English Course Leaflet 2017-18 UPDATED

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Destination: English at The University of Nottingham

2017 . 2018

Studied: A Level English Language, English Literature and History School: Thornhill Community Academy

01484 652341 New Hey Road, Huddersfield HD3 4GL

judith webster

If you need the information in this leaflet presented in a different way please contact Erika Montgomery on 01484 652341 or info@huddnewcoll.ac.uk preparation for my university course.” honed my analytical skills - perfect “Studying English at HNC has really Details of all BTEC courses are accurate at time of print. However, some of these courses at Level 3 may be subject to change prior to August 2017 in terms of course title, content and assessment methodology. These changes will be communicated via our website once they have been finalised by the awarding bodies.

english AT HUDDERSFIELD NEW COLLEGE english at huddersfield new college The Huddersfield New College English Department is a highly qualified and experienced team of teachers. We have a passion for sharing our love of literature and language with our students.

Many of our team are graduates in linguistics, as well as literature, and this is reflected in our outstanding A Level results. English courses are hugely popular, with around 500 students taking one of our A Level courses every year. We are dedicated to providing you with the best possible learning experiences throughout your course.

develop sophisticated writing and analytical skills, which are highly valued by employers and admissions tutors at universities.

The English Department organises events to enhance your enjoyment of the subject, including trips to the theatre and links with local universities.

An English A Level is prestigious, and helps many of our students progress onto competitive academic courses.

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MEET THE TEAM Lorraine Globe Eleanor Chitham Jay Bolt Sarah Newton Kaye Homer Jan Kikezos Laura Brinded Debbie Brennan

MY two years at hnc has improved my confidence massively with the support

English continues to be one of the most widely respected and traditional A Levels, and successful English students

from my teachers.

– Estelle Hepworth A Level English Language and Literature, Psychology and History

English Language and Literature linear a level

English Literature linear a level

ABOUT the subject

ABOUT the subject

This course is a study of how language is used by writers to craft literary texts. The two disciplines are thoroughly integrated and the course is very different to the delivery of either subject at GCSE. The Combined course will therefore appeal to students who enjoy reading independently and are interested in how writers shape their work. An enthusiasm for writing is also essential as you will develop your creative skills through a variety of written tasks.

English Literature is a subject for those who like reading independently. While poetry and plays will be read together in class, there is an expectation that the texts will be read privately as well, in preparation for class discussion. You should enjoy discussing books and be willing to investigate the themes and issues explored in literary texts (novels, plays and poems). You need to have an interest in literature of the past as a number of texts will be pre-20th century, including Shakespeare. You also need to have an interest in literary techniques and how writers use them.

Above all you must have a keen desire to improve your ability to construct a written argument, as essay writing is a vital component of the course and how you will be assessed.

You will learn how to analyse and respond to the spoken and written word. This means you will study literary and non-literary texts, including those from the media. Communication through language is involved in almost everything we do and the main reason to study this subject is having a genuine interest in language and how it is used in a wide range of contexts.

course content Year 1

register, description, speech and thought.

We will look at unusual narratives, narrators and events. You also consider key aspects of the texts which place them in particular contexts of production and reception, and analyse the language choices made by writers.

We will look at Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones and consider how fantasy worlds are created in novels.

You will also study Seamus Heaney and we will look at poetic voice in the telling of events and the presentation of people. You will study the presentation of time, the importance of place and the ways these are captured in voice, and their effect.

In addition we will study a collection of different genres though an anthology on the topic of Paris. We will study the way people and their relationships are realised through point of view, attitude,

You will start to write about the role of the individual in society, and do re-creative writing based on John Krakauer’s Into the Wild and continue this into the second year. This writing seeks to find an absent or underplayed perspective in the original text. Finally, you will learn how to write a critical reflection on your own work.

Year 2 The second year of the course builds on the analytical and language production skills introduced in the first year and revisits all set texts plus the Paris anthology.

You will undertake a personal investigation that explores a specific technique or theme in both literary and non-literary discourse (2,500-3,000 words).

In addition to the texts studied in the first year we will analyse areas relevant to the study of drama and dramatic discourse, including how playwrights represent natural speech features and use language to create distinctively different characters. We will especially be looking at how conflict is created in William Shakespeare’s Othello.

ASSessment You will be assessed at the end of the second year course. Assessment is split between coursework and 2 examinations. Overall, the coursework is worth 20% and the examined element is worth 80%.

specific entry criteria Grade 5 in GCSE English Language plus grade 5 in GCSE English Literature, if taken.

specific entry criteria Grade 6 in English Literature plus grade 5 in GCSE English Language.

ASSessment The course is assessed by a combination of examination and coursework in year 2 (examinations are worth 80% of your overall mark and the coursework is therefore worth 20%).

course content Year 1

Year 2

For the examination unit, you will be required to study elements of political and social protest writing. The text choices will include a pre-19th Century poetry text, which will be a collection of William Blake’s poems; a post-2000 prose text, which will be Harvest by Jim Crace; and the play A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen.

You will be encouraged to read widely in the first year of the course and to pay close attention to how narrative and genre works in texts, as well as make connections across texts through exploring the varied use of these literary components.

The coursework will require you to consider different critical literary theories, including ideas about narrative, and Marxist and feminist readings of literary texts. This unit also encourages independent wider reading, so you will select the texts for your essays from a wide ranging reading list. One text you choose will be poetry and the other will be prose.

Text choices could include the poetry of Carol Ann Duffy and novels such as:

You will be required to study Aspects of Tragedy for the exams. The focus of your study in Year 1 will be on the different ways of reading texts and the connections that exist between them within a literary genre (tragedy). You will study 2 Drama texts. A Shakespeare play is a compulsory aspect of the Year 1 study and the chosen text for this is Othello. You will also study a modern play and this will be Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. You will also study a selection of poetry by John Keats.

• 1984 by George Orwell • Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte • The Go-Between by L.P.Hartley • A Passage to India by E.M.Forster • The Catcher in the Rye by J.D.Salinger

You will begin work on your wider reading coursework and you will be expected to read your chosen novel over the summer in preparation for the writing task. In addition, you will be expected to read Harvest.

English Language linear a level ABOUT the subject Studying English Language at A Level involves exploring various language forms and genres from more informal spoken conversations through to carefully constructed advertisements as well as more formal genres like legal and medical discourses. We investigate how we encode and decode hidden meanings and inferences in our language choices as well as why more pragmatic issues like politeness remain so important in an otherwise everchanging linguistic landscape. Studying English Language opens up many career paths including journalism, law, media and teaching.

ASSessment You will be assessed at the end of the second year course. Assessment is split between coursework and 2 examinations. Overall, the coursework is worth 20% and the examined element is worth 80%.

course content You will study a variety of genres of language taken from written, spoken and electronic modes, developing an understanding of the expectations we have of each type of communication and then analysing and reporting on whether the examples we study meet these generalised expectations.

We will study the history of English from the Anglo Saxon and Viking invasions through the Norman invasion to English in the 21st century. We will also study how children acquire language as part of their development.

The English Language A Level builds on the knowledge, understanding and skills you will have started to develop at GCSE. The course will require you to become more independent in your approach to studying a wide variety of issues related to language use as well as a deeper understanding of the systems that go together to create the language we all call ‘English’. You will develop your creativity and confidence in both analysing a wide range of texts and your own use of language in your written and spoken assignments.

You will also develop your skills in searching out and understanding information from sources external to the core syllabus using books

and electronic sources in order to deepen your own knowledge and understanding of wider influences in language production and reception.

“I loved my time at the college as it has helped me develop my confidence ready for university.”

Strong literacy skills are a necessity for this course, as they are for all advanced level courses. You will need to continue to develop your written and spoken expression and understand the key concept of appropriate language registers in your own work.

You will need to take pride in your own work and responsibility for your own development in order to achieve at the level you require for progression into further education.

specific entry criteria Grade 5 in GCSE English Language.

william marriott School: Huddersfield Grammar School Studied: A Level English Language, English Literature, Drama and Media Destination: Broadcast Journalism at the University of Leeds