A Level English Literature

Course summary

Does art imitate life or does life imitate art? The Literature course gives you the opportunity to explore the connections between society and the literature which reflects, critiques and influences that society. The specification aims to develop your understanding of both English Language and Literature drawing on your experiences at GCSE as well as offering a meaningful foundation for the study of English and other academic subjects beyond GCE level. During the course you will examine a number of different historical periods and their texts. You will also engage critically with texts, exploring the texts through different philosophical and sociological critical perspectives. For example Feminism, Marxism, Freudism. All your studies will be firmly rooted in your ability to analyse and explore language and it’s meanings. This is a great course for anyone who enjoyed English at GCSE. This specification promotes as wide a choice of texts for you and your students as possible within a clear and helpful framework. The requirement in the subject criteria for students to study a minimum of four texts from particular genres and periods has been organised as follows: Year 12 One drama text A Shakespeare play from set list (pre-1900) One poetry text From set list Two prose texts From set list Year 13 One core set text Two comparative set texts One drama text One poetry and one prose text Shakespeare One must be written pre- 1900 Texts in shared contexts One core set text Two comparative set texts One drama, one poetry and one prose text One must be written post- B 2000 Texts across time Two independently chosen texts Choice of genre One must be written pre- 1900