English Literature explores how literature develops over time and how writers across the centuries are influenced by the time periods in which they lived. An A-level literature course provides students the opportunity to develop their perceptions of novels, plays and poetry and to shape their critical analysis by employing a range of secondary non-fiction resources. Students will compare how texts and writers develop their ideas over time and place and how we are still shaped by these ideas in the 21st century. Across the two years, students will study eight set texts across two exam modules: Shakespeare and poetry pre-1900 and comparative contextual study and one coursework module. The coursework module will be focused on three texts: a play, a novel, and a collection of poetry, all published after 1900 and will account for 20% of the overall grade. Both exams are closed text and account for 40% of the final grade for each. For the comparative contextual study, students will study two texts linked by the theme of The Gothic. At present these texts are The Bloody Chamber & Other Stories by Angela Carter and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. For the Shakespeare and Poetry pre-1900 module, students will study Shakespeare’s Hamlet as well as The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster and Paradise Lost: Books IX and X by John Milton. Wider reading is a key feature of the English literature A level and as such, you will need to be able to independently read a variety of non-fiction and critical theory in addition to the studied texts.