Which texts did you study for GCSE and A-Level English?

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Hey, for a-level English lit I've studied : Various love and War poems, war poems mostly from Wilfred Owen. Texts: Othello, Atonement, My Boy Jack, The Great Gatsby, The Yellow Wallpaper, The Woman In White (which was a choice of my own), Regeneration and i need to chose another book which is similar to Regeneration.

Thanks. Was Wilkie Collins a completely free choice, or did it have to be a nineteenth century novel? I wish I'd had such freedom!

Reply 21

GoodGirlFaith

Original post by Perfuddled

Found it, thanks! Is Heroes the one by Robert Cormier about the deformed war veteran?

That's the one :smile:

I don't know how common it is as an exam text, I've never seen it anywhere other than wjec.

Reply 22

Abyssal

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Romeo and Juliet
Animal Farm

Reply 23

Perfuddled

Original post by GoodGirlFaith

That's the one :smile:

I don't know how common it is as an exam text, I've never seen it anywhere other than wjec.

It was an enjoyable-ish read. Seems a bit, 'It's about the war, let's put it on the course!', though. I haven't been able to find any study material on it. How did you get by?

Reply 24

Know Your Enemy

Original post by Perfuddled

I'm training to be an English teacher, and want to increase my subject knowledge by reading as many texts taught at GCSE and A-Level as possible. So, what did you study? Thanks!

I studied *'Of Mice and Men' for my Unit 1 Lit exam. Started reading (well, finished it) in the Summer Term of Year 9. Didn't really like it as I thought it was boring. However, by the time I sat the exam this January, I didn't really mind it and actually found it somewhat interesting.

For my coursework, we did **Romeo & Juliet (ugh, Shakespeare). No disrespect for the guy; he probably has some amazing plays and all, but analysing old English is not one of my interests. Also, the romance in it doesn't appeal to me. Just not fussed on all the analysing you have to do.

I did ***Heroes for Unit 2 which I actually didn't mind (most people hated it - even one of the English teachers said it was tosh). I liked it though; enjoyed it more than OMAM. We also did ****'An Inspector Calls' for the other section of this section. Loved reading that!

This is the WJEC exam board. I don't know what texts are included for the A-Level spec (didn't choose Lit) but I know there's some Jane Eyre involved somewhere...

* I assume everyone knows the author for this so this footnote isn't necessary.
** Also obvious.
*** Robert Cormier.
**** J.B Priestly.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 25

username3690954

Original post by Perfuddled

I'm training to be an English teacher, and want to increase my subject knowledge by reading as many texts taught at GCSE and A-Level as possible. So, what did you study? Thanks!

GCSE:
coursework- comparing Macbeth and the Woman in Black by Susan Hill (analysis of supernatural or presentation of women)
exam- Journey's End by R.C Sherriff

A Level:
coursework- poetry by Philip Larkin (feminist/marxist reading) God of Small things by Arundati Roy (post colonial reading)
social protest exam paper- poetry by Tony Harrison, Harvest by Jim Crace, and a Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen
comedy exam paper- The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, Chaucer's Nuns Priest Tale and Twelfth Night

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 26

PoetryBlues

For GCSE I did:

Macbeth
The Lord of the Flies
Jekyll and Hyde
and an anthology of poems by different poets.

For AS level I'm doing:

The Remains of the Day
A Streetcar Named Desire
Jane Eyre
Mean Time by Carol Ann Duffy

For A level I'll be doing:

Hamlet
The Dutchess of Malfi
Black Swan Green
The Whitsun Weddings by Philip Larkin.

Good luck with your teaching! :smile:

Reply 27

aburden

At GCSE we did; romeo and juliet (other classes did Macbeth) an inspector calls, and pride and prejudice (though others did animal farm or a Christmas carol).

At a levels I do: a streetcar named desire, the awakening (the other class did the great Gatsby which seems much better), and the ladies paradise

Reply 28

Jadevchristine

For GCSE I studied Romeo and Juliet, An Inspector Calls and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde as well as the the anthology section of Love and Relationships for AQA.

Reply 29

soph2530

at GCSE we did Romeo and Juliet and Of Mice and Men. At A-Level we're doing Frankenstein, The War of the Worlds, Jane Eyre (coursework), King Lear and A Street Car Named Desire :smile:

Reply 30

sadforsadboys

I'm doing GCSE now and for literature we have sat an exam in Of Mice and Men and the next exam we will do will be based on Heaney and Hardy poems (I don't know what ones because we haven't covered a thing)

Reply 31

Purdy7

Mine was a considerable time ago, but we studied Jane Eyre, Macbeth and one of Chaucer's Tales. Jane Eyre was a nightmare chosen by a student because her parents insisted on it. It was the longest book in the selection list, and back then we had to learn everything by heart - no books etc allowed in the exam. Luckily for me I passed first time.