Summary

This A Level English Literature course is designed to cover a range of key texts - exploring Shakespeare, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Forster, Alice Walker and Carol Ann Duffy - the aim being for you to discover a wide range of diverse writing and to enable you to hone your skills with regards to essay writing and research. You will learn through class discussion, which will involve reading ahead and presenting your ideas. You will need to have a genuine interest in literature.

In this course you will study the following.

Year 1:

• The unit is focused on ‘love through the ages’
• You will be studying Othello, The Great Gatsby, pre-1900 poetry and preparing for unseen prose texts

The exam:

• Paper 1 is 1 hour 30 minutes, closed book (Othello and poetry)
• Paper 2 is 1 hour 30 minutes, open book (The Great Gatsby, A Room with a View (TBC), unseen prose)

Year 2:

Paper 1 – Love through the ages (40%)

• Othello
• Pre-1900 poetry
• Essay question on two unseen poems

Paper 2 – Modern times (40%)

The A-level option is a two-year course which looks at the same books mentioned above, but then goes on in the second year to study modern times (post-1945 literature).

Materials:

• Poetry: Feminine Gospels (Duffy)
• Novel: The Color Purple (Walker)
• Play: All My Sons (Miller)

(All of the above TBC.)

Coursework element (20%):

• A comparative critical study of two texts, at least one of which must be pre-1900
• Extended essay of 2500 words plus a bibliography

The exam:

• Paper 1 – 3 hours, open book
• Paper 2 – 2 hours, open book

How will I know how I am doing?

Year 1:

What do I need to join?

To study this course, you will need five GCSEs at grade 4–9, including English and Maths.

How will I learn?

This A Level course is based at our Filton campus, located in South Gloucestershire which is easily accessible from the city of Bristol by train (Bristol Parkway / Bristol Abbey Wood) and bus.

Work Experience

You will be required to do a minimum of 36 hours of work experience. This is usually completed in a week during your first year in term time, where you will have the opportunity to explore a career field which takes your interest. In the lead-up to this week, you will be asked to create an exciting CV during a group tutorial period. The aim of this activity is to give you an idea of what full-time employment is like and to help you think about which career you would like to follow.

What can I do next?

English literature is a subject which teaches you how to analyse texts. As a result, a number of our students combine this subject with courses such as law, business and economics. Many of our students progress onto university either to study this subject further or to study one of the aforementioned subjects. It is a diverse qualification that will help you achieve an analytic and evaluative mindset, which is essential in fields such as journalism, publishing, data analysis, research and the media.