Exam Board | AQA A LEVEL ENGLISH LITERATURE
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Description | Linear course
English Literature A encourages students to explore the relationships that exist between texts and the contexts within which they are written, received, and understood. Studying texts within a shared context enables students to investigate and connect them, drawing out patterns of similarity and difference using a variety of reading strategies and perspectives. |
Course content
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Paper One: Love through the ages
Study of three texts: one poetry and one prose text, of which one must be written pre-1900, and one Shakespeare play. Examination will include two unseen poems. Assessed
· Written exam: 3 hours · open book in Section C only · 75 marks · 40% of A-level Questions
Section A: Shakespeare: one passage-based question with linked essay – OTHELLO
Section B: Unseen poetry: compulsory essay question on two unseen poems Section C: Comparing texts: one essay question linking two texts – Anthology of Love Poetry through the Ages: Pre-1900 – F. Scott Fitzgerald – The Great Gatsby
Paper Two: Texts in shared contexts
OPTION B: Modern times: literature from 1945 to the present day.
Examination will include an unseen prose extract
Assessed
· Written exam: 2 hours 30 minutes · open book · 75 marks · 40% of A-level Questions
Section A: Set texts. One essay question on set text Study at least ONE of three texts:
– Poetry: Carol Ann Duffy – Feminine Gospel (post 2000)
Section B: Contextual linking · one compulsory question on an unseen extract
· one essay question linking two texts
– Drama: Tennessee Williams – A Streetcar Named Desire – Prose: Margaret Atwood – The Handmaid’s Tale
Non-exam assessment (NEA): Independent critical study: texts across time · Comparative critical study of two texts, at least one of which must have been written pre-1900
· One extended essay (2500 words) and a bibliography
Assessed
· 50 marks · 20% of A-level · assessed by teachers · moderated by AQA
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Enrichment opportunities |
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