What is English lit a level really like?

Considering taking English Lit as I’ve changed my mind on a levels

I think that it all depends on your teachers, the books your studying and how good you are at writing etc, I was getting A/B in the subject at AS level but found it very overwhelming to revise as we had to learn 15 poems and like 4 books and context and theory's for each and that was only the first year! I was finding it bad as I was taking classics as well so it was too much reading and hard to revise so I decided to drop! I think it's all down to your preferences and whether you like reading... I know that A2 they expect you to read and talk about other literature you have read outside of class

Thankyou! What is classics? It’s a new course available to my sixth form this year and I don’t really know what it’s about

It's ancient history, culture and books basically! Last year we read the translated version of the odyssey and looked at a variety of roman and Greek text on women of the time then at A2 were looking at Herodotus' histories and Virgils The Aeneid! I like it because it's a mix of history, English, culture and art (in some parts of the course depending what your school chooses), it's good if your looking to do essays like in English but less intense and a bit more history based! I started the course with no experience of ancient history and it's definitely not as hard as you'd imagine

i'm in my second year of English Lit at A level.
in my college we have 3 exams
poetry : Hughes and plath poetry and Chuacer (medieval poetry)
Drama : king lear and then comparing Doctor Faustus and Enron
unseen : prose (section from any novel between 1880 and 1910) and unseen poetry.

i have really enjoyed the studying of these texts.
im not a big fan of poetry but this exam is open book which helps. however for the drama unit you have to learn quotations which is really hard. as you have to narrow them down in order to learn them and then your fearful you havent learnt the right ones.

i also really enjoyed the coursework. we looked at dystopian novels which was a genre i hadn't looked at. i wrote on the Handmaids tale by Margaret Atwood and the Road by Cormac Mccarthy.
this coursework was really simply tbh

i am ******** myself for the exams however. but im sure if the staff are good you'll be fine.
just be prepared for quite a big shock from GCSE English Lit and be committed and organised

hope this helped xxx

Oh gosh I feel your pain as my brother is in A2 of English Lit and can’t stand it! new spec GCSE is horrible. 2 books 1 play and 15 poems to remember plus all the other subjects I’m not coping very well atm🙃 but I’m just looking forward to having 3 subjects even though they’re gonna be so much harder I’ll have more time and frees and if I enjoy them that’s half the job as my mum says .

yeah A levels are good cos you're doing subjects you have chosen and therefore are more commited to them.

my one and only piece of advise would be to take the first year seriously as otherwise 2nd year is soooooo much harder.
use your study periods to keep on top of work and keep organised


xx

I’m planning on making flash cards for my subjects in my frees everyday then every Sunday make mind maps and notes and hopefully keep on top of things. What other a levels do you take??

sounds like a good plan!

i also take Aqa sociology and Aqa history (russia and tudors)

Ahh I do gcse Sociology and have decided to not take it for a Level as it’s the same thing just with not sociologists name so I’m abit bored of it now. And history I would be so interested in however i (regrettably) didn’t take it for gcse, instead I took media which I hate.

oh right i hadn't done sociology before which is why i took it and i love it at alevel. i intend on doing it a degree level

i did take gcse history and i absolutely loved it!!!
however a level history is sooooooooooo hard. i pretty much want to cry ever lesson. im sure ill get there eventually.
cos you study a whole period like the tudors and they ask you 3 questions on anything from that whole time!!!!

arggggggg

It consists of a lot of essay writing, but if you like reading and challenging yourself it would be a good option for you. Good Luck!!

Woahhhhh that doesn’t sound good. Also I did consider doing sociology at degree level but then I realised I wouldn’t know what to do after I’d you get me? Apart from social work which I don’t think I would want to do. Don’t let me put you off but do you have a route as to what job you might do after?? My sister did a degree in sociology and criminology and hasn’t used it