A-Level English Literature Transition Booklet 2016/17

Transcription

1 A-Level English Literature Transition Booklet 2016/17 Student Name: Teacher Name: 1 P a g e

2 Contents Introduction... 3 English Literature... 3 Skills you will need to succeed in A-Level Literature... 3 Course outline... 4 Love Through the Ages... 4 Modern Times: Literature from 1945 to the present day... 4 Non-Exam Assessment: Independent critical study: Texts across time... 4 The Assessment Objectives (AOs)... 5 In your essays and exam responses, you are... 5 Mark Scheme... 6 Key Terminology Reading around The Taming of the Shrew Reading around Wuthering Heights Reading around The Handmaid s Tale Reading around Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Recommended Wider Reading CLASSICS MODERN CLASSICS P a g e

3 Introduction English Literature Studying English means studying literature in many forms. This demands great commitment and a variety of skills, not least of which is a genuine desire to read books of all genres and periods, from Chaucer onwards. English Literature includes studying novels, plays, poetry, non-fiction and short stories. You will be able to make some choices about your areas of study, especially in your non-exam assessment, but you should also expect to study texts outside of your current experience. You will learn to use critical concepts and terminology with understanding and discrimination. You will also be encouraged to reflect on your own responses to texts, considering other readers interpretations, with awareness of the contexts in which texts were written. Recently graduated students who have studied this subject have been successful in gaining places on degree courses such as English, PPE, Journalism and Law at universities such as Cambridge, Oxford and Bristol. To do well at A-Level you will need to be a self-motivated and independent reader with a love of literature. You will be expected to write weekly essays so good organisational skills are essential as is the ability to write fluent, well-structured arguments. Skills you will need to succeed in A-Level Literature Reading, both fiction and non-fiction the wider your knowledge the better. Note-taking you need to record the important points from each lesson so you have them to revise from throughout the 2-year course. Independence students are expected to complete 5-hours of independent study per subject per week. For English, that will usually involve reading, researching, planning and writing essays. There are suggestions in this booklet for texts to read and other ways to improve your performance. Active learning listen, reflect, and challenge. Don t be afraid to ask questions. If you don t understand something the teacher said, the chances are neither do at least 5 other people, so by asking you are helping both yourself and them! Collaborative working lessons will involve lots of group and pair work. This is an opportunity for you to work with different people in your class. Remember, you can always learn from others. Teaching and explaining While we teach, we learn, said the Roman philosopher, Seneca. The best way to learn something well is to explain it to someone else. If your teacher asks you to present or explain something, take the opportunity! 3 P a g e

4 Course outline AQA A-Level English Literature A (7712) Love Through the Ages 3 hour written exam, worth 40% of A-Level. The first text you will study in September is Shakespeare s The Taming of the Shrew. Make sure you have a copy of this text with you for your first lesson in September! Studied in Year 12; mock exam at the end of Year 12 will be a full Love Through the Ages 3 hour paper. Study of three texts: The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte and the post-1900 poetry anthology. Examination will also include two unseen poems. Modern Times: Literature from 1945 to the present day 2.5 hour written exam, worth 40% of A level. Studied in Year 12 and Year 13. Study of three texts: The Handmaid s Tale by Margaret Atwood, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams and Feminist Gospels by Carol Ann Duffy. Non-Exam Assessment: Independent critical study: Texts across time One extended essay (2500 words), worth 20% of A level. Begun in Year 12 and completed at the beginning of Year 13. Comparative critical study of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Gilman and one other text of your choice. *Please note that text choices may be subject to change. 4 P a g e

5 The Assessment Objectives (AOs) In your essays and exam responses, you are required to address all 5 of the AOs below. 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. 5 P a g e

6 Mark Scheme 6 P a g e

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9 Essay Writing: Guidance A strong essay should provide a clearly structured argument and be supported by detailed evidence. First and foremost, it needs to explicitly answer the question that is being asked. Your introduction and conclusion should both make absolutely clear what your response is to the question. For example, if for The Taming of the Shrew you are asked to Discuss how Shakespeare presents the relationship between Petruchio and Katherina in this extract and elsewhere in the play, then your essay needs to begin with a clear explanation of the main ways in which the relationship is presented in the extract. For example, In this extract, Shakespeare presents the relationship between Petruchio and Katherina as being particularly aggressive and combative. You must then go on to develop your points in more detail, supported by quotations and specific evidence from the play and specific ideas from your wider reading. You will be expected to write essays like the one above, with a focus on an extract. You will also be expected to write essays comparing unseen poetry, comparing different texts you have studied and essays comparing an unseen extract to the texts you have studied. To develop a perceptive, assured and sophisticated writing style, as per the Band 5 criteria, you will need to read extensively, particularly non-fiction texts such as broadsheet newspapers. Comment, opinion and analysis articles are extremely helpful in supporting your understanding of how to structure a strong and coherent argument. You are therefore strongly encouraged to start reading a variety of newspaper articles as soon as possible if you don t already! You can access comment writing from The Guardian newspaper for free at the following address: 9 P a g e

10 Key Terminology Antagonist The most notable character who opposes the protagonist (hero) of a narrative. The antagonist is often the villain who wants to harm the hero/heroine or prevent him/her from achieving their goals. Bildungsroman A novel that deals with one person s formative years and moral or spiritual development. Byronic hero An emotionally complex, mysterious and tormented male character, who is arrogant, cynical and contemptuous of normal society, but manages to be alluring to some of the other characters and many readers. Caesura A break within a line of verse, often indicated by a punctuation mark. Conceit An arresting or elaborate comparison that brings together two elements in an unusual way. Enjambment Used in poetry to describe the continuation of a sentence or a clause beyond the end of a line and on to the next one. Extended metaphor A metaphor which is carried beyond a single comparison of two elements and is developed further. Free indirect speech This refers to speech that is embedded in a narrative, so it is unattributed (free) and a report of the speech rather than the actual words (indirect). Genre A way of categorizing texts. Genres can be arranged around content (such as crime, politics etc) or around purpose (such as satire). In a most general sense, genre involves grouping texts by type and so connecting texts. In most cases, generic groupings are not fixed, so thinking about genre involves connecting with other texts. Historicism AQA English Literature A is all about looking at texts in their contexts, and thinking about the importance of historical contexts in shaping the meaning of texts. This is called a historicist approach. There are two types of historicism: A diachronic approach looking at texts from different time periods that explore the same theme, as we do in Unit 1, Love Through the Ages; A synchronic approach looking at texts within a clearly defined time period, as we do in Unit 2, Literature from 1945 to the present day. Image/Imagery A term to denote the many types of language that conjure sensory perceptions in the mind of the reader. Metaphor, simile, personification and symbol can be considered as sub-divisions within imagery. 10 P a g e

11 Imagism/Imagist A type of poem which is concise and uses hard, clear and concentrated imagery as its main way of creating meaning and achieving effects. Intertextuality This means the meanings that are created through relationships between texts. Writers might directly reference other literary works (such as a modern writer quoting a line from Shakespeare), or use similar content or techniques. Metaphor A literary technique that involves one thing described as being another (e.g. education is a journey ). Motif A recurring element that has symbolic significance in a text. Onomatopoeia This is when the word chosen sounds like what it refers to. Pastoral A mode of writing that typically presents rural people in an idealised way and uses natural imagery to create an impression of peace, innocence and contentment. Patriarchy A system of society or government controlled by men. Persona a speaker in a poem who is a character who is clearly not the poet: for example, Carol Ann Duffy adopts the persona of Shakespeare s wife in Anne Hathaway. Personification Something non-human is described as though it is human. This might be an object or an abstract idea. Plot The events as they are sequenced in the text. Protagonist The main character or hero of a narrative. Quatrain A four-line verse. Satire The mockery of various types of human behaviour, involving irony and exaggeration. Scheme Schemes are figures of speech, which deal with things like word order and sound, rather than the actual meanings of words. Sestet A six-line verse, often used to describe the second section of one form of sonnet. Significant/Significance All the potential meanings and interpretations of a text. Simile A literary technique where two things are compared using like or as (or sometimes than ). 11 P a g e

12 Speaker The voice that speaks the poem. This is the default term to use when writing about the person speaking in a poem. It is helpful to reserve the term persona for a speaker who is a character who is clearly not the poet: for example, Carol Ann Duffy adopts the persona of Shakespeare s wife in Anne Hathaway. Stanza A stanza is a group of lines a separate unit that helps to break up and organise how a poem appears on the page. Symbol This stands for much more than its literal meaning. Unlike a metaphor (in which one thing is compared overtly to another), with a symbol the significance is left more open. Tercet A three-line stanza. Trope A figure of speech which deals with meaning. Voice The characteristics of the speaker, or the narrative voice used; the perspective taken by the narrative. 12 P a g e

13 Recommended Reading Reading around The Taming of the Shrew Hilary Mantel Wolf Hall William Shakespeare Twelfth Night Much Ado About Nothing A Midsummer Night s Dream Alison Weir Elizabeth, the Queen Reading around Wuthering Heights Charlotte Bronte Jane Eyre Emily Bronte Ellis Chadwick Selected Poems In The Footsteps of the Brontes Reading around The Handmaid s Tale Margaret Atwood Cat s Eye The Edible Woman Surfacing Lady Oracle Oryx and Crake Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451 Aldous Huxley Brave New World George Orwell 1984 Animal Farm Reading around Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Arthur Miller All My Sons Death of a Salesman Tennessee Williams A Streetcar Named Desire The Glass Menagerie Sweet Bird of Youth 13 P a g e

14 Recommended Wider Reading Below you will find a selection of classics and modern classics. Read as much as possible before starting your A-Level course in September successful A-Level students are well-read and intellectually-curious. We recommend you read at least three books from each list before deciding whether English Literature is the right A-Level course for you. CLASSICS Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion, Northanger Abbey Charlotte Bronte Emily Bronte Anne Bronte Wilkie Collins Charles Dickens Jane Eyre Wuthering Heights The Tenant of Wildfell Hall The Woman in White, The Moonstone David Copperfield, Nicholas Nickleby, Hard Times, The Old Curiosity Shop, Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities, Bleak House George Eliot Silas Marner, Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss, Middlemarch E. M. Forster A Room with a View, A Passage to India, Howard s End Thomas Hardy Under the Greenwood Tree, Far From the Madding Crowd, Jude the Obscure, The Return of the Native, The Woodlanders, Tess of the D Urbervilles Henry James Daisy Miller D. H. Lawrence Sons and Lovers, The Rainbow, Women in Love, Lady Chatterley s Lover Sir Thomas More Edgar Allen Poe Utopia (short stories) The Pit and the Pendulum, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Black Cat Robert Louis Stevenson Mary Shelley Bram Stoker William Thackeray Edith Wharton Treasure Island, Kidnapped, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde Frankenstein Dracula Vanity Fair The Reef, The Age of Innocence, The House of Mirth, The Custom of The Country Virginia Woolf Mrs Dalloway, Orlando, To the Lighthouse 14 P a g e

15 MODERN CLASSICS Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Americanah, Half of a Yellow Sun Isabel Allende Maya Angelou Kate Atkinson Raymond Chandler Agatha Christie Louis de Bernieres John Buchan Joseph Conrad Anita Desai Daphne Du Maurier Sebastian Faulks Graeme Greene Khaled Hosseini Aldous Huxley Doris Lessing David Lodge Katherine Mansfield Toni Morrison George Orwell Philip Pullman Annie Proulx Jean Rhyss J.D. Salinger Vikram Seth Carol Shields Jane Smiley Meera Syal Donna Tartt Barry Unsworth Alice Walker Keith Waterhouse The House of Spirits I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Behind the Scenes of the Museum The Big Sleep Murder mysteries solved by Hercule Poirrot and Miss Marple Captain Corelli s Mandolin The Thirty-Nine Steps Under Western Eyes Fasting, Feasting Rebecca, Jamaica Inn Birdsong, Charlotte Gray Brighton Rock The Kite Runner Brave New World The Fifth Child Nice Work Collected short stories Sula, The Bluest Eye, Beloved 1984, Down and Out in Paris and London Northern Lights series The Shipping News Wide Sargasso Sea The Catcher in the Rye A Suitable Boy The Stone Diaries, Larry s Party A Thousand Acres Anita and Me The Secret History, The Little Friend, The Goldfinch Morality Play, Sacred Hunger The Color Purple Soho 15 P a g e

16 Pre-Course Tasks You must complete the following tasks for your first English lesson in September: 1. Write a detailed review of your favourite book. At least 2 A4 sides long. In your intro, explain the main premise of the book and why it is your favourite book. Write 3-4 main paragraphs, focusing on a main feature or aspect of the book in each paragraph (e.g. key themes, characters, main events, writer s purpose and wider messages). In your conclusion, highlight why students and teachers should/must read this book! 2. Write a critical review of William Blake s poem The Garden of Love (a copy of the poem is on the next page). Before planning and writing your review, you will need to research the poem and the poet. Your research will help inform your ideas and you can include any critical comments you come across in your essay to support your ideas. At least 2 A4 sides long. In your intro, explain what this poem is about and identify the key themes that are explored. Write 3-4 main paragraphs, focusing on Blake s methods in each paragraph (e.g. language, voice, form, structure). For example, how does he use language to convey his ideas about love and religion? Link your ideas in each paragraph to context where you can, using the research you have undertaken. For example, how might contemporary readers have reacted to this poem compared to modern readers? In your conclusion, outline what you think Blake s main message is and then explain how effectively you think he communicates this. 16 P a g e

17 The Garden of Love I went to the Garden of Love, And saw what I never had seen: A chapel was built in the midst, Where I used to play on the green. And the gates of this chapel were shut, And Thou shalt not writ over the door; So I turned to the Garden of Love, That so many sweet flowers bore. And I saw it was filled with graves, And tomb-stones where flowers should be, And priests in black gowns were walking their rounds, And binding with briars my joys and desires. William Blake 17 P a g e