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What is English literature A Level like?

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Original post by libb
The GCSE workload is incomparable to the A-level workload. You'll find out when you start sixth form.

One difference is the huge step up in the complexity of the reading material. Not only are they much longer but also pretty challenging. I read Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights for example and as Victorian Literature you can imagine how heavy going they are. Maybe read the first chapter of one of these online - give you a feel for it. Both amazing books though I might add!

The biggest challenger however is your wider reading. In GCSE you only really read exam board set texts. For A-level, you don't really have many set texts and they expect you to read around your genre/era as in the exam the questions focus on you making links to these other books/plays/poems you have read independently. For AS, I think I read about 7 wider reading texts. For A2, about 15.

If you love reading, you'll love it! Hope this helps :-)


I don't think that's the case for all A Level boards. In OCR, you are required to make detailed use of contexts, but the type of context (literary, historical, etc.) is not specified. For AS, I didn't even read the texts I was studying let alone other relevant ones! =P I don't think it cost me too much, either - I somehow managed to get 95%.
Original post by Cal-lum
Thank you very much :adore:

Yeah I have become a very organised person recently and plan to really put my all into my A levels so I should just about be able to cope! I'm actually really excited to start my A levels, I think its a mixture of taking interesting subjects and having a bit of extra independence and trust from teachers :smile:. I think over the few weeks after we finish GCSE's I'm going to start making a few notes on the subjects and doing some background reading just to make sure I know what I'm in for ;D

The essay advice will help a lot, I think its a bit silly that at GCSE you don't get the opportunity to write many essays, so when it comes to A level it is bound to be a big shock. Oh well.

Creative writing sounds very fun :smile:


You're welcome :tongue:

It sounds like you'll be fine then. A levels are so much more fun than GCSEs - you're actually investigating and analysing things rather than just memorising the textbook (although you do that too...) and the independence is great. Background reading is definitely a good idea, I wish I'd done more haha, I definitely will for next year.

That's true, it is quite silly. At GCSE if we were set an essay it seemed like a massive thing and I'd spend days working on it; now I churn one out every evening. Be prepared to turn into an essay writing machine :wink:

Creative writing so much fun that it seems kind of insane that we get an A level at the end of it, not that I'm complaining.
Original post by sultanan09
What is this AS level like? I actually started enjoying English in year 11 and my teacher told me to take it but I'm not sure I can handle it along with my other main subjects.


It depends what you're attention span is like. Personally I really struggled just because I think I may have ADHD as I find it so hard to concentrate. But if you have a passion for it and enjoy reading and discussing interpretations then I'd say go for it, you can always drop it after the first year.
Depends on your teacher and your topic.
I did AQA and Carol Ann Duffy's femine gospels. If I knew what was in store for me I would have run and never looked back.
If you want to do English Lit make sure you have good teachers, I think it is a subject where if you don't have a good teacher or naturally skilled in it you won't do that well.
My school did the AQA spec and for our three exam texts we did The Great Gatsby, The Secret Scripture (which personally I loved) and Tennyson & Browning poetry.

For our coursework texts we did two plays, Noises Off (a farce which our teacher selected because she wanted to be "different" - it was really hard to write about) and the Taming of the Shrew.

I really enjoy literature and so find it quite easy. If you like it, I'd say go for it; it's really not as much work as my other subjects. During the year we recieved like one essay every two weeks, and sometimes the essay would be substituted with a different bit of homework. Revision wise, I didn't have to do any for the AS exam, but I think at A2 (which I'm starting in a couple of days) you do have to revise because the exam is closed-book. As long as you enjoy reading and writing you will be fine.
Reply 25
English Lit, to me, is a lot more enjoyable at A Level than it is at GCSE, however it's a lot harder. Genuinely the hardest exams I have ever done were my AS and A2 Lit exams (the A2 one I actually did this morning, ha.) It's very easy to do in class, especially if you have a good teacher, as the texts are really enjoyable and the analysis and debate is a lot more mature. However, in an exam it's a lot harder because it comes down to how well you can answer the question and you have to make sure you don't go off topic. It's a very hard subject, and it's totally different to GCSE.

At GCSE I got an A in English Literature, and in my AS year I also got an A, but I was very surprised about it. I'm hoping to retain it this year and feel strangely positive after the exam this morning however it's very hard to predict how well you have done - I thought I had got a D in the AS exam last year, when actually it was a high A. Whereas in my other subjects (Politics, Law and Sociology) I usually come out of an exam knowing how well I have done, and have been right in my predictions. However, one positive is that the grade boundaries and UMS conversation rates are very low for English Lit. Last year in the AS exam you could have got 61/80 and it would have been 120/120 UMS, full marks. While that is a very good thing, it does act as a reminder of how hard the subject is.

Each college will do different texts, it is down to them what they choose, but each does do the same amount. The texts won't change year by year on the exam, but they can change in a college if they choose to do a different text on the exam as there are a number of choices. However, last year I do believe Dracula was taken off the exam, and was actually taught by a college not knowing it had been taken off, leading to some very confused students come exam day!

You do 2 pieces of coursework for each year, and an exam per year. For my coursework in AS, we did 'Much Ado About Nothing' where we had to write a monologue as one of the characters. The we did 'The History Boys', which was just an academic essay. For our exam we did 'The Great Gatsby', 'The Kite Runner', and poetry by Browning and Rossetti.
For A2, our first piece of coursework was a comparative piece on the play 'A Doll's House' and a text of our choice, however we were given a list by our teacher on what we should use; I chose 'The Yellow Wallpaper.' Then our next coursework we did another text of our choice and had to give either a Feminist or Marxist reading, or debate whether it should be part of the literary canon. I did a Marxist reading of Tony Harrison's poem 'V.' And for the exam you will either do gothic or pastoral literature, we did gothic and our texts were 'The Bloody Chamber', 'Macbeth', and 'The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale.' The A2 exam is also closed-book, meaning you don't get the texts in the hall with you, you have to pretty much memorise all your quotes off by heart. It's very tough.

I think you would enjoy Literature, and I certainly recommend it. However, as I said, it's very different to GCSE. For A Level, you actually have to know how to write succinctly and fluently, expression is very important and you must unpick a question correctly, it's miles away from GCSE where you just had to analyse a few different aspects of a text and that got you an A. If you're good at GCSE, it doesn't mean you'll be good at the A Level, however I do recommend it because it is a beneficial subject to have, and will give you a break from your maths and science and allow you to be a bit more creative. And if you don't do well, just drop it at the end of your AS year.
Original post by possum_box
How many books/poems/plays do you do?
Also are they different every year and for every school... I'm doing it next year and I want to read them first :smile:


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For AS, the whole theme was WW1 Literature. For the exam, we read Regeneration and Oxford Book of World War Poetry. Then for AS coursework we read Birdsong for one essay, and then compared to dramas: Not About Heroes and Journey's End. This put me off reading WW1 Lit as we also had to read widely for the exam and I chose Brother's in War epistolary book, All Quiet On the Western Front (still need to finish this) and A Ghost Road.

For A2, the major theme was Love Through the Ages. For coursework everyone read Othello, Enduring Love and Wuthering Heights. But teachers gave us the option to pick other texts if we despised one. I despised Wuthering Heights, so I chose Dorian Gray instead. My essay was on morality. For exam, we did A Woman of No Importance in class and then we had to read dramas, plays and prose for wider reading for the exam.

Do you know what exam board your school is with? If not, they should have it on their website
Original post by Cal-lum
As a curious Y11, what subjects do you take?

I've chosen 4 essay subjects: Lit, RS, Econ(kinda essay), Politics..Worried that I will struggle with the workload - any tips?

Thanks


I also did 5 essay subjects: English Language, English Literature, History and Philosophy and Ethics and General Studies (General was compulsory).

I think it gets a lot harder when every teacher is assessing you in term time when they want essays handed in in the same week all your other teachers wants it.

Tips would be if they do set essays then just make sure perhaps you do like a plan for it in your frees and then do the essays at home. If not, then perhaps at lunch time. It's just time management. I think regardless of if it's science or essay subjects, pretty much all if not, most AS level students will experience time management.
Original post by sultanan09
What is this AS level like? I actually started enjoying English in year 11 and my teacher told me to take it but I'm not sure I can handle it along with my other main subjects.


its a bit warm and moist. there's many ups and downs. times when you feel like strangling your incompetent teacher.
Original post by economicsrocks
I do English Lit and I find it's not too difficult, the texts are really interesting and the workload is not heavy. We've had roughly 2-3 essays a term. A lot of people take English with your other A Levels, it is definitely manageable. However, only take it if you want to and you enjoy English, not because your teacher wants you to! :smile:


2-3 essays a term? How long are your terms? Doesn't sound nearly enough...we had one 2000 word essays a week for each unit if I remember rightly...
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by possum_box

So I don't know if I will find the workload unmanagable, but I know that Im definately not going to change my mind about English Lit... If I happened to do an English Degree do I need any other subjects aside from English? (Not a fan of history after a tough yr 11, and they sadly don't offer classical civillisation. Aside from those two i don't know any other subjects which would be useful)


As long as you've got either English Literature and usually English Language and Literature (combined course), it's usually not an issue. However, some unis require 2 essay subjects etc. English Language is really useful of course. So is History, but as you said you don't like it. Apart from those two, I think any other essay-based subject would be reasonably fine.
Original post by Cool_JordH
I also did 5 essay subjects: English Language, English Literature, History and Philosophy and Ethics and General Studies (General was compulsory).

I think it gets a lot harder when every teacher is assessing you in term time when they want essays handed in in the same week all your other teachers wants it.

Tips would be if they do set essays then just make sure perhaps you do like a plan for it in your frees and then do the essays at home. If not, then perhaps at lunch time. It's just time management. I think regardless of if it's science or essay subjects, pretty much all if not, most AS level students will experience time management.


Thank you! :smile:
Original post by possum_box
I'm planning on taking Physics, Economics (the only plausible option in that block), English Lit, Maths. And I've put my name down for Further Maths but I'm probably going to drop it :cool:

So I don't know if I will find the workload unmanagable, but I know that Im definately not going to change my mind about English Lit... If I happened to do an English Degree do I need any other subjects aside from English? (Not a fan of history after a tough yr 11, and they sadly don't offer classical civillisation. Aside from those two i don't know any other subjects which would be useful)


I do the same subjects as you (except from I do chemistry and not physics!), and the workload is definitely manageable. In fact, English is my favourite subject this year and it's a nice break from the others. Further maths as well might be a bit excessive in terms of workload, and it's much better to do better in 4 than mediocre in 5 AS levels. (that's not to say you shouldn't take further maths if you want to though!). For an English Lit degree, I'm pretty sure you only need English, even though another essay subject would be useful. :smile:
Hi aspiring English lit student!
I too was in a similar situation to you a couple years back, I've always wanted to study English but when the time came closer, I was terrified at the prospect the work load/reading, especially with other A levels that required a lot of effort too. However, I have to say, studying English was the best thing I have ever done! The advantage with English is that you'll need it for all your subjects. You will learn how to structure, plan essays and write coherently and grammatically. AS was definitely hard, I won't sugar coat it for you, because you are taking a big leap but honestly looking back from my AS to right now I have grown soooooo much! During Alevels you cannot achieve full marks in exams unless you are clear and are well structured and English will really enhance that.

Also, English isn't all about symbolism and analysis... Though a big part, you will look at historical/political/scientific context of publication, which ties in brilliantly if you're studying sciences or humanities. Also Freudian/feminist/Marxist interpretations, great for humanities,politics, history, psychology, re students. All subjects are covered In English, making students broad in knowledge, really open minded and ties everything together. A2 is really synoptic base for most subjects, and English is great for preparing you for that.

My advice would be however, is to do it if you do actually enjoy English and analysing, reading etc. Often I found my class complaining about hating to read or writing too much... I don't know what they were expecting in an English Lit class...

Good luck and choose what you want to do, not teachers 😊 I'm sure you will choose wisely and if you do pick English, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did because it was honestly incredible! I had my last lesson on Thursday and I'm feeling incredibly nostalgic. Good luck!
Original post by sultanan09
What is this AS level like? I actually started enjoying English in year 11 and my teacher told me to take it but I'm not sure I can handle it along with my other main subjects.


What exam board is it on? I'm currently studying A2 English on AQA board and I love it. I'm slightly biased because I'm studying it at uni, but at least 3 of my friends picked English Lit up as a 4th AS level (alongside 3 science subjects) expecting to drop it at A2 but they carried it on to A level! :smile:

I think it's relatively easy - you study approx 6 - 8 texts a year but you go through it in class; you can pretty much take the exam without revising if you're a naturally good writer!

It's 40% coursework based atm which gets people's grades up, but idk if Gove is changing that. You could always start the A Level and then drop it?

I took Maths, English, History and Politics. Personally I found Maths the easiest, then English and then the other two (if this helps you place it into difficulty context)
I think it depends entirely on you and how well you work and how determined you are. I have a friend who takes maths, biology and physics along with English lit and her determination and dedication gets her Bs and As! English lit was actually my favourite subject, I loved it! Not difficult at all in my opinion. The only thing I personally struggled a little with was the Gatsby coursework essay, but others found it pretty easy. You could always try it and if after a couple of weeks you don't want to take it anymore or can't handle it with other subjects you can switch to something else! Good luck :smile:

Also, my exam board was WJEC, if that's any help.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by Taliahart
What exam board is it on? I'm currently studying A2 English on AQA board and I love it. I'm slightly biased because I'm studying it at uni, but at least 3 of my friends picked English Lit up as a 4th AS level (alongside 3 science subjects) expecting to drop it at A2 but they carried it on to A level! :smile:

I think it's relatively easy - you study approx 6 - 8 texts a year but you go through it in class; you can pretty much take the exam without revising if you're a naturally good writer!

It's 40% coursework based atm which gets people's grades up, but idk if Gove is changing that. You could always start the A Level and then drop it?

I took Maths, English, History and Politics. Personally I found Maths the easiest, then English and then the other two (if this helps you place it into difficulty context)


Yeah I too am doing aqa and hope to study English at Uni so properly slightly bias. However.. It's not an immense amount of reading. First you I did two novels and Tennyson poems and second year I did 3 gothic texts. Cw is about 40% and I got full marks which actually speaks volumes as with enough preparation you should easily do well. Also bear in my either one of your exam will be closed whilst the other is open. (This means you take novels in one year and the next year it's from memory).
Original post by Taliahart


I took Maths, English, History and Politics. Personally I found Maths the easiest, then English and then the other two (if this helps you place it into difficulty context)


Thats unusual, I normally hear people moan about how hard it is.
I'm taking maths next year: I'm not one of the geniuses but I think Im gonna get an A and I enjoy it.
Did you get an A* in it?
Original post by possum_box
Thats unusual, I normally hear people moan about how hard it is.
I'm taking maths next year: I'm not one of the geniuses but I think Im gonna get an A and I enjoy it.
Did you get an A* in it?


You're doing AS at the moment?

I took the A Level a year early, doing C1/2 in year 11 and C3/C4/S1 in year 12 so I've not actually finished the A Level, but if I get 5 ums i get an A* :smile:

The reason I found it easier than my other subjects is because the past papers just repeat themselves over and over again! You can prepare for it way better than English for example, because you don't know what the Eng questions will ask you.

I'm natural quite good at maths, but by no means a 'maths genius'! good luck with your a level :smile:
Original post by Burst15
Last year in the AS exam you could have got 61/80 and it would have been 120/120 UMS, full marks. While that is a very good thing, it does act as a reminder of how hard the subject is.


How I envy you. With our board (OCR), the A grade boundary is usually 53 or 54 out of 60. I'm just glad that I did well enough last year and in the coursework that I can get 58/120 ums in the exam this year which I think is about 33/60 to get an A overall. =P

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