English Literature

Course summary

English at A Level is academically rigorous and requires an enthusiasm for literature. Students will study tragedy as a dramatic form, with a specific focus on Shakespearean and modern American tragedy. They will critically assess a range of contemporary poets’ work and develop the sight-reading skills that were assessed on the unseen paper at GCSE. In Year 13, students compare prose texts from different cultures and periods through the thematic lens of ‘women and society’ and, as a preparatory unit for degree-level study, they complete a rigorous independent analysis of two texts of their choosing for the NEA unit. Students of Literature here at SCHS will follow in the footsteps of our esteemed alumna Angela Carter. The study of English Literature at A Level is skills-focused and interdisciplinary. Students of Literature at SCHS leave with strong subject knowledge in history, politics, philosophy, psychology, and the arts that provides an excellent foundation for university study in the arts and humanities. Learning how to research, write and debate well are universally required skills for success in tertiary education and these are taught with skill in the English Literature course. Moreover, the NEA component that provides students with some freedom to dictate what and how they study helps to develop the academic rigour that is required of individuals at university, in the workplace and beyond.