English Literature
AQA Specification B
Overview
of English
Literature
AS & A2
Aspects of Narrative (LitB1)
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This is the study of narratology – the techniques
that the author uses to tell the story.
BEFORE you start the course in September you
should have read the following texts:
The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini) Bloomsbury ISBN
978-0747566533
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Enduring Love (Ian McEwan) 978-0099276586
The Great Gatsby (F Scott Fitzgerald) 9780141182636
Birdsong (Sebastian Faulks) 978-0099387916
Small Island (Andrea Levy) 978-0755307500
Aspects of Narrative
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This exam is open book – 2hrs long and
worth 60% of your AS (30% A2)
You will be asked to buy your own books
so that you can make annotated notes in
them – we will provide clean copies for the
exam.
Aspects of Narrative (LitB1)
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As part of the course you will study a selection of
prose and poetry texts. Some possible examples of
poets you may study include:
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Robert Browning
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
W.H. Auden
Christina Rossetti
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Dramatic Genres - Comedy (LitB2)
(coursework 40% AS - 20% A2)
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The coursework portfolio will consist of two
essays on an aspect of the dramatic/comic
genre from two different plays.
One must be a Shakespearean comedy AND
the other a contemporary comedy
Each piece of work will be marked out of 30 to produce
an overall mark out of 60 for the unit and each piece of
work must be between 1200-1500 words
What’s in A2?
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Elements of the Gothic
(LitB3 – exam)
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(LitB4 – coursework)
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30% of total A level
Written paper. 2 hours.
Closed book
Minimum three texts for
study including at least
one text 1300-1800.
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20% of A level
A portfolio of two pieces of
written coursework:
A comparative study of an
aspect of two texts (15002000 words)
A Marxist or Feminist analysis
of a piece of poetry or prose
(1200-1500 words).
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Elements of the Gothic
Candidates will study a minimum of three texts.
Possible texts include:
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Wuthering Heights
Emily Bronte
The Bloody Chamber
Angela Carter
The Pardoner’s Tale
Geoffrey Chaucer
Frankenstein
Mary Shelley
Dracula
Bram Stoker
Macbeth
William Shakespeare
Dr Faustus
Christopher Marlowe
At least one of the texts must date from 1300-1800.
Elements of the Gothic
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Isolated setting
The Supernatural
Troubled protagonist
The savage/ barbaric side of human nature
Breaking of moral & social codes
Distinct male & female roles
Light & Dark Symbolism
The Macabre
Further and Independent reading
There are a number of aims to this unit:
1. To introduce candidates to the study of a wide
range of texts, some of which may be of their
own choosing.
2. To introduce candidates to different ways of
reading texts for study, including independently.
3. To introduce candidates to some critical ideas, and
for these ideas to be applied with discrimination to
literary texts.
What must I consider before choosing
English Literature at High Storrs?
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Do I love reading?
Am I prepared and able to write detailed
academic essays.
Will I get the grades? (Grade C minimum in
DUAL award – higher tier)