English Literature

Course summary

Literature A Level is the study of more than just good books: it will provide you with a variety of critical thinking skills, essay writing and the ability to sharply question and analyse the written and spoken word. It is an highly respected course which is valued by universities and within the workplace. Universities describe English as a ‘facilitating subject’, meaning that it is extremely desirable and useful in a wide variety of university courses. You will develop your ability to hone an argument, to listen actively, to work in collaboration and to think independently. The OCR course is a two year A Level which explores a wide range of texts across the whole canon of English literature. The course includes the study of at least one Shakespeare play (currently Hamlet), poetry and drama pre-1900 with choices including the poetry of Christina Rossetti and Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. Modern texts are also explored, including at least one from post 2000. These texts are used to develop coursework writing, providing students with many of the skills they will require at university level. Texts which have been taught recently have included: A Streetcar Named Desire, Sense of an Ending, and Auden’s poetry. There is a final unit which explores texts linked by a common theme, for example, Dystopian fiction or American literature. For this unit students read two or more novels within the genre (currently The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath).