English Literature

Course summary

Paper 1: Literary Genres: Drama Choice of two options: Option 1A: Aspects of Tragedy Study of three texts: one Shakespeare text; a second drama text and one further text, of which one must be written pre-1900. Current texts are: Shakespeare: Othello Drama and Pre-1900: Richard II A further text: The Great Gatsby Assessed written exam: 2 hours 30 minutes, closed book, 40% of A-level Questions: Section A: One passage-based question on set Shakespeare text (25 marks) Section B: One essay question on set Shakespeare text (25 marks) Section C: One essay question linking two texts (25 marks) Paper 2: Texts and Genres (Political and Social Protest Writing) Choice of two options: Option 2A: Elements of Crime Writing OR Option 2B: Elements of Political Writing Study of three texts: one post-2000 prose text; one poetry and one further text, one of which must be written pre-1900 Current texts are: Post 2000 Prose: The Kite Runner One Poetry: William Blake Further and pre-1900 text: A Doll’s House Assessed written exam: 3 hours, open book, 40% of A-level, to include an unseen element Questions: Section A: One compulsory question on an unseen passage (25 marks) Section B: One essay question on set text (25 marks) Section C: One essay question which connects two texts (25 marks