English Literature

Course summary

Our A Level in English Literature offers a broad range of stimulating fiction texts across a range of genres and and styles. Students complete detailed study of plays, poetry and novels; thinking critically and analytically about the texts. Students will explore literary conventions and how they develop and change over time. Students will explore the contexts of production and reception of texts and develop their understanding of the importance and impact of contexts. Students will complete an independent study unit that allows them to explore areas of particular personal interest, offering excellent preparation for study at undergraduate level. Component 01 focuses on the study of 'Drama and Poetry pre 1900'. Section A focuses on Shakespeare. Students read Hamlet and are required to closely analyse an extract and then explore a wider theme and how it develops through the play. Section B is a comparative study of the poetry of Christina Rossetti and the play 'An Ideal Husband' by Oscar Wilde. Component 02 is the 'Comparative and Contextual Study' focused around the dystopian genre. Section A asks students to closely analyse an unseen dystopian extract. Section B is a comparative study of 'The Handmaid's Tale' by Margaret Atwood and '1984' by George Orwell. Component 03 is the Independent Study which allows students to select their own choice of a play, novel and poetry collection to explore. They must produce a piece of close analysis of one text and a comparative study of the other two texts.