English Literature

Course summary

Students will focus on a minimum of eight texts during the course, including plays, novels and poetry. They will also be expected to undertake individual reading. Analysing how writers create meaning will be a central element of the course. Students will also be encouraged to examine critical readings of works as well as form their interpretations. We will explore the impact of historical and social contexts on the creation of our set texts and also our understanding of them. During Year 12 students will study four texts. Current texts are 'A Thousand Splendid Suns', 'Wuthering Heights' or 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles', 'A Streetcar Named Desire' and the Forward Poetry Anthology. Students will take two school examinations: 1. Drama and poetry 2. Prose texts In Year 13 students will complete a 3000-word coursework essay comparing two texts. They will also study a collection of poetry by writers such as Keats and a Shakespeare tragedy. Students will sit three public examinations at the end of Year 13: 1. Drama 2. Prose 3. Poetry