English Literature

Course summary

WHY STUDY THIS COURSE? English Literature is a brilliant course and the La Retraite 6 is probably the only English department in South London where one of our students has just completed her PhD in English Literature at Oxford and another is completing her PhD at Cambridge. English Literature is widely regarded as one of the best A’ levels to have as it has gained a reputation for academic rigour and excellence over the last century and is recognized by all the top universities as an exam with real pedigree. Many of our students have gone on to study the Law after taking this subject as its mixture of research, debate and close analysis give you the forensic skills needed when studying the minutiae of legal arguments – although thankfully our texts are much more engaging than some of the dusty tomes’ lawyers have to read! It’s the perfect course for academically gifted students who have enquiring minds and love learning and opens up a wide range of career opportunities from the Law to journalism and from teaching to a high-flying career in the Civil Service. WHAT WILL I LEARN? Students will learn how to apply critical theory to a selection of key texts ranging from Shakespeare to the present day. These critical theories will include: Feminist readings, Marxist readings and Ecocritical readings of texts They will interpret some texts through the lens of tragedy writing and other texts through the lens of crime writing as they learn to evaluate both classic and contemporary texts critically.