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ENGLISH LITERATURE A LEVEL
‘The universe is made up of stories, not of atoms’
Muriel Rukeyser, Modern American Poet, (1913-1980)
Why Study English Literature?
In their approach to English Literature A level students should develop as confident, independent and reflective readers of a range of texts; learn to express their responses effectively through speech and writing; use critical concepts and terminology with understanding and discrimination; reflect on their own responses to texts; consider other readers’ interpretations of texts and develop awareness of the contexts in which texts were written. In addition, as they progress through the course, students will experience the opportunity to develop in the following ways. They should gain a wider sense of the scope of literary study; use their detailed knowledge and understanding of individual texts to explore comparisons and connections between them; appreciate the significance of cultural and historical influences upon readers and writers.
Ashbourne’s English Department
English Literature is a particularly well-represented subject with a number of experienced and enthusiastic members of staff making up the core of the English Department. The department is headed by Arabella Bridge who is a graduate of both the University of Sussex and New York University. She has been with Ashbourne for more than 10 years and has a vast amount of experience in the teaching of Literature at A level. Breanne Grantham is a key member of the department who, coincidentally, is also our Assistant Director of Studies. Breanne is a graduate of Queen’s University, Canada and the Sorbonne (Paris) and holds an MA in English from the University of York. James Wykes is our Head of Middle School and is also an experienced teacher of English, having taught English Literature at both the secondary and post-secondary levels. He is a graduate of both King’s College and UCL (where he completed an MA in Modern Literature) and is also a key figure in the Drama department. Finally, Rob Crumpton is a graduate of both Oxford (where he read English and Modern History) and Birkbeck College, and holds a PhD in Renaissance Literature. A professionally-trained actor, Rob is also a vital member of the Drama department and coordinates the practical components of our A level Drama and Theatre Studies courses.
Examination Board
Ashbourne follows the Edexcel specification for the Study of English Literature. This specification has been approved by the QCA for first teaching from September 2008.
Unit 1 Explorations in Prose and Poetry
Prose
Narrative structure
Narrative and chronological time, including the use of tense
Narrative voice
Use of speech
Prose style and language choices including sentence structure
Use of images, symbols and motifs
Genre and generic conventions.
How the features of the genres of prose fiction and poetry function
How writers use language in a variety of forms
The different ways that texts can be interpreted by different readers
The ways texts can be grouped and compared to inform interpretation
Unit 2 Explorations in Drama
Explorative study and creative critical response
In this unit students will explore drama texts by reading or watching performance (live or filmed) and by reading, viewing or listening to examples of others’ responses. Texts may be studied and tasks chosen for the group or the individual, as appropriate to the centre.
The requirement that three texts should be ‘studied’ in this unit should be interpreted to mean that in preparation for writing coursework students will study a play in detail, draw upon their knowledge of a further play(s) and/or explore relevant critical reception. This approach will enhance their ability to consider the contexts in which the texts were written and are received. Centres and students are free to choose their texts to comply with the need to include a play by Shakespeare and a further play written between 1300 and 1800. The further play may be another play by Shakespeare or a play from a different playwright in the period specified. Students will produce a coursework folder that demonstrates that the four assessment objectives have been fully met.
Coursework folder: 2000-2500 words maximum (including quotations)
80 marks
Two responses are required: an explorative study and a creative critical response. Tasks should allow students to produce informed, analytical responses which consider playwrights’ crafting of the text(s), the ways texts can be compared and the students’ own and others’ critical response in a creative treatment.
References to texts, sources and quotations must be provided.
Sample coursework tasks
Example 1 Explorative study
Shakespeare’s King Lear is studied and Webster’s The White Devil is used to provide comparison in a study of the tragic hero. Critical reviews of performances are analysed.
Example 1 Creative critical response
Write TWO letters to the editor of The Times Literary Supplement, one praising a recent performance of King Lear; the other criticising it.
Example 2 Explorative study
Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing is studied and Behn’s The Rover is used to provide comparison in a study of disguise and deception. Critical reviews of performances are analysed.
Example 2 Creative critical response
View a performance for which there are reviews. Write your own review of the performance in which you give your own views and provide a response to the views expressed by others.
Example 3 Explorative study
Ford’s ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore is studied and Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew is used to explore the representation of women. Critical reviews of performances are analysed.
Example 3 Creative critical response
Script a talk to peers on two very different interpretations of ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore, making comments on the differences and providing insight into your own critical position.
Example 4 Explorative study
Shakespeare’s King Henry IV – Part 2 is studied and Edward II is used to explore responsibility. Critical reviews of performances are analysed.
Example 4 Creative critical response
Write an outline pitch for the BBC’s Shakespeare Re-told series, where you demonstrate how you might re-tell King Henry IV – Part 2 for a 21st century television audience, making clear the reasons for your choices.
Example 5 Explorative study
Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure is studied and Twelfth Night is used to explore how a moral dilemma is presented and the degree to which satisfactory solutions are found.
Example 5 Creative critical response
Identify one scene which directors regard as being problematic on stage. Write the script for a talk to be given by the director outlining the problems posed by this scene and how these problems are going to be explored on the stage.
Requirements
The relevance of genre in relation to the particular texts studied and how texts are influenced by literary conventions
How playwrights use dramatic forms to evoke responses in audiences
The contexts in which texts have been produced and received and understanding of how these contexts influence meaning
Key connections between drama texts studied
A range of ways to read and experience texts
Ways to interpret texts independently in response to interpretations by different readers
Ways to communicate clearly and effectively their responses to the texts studied, in a range of forms
Ways to construct critical arguments
Unit 3 Interpretations of Prose and Poetry: Comparing and contrasting texts from different genres
In this unit students will develop the skills in reading and responding to texts that they acquired at Advanced Subsidiary level. They will engage with recently published texts as well as other texts from different periods. In particular, they must respond
critically to at least one text published after 1990.
Students will study texts selected from one of the four text groupings offered below. Three texts are selected within the group from a choice of six
Examination: 2 hours 45 minutes
Section A: Students are required to take into the examination only clean copies of the prescribed texts studied.
Students will select either one unprepared prose passage or one unprepared poem presented in the paper. In their response students will explore, through close reference, the writer’s choice of structure, form and language when shaping meaning.
40 marks
Section B: Students will be presented with a reader’s comment. Students will write about their response to their texts in the light of this comment, referring to at least two of the texts they have studied.
1. RELATIONSHIPS
PROSE
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Louis de Bernières*
Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
POETRY
Emergency Kit, ed. Jo Shapcott and Matthew Sweeney
Metaphysical Poetry, ed. C Burrow and C Ricks
Rapture, Carol Ann Duffy*
2. IDENTIFYING SELF
PROSE
Behind the Scenes at the Museum, Kate Atkinson*
Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
Life of Pi, Yann Martel*
POETRY
Taking Off Emily Dickinson’s Clothes, Billy Collins*
The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale, Geoffrey Chaucer
The Fat Black Woman’s Poems, Grace Nichols
3. JOURNEYS
PROSE
Reef, Romesh Gunesekera*
Small Island, Andrea Levy*
The Final Passage, Caryl Phillips
POETRY
Brunizem, Sujata Bhatt (‘Eurydice Speaks’ only)*
The terrorist at my table, Imtiaz Dharker (‘Lascar Johnnie 1930’ and
‘The Habit of Departure’ only)*
The General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer
4. WAR
PROSE
The Ghost Road, Pat Barker*
Spies, Michael Frayn*
The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini*
POETRY
Here to Eternity, editor Andrew Motion (poems from ‘War’ section only)
101 Poems Against War, ed. Paul Keegan and Matthew Hollis
Legion, David Harsent* (poems from the first section only)
Unit 4 Reflections in Literary Studies
Coursework folder: 2500-3000 words maximum (including quotations)
80 marks
Students will produce a coursework folder that demonstrates that the four assessment objectives have been fully met. Tasks must enable students to make informed analytical responses, showing critical awareness of the connections and comparisons between texts.
The coursework folder will consist of either:
one extended study referring to all texts studied in this unit
or
two shorter studies: if two studies are included, each must refer to more than one text studied in this unit
or
one creative response with a commentary
The creative response such as text transformation may focus on one or more texts. The commentary must include reference to the full range of texts studied in this unit. Students should be advised that the majority of the marks for this activity will be awarded for their commentary.
Suggested areas for study
Example 1: Shakespeare’s Women
Othello, Shakespeare
The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare
Critical comment
Example 2: Literature and Censorship
Lady Chatterley’s Lover, D H Lawrence
Trial account
Media reporting
Other writers’ perspectives, eg Doris Lessing on The Satanic Verses,
Salman Rushdie
Media reporting
Example 3: Writing about Africa
The Catastrophist, Ronan Bennett
Maru or A Question of Power, Bessie Head
Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad
Unit 4 Reflections in Literary Studies: Two shorter studies
Example 1: The Romantic Movement
The Romantic poets
Example 2: The Oral Tradition in Poetry
Under Milk Wood, Dylan Thomas
Ballads from poets such as Charles Causley, W H Auden, Carol
Rumens, Bob Dylan
Stories of real incidents such as The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll and Ballad of Hollis Brown
One creative response with commentary
Example 1: Transforming Texts
Research for writing and commentary: examples of retellings by other writers such as The Penelopiad, Margaret Atwood; Keats: ‘Lamia’, ‘The Eve of St Agnes’, ‘Isabella; or, The Pot of Basil’; reworked children’s fairy tales: The Bloody Chamber, Angela Carter.
Possible University Degree Programmes Suited to A-level English Literature
There are many possible undergraduate options arising from the study of English Language at A Level including Advertising, Cultural Studies, Journalism, English Literature, Media Studies, Theatre Studies and Linguistics.
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