Year 1
In the first year you will study the texts under the theme of ‘love through the ages'.

1. ‘Shakespeare and Poetry’: You will study Shakespeare’s tragedy about the heroic general, Othello, whose downfall is plotted by his trusted advisor Lago. Together techniques are explored, as well as the context in which the play is set. You will study fourteen different poems from pre-1900 and examine how poets convey meaning and symbolism in their writing.

2. ‘Prose’: You will explore two different pieces of literature: The Great Gatsby - A novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald that explores life in the 1920s era of wealth and glamour; and Rebecca – A gothic novel by Daphne Du Maurier that depicts the life of a woman who marries a young widower before discovering that the household are haunted by the memory of his first wife. You will also develop the skills of critical analysis and evaluation to approach a piece of Unseen Prose.

Year 2
In the second year you will consolidate work from the first year and explore texts which have a shared context, as well as complete a non-examined assessment.

3. ‘Texts in shared contexts – Post 1945’: You will study Carol Ann Duffy’s seminal collection of poems that explore women and feminism in the 21st Century called The Feminine Gospels. Alongside this you will also study Alice Walker’s 1982 novel The Colour Purple which explores the life experiences of a fourteen-year-old African American girl and the traumas she faces. Lastly you will also study Tennessee Williams' play 'A Streetcar Named Desire' and the tragic journey of Blanche DuBois in post-war America.

4. ‘NEA (Non-Exam Assessment) – Independent critical study: texts across time’: You will also complete an independent study (coursework) which is worth 20% of the overall grade. In this you will choose and compare two books alongside an investigative question of your own choosing and then submit a 2,500-word essay. This is marked internally.

5. ‘Love through the ages’: You will revisit the texts studied in the first year: Othello, the Great Gatsby, Rebecca and Pre-1900s poetry in preparation for the summer exams.