English – English Language and Literature A Level

On the A Level course, students will learn how to use an ‘integrated’ analytical approach to spoken and written texts, using both literary and linguistic concepts and terminology.

Basic concepts from a linguistic approach will be taught, enabling students to be more precise in their interpretation of texts. These ‘frameworks’ include:

• phonology and prosodics (the sounds of real speech and the patterns of sound in literature)
• lexis and semantics (the connotations of word choices and imagery)
• grammar (the role of specific words, such as pronouns and verbs, in a sentence)
• pragmatics (how different contexts and situations affect meaning)

At A Level, students will study an Anthology of spoken and written texts entitled Voices in Speech and Writing, which contains a wide variety of texts, such as newspaper articles and reports; extracts from autobiographies, diaries, travel writing and digital texts (such as ‘blogs’); book and television reviews. Other examples of these types of text will be studied to develop the skills of writing comparatively.

Students will study one compulsory prose fiction ‘anchor’ text, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and the play by Lorraine Hansberry ‘A Raisin in the Sun’.. This ‘text pairing’ will be following the theme: Society and the Individual.

There is also a coursework component, worth 20% which requires the production of creative writing in response to the study of two stimulus texts: Margaret Atwood’s, ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ and ‘The Motorcycle Diaries’ by `Che’ Guevara.

In addition, technical accuracy in spelling, punctuation and grammar is essential for achieving a good grade at A Level.

Students will succeed on this course if they:

• enjoy reading and responding to many different kinds of writing, including whole novels and plays
• are willing to explore in detail, through close text analysis, how language can affect the reader or listener
• are prepared to learn the terminology associated with a linguistic approach to English
• enjoy writing (accurately and fluently) in different forms, for different purposes and audiences
• enjoy taking part in discussion
• find language itself interesting; the way it changes and means different things to different people

Assesment

There are two components at A Level, each worth 40% of the final qualification, plus a coursework component worth 20%. Both are assessed by formal written examinations of 2 hours, 30 minutes, and will be taken in June.

The exam board for this A Level is Pearson Edexcel.