What does the course consist of?

The course focuses on three areas: reading, writing and speaking and listening.  There is an opportunity to write in a variety of forms and to different audiences.  This will include creative writing in addition to analytical and transactional writing.

Students will be studying literature such as modern and nineteenth-century prose, pre and post 1914 poetry and drama texts including Shakespeare. They will also practise the skill of close reading of fiction and nonfiction texts and learning how to draw links and connections between texts.

Examinations

Students will be prepared for 2 examinations in English Language and 2 examination papers in English Literature. For English Language, the focus will be on imaginative and transactional writing; there will also be an unseen passage of fiction from the nineteenth century to analyse and two nonfiction texts from the twentieth and twenty-first century for the students to explore and compare.

In the English Literature course students will be expected to respond to a nineteenth-century novel (The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde or Frankenstein) in addition to a Shakespeare play (Romeo and Juliet); a modern novel such as Lord of the Flies and a series of poems from a Pearson anthology on conflict (including an unseen exercise).

Skills

The course will develop critical and analytical skills.  It will enable students to write detailed, well-argued essays; using evidence to reinforce a point.  It will also develop creative imagination and extend the students’ vocabulary.

The subject, it is hoped, will encourage students to read more widely and with more awareness of the writer’s structure and use of language.

Careers

Success at English is fundamental to all career choices.  The subject will develop skills which are applicable in a wide range of careers.  For example: social sciences; the law; the media; advertising; journalism and PR all rely on clear and effective communication.

Marketing; personnel; teaching; the police; politics and the civil service are other possible career options which could be pursued. Students who are articulate and have refined communication skills will be very attractive to prospective employers.

Other Information

The English course will provide students with 2 separate GCSEs.  Success will prove that pupils can undertake close critical reading, process information and communicate this understanding to other people. It will also show that students can write different text types effectively and vary the tone and style of these texts to suit the audience.