English Literature

Course summary

There are two broad themes studied over the two year course: ‘Love through the Ages’ and ‘Texts in Shared in Contexts - Modern Times: 1945 to the present day’. In Year 12, for ‘Love through the Ages’ students will start by studying a unit that introduces the novel form before going on to study Shakespeare’s Othello, Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, and an anthology of pre-1900 poetry. Students will also start to read for and write their Non Examined Unit (previously called Coursework), which will require them to choose two texts (one of which must be pre-1900) and write a comparative essay on a theme of their choice. As the students move into Year 13, they will be study ‘Modern Times: 1945 to the present day’. They will study Skirrid Hill, a collection of poetry by Owen Sheers, Oranges are not the Only Fruit and a Streetcar Named Desire. They will also revise the texts they have studied earlier in the course and prepare for the unseen poetry and prose elements to the examination.