English Literature

Assessment

Unit 1: Poetry Written examination: 2 hours (30% of A Level). Section A: Study of a pre-1900 poet, e.g. Chaucer, John Donne, John Keats, John Milton, Christina Rossetti. Section B: Study of a pair of post-1900 poets, e.g. Thomas Hardy & T.S. Eliot, Philip Larkin & Carol Ann Duffy. Unit 2: Drama Written examination: 2 hours (30% of A Level). Section A: Study of a single Shakespeare play, e.g. King Lear, Hamlet, The Tempest, Antony and Cleopatra. Section B: Study of a pair of plays – one pre-1900 play, and the other post-1900, e.g. Harold Pinter’s Betrayal and Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan. Unit 3: Unseen Prose and Poetry Written examination: 2 hours (20% of A Level). Section A: Analysis of an unseen prose passage. Candidates choose whether to analyse a passage from the period 1880-1910 or rather to select one from the period 1918-1939. Section B: Candidates will respond to their reading of an unseen poem. The poem may be taken from any period or genre. Unit 4: Prose Study Coursework: 2,500 - 3,000 words (20% of A Level) The candidates will write a coursework piece based on their reading of two prose texts from different authors. One must be published pre-2000 and the other post-2000, e.g. The Great Gatsby and The Reluctant Fundamentalist.