one essay on their chosen text, which will be taken from the following list: Medieval Poetic Drama; Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale; The Metaphysical Poets; John Donne; The Romantics; John Keats; The Victorians; Christina Rossetti; Modernism; T S Eliot; The Movement; Philip Larkin. Non-examined assessment (coursework) Pupils study any two linked texts, of any period or genre, providing they are not in translation. They then write one comparative essay of 2500-3000 words. Students choose their essay titles, and in some cases, their texts, ENGLISH LITERATURE thus preparing them for the independent study required at university and enabling each pupil to suit their interests and level of ability