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English Literature A-level

The course builds upon the work you have done for GCSE and introduces you to a more formal academic study of a wide range of fascinating, relevant and challenging texts.

Throughout the course you will study poetry, drama and novels.


Why English Literature?

English Literature allows its students to develop their learning in a wide variety of academic subjects, including philosophy, theology, history, and foreign and classical languages. To understand a society it is essential to understand its literature, and this course provides an excellent opportunity to do that. Literature also offers us a profound insight into the human condition.


Any special requirements?

The course involves a significant amount of reading. Students must be independent learners who are willing to read in their own time and be prepared to discuss in class their ideas about what they have read.

Students must be able to construct systematic and incisive argument and express their ideas with elegance and clarity. Students should have achieved at least a grade 6 in English GCSE.


What will I study and how will I be assessed?

Component 01 - Poetry, pre and post 20th-century poems. We will study the poetry of Philip Larkin and Carol Ann Duffy. 2-hour exam 30% of the qualification.

Component 02 - Drama, pre and post 20th-century drama. We will study Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe and Enron by Lucy Prebble as companion texts. We will also study Antony and Cleopatra by Shakespeare. 2-hour exam 30% of the qualification.

Component 03 - Unseen texts which involves the analysis of an unseen modernist text and the analysis of an unseen poetry. 2-hour exam 20% of the qualification.

Component 04 - 3,000-word coursework assignment based on the comparative reading of two novels: The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald and Atonement by Ian McEwan. 20% of the qualification.


Purpose and Provision

Download a copy of the English Departments Purpose and Provision document here.


Curriculum Map

Download a copy of the English Departments Curriculum Map document here.