English Literature A Level

English Literature is for anyone who loves to read; if you like to discuss novels, plays and poetry, this is the course for you! Our English Literature A Level will develop your skills in communicating, arguing, and writing. Throughout the course you will study eight texts from different time periods: poetry, prose, and drama.

Drama: You will explore the genre of tragedy, considering its conventions and how these have been adapted at different points in literary history. Focusing on a Shakespearean tragedy and a 20th century tragedy, you will consider the ways writers create characters and the stagecraft which gives the plays their emotional and dramatic impact. We will draw upon historical and modern performances of the plays, visiting the theatre to watch productions when possible.

Prose: Linked by the theme of the supernatural, you will compare two gothic novels considering the ways that writers make their books scary or unsettling and the ways that the supernatural is used to represent real anxieties within society. You will read a 19th century and a modern novel, allowing us to consider how modern readers might respond differently to those in the past.

Poetry: You will study two texts from different time periods, one a lively and varied collection of 21st century poems, and the other from a historical literary period. We will analyse unseen poems and make comparisons, using a precise technical vocabulary to discuss the ways in which poets use language and structure to create meanings.

Your coursework project will allow you to independently study two texts: The Great Gatsby and any text of your choosing. You will research a range of secondary academic readings and the historical contexts of the time.

Year 1 Modules

Shakespeare: Tragedy: Antony and Cleopatra OR Hamlet OR King Lear

Prose: Dracula by Bram Stoker and The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

Modern Poetry: Poems of the Decade, an Anthology of the Forward books of poetry 2001-2011, by various authors

Coursework: The Great Gatsby and a text of your choice.

Year 2 Modules

Modern Drama: Les Blancs, Lorraine Hansberry

Movement Poetry: Medieval: The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale, Geoffrey Chaucer or Victorian: Christina Rossetti

Modern Poetry: unseen poetry

80% Exam

20% Coursework

Exam Board: Edexcel

Many of our students go on to English related university courses, such as:

English Literature

English Language and Literature

Communication studies

Creative Writing

Law

Education

Students may also find that the skills they develop in English Literature are transferable to a range of degree apprenticeships such as:

Digital marketing

Public relations

Management consultancy

Law

Early years education

English is a subject which offers pathways onto many careers, including Publishing, Teaching, Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations, Communications, Copywriting, Journalism, the Civil Service, Law, Politics, Editing, Events Management and many more!