Sixth Form English Literature

Sixth Form

English Literature

English Literature and its potential

English Literature at Advanced GCE opens doors, whatever career you may be considering. Not only does it provide a solid foundation for reading the arts at university, it is also respected highly by faculties of science and medicine. Careers in the media, including social media, journalism, business or law are all facilitated by study of English Literature at this level. Previous students have worked as content editors, influencers, advertisers and in marketing and PR amongst other professions.

Who is this course suitable for?

English Literature will suit students who:

have a genuine interest in reading and enjoy texts of all periods and genres
enjoy expressing opinions and justifying comments on complex ideas and texts
are sufficiently motivated to commit to studying independently
want to keep their options open for further study.

Aims of the course:

to develop an informed response to a wide range of literary texts
to sharpen awareness of writers’ choices and their craft
to hone critical acumen and enable lucid articulation of informed independent opinions and judgments
to develop the ability to evaluate the contexts in which literary texts are written and understood
to develop skills in independent study.

Course Content & Assessment

The OCR A Level in English Literature builds on and develops learners’ ability to analyse, evaluate and make connections between texts. Learners are required to study a minimum of eight texts at A level, including at least two examples of each of the genres of prose, poetry and drama across the course as a whole. This must include: at least three texts published before 1900, including at least one text by Shakespeare; at least one work first published or performed after 2000; at least one unseen text.

Paper 1

Drama and poetry pre-1900

Shakespeare, e.g. Twelfth Night

Drama and poetry pre-1900, e.g. A Doll’s House and The Merchant’s Tale

Paper 2

Comparative and contextual study

Close reading ‘Unseen’ in chosen topic area, e.g. Dystopia

Comparative and contextual study in chosen topic area, e.g. 1984 and A Handmaid’s Tale

Coursework

Literature post-1900: prose, poetry, drama

Close reading analysis OR re-creative writing piece with commentary

Comparative essay

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