English Literature

Course summary

The A Level English Literature course enables students to study a wide range of texts from different genres and different periods. The focus is on the different ways texts can be read, connected and written about. The course consists of three sections: Literary Genres For this part of the course we study either tragedy or comedy. One of these must be a play by Shakespeare. Some possible choices of texts are: King Lear; The Taming of the Shrew; The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald and The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. There is also a poetry anthology for each option. Texts and Genres In this section we study texts related to either crime writing or political writing. Possible text choices are: The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood; A Doll’s House by Ibsen; Hamlet and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. Both of the above components are assessed by an examination at the end of the second year of the course. Theory and Independence For this component you will produce a coursework folder consisting of two written pieces, one on poetry and one on prose. We will study an anthology of critical theory and you will learn how to apply some of these theories – such as Marxist criticism, feminist criticism, narrative theory and post-colonialism – to your chosen texts. This section of the course encourages independence of thought and allows you to explore texts you have chosen in a way which interests you.