English Language & Literature - Post GCSE
English Language & Literature - Post GCSE
Welcome to A Level English Language and Literature. We hope you find the following information and activities useful and interesting.
If you are left with any queries about the course then do please email Mrs Vaughan or Mrs Warner-Bradshaw and we will be happy to help you.
Course Structure
There are two exams that you sit at the end of Year 13:
1) Voices in Speech and Writing (40%) - Examination: 2 hours 30 minutes, open book
Texts: Anthology of non-literary and digital texts, and modern drama text (‘A Streetcar Named Desire’)
2) Varieties in Language and Literature (40%) – Examination: 2 hours 30 minutes, open book
Texts: Range of non-fiction texts, prose text (‘A Room With a View’ by E M Forster), Shakespeare ('Hamlet')
There is also a coursework element to the course:
Investigating and Creating Texts (20%) - non-examined assessment (coursework)
By way of an introduction, please dip into the following activities. You do not need to complete them in the time available but we hope they will whet your appetite enough for you to come back to them later.
Try Exploratory Writing
Choose a short text you have not studied before. This could be the opening of a novel, a poem, a scene from a play – it doesn’t matter what. (Some suggestions for where you can find extracts from different types of texts are suggested below.)
Read the text, without making notes.
Now write about it. Just write, in any way you want, almost as though you are having a conversation with yourself. Let your ideas develop and change, contradict yourself, ask questions – it’s up to you. The only rule is that you should write in full sentences, not notes or bullet points.
For novels, poetry, non-fiction, drama
Amazon’s ‘Look inside’ feature for a wide range of its book
New Yorker (limited number of articles/stories per month before subscribing)
Selected Shorts: Let Us Tell You Story
New York Times – First Chapters Archive
Create a ‘Five Books’ List
Every few weeks the website Five Books asks a writer to recommend five books on their area of particular expertise or interest. Sometimes these are new books, sometimes they are classics, sometimes they include books that were important to them in their childhood. But they are all linked to a topic in some way. The writer explains why these books are important to them – or should be read by everyone.
It’s a great way of finding something brilliant to read. Here are some examples of their young adult lists.
The Best Young Adult Science Fiction Books recommended by Estelle Francis
The Best Coming-of-Age Novels About Sisters recommended by Laura Wood
The best books on Political Engagement For Teens, recommended by Adrienne Kisner
What about creating your own list of Five Books on a topic or genre you have read a lot about?
For each book include the title and author, a cover if you can and why you have chosen it.
Start your list with a general introduction to you and your list.
You could publish your list on the Five Books website as one of the Reader Lists.
Finally:
Some of you might have already visited our academic page on the epassport website. This is where will find:
More activities similar to the above
Reading suggestions
Details on how to access FREE screenings of a range of performances during theatre closures.