English Literature

Assessment

Unit 1: Shakespeare and Poetry pre-1900 - 2hr 30min exam (40%) We will study Hamlet and Webster’s Duchess of Malfi along with Chaucer’s The Merchant’s Tale. Unit 2: Comparative and Contextual Study, Dystopia - 2hr 30min exam (40%). We will study Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. The prose texts will be studied as part of a wider tradition of dystopian fiction, which will allow students to explore works by Kafka, Cormac McCarthy, Stephen King, PD James, Doris Lessing and H.G Wells among others. We will look at the historical and social factors that shape dystopian fiction, its impact on popular culture, and its links to other genres including satire, the Gothic, thrillers, young adult writing, and science fiction. Unit 3: Coursework component: Literature post-1900 Students will complete a coursework folder (20% of the total A Level) consisting of one critical or re-creative piece based on one text (an opportunity to write creatively), and one essay based on linked texts. For this unit, we will study A Streetcar Named Desire and Pat Barker’s Regeneration. Students will also study Seamus Heaney’s District and Circle.