E NGLISH L ITERATURE AQA B

W AYS OF READING : no single way to read texts, but several; close reading leads to no closed or fixed interpretations; knowing there are possible meanings liberates the student to explore alternative views and gain confidence in their own judgments.

A FOCUS ON GENRE : looking at texts through certain ‘lens’ and ‘filters’ helps to give meaning; the first ‘lens’ we look through is GENRE (AS Level); exploring your chosen texts through genre; ‘Elements’ of the genre – exploring to what extent you can find elements of the genre within your texts; This is the exam focus of the course.

A FOCUS ON THEORY : studying literature is not a factual process designed to find the ‘truth’; looking through the lens of genre is one way of looking at texts, another involves different schools of thought which use different starting points, or theories, to look at texts; this is the NEA focus of the course and comprises an anthology of critical reading to work with; however, this material can also be applied to your exam texts in order to explore further meanings.

F INDING SIGNIFICANCE : all of the hitherto mentioned concepts all lead you to finding meanings in texts as well as you can; the word SIGNIFICANCE will be used throughout lessons and on exam papers – this is possible meanings, or signification rather than its more general meaning of importance; this type of significance involves weighing up all possible contributions to a way a text can be analysed and then finding potential meanings and interpretations.

F INDING SIGNIFICANCE Significance can be found through analysing: the way the text is constructed and written; contexts that can be applied; aspects of genre; and possible theoretical approaches.

A L EVEL C OURSE Aspects of TRAGEDY One closed book exam. One Shakespeare text (Othello). One other text (Death of a Salesman). Selection of poetry by John Keats (Pre- 1900). Elements of POLITICAL and SOCIAL PROTEST WRITING. One open book exam. One prose text post-2000 One poetry text One other text (One needs to be pre- 1900). Unseen material in the exam. Component 1 Literary Genres Component 2 Texts and Genres

NEA (N ON - EXAM ASSESSMENT ) T HEORY AND I NDEPENDENCE Marxism and feminism: politics and power Narrative: places, time and people Post-colonial criticism Eco-criticism Literary value and the canon Both pieces need to be linked to an aspect of the critical anthology. One needs to be poetry. One needs to be prose. Independent choices of texts although we can guide you. Critical anthology material Two assessments

AS L EVEL The only difference is there are two exams at the end of Year 12 instead of one at the end of Year 13 for Aspects of Tragedy. Paper 1 will be Othello and Death of a Salesman. Paper 2 will be Selection of poetry by John Keats AND THE GREAT GATSBY. The Great Gatsby can then be used as an introduction into the NEA after the exams so it isn’t a ‘wasted’ text. The exams are slightly different to the end of Year 13, but this will be addressed during revision.

S UMMER P REPARATION You need to purchase your own copy of Arthur Miller’s play ‘Death of a Salesman’ and read it. As this is a closed book exam, it would be good to have your own copy to annotate and keep. You need to bring this with you to your first lesson in September. You could also start researching the plot line of Othello in preparation for this too, but you will read this with your teaching alongside close analysis in lessons.

A SSESSMENT OBJECTIVES AO1: Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression. AO2: Analyse ways in which meanings are shaped in literary texts. AO3: Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received. AO4: Explore connections across literary texts. AO5: Explore literary texts informed by different interpretations.

AO1: within AO1 you are required to articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate expression. This Assessment Objective describes, then, the need for good writing and a use of terminology appropriate to the task you are doing. AO2: AO2 requires you to analyse ways in which meanings are shaped in literary texts. This Assessment Objective describes the need to analyse authorial methods of writing, with the shaping of meanings a key idea here, indicating that you should link an author’s ways of writing with the meanings that arise from them. Just listing a set of effects is not what is required. AO3: AO3 requires you to demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received. This specification is so closely linked to contexts in its references to genre and theory that if you answer the questions, you will be dealing with contexts. AO4: AO4 requires you to explore connections across literary texts. Again, if you are working within genre, then you are clearly connecting your text with others. There is a requirement here to show an understanding of the typical features of a genre, and then you can show the extent to which your text has typical aspects or elements of that genre. AO5: AO5 requires you to explore literary texts informed by different interpretations. Again it should be clear that if you are working within ideas of genres and theories, there cannot be a single fixed interpretation, and if the question you are answering is framed as a debate, then you will need to consider different possible ways of interpreting your texts.

R EAD THE POEM BY ROBERT FROST WRITTEN IN 1920 ‘ THE ROAD NOT TAKEN ’. In this poem, Frost gives us a variant on the road theme: a person standing at a crossroads, deciding which path to take. The idea of the crossroads is, of course, a common one in everyday life – we frequently refer to ourselves and others being at a crossroads, when we are referring to potentially life-changing decisions. What different possible significances can you find in the way Frost uses the ‘Two roads’ in this poem? Make a note of where you are applying the Assessment Objectives when you answer the question.

The Road Not Taken By Robert Frost Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.