THE JOHN FISHER SCHOOL
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
GUIDE CONTENTS:
1. Course outline
2. Required Reading
WJEC
3. Wider Reading
4. Contextual Research
Tasks
ENGLISH
5. Related Films
6. Web-links
LANGUAGE
7. Excursions
8. Further information
AND
LITERATURE
PRE-STUDY
GUIDE
1. COURSE OUTLINE
WELCOME! To the WJEC Literature and Language course. This course is different
to just doing English Literature as a percentage of the coursework is your own
creative writing, both in Year 12 and Year 13.
You are expected to read both the novels for the examination AND to engage
in a wide range of reading outside the course. This will help you achieve better
marks in your written work and in the examination.
COURSEWORK (40%):
Non-fiction writing task (10%)
Fiction writing task (10%)
Commentary on own writing (20%)
The coursework consists of linked fiction and non-fiction pieces written by you,
on any topic you like, in any genre you prefer. After you’ve completed them,
and you’ve been studying the course for a while, you will be expected to write
an analysis of your own work – the commentary – using the core skills you’ve
been learning during the year on analysing different texts in lessons. As you can
see, the bulk of your marks come from being able to discuss your own writing
style accurately.
EXAM (60%)
Poetry Anthology comparison with Unseen prose (30%)
Novel Essay (30%)
The exam comes in two parts. Section A of the examination will require you to
learn 25 poems from the WJEC Poetry Anthology which covers poets from a
broad time period; 16th century until more recent 19th century poets. You will
need to be able to discuss the historical and social context of these poems in
the exam to be able to gain just under half of your examination mark.
Section B of your examination requires you to write about a ‘core’ prose text; In
Cold Blood by Truman Capote, and then compare it to the ‘secondary’ text;
The True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey.
The whole course requires you to use the same skills and terminology to analyse
all types of texts, from poetry to your own work, to whole novels. Obviously the
more you read outside of the reading list, the more insight you will have into
how different authors and poets make their work effective.
Good luck!
2. COMPULSORY REQUIRED READING
As part of the course you will be required to purchase and read the two
examination texts before you start in September 2013. These texts are;
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
The True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
REVISION EXPRESS: AS/A2 English Literature and Language Revision Guide
Is an invaluable supporting text that all students should have to work with
during their A Levels.
3. WIDER READING LISTS
To make your learning journey in English this year more useful, you will be
exposed to a number of different writers; writing styles and comparative texts.
A suggested reading list of a variety of text types and genres is below. Reading
five or six of these throughout the year will benefit and expand your repertoire
of information and will help boost your grade when you are required to draw
on your wider reading in Year 13 for the final A2 examination.
1984 - George Orwell (Penguin)
The book that gave us Big Brother and Room 101 provides a compelling and chilling view of a totalitarian state.
Even more horrifying than the loss of freedom is the constant rewriting of history which effectively removes the
past. Although Winston and Julia's love affair provides a temporary haven, their fate is inescapable.
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess (Penguin)
Burgess invented a whole new language, a kind of Russian cockney called Nadset, for his unnerving dystopian
fantasy. Alex and his gang of teenage "droogs" pillage in a fragmented urban landscape, raping and robbing
at will, until police try to recondition his mind through nauseating aversion therapy. Think ID cards, Asbos and
hoodies.
Brighton Rock - Graham Greene (Random House)
"Hale knew, before he had been in Brighton three hours, that they meant to murder him." So Greene opens his
rollercoaster ride through the gang underworld of the seaside town. The lead characters, nihilistic thug Pinkie
and happy-go-luck hooker Ida, can feel more like archetypes used to explore the nature of sin and morality.
But a breathless thriller-style plot carries the day.
Catch-22 - Joseph Heller (Random House)
It is remarkable that Catch-22, a hilarious but savage indictment of the military system, was published a mere
16 years after the end of the second world war. Yossarian struggles to remain sane amid an onslaught of
absurdities and a cast of cranks. Today Heller's dazzling, surreal achievement is undimmed.
Different Seasons (includes The Shawshank Redemption) - Stephen King (Hodder)
Perhaps, like many, you thought King only wrote horror and wasn't for you. Perhaps, like many, you don't like
short stories and look for a bigger, more satisfying novel. I bet you live on your own and like staying in a lot too.
Different Seasons is a triumph unequalled in that it contains four totally gripping and unique novellas in one
volume that has inspired not one but three great films: The Shawshank Redemption, Stand By Me, and Apt
Pupil. Live a little - just read it.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K Dick (Orion)
Earth has been devastated by war, and through its ruins stalks bounty hunter Rick Deckard, seeking renegade
replicants. With his bounty money he dreams of buying a live animal, the ultimate status symbol in a world
almost bereft of animal life. And then he falls for a replicant and his life becomes a nightmare of subterfuge
and deceit.
.
Empire of the Sun - JG Ballard (HarperCollins)
Many of Ballard's earlier great novels borrowed from his childhood experiences in 1940s Shanghai, but when he
finally came to record his own early years, albeit disguised as another novel, a true masterpiece was unveiled.
Written over 20 years ago, Empire is a literary jewel that towers over many of the lesser novels that somehow
managed to beat it to the Booker in the 80s. A
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad (OUP)
Still the debate rages: is Conrad's novella an incisive critique of colonialism, or does it reinforce the very racist
values it claims to unmask? Either way, his shrouded account of Marlow's journey into the "god-forsaken
wilderness" of the Congo demands to be read. At its core lies the enigmatic, awesome Kurtz, and civilisation
itself. "And this also,' said Marlow suddenly, 'has been one of the dark places of the earth.'"
Lord of the Flies - William Golding (Faber)
"'I ought to be chief,' said Jack with simple arrogance, 'because I'm chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing
C sharp'." The other boys disagree, and Ralph is elected leader thanks to his skills with a conch. That's the end
of democracy on the island, as the plane-wrecked group descend in to savagery. Golding's fable retains its full
moral force. JR
Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens (OUP)
Orphan Oliver flees his cruel apprentice-master for London, where he falls in with a group of thieves, headed
by Fagin and the brutal Bill Sykes. Rescued by philanthropic Mr Brownlow, he is recaptured by the gang, who
have fallen in with his grasping half-brother. Good eventually triumphs when Oliver is saved again and the
gang leaders brought to justice. SC
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey (Penguin)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was a direct attack on the abusive and inhumane treatment of the mentally
ill in the middle of the 20th century. It should also be read as an attack on all forms of authority and a
celebration of the free spirit. Fast-living anti-hero Randall P McMurphy has a literary ancestor in Mark Twain's
freewheeling and rebellious Huckleberry Finn. KN
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (OUP)
Love conquers all in Georgian England. In her quintessential comedy of manners, Austen charts the five Bennet
daughters' adventures on the marriage market with insight, wit and a keen eye for the ridiculous. The central
love story between impetuous Elizabeth and dashing-but-aloof Mr Darcy has captivated successive
generations of readers. SC
Schindler's Ark - Thomas Keneally (Hodder)
The story of Oscar Schindler, self-made entrepreneur and bon viveur who almost by default found himself
saving Polish Jews from the Nazi death machine. Based on numerous eyewitness accounts, Keneally's story is
unbearably moving but never melodramatic, a testament to the almost unimaginable horrors of Hitler's
attempts to make Europe judenfrei.
The Hound of the Baskervilles - Arthur Conan Doyle (OUP)
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous story is this sinister, gothic tale of the glowing canine terrorising Baskerville
Hall. Although the uneasy atmosphere of the supernatural circles this story like mist on Grimpen Moor, Sherlock
Holmes brings his brilliant logical mind to bear on the mystery of the "bogie hound".
The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammett (Orion)
A former Pinkerton's agent, Dashiell Hammett virtually invented the hardboiled private-eye genre with this 1930
novel. Introducing Sam Spade, "a blond satan", Hammett set up a convoluted mystery larded with snappy
dialogue, brooding tension, grotesque characters, and a louche-but-tough morality. Its success saw Hammett
courted by Paramount studios and an extended, erratic stay in Hollywood.
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee (Random House)
Set in 1930s Alabama, eight-year-old Scout Finch can't understand why people are so upset when her father,
the town attorney, takes his role of defending a black man accused of raping a white woman seriously. The
events surrounding the trial change the town, its inhabitants and the Finch family profoundly: a book that
everyone should read.
4. CONTEXTUAL RESEARCH TASK OPTIONS:
To help you prepare for the hardest part of the course (contextual background of texts) you
will need to complete some simple research on any two of the following topics. You will be
presenting your research to the class in your first week as an English Literature and Language
student.
All of them will make your life as an English Literature / Language student much easier next
year, not to mention making it easier to understand the point of view of the different writers
and their audiences.
I would recommend completing one of the poetry topics and one of the novel topics for In
Cold Blood as it is your core text for the examination.
Obviously the more voluntary contextual research you complete the better equipped you
will be to discuss and appreciate the texts you will be studying.
Anthology Poetry Research Topics:
The Metaphysical Poets
The Romantic Poets
Different Type of Sonnets
Pastoral Poetry
The Restoration
Colonisation of the Americas
Victorian London
Education in the 1600s
In Cold Blood Research Topics:
Book reviews of ‘In Cold Blood’ from different time periods
Famous Death Row In-mates
Crime Scene Investigation of the 1950s
American Class Systems of the 1950s
Famous American Detectives of the 1950s
Harper Lee
Kansas in the 1950s
Capital Punishment in the USA
Truman Capote
The development of the ‘Real Life’ Crime Genre
The True History of the Kelly Gang Research Topics:
English and Irish relations 1770-1850
The Colonisation of Australia
Famous Bush Rangers of Australia
Floating Prisons
‘Ticket of Leave’
Australian Penal Colonies
Modern Australian Representation of Ned Kelly
Ned Kelly
5. Related Films
There are a number of films that you could watch that are linked in with the novels and
poets that we are going to be studying during the English Literature and Language course.
“Infamous” (2007) About Truman Capote’s life
“Capote” (2005) Also about Truman Capote’s life
“In Cold Blood” (1967) Adaptation of the events of the novel
“In Cold Blood” (1996) TV adaptation of the events of the novel
“The Kelly Gang” (1920) Film version of Ned Kelly’s life
“Ned Kelly” (1970) A film version of Ned Kelly’s life
“Ned Kelly” (2003) A film version of Ned Kelly’s life staring Heath Ledger
“Dead Poets Society” A film of inspiring poetry and teaching
“Pandaemonium” (2004) A film about the Romantic poets focusing on Coleridge and
Wordsworth.
6. WEB LINKS
www.sparknotes.com
http://www.archive.org/details/TheStoryOfTheKellyGang-FragmentsFromTheFinalReel
“The Story of the Kelly Gang” (1906) Archived footage of the first feature film about
Ned Kelly
www.nedkellysworld.com.au
www.ironoutlaw.com
http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/ned-kelly
http://www.glenrowan1880.com/gang.htm
www.petercareybooks.com
http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth03C11K215612635149
http://www.capotebio.com/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/nov/16/truman-capote-in-cold-blood
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/incoldblood/
http://notesinthemargin.org/nonfiction_notes/culture_society/capote_truman/in_cold
_blood.html
http://www2.ljworld.com/photos/galleries/2005/apr/03/in_cold_blood_a_legacy_in_p
hotos/
7. EXCURSIONS
If you don’t fancy staying in to do all your research and wider reading you could visit any
one of the following places to get a real feel for the type of texts you’ll be looking at to help
you make links between different types of texts in English Language.
The British Library:
The Globe Theatre & Exhibition:
The Wallace Collection:
Theatre Trips:
There are a number of excellent theatres in London who offer matinees during the holidays
and ANY theatre trip would be a welcome addition to your general knowledge and
experience of English Literature and Language.
The National Theatre and the Barbican both offer productions where students can purchase
tickets for around £10.
9. FURTHER INFORMATION
TEACHING STAFF EMAIL ADDRESSES:
Miss Saravanamuttu
(English Teacher)
Mr Neesham
(English Teacher)
Dneesham3@suttonmail.org
Miss McDonnell
(Head of Department)
Emcdonnell2@suttonmail.org