ENGLISH LITERATURE A Level
Venue: Alton Campus Duration: 2 years
Teaching & Learning Lesson activities are wide-ranging, from debates to drama-based interpretations to detailed analysis and feedback. Lessons include creative responses to texts like painting, collage, or ‘found-poetry’, as well as mini-lectures and research on context or theory. We also organise a huge range of trips to theatres and poetry competitions to develop your understanding of the text and context. Assessment 20% coursework, 80% exams. Entry Requirements Five GCSEs at grade 9-4. You must have achieved at least a grade 5 in English Language or English Literature.
Overview Do you love reading? If so, English Literature is for you. The course enables you to study a broad range of literary texts from modern poetry, to Shakespeare’s drama, Romantic poetry and contemporary novels. You will cover all aspects of how texts are influenced by contexts ranging from the 1300s to the 21st century. In lessons, you will learn how to analyse all aspects of text in depth as well as engaging in creative, drama and visual responses to literature. All classroom work involves discussion and debate whether in teams, groups or pairs. Throughout your studies, you will have the opportunity to watch live drama productions and hear authors discuss their own work at A Level conferences. Structure You will study: – Poetry written since 2000; really modern, exciting poems. Some are funny, some tragic, some experimental and all are thought provoking. – Classic poetry by John Keats; a Romantic poet who writes beautifully about love, loss and the concept of beauty. – Shakespeare; one play from a choice of eight. – 20th Century drama; the modern classic play ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ by Tennessee Williams set in 1950s New Orleans. – Novels: ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ by Oscar Wilde, written and set in 1890s London following the story of a debauched party-goer who remains supernaturally youthful, compared with ‘Beloved’ by Toni Morrison. This second novel about the supernatural explores the trauma of slavery. – Coursework: a comparison of Jez Butterworth’s 2009 play ‘Jerusalem’ and Simon Armitage’s 2007 version of ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’.
54 HSDC ALTON COLLEGE | Courses
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