English

Course outline

Edexcel

Studying English Literature in the Sixth Form is an enriching experience. Whichever course you pursue you can be sure that it will fascinate and challenge you. You will be offered a rich diet of ideas with lessons driven by discussions that explore literature from different angles and perspectives.

As always, our aim will be to develop your ability to think critically and to express yourself with confidence and flair. The English Department is central to the vibrant cultural life of the school. Trips to the theatre run frequently and debating and public speaking are a regular fixture of Sixth Form life. Students also participate in editing the school magazine. Once a week, a lunchtime LitLunch session is held in the Sixth Form library – a great way to broaden horizons and share ideas. You also have the opportunity to attend Culture Club, a seminar-based discussion group that covers an eclectic array of topics from across the liberal arts.

The English Department is famously supportive and approachable and we will do everything we can to help you achieve your full potential.

The course offers you the chance to explore English Literature in all its diversity. You will encounter a wide range of texts, all the way from the rumbustious bawdiness of Chaucer’s ‘The Wife of Bath’ to the haunting strangeness of some contemporary fiction. You will explore modern novels such as Khaled Hosseini’s ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’, and Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, a disturbing depiction of a dystopian society. Alongside these modern classics, you will study older works such as Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ or Thomas Hardy’s ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’. Drama figures strongly too, with plays such as Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ or ‘King Lear’ as well as works by other authors such as Marlowe’s ‘Doctor Faustus’. At the heart of the course is a superb collection of modern poetry which captures modern life in transgressive and experimental ways. There is also a coursework component which we will tackle in the spring and summer terms of Year 12: you will have the chance to compare two texts on a similar theme, exploring your own ideas about characters, language and critical theory. So what is an A Level lesson like? Clearly, A Level lessons can take a myriad of directions but a typical one might begin with the text in question from which a passage or scene may be read and explored. Debate and discussion is vitally important because it enables a work to be seen from a variety of perspectives.

As teachers, we always seek to elicit your contributions and to hear your views, so try to be brave and speak up. When you express your opinions in class it helps you develop academically too – you are learning to see ideas three-dimensionally and to articulate them with precision. Whatever you opt for, if you have an enquiring mind and enjoy reading and discussion, this is the perfect choice for you.

There are four sections of the course:

• Drama (30%): Exam - 2 hours 15 mins.

• Prose (20%): Exam - 1 hour 15 mins.

• Poetry (30%): Exam - 2 hours 15 mins.

• Coursework (20%).

“I studied English at A Level because I enjoy reading and talking about books. The course has helped me develop my essay-writing skills and my ability to express my ideas clearly and cogently - a valuable skill for later life. What I loved most though were the discussions and debates, with everyone getting passionately involved in exploring what they thought about the characters or ideas in the book they were studying.”