Includes:
 Course details
 Set text lists
 Summer preparation tasks for September 2015
This material also appears on the Sixth Form Blog ( http://stb6th.edublogs.org
)
Prezi: https://prezi.com/pakk4fwxikka/aqa-english-literature-spec-a/
Miss Oxner
July 2015

From September 2015 in all Sixth Form English courses there will only be Non-Examined
Assessment (the new term for coursework) in the second year of the A Level. All other assessment will be done via exams at the end of the second year of study for the full A Level and/or at the end of Year 12, if students sit the AS qualification. Whether students sit the AS exams will be decided by teachers, in consultation with students. The AS exams no longer count toward the ‘full’ A Level.
A Level English Literature aims to encourage and extend the enjoyment and appreciation of a variety of literature drawn from a wide range of literary periods and genres.
This course is well suited to students who enjoyed literary analysis and interpretation at GCSE and wish to develop this approach. It is an excellent preparation for those students wishing to continue their studies in Higher Education. English Literature combines very well with many other subjects at A Level in arts, humanities and sciences.
During the A-Level course students will study for two exam units, each worth 40%, and complete one Non-Examined Assessment worth 20% of the final A-Level grade.
Paper 1: Love through the ages (studied in Year 12)
For Section A of the exam students will study a Shakespeare play; this year it will be Othello.
This section is closed book, though students will be given a passage on the exam to analyse and link to their knowledge of the rest of the text.
For Section B students will answer a compulsory essay question on two unseen poems printed on the exam paper, drawing on their experience of independent reading and analysis.
Section C will focus on comparing set poetry and prose texts. For Section C students are allowed to have clean texts in the exam room. This year students will study The Great Gatsby (F. Scott
Fitzgerald) as well as either Atonement (Ian McEwan, 12X) or Persuasion (Jane Austen, 12W).
Paper 2: Texts in shared contexts (studied in Year 13)
For this examination students will study three set texts, one each of prose, poetry and drama; one of these texts was written post-2000. Students will be allowed clean texts for this exam.
On Section A students will choose to answer a question specific to one of their set texts.
Section B requires students to complete two questions, one responding to an unseen literary passage provided in the exam and the second comparing their two remaining set texts.
Non-Exam Assessment (to be completed in Year 13)
This is a substantial critical study comparing two texts: one pre-1900 text which will be taught, and the other which will be selected by the student in consultation with the teacher.

Teachers encourage discussions and debate in lessons and these are closely linked to the setting of regular written tasks both in and out of lesson time. To support the study of set texts in lesson time, students will be expected to read independently as well as reading around the subject beyond what is covered in the classroom.
The course has been structured to facilitate opportunities for students to engage with and access texts in a variety of ways, including student-led research, presentations, and creative approaches. Such activities are intended to deepen students’ understanding of both the set texts themselves and literary concepts more broadly.
The department aims to arrange enrichment trips when appropriate to support study in this subject. These are strongly recommended to students following the course. There are also a number of extra-curricular activities that students of English are encouraged to join, such as
Debating and the Creative Writing Club.
Students are required to purchase the set texts they are studying. While many of the texts are available electronically, students will need to be able to access and annotate these in lessons.
Each student will be provided with a Pre-1900 Poetry Anthology free of charge.
There are a number of ways you can stay in touch with teachers beyond the classroom.
Email is commonly used and some materials can be found on the English Department blog.
( http://stbartsenglish.edublogs.org
)
Individual teachers may prefer to host their own blogs and will make students aware of this.
Homework tasks will be posted on Show My Homework along with other important dates and messages. ( https://stbartholomews.showmyhomework.co.uk/teacher/homeworks/calendar )
Teachers are often available in the Department Office after 1pm during Activity Time.
If you have any questions in the meantime, please email toxner@stbarts.co.uk
Have a lovely summer and see you in September!
Summer preparation tasks are on the back page.
A list of set texts for wider reading are on the insert.

Task 1: Read your prose set texts, prioritising Text 1 first.
 12W Text 1: Persuasion by Jane Austen
 12X Text 1: Atonement by Ian McEwan
 Text 2: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Task 2: For each of your texts, respond to the questions below. You may find it helpful to structure it in a table like the one below, but may use another format if you would prefer.
1. What are the different kinds of loves presented in this text?
2. Who are the characters that are used to present these kinds of love?
3. What are the key sections where this is seen? Provide at least one reference.
What do you believe is shown about the writer’s attitudes to this kind of love?
Other ideas and interpretations
Task 3: Choose creative task to complete on ONE of your texts.
1) Design your own original soundtrack for key scenes related to love in the text. Write a commentary to explain why you’ve chosen each track.
2) Rewrite a section of the text to turn it into a play script, including stage directions. Write a commentary explaining why you chose that section and what you aimed to show through this dramatisation.
3) Design a promotional poster for a new adaptation of the novel (could be film or stage).
Write a commentary to explain the choices you’ve made in casting, colour and font choices, etc., taking into account the relationships between characters.
4) Write a journal (minimum 5 entries) for one of the minor characters in the text. Write a commentary explaining why you chose this perspective and what you wanted to show through it about the relationships between main characters, the plot, etc.
Questions? Contact Miss Oxner: toxner@stbarts.co.uk

In addition to the compulsory reading of your class’s prose set texts over the summer, you are advised to do wider reading throughout the course. Following are all set texts on the syllabus, any of which are excellent choices.
Shakespeare:
 Othello
 The Winter’s Tale
 Measure for Measure
 The Taming of the Shrew
Drama:
 Oh! What a Lovely War –
Joan Littlewood
 Journey’s End – R.C. Sherriff
 The Accrington Pals – Peter
Whelan
 Blackadder Goes Forth –
Richard Curtis and Ben
Elton
 My Boy Jack – David Haig
 Top Girls – Caryl Churchill
 A Streetcar Named Desire –
Tennessee Williams
 Translations – Brian Friel
 All My Sons – Arthur Miller
 Our Country’s Good –
Timberlake Wertenbaker
 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof –
Tennessee Williams
Prose (Pre-1900)
 Persuasion - Jane Austen
 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
 Wuthering Heights - Emily
Bronte
 The Awakening - Kate Chopin
 Tess of the D’Urbervilles -
Thomas Hardy
Prose (Post-1900)
 The Great Gatsby - F. Scott
Fitzgerald
 A Room with a View - E.M.
Forster
 The Go-Between - L.P. Hartley
 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
 Atonement - Ian McEwan
Prose:
 Regeneration – Pat Barker
 Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks
 The Return of the Soldier –
Rebecca West
 All Quiet on the Western Front
– Erich Maria Remarque
(translated by Brian
Murdoch)
 Strange Meeting – Susan Hill
 A Farewell to Arms – Ernest
Hemingway
 Goodbye to All That – Robert
Graves
 A Long, Long Way – Sebastian
Barry
 The First Casualty – Ben Elton
 Life Class – Pat Barker
 The Handmaid’s Tale –
Margaret Atwood
 Waterland – Graham Swift
 Spies – Michael Frayn
 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s
Nest – Ken Kesey
 The God of Small Things –
Arundhati Roy
 The Help – Kathryn Stockett
 The Color Purple – Alice
Walker
 Oranges are not the Only Fruit
– Jeanette Winterson
 Revolutionary Road – Richard
Yates
Poetry:
 Up the Line to Death – e.d.
Brian Gardner
 Scars Upon My Heart – e.d.
Catherine Reilly
 The Penguin Book of First
World War Poetry – ed.
George Walter
 The Oxford Book of War
Poetry – ed. Jon Stallworthy
 The War Poems of Wilfred
Owen – ed. Jon Stallworthy
 Feminine Gospels – Carol Ann
Duffy
 Skirrid Hill– Owen Sheers
 Selected Poems 2013 Edition –
Tony Harrison
 New Selected Poems – Seamus
Heaney
 Birthday Letters – Ted Hughes
 Ariel – Sylvia Plath