Suggested reading for these A-Level Subjects?
Discussion for A-Level students and for those choosing their A-Level subjects.
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Suggested reading for these A-Level Subjects?Hello
I'm in Year 11 and finished all my exams so I've got a hell of a lot of spare time on my hands now. For A-Levels I want to take English Literature, Economics, French and History (unsure as to which exam boards).
Can anybody suggest books/material I could read this summer that would give me a head start for September and help build my general knowledge for each of the courses? -
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Re: Suggested reading for these A-Level Subjects?It really depends on your exam boards and what books your teachers choose.
English Literature is quite vast but I would suggest Shakespeare (Othello, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Henry IV), Doctor Faustus, Pride and Prejudice, Frankenstein, Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, Jane Eyre, Great Expectations. Any classics novels really. I also studied more modern texts such as A Street Car Named Desire, Things Fall Apart. Poets like William Wordsworth, William Blake, Robert Frost.
History do you know what period you are doing (like early modern)? You could read Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, books on The French Revolution, Hitler, Lenin/Stalin, The Tudors, The Stuarts, Cold War. Andrew MacCulloch is an interesting historian. -
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Re: Suggested reading for these A-Level Subjects?For Lit the reading list could be pretty extensive but whatever novels you'll study at AS. For a challenge Shakespeare's Complete Works and for your life something along these lines.(Original post by AletiaL)
Hello
I'm in Year 11 and finished all my exams so I've got a hell of a lot of spare time on my hands now. For A-Levels I want to take English Literature, Economics, French and History (unsure as to which exam boards).
Can anybody suggest books/material I could read this summer that would give me a head start for September and help build my general knowledge for each of the courses?
History again books on the subject you'll study. If you're feeling brave EH Carr 'What is History' or something in an area you're interested in, for example for Russia Figes' 'A People's Tragedy' or 'Hitler' by Ian Kershaw for the Nazis.
French as said above films, also the French news or JT20h if you're looking for something quite advanced. It is also my personal belief that everyone should watch La Haine at some point in their life. It's brilliant. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfq4EK2BhBg -
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You are in for a hell of a ride with those combination, lots of work im not gonna lie to you but here we go:
English lit.:
1. English Literature AS & A2
French:
2. Élan (Choose your exam board; my guess is it will probably be AQA)
"Dont know much about history, dont much economics, but i do know that i helped you, what a wonderful world this would be... La ta ta ta (history)"x2
This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my GT-I9100Last edited by ken2; 04-07-2012 at 23:45. -
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Re: Suggested reading for these A-Level Subjects?These were my textbooks which give a good overview of the Revolution(Original post by AletiaL)
History we study French Revolution
http://www.amazon.co.uk/France-Revol...1442087&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Napoleon-Fra...d_bxgy_b_img_b -
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Re: Suggested reading for these A-Level Subjects?For French, keep up grammar, dont get to A Level and find you've forgotten everything.
Also start learning the subjunctive, start to learn how it is formed and possibly some example phrases. This would put u at an advantage as they dont teach it at GCSE.
Thats why i got an A* when i used a subjunctive. Sorry just had to through that in there
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Re: Suggested reading for these A-Level Subjects?For English, I read the books that we're studying in Unit 1 (The Kite Runner and The Great Gatsby for me, it'll vary between colleges though) and I might start reading extra on History, but on my own interests instead of what's happening at college.
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Re: Suggested reading for these A-Level Subjects?hey(Original post by AletiaL)
Hello
I'm in Year 11 and finished all my exams so I've got a hell of a lot of spare time on my hands now. For A-Levels I want to take English Literature, Economics, French and History (unsure as to which exam boards).
Can anybody suggest books/material I could read this summer that would give me a head start for September and help build my general knowledge for each of the courses? Those are exactly the same A-Levels I took! I didnt do any reading over summer for my A-Levels..i wrote a novel in my yr 11 summer...instead when I started Y12 I did lots of reading and worked super hard. Most of my extra reading was for History- but that depends on which topics you're studying. And for English lit..I just read critical opinions on the books/texts I was studying.
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Re: Suggested reading for these A-Level Subjects?Freakonomics isn't useful in the sense that it doesn't teach you any of the content, but it's a relatively light read & gets you in the right frame of mind for "thinking like an economist". Other good books are "The Undercover Economist" by Tim Harford and "The Armchair Economist" by Steven E. Landsburg.(Original post by AletiaL)
Is Freakonomics of any use to the Economics course? History we study French Revolution and Germany in Depth.
For the French Revolution I would suggest "Vive La Revolution" by Mark Steel, again it's a lighter, humorous read that gives a good overview & introduction to the subject. There are also some good videos on YouTube on the Revolution. most of all just try to enjoy your free time, before all the hard work starts
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We got taught subjunctive? And I knew how to form it already(Original post by Oaktree)
For French, keep up grammar, dont get to A Level and find you've forgotten everything.
Also start learning the subjunctive, start to learn how it is formed and possibly some example phrases. This would put u at an advantage as they dont teach it at GCSE.
Thats why i got an A* when i used a subjunctive. Sorry just had to through that in there
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