English Literature

Assessment

The OCR specification is followed and this involves three components — two assessed by external, closed book examinations, and one assessed by a folder of coursework. Component 1 is examined and contains two sections. The first is based on a work by Shakespeare while the second calls for comparison of a pre-1900 play with a poetry text from the same broad era. Component 2 is more broad-ranging, organising its material thematically (examples of themes being ‘American Literature’ and ‘Dystopia’) pupils again have to compare and contrast two linked texts, as well as perform a practical criticism exercise on a relevant unseen extract. In Component 3 candidates study three texts, again linked by theme, and produce two pieces of writing; the first is a close reading of a textual extract and the second is a comparative essay.