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A Level English - Preparation for Year 11
The following resources are designed to help Year 11 pupils prepare for the transition from GCSE to A Level English:
An Introduction to Critical Theory - A Level English
Making the Leap - Moving from GCSE to A Level Study - Resource - Pupils are recommended to read Chapter 14 - Dive into the World of Short Stories
National Portrait Gallery Creative Writing Challenge
A Level English Reading List
We currently follow the OCR English Literature A level specification.
The course has three assessed elements: a coursework portfolio worth 20%; an examination paper on Shakespeare and pre-1900 poetry and drama worth 40%; and a synoptic examination, focused on a particular theme, genre or time period (for example, Gothic Literature or Women in Literature) worth 40%. Both exams are taken at the end of U6.
Coursework
The coursework portfolio involves three texts chosen by the teacher and linked thematically. In Task 1 of the coursework, the pupil will write about 1000 words on a close reading of an extract or poem, while Task 2 consists of a comparative study of the other two texts.
Exam One – ‘Drama and Poetry pre-1900’
The texts currently available for study for the ‘Drama and Poetry pre- 1900’exam are as follows:
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One Shakespeare play: Coriolanus, Hamlet, Measure for Measure, Richard III, The Tempest or Twelfth Night
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One pre-1900 drama text: Christopher Marlowe: Edward II; John Webster: The Duchess of Malfi; Oliver Goldsmith: She Stoops to Conquer; Henrik Ibsen: A Doll’s House; or Oscar Wilde: An Ideal Husband
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One pre-1900 poetry text: Geoffrey Chaucer: The Merchant’s Prologue and Tale; John Milton: Paradise Lost Books, 9 & 10; Samuel Taylor Coleridge: Selected Poems; Alfred, Lord Tennyson: Maud; or Christina Rossetti: Selected Poems.
Exam Two – ‘Comparative and Contextual study’
The topics for the ‘Comparative and Contextual study’ exam are currently as follows:
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American Literature 1880–1940; The Gothic; Dystopia; Women in Literature; The Immigrant Experience