English Literature

Course summary

Paper 1: Love through the Ages Written exam making up 40% of A Level. Close study of three texts: one poetry, one pre-1900 and one Shakespeare play. Example texts include: an anthology of love poetry, Othello and The Great Gatsby. Paper 2: Texts in Shared Contexts (Modern texts: Literature from 1945 to the present day) Written exam making up 40% of A Level. Close study of three texts: one prose, one poetry and one drama, one of which must be written post-2000. Example texts include: A Streetcar Named Desire, The Help, and Sylvia Plath poetry. Independent Critical Study: Texts Across Time Coursework module making up 20% of A Level. One extended essay based on a comparative critical study of two texts. Students choose their own texts based on themes such as: the struggle for identity, the Gothic, satire and dystopia, war and conflict, representations of race and ethnicity or social class and culture.