A-Level English Language and Literature

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In the English Language and Literature curriculum, students are encouraged to develop their skills as producers and interpreters of language, reflecting on how writers convey messages and how they can use writing to convey messages of their own. Students will develop an analytical lexicon comprising of key linguistic and literary terms that they can apply to any seen or unseen text. The analytical commentary that forms part of the curriculum allows students to develop not only their self-awareness, but an ability to evaluate how the texts they have written fit within wider literary and linguistic traditions. The many skills developed across the course equip students for success, not only in English, but in other subjects and the wider world.

In Year 12 and 13 you will study a range of fiction and non-fiction texts: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bront� A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams A collection of Romantic poetry An anthology of non-fiction writing, entitled �Voices in Speech and Writing� Unseen prose In addition, the coursework requires you to write two texts totalling around 1500 words: one fiction piece and one non-fiction piece, with an accompanying analytical commentary of around 1000 words. This is worth 20% of the qualification.

In all of our lessons, we aim to share our passion for English with our students. We want you to love it as much as we do! At its heart, studying English Language and Literature involves reading. The beauty of this course is the wide variety of texts covered: from classic literary texts such as �Wuthering Heights� to modern editorial articles and political speeches. In lessons, you can expect to engage in thorough analysis of these texts, accompanied by exciting discussions with your teachers and peers, as well as opportunities for independent research. Many of our students choose to go on to university and we have some excellent links with a range of institutions, who are able to offer our students high quality resources, subject specific seminars and taster sessions. We also offer the chance to visit Howarth to help students immerse themselves in the work of Emily Bront�.