English Literature at Advanced Level is an exciting and challenging subject. It is both thought provoking and immensely rewarding from an academic and imaginative perspective. If you are looking for a stimulating course and enjoy thinking and discussing, then this is for you. There are numerous opportunities to think independently, discuss and argue about literary and critical opinions and possible approaches to texts. This may be in the context of a class discussion, a presentation or an essay. There is enormous emphasis upon the importance of independent reading as a pleasure not a chore. A wider reading enrichment group is run for our students, offering detailed preparation to support those who are applying to do English at university. The English Literature A Level course broadens your understanding of genre and extends your independent reading. It introduces you to different critical theories and considers how texts can be interpreted in different ways, drawing comparisons between texts. In Literary Genres you can expect to study Aspects of Comedy focusing on Twelfth Night, An Importance of Being Earnest and collection of poetry from metaphysical to contemporary poets. The second component is Texts and Genres: Elements of Political and Social Protest Writing, studying The Kite Runner, A Doll’s House and a collection of Tony Harrison’s poetry. This is further enhanced by the study of critical theory in the non-exam assessment in which students study a novel and an anthology of poetry through different readings from a critical anthology ranging from Marxism to Eco-criticism.