English Literature

Course summary

English Literature aims to broaden students' experiences of reading and encourage a lifelong love of reading. The course encourages students to look beyond the given reading lists and to find their enjoyment in the written word. The course covers at least one of Shakespeare's classic plays such as Othello. Students will also study literature based on the theme of Love Through the Ages in Year 12 and Modern Literature in Year 13 and may cover Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights; Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles; F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby; Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire; lan McEwan's Atonement and an anthology of love poetry. We will also cover a selection of poems by the former Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy and look at influences on and interpretations of these texts. Pupils will also be allowed to study a text of their choice, alongside a taught text, for the non-examined component of the course.