English Literature & Language A Level | Learning | Academics | Curriculum| Sixth Form | Ryde School | Isle of Wight

English Literature & Languages

A Level and AS Level English courses offer you the opportunity to study literature and language in greater depth. A range of interlinked texts enables you to adopt an increasingly independent, critical perspective across genres and the wider literary canon. You can also study linguistics as a specialism for the first time.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

Grade 6 or above in (I)GCSE English Language and English Literature “English is a way for us, as students, to challenge ourselves, and our perspectives, on engaging topics in a variety of Language and Literature courses on offer.”

WHERE THIS SUBJECT CAN TAKE YOU

Students go on to pursue the arguably unparalleled variety of university courses and careers (such as Law, Linguistics, History, Philosophy, Languages, Journalism, Education,  Psychology) for which studying English at this level is a highly valued preparation, including those who continue to read the subject at top UK universities.

ENGLISH LITERATURE & LANGUAGE (A LEVEL)

AWARD - A LEVEL English Literature - A Level English Literature (AQA B)

COURSE CONTENT/STRUCTURE

In both Lower and Upper Sixth, Unit 1 and 2 will be taught concurrently. Towards the end of the first year and at the beginning of your second year, you will complete Unit 3, designing and writing independent coursework essays on a novel and poetry text. These tasks can be in the form of a traditional, analytical response or one could be a recreative task and subsequent commentary. As part of the coursework, you will learn about literary theory and criticism. You will explore a variety of texts and contexts, from Khaled Hosseini’s ‘The Kite Runner’ to William Blake’s ‘Songs of Innocence and Experience’, and from Shakespeare to Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’.

If you enjoy reading and discussing literature, and the ideas, questions and debates it raises, then this is the A level for you!

ASSESSMENT
  • Unit 1: Literary Genres: Aspects of Tragedy (40% of A Level – 2 hour 30 minutes written exam).
  • Unit 2: Texts and Genres: Elements of Political and Social Protest Writing (40% of A Level – 3 hour written exam).
  • Unit 3: Theory and Independence (20% of A Level - 2 non-exam assessment [coursework] essays).
AWARD - AS/A LEVEL

English Language - AS/A Level English Language (AQA)

COURSE CONTENT/STRUCTURE

English Language, available as a full A Level or as a two-year AS Level as an Enrichment subject, is a qualification in linguistics. It allows you to explore the language we use every day, how it works and the many roles it plays in our lives. You will study varieties of English, including accents and dialects, and discuss how language is used in written, spoken and electronic forms. You will learn about children’s language development (A Level only) and how to use different methods of language analysis to explore concepts of audience, purpose, genre and mode. Indeed, you will also investigate how texts represent different groups, individuals, institutions and ideas, how and why language has changed over time, and explore the relationship between social values, attitudes and the language used to represent them.

ASSESSMENT

A Level:

  • Unit 1: Language, the Individual and Society (40% of A Level – 2 hour 30 minutes written exam).
  • Unit 2: Language Diversity and Change (40% of A Level – 2 hour 30 minutes written exam).
  • Unit 3: Language in Action (20% of A Level – non-exam assessment [coursework] comprising a Language Investigation and a piece of Original Writing).

AS Level:

  • Unit 1: Language and the Individual (50% of AS Level – 1 hour 30 minutes written exam).
  • Unit 2: Language Varieties (50% of AS Level – 1 hour 30 minutes written exam).

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