ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (AQA)

Cottingham Sixth Form College

Who is the course aimed at?     

The course is aimed at those who are intending to study English or humanities subjects at university. It is also aimed at students who have a love and passion for English, both for reading and creative writing.

The course will also develop the skills learned and applied at GCSE and will develop these in preparation for further study after the A Level.

The syllabus requires students to read widely outside the classroom therefore this course is not suitable for reluctant readers. You will also need to enjoy creative writing.

What will you learn?     

You will learn to analyse and evaluate ways in which writers and speakers achieve their desired effects.

You will also develop as a confident writer and speaker yourself, putting into practice what you have learned from your studies.

You will read and study a wide range of literature throughout the course. This will focus on the writer’s craft and style. You will also recreate a literature text for a new audience and purpose using the skills you have learnt. Over the two years the following texts will be studied:

• The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
• The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
• A Selection of Poetry - Seamus Heaney
• Othello - William Shakespeare
• All My Sons - Arthur Miller

How will you be assessed?         

Paper 1 - Views and Voices: You will learn about how and why views and perspectives of different kinds are shaped and used in narratives. Learning how language choices help to shape the representations of different worlds and perspectives in literary fiction.

• Section A - Imagined Worlds: A study of a literary text, exploring the imaged worlds created by the writer.

• Section B - Poetic Voices: A study of how poetic voices in the telling of events are presented and the presentation of people.

Paper 2 - People and Places: You will learn about the ways in which writers and speakers present narratives about places, beginning with a general focus on broad questions such as: Why do people tell stories about places? How do writers and speakers present places, societies, people and events?

• Section A - Remembered Places: A study of an AQA anthology that explores speech and other genres.

• Section B - Re-creative Writing: You will consider how to write for a range of purposes. You will develop the skills to adapt and shape the original material (the base text) to respond to different re-creative tasks.

How will you learn?       

The course gives you the opportunity to develop skills, knowledge and understanding relevant to the study of English.

You will develop analytical and evaluative skills through active study of writer’s craft, whilst also developing creative skills for a range of different forms and audiences.

You will work individually, in pairs and in groups to complete the different units, which will require planning, analytical and evaluative skills.

Enrichment activities and independent learning?           

We offer a range of additional opportunities to develop your English skills through author and theatre visits.

We actively encourage you to read outside the classroom to develop and widen your understanding of English.

We offer opportunities for speaking competitions, organised through the Rotary Club. This will allow you to use your creative writing skills in order to present a speech on a topic of your choice.

What or where next?    

Future opportunities to follow an English related degree course include joint English, English literature, journalism and teacher training. Future opportunities for work include publishing, media, law, speech therapy, teaching, journalism and more.

More information          

For more information about this course please see the specification below or contact the sixth form team.