English Literature (A Level)

Minsthorpe Community College

Minsthorpe Lane, South Elmsall, Pontefract, West Yorkshire, WF9 2UJ

GCE A/AS Level or Equivalent

Level 3

Available start dates

Tuesday, 08 September 2026

Minsthorpe Community College

2 Year(s)

Full time

Daytime/working hours

Block D

Course Summary

English Literature is a challenging, interesting and enjoyable course that enables students to explore their love of reading, whilst developing analytical skill, verbal articulacy and written eloquence. Students can gain a solid understanding of how texts can be connected and how they can be interpreted in multiple ways so that students can arrive at their own interpretations and become confident autonomous readers. Students are then not only equipped with the knowledge and skills needed for both examinations and non-exam assessment, but also experience a rich, challenging and coherent approach to English Literature that provides an excellent basis for studying the subject at university.

What skills will I acquire?

• Knowledge of major literary works, genres and critical traditions

• Understand and empathise with other cultures and people through exploring their literacy traditions

• Knowledge of linguistic, literary, cultural contexts in which literature is written and read

• Written and oral communication skills – ability to define audience, construct an argument, present an idea, and provide background information on a variety of issues

• Write and speak with clarity and precision, and learn the best methods to persuade an audience

• Detailed, balanced and rigorous examination of texts or spoken language and the ability to articulate interpretations to others

• Sensitivity to the power of language and its role in creating meaning

Course Details

Unit 1: Literary Genres- Aspects of Tragedy

(Exam- 40%)

Students will study the genre of “Tragedy” and analyse the extent to which tragic elements emerge in a range of genres. Students will study one Shakespeare play (Othello or King Lear), one other drama text (i.e. Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman) and one pre 1900 text (i.e. Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles).

Unit 2: Texts and Genres- Elements of Political Writing

(Exam- 40%)

Students will look at the extent to which texts can be labelled “political”. Although it can be claimed that all texts are political, what defines the texts is that they have issues of power and powerlessness at their core and political issues are central to each text’s structure. Again, students will look at texts from a range of genres i.e. Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner and William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience.

Unit 3: Theory and Independence

(Coursework- 20%)

This unit is designed to allow students to read widely, to choose their own texts (if appropriate) and to understand that contemporary study of literature needs to be informed by the fact that different theoretical and critical methods can be applied to the subject. This area of the course provides a challenging and wide-ranging opportunity for an introduction to different ways of reading texts and for independent study.

Students write a comparative essay on a work of poetry and prose, enlightened by a theory or approach to literary criticism (e.g. feminist theory, Marxist theory etc.).

How will it be delivered and assessed?

20% Non Exam Assessment (Coursework) and 80% Examination

Entry requirements

Min 5 In English Literature + 4 other Grade 9-4 GCSEs

Your next steps...

Students can gain a solid understanding of how texts can be connected and how they can be interpreted in multiple ways so that students can arrive at their own interpretations and become confident autonomous readers. Students are then not only equipped with the knowledge and skills needed for both examinations and non-exam assessment, but also experience a rich, challenging and coherent approach to English Literature that provides an excellent basis for studying the subject at university.

For more courses like this, check our courses page.