A Level: English Literature

St Paul's Catholic School

Spencefield Lane, Leicester , Leicester, Leicestershire, LE5 6HN

GCE A/AS Level or Equivalent

Level 3

Available start dates

Thursday, 01 September 2022

St Pauls Catholic School

1 Year(s)

Full time

Daytime/working hours

NULL

Course Summary

The study of English Literature at Advanced level encompasses the study of prose, poetry and drama from the time of Shakespeare to the present day.

The subject is a rewarding experience for students who love reading. It furnishes students with skills of analysis, interpretation, discussion, decision making and research.

Course Details

Specifications For Year 12

Paper 1: Literary Genres: Drama

What’s Assessed:

Choice of two options Option 1A:

Aspects of Tragedy

Study of one Shakespeare play and one further drama text, currently King Lear and A Streetcar Named Desire

Questions

Section A: One passage-based question on a Shakespeare text (25 marks)
Section B: One essay question on a drama set text (25 marks)

Paper 2: Literary Genres – Prose and Poetry

written exam: 1 hour 30 minutes, closed book, 50% of AS level

Specifications for Year 13

Paper 1: Paper 1: Literary Genres

What’s Assessed:

Choice of two options Option 1A:

Aspects of Tragedy Study of three texts: one Shakespeare text; a second drama text and one further text, of which one must be written pre-1900

Assessed written exam: 2 hours 30 minutes, closed book, 40% of A-level

Questions

Section A: One passage-based question on set Shakespeare text (25 marks)
Section B: One essay question on set Shakespeare text (25 marks)
Section C: One essay question linking two texts (25 marks)

Paper 2: Texts and Genres

What’s assessed

Choice of two options Option 2A:

Elements of Crime Writing OR
Option 2B: Elements of Political Writing

Study of three texts: one post-2000 prose text; one poetry and one further text, one of which must be written pre-1900

Assessed written exam: 3 hours, open book, 40% of A-level, to include unseen element

Questions

Section A: One compulsory question on an unseen passage (25 marks)
Section B: One essay question on set text (25 marks)
Section C: One essay question which connects two texts (25 marks)

Non-exam Assessment: Theory and Independence

What’s assessed Study of two texts:

one poetry and one prose text, informed by study of the Critical Anthology, two essays of 1250 -1500 words. One essay can be re-creative. The re-creative piece will be accompanied by a commentary. 20% of A level.

Assessed by teachers, moderated by AQA

Tasks

Students produce:

Two essays of 1250-1500 words

How will it be delivered and assessed?

Entry requirements

Generic A-Level entry requirements plus English Language at grade 5 minimum.

Your next steps...

You could take this course to complement other advanced level courses or to prepare for the A2 in English Literature, which could lead onto higher education in English related studies or more general higher education courses. With further training, you could go into a job related to English Literature. The qualification will also help you develop general skills that many employers across lots of industries are looking for.

For more courses like this, check our courses page.