English Language & Literature

A Level

AQA

Entry requirements: GCSE Grade 6 in English

Goes well with: Media, Art, Sociology, Psychology, History, Politics, Religious Studies, Spanish

This two year course will provide students with an integrated literary and linguistic study of English. It is suitably demanding, leading students beyond the levels expected at GCSE towards the independence and analysis needed in Higher Education and the work environment. Students analyse and comment on a wide range of fiction and non-fiction texts. The English Literature skills are an extension of those covered at GCSE. However, the English Language study has a lot of new content as the analysis is more technical and in depth than GCSE. The range of texts are also more varied than GCSE English Language as you will study speeches, letters, graphic novels and Twitter, to name just a few.

Two Year A Level

Unit 1 - Exploring non-fiction and spoken texts exam - 1 hr (Close book)

Anthology of non-fiction spoken and written texts across different time periods and contexts plus unseen text to compare.

Texts include (not complete list):

Edward VIII Abdication Speech (S)

Letters between Edward and Helen Thomas (W)

Satire: Craig Brown – Obama buys Ice cream (W)

Children’s TV Programme Script of Horrible Histories (S)

Newspaper Obituary (W)

Graphic Non-Fiction – Persepolis (W)

TV News Interview – Paxman (S)

Sports Commentary – Sochi (S)

Charity Advert: NSPCC (W)

Alan Bennett’s Diary (W)

Twitterfeed: Caitlin Moran (W)

Unit 2 - The Language of Poetry and Plays exam - 2 hrs (Close book)

Study of one poetry collection ('Rapture' by Carol Ann Duffy) and one Drama text ('A Streetcar Named Desire' or ‘Othello’). Comparison of one named poem to others in the anthology and analysis of dramatic techniques used by the playwright.

Unit 3 - Reading as a writer, writing as a reader exam - 2 hrs (open book)

Study of a prose fiction text and analysis of how narrative devices are used by the writer across the text as a whole (‘The Great Gatsby'). Creative narrative task and commentary.

Unit 4 - Independent Study - 2 coursework pieces

  • Analytical comparative essay to develop expertise and pursue particular interests- study of two texts. One text will be introduced by the teacher and the comparison text is at student discretion. This can be fiction or non-fiction. 1500-2000 words.
  • Piece of original non-fiction writing with an analytical introduction. 1000-1200 words.

Student quote: “English Lang & Lit is a highly interesting and constantly intriguing subject. Both aspects of the course, Language and Literature are fun to learn as well as easy to comprehend.”