English Lit for A-level?

Just finished my English Lit A level - gonna mirror what itsConnor said. Enjoying the texts really helps, and you'll find the material more interesting to engage with in sixth form, because the course gets broader and less of it is about spieling off about foreshadowing. There's a lot more of understanding why writers employ techniques and how critics have typically engaged with them (this is great because you can just learn a couple of quotes from specific critics and that fills the relevant AO, and from that point you make a couple of links between that with the text and you've got marks).

There is a lot more memorising, especially at AS (on the old specs I found A2 less time consuming), but you'll write essays over the year and as long as you keep them, you've got ready frames because there'll be those key quotes you can apply anywhere.

Looking at the Spec, 20% of the whole A level is coursework, which is usually a big perk of doing English (if you perfect and redraft this as much as possible before submitting it to your teachers, you guarantee yourself a nice boost towards your grade).

Good luck, and I'd definitely recommend taking it. AS was a drag but by A2, it's such a light relief from subjects like history, which just have so much content!

Hey, I also aspire to study law at UCL. For my alevels that I'm starting this year I'm doing English Lit, Politics, Biology and Chemistry. I got a B in English Lang and an A in English Lit (3 off an A*). Even though it's not amazing I absolutely love literature and I believe I can get an A. As long as you enjoy it enough to work hard in you should be fine

I received Bs in both English Lang&Lit. I'm aspiring to study law at either UCL, KCL or LSE and they all require A*AA at A-level. I just want to know will I be capable enough of getting at least an A at A-level English lit. Also I want to know how different is it from GCSE and pretty much anything I would need to know before I decide to pick it. My other options would be History, and Sociology. If I change my mind on English Lit, I will be picking up Government&Politics instead.
Thanks.

I got a B in English Lit and Lang at GCSE, and got an A in English Literature at A-Level, so it is do-able. Personally, I feel like the most important thing is to read as much as you can! Not only do you build up a good bank of wider reading, but the more you read, the easier it becomes. I remember being really intimidated by the texts when we started A-Level but they became easier and more natural to read the more I read outside of class. Also, reading does really help with your technique in essay writing (I'd also recommend loads of past papers, even making up your own if you run out of them!)

I've just finished my AS year. I did AQA literature at GCSE and I'm with edexcel for the A Level. I got an A* at GCSE. In my opinion the skill set you need at a level doesn't really change. It's one of the few courses I found wasn't that different. I've mildly enjoyed it this year. However it used to be my favourite subject, now it's definitely not.

My advice to you would be to check which exam board you are with. Edexcel is definitely the hardest to my knowledge. This year we've covered 28 poems, a play, and 2 novels. Which is a LOT. Especially if like me, you don't exactly love the things you end up studying ( for example, I hate modern literature, and much prefer the pre 1900 stuff, but half my course was modern). So definitely check that because I ended up hating my life at some points and had no motivation to study, which can hinder grades. I hovered around a top end B all year, and miraculously pulled out an A in the exam. So it definitely can be done even if you end up putting in (a lot) less effort than you should.

Make no mistake, it's a very hard A-Level, and many of my STEM friends have pitied our work load. If you're afraid of hard work or a big jump from GCSE, definitely avoid history like the plague. I have very bright friends who did really well at GCSE that've completely bombed history this year. It's a very specific type of answer that gets you the top marks and some people never quite grasp how to write that way. I absolutely loved history though. Been getting fantastic marks and genuinely enjoyed my Angevin kings exam this year. (Sad I know).
I imagine sociology is similar to psychology where it's largely a memory game.

I don't have any experience with Government and Politics but it's supposed to be really interesting?

Good luck! Hope this has helped in some way, feel free to message me if you have any more questions. I take English Lit, History, Psychology and Law. 😊

I was useless at gcse at lit, I got d's in most of my mocks, I was going to do lang but my school persuaded me to do lot instead and I am glad! The skills you use are just like gcse but with more context involved, I think this makes it more interesting though. It's a large volume of work but I don't find it that hard, I like it

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Thank you so much for your response, believe me I really appreciate it as I've been looking for someone who achieved higher with the same grade as me. I'll make sure to stack up my list of novels to read, and hopefully my vocabulary will grow along with my ability to read advanced texts. Thanks again, I've now come to a final decision and will be taking up English lit this September.

You're welcome Reading a lot really does help, and when you find the books you really like, it isn't much of a chore at all (I actually enjoyed the course and found all of my favourite authors though A2 lit)!. I'm glad you're going to do it, best of luck! It's an enjoyable course, I'll miss it at uni

Ahh good luck on Uni, btw do you have any book recommendations I might enjoy to read during my spare time?

Thank you!

Plays are really good to read because you can get through them quite quickly. I loved The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams are also great.

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is interesting, especially for the time period it was written in, and it is only 6,000 words long, which is a bonus! I'd also recommend the Bronte sisters (especially Charlotte), Ian McEwan, Daphne du Maurier and D. H. Lawrence. Hope this is helpful to you