English Language and Literature

Course summary

Whilst studying the subject, students are able to explore a range of literary and non-literary texts. These include an Anthology of well-known pre-1914 poetry which encapsulates the rich poetic tradition in the English language, Tennessee Williams’ deeply affecting human drama Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Alice Walker’s The Color Purple. They will also create a coursework portfolio in which they analyse two dystopic novels, such as Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and George Orwell’s 1984 and write their own texts modelled on the genre. Furthermore, students will explore William Shakespeare’s King Lear, Truman Capote’s ground-breaking ‘non-fiction novel’, In Cold Blood, as well as a range of thematically linked spoken language texts. Through their reading, students will be able to develop the skills required to assess the relative merits of texts, be analytical, consider other viewpoints, and make connections across a range of texts and to understand and evaluate the effects of a variety of contexts.