English Lit

Explore a New Literary Genre or Period

A-Level English Literature often introduces you to texts from different historical periods and diverse genres. Use this summer to step outside your comfort zone!

Choose one of the following:

• Read a classic novel from a period you haven't studied much:

  • 19th Century: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy.

  • Early 20th Century: Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell.

• Delve into a collection of poetry:

  • Explore a specific poet (e.g., John Keats, Emily Dickinson, T.S. Eliot, Carol Ann Duffy).

  • Read an anthology of poetry from a particular movement (e.g., Romanticism, Modernism, War Poetry).

• Read a play by a significant dramatist (other than Shakespeare):

  • A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth, Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett.

As you read, keep a reading journal focusing on:

• Your initial reactions and feelings.

• Any unfamiliar vocabulary or concepts.

• Interesting literary techniques (imagery, symbolism, metaphor, narrative structure).

• Questions that arise about the characters, themes, or author's purpose.

• How the text reflects the time it was written.

• 
  Create a portfolio of performance practice techniques, specific to your instrument/ voice. You should have a folder detailing at least 10 different practice techniques which you can use to improve your instrumental/ vocal technique.

• Then select 3 pieces of music to practice over the summer ready for a performance in September. You should write 3 pages in your portfolio detailing how you have used various performance practice techniques to improve your performance of the 3 pieces.