A Level English Literature

`Kings Ely sixth form`

Academic

A Level English Literature

Students of English Literature have the opportunity to attend plays and poetry readings.

Students are encouraged to take part in debating and to foster their own writing through internal competitions and awareness of national competitions.

English Literature A Level is the study of more than just good books: it will provide you with a variety of critical thinking skills, essay writing and the ability to sharply question and analyse the written and spoken word.

It is an highly respected course which is valued by universities and within the workplace. Universities describe English as a ‘facilitating subject’, meaning that it is extremely desirable and useful in a wide variety of university courses. You will develop your ability to hone an argument, to listen actively, to work in collaboration and to think independently.

Prerequisite
It is expected that students taking A Level English Literature have a minimum grade 6 or equivalent in both GCSE English and GCSE English Literature.

Topic Overview
The OCR course is a two year A Level which explores a wide range of texts across the whole canon of English literature. The course includes the study of at least one Shakespeare play (currently Hamlet), poetry and drama pre-1900 with choices including Milton’s great epic Paradise Lost and Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband. Modern texts are also explored, including at least one from post 2000. These texts are used to develop coursework writing providing students with many of the skills they will require at university level. Texts which have been taught recently have included: A Streetcar Named Desire, Sense of an Ending, and Auden’s poetry. There is a final unit which explores texts linked by a common theme, for example, Gothic fiction or American literature. For this unit students read 2 or more novels within the genre (currently either American: Great Gatsby and Grapes of Wrath; or Gothic: Dracula and The Bloody Chamber ).

Topic Overview

The OCR course is a two year A Level which explores a wide range of texts across the whole canon of English literature.

The course includes the study of at least one Shakespeare play (currently Hamlet), poetry and drama pre-1900 with choices including Milton’s great epic Paradise Lost and Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband.

Modern texts are also explored, including at least one from post 2000. These texts are used to develop coursework writing providing students with many of the skills they will require at university level.

Texts which have been taught recently have included: A Streetcar Named Desire, Sense of an Ending, and Auden’s poetry.

There is a final unit which explores texts linked by a common theme, for example, Gothic fiction or American literature. For this unit students read 2 or more novels within the genre (currently either American: Great Gatsby and Grapes of Wrath; or Gothic: Dracula and The Bloody Chamber ).

Assessment
Component 01: Shakespeare Drama and poetry pre-1900: Written paper 60 marks Closed text 2 hours 30 minutes 40% of total A Level Component 02: Close reading in chosen topic area Comparative and contextual study from chosen topic area: Comparative and contextual study Written paper 60 marks Closed text 2 hours 30 minutes 40% of total A Level Component 03: Close reading OR re-creative writing piece with commentary. Comparative essay: Literature post-1900 40 marks Coursework 20% of total A Level English Literature A Level Exam Specification

Assessment

Component 01: Shakespeare

Drama and poetry pre-1900:

Written paper 60 marks
Closed text
2 hours 30 minutes
40% of total A Level

Component 02: Close reading in chosen topic area

Comparative and contextual study from chosen topic area:

Comparative and contextual study
Written paper 60 marks
Closed text
2 hours 30 minutes
40% of total A Level

Component 03: Close reading OR re-creative writing piece with commentary.

Comparative essay:

Literature post-1900
40 marks
Coursework
20% of total A Level

English Literature A Level Exam Specification

`MEET THE HEAD OF ENGLISH`

Dr Daniel Gabelman

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EMAIL NICK WILLIAMS

"I'm passionate about getting students to read as widely as possible and about literature as a means of thinking deeply and critically about the world and oneself.

I have a PhD from the University of St Andrews where I specialised in Victorian fairy tales, particularly the writings of George MacDonald, the Scottish writer who inspired C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien and the modern fantasy genre.

I've written or edited several books, including George MacDonald: Divine Carelessness and Fairytale Levity (Baylor University Press 2013), and The Form and Theory of Literary Doodling (Cambridge University Press 2024) which looks at writers who were prolific doodlers. I'm currently editing The Cambridge Companion to George MacDonald."

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