A level English Literature with JCH (2016 - 2018): Syllabus (specification): A Level in English Literature, OCR, H472 http://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/171200-specification-accredited-a-level-gce-english-literatureh472.pdf
Component 01 - written examination paper, worth 40% of the total A level Drama and Poetry pre-1900 (2 hours 30 minutes)
• Shakespeare The Tempest • Drama & poetry pre-1900 John Milton - Paradise Lost, books ix & x Henrik Ibsen - A Doll's House (English translation) [closed texts - quotations need to be learned for ALL THREE TEXTS]
Component 02 - written examination paper, worth 40% of the total A level Comparative and contextual study (2 hours 30 minutes)
• Close reading in chosen topic area ('Women in Literature') 'Unseen' extract from a relevant text
• Comparative & contextual study from chosen topic area ('Women in Literature') Virginia Woolf - Mrs Dalloway Sylvia Plath - The Bell Jar [closed texts - quotations need to be learned for BOTH TEXTS]
Component 03 - coursework, worth 20% of the total A level (around 3000 words total) Literature post-1900 ['Aspects of Ireland'] Close reading OR re-creative writing piece with commentary (around 1000 words) either Poems from Seamus Heaney New Selected Poems 1966 – 1987 (t.b.c.) or Poems from Matthew Sweeney Selected Poems (t.b.c.)
• Comparative essay (around 2000 words) Colm Tóibín - Brooklyn (2009) [core text; fiction] (t.b.c.) Selected play by Brian Friel [drama] (t.b.c.)
Programme of work Autumn Term 2016: to 18th November 2016 Introductory lessons including close-reading and critical writing skills. Introduction to Shakespeare and lessons on Component 01 Shakespeare text, The Tempest. 21st November 2016 to end of Autumn Term 2016 Introduction to Component 03 close reading project, including introduction to Irish literature; seminar lessons on poems by Heaney and Sweeney; drafting of coursework close reading / re-creative writing piece. Half-term - read either Sense and Sensibility (Austen) or Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë) or Tess of the d'Urbervilles (Hardy).
Winter vacation 2016: Refine and complete drafting of Component 03 close reading / re-creative writing piece; read Component 02 set text Mrs Dalloway. Spring Term 2017: to 13th January 2017 Final revisions to Component 03 close reading / re-creative writing piece; submit Friday 13th January. from 16th January 2017 Introduction to Component 02; lessons on Component 02 set text Mrs Dalloway; introduction to The Bell Jar. Half term - read second Component 02 set text The Bell Jar over the February half-term break. Spring vacation 2017: Read Component 03 core text Brooklyn. Re-read text and revise notes on Component 01 Shakespeare set text The Tempest.
Summer Term 2017: to 26th May 2017 Lessons on Component 02 second set text The Bell Jar; practice on unseen and comparative skills. From 5th June 2017 Seminar lessons on Brooklyn and drama texts by Friel; task-setting, planning and drafting Component 03 comparative essay task. Trial examination in Exams & Outings week. Summer vacation 2017: Complete full draft of Component 03 comparative essay task. Quotation learning for Component 01 Shakespeare text The Tempest. Read The Mill on the Floss (George Eliot) Read Book 1 of Milton's Paradise Lost
Autumn Term 2017: to 17th November 2017 Introduction to Milton; lessons on Component 01 set text Paradise Lost Books ix & x. from 20th November 2017 to end of term Introduction to Ibsen; lessons on Component 01 set text A Doll's House (English translation). Half-term - final proof-read, footnoting & bibliography for coursework essays submission.
Winter vacation 2017: Quotation learning for Milton Further quotation learning for The Tempest Re-read Mrs Dalloway and The Bell Jar, and start quotation learning for both texts. Spring Term 2018: To half-term Lessons on Component 01 set text A Doll's House; practise comparative essay skills for Component 01. Trial examinations in Exams & Outings week. From half-term Revision of Component 01 Shakespeare set text The Tempest; essay practice. Revision of Component 02 set texts Mrs Dalloway and The Bell Jar; essay practice for Component 02 including 'unseen' practice. Half term - quotation learning for A Doll's House
Spring vacation 2018: Full revision of all set texts, including quotation learning The Tempest Paradise Lost books ix & x A Doll's House Mrs Dalloway The Bell Jar Summer Term 2018: Revision of all set texts, including weekly timed-essay practice; final submission to exam-board of coursework for Component 03. Examinations (dates to be confirmed) Component 01 - written examination paper, worth 40% of the total A level Drama and Poetry pre-1900 (2 hours 30 minutes) Section 1 - Shakespeare one question worth 30 marks, divided in two parts: 1) worth 15 marks - requires close analysis essay of an extract from The Tempest and assesses AO2 and AO1; 2) worth 15 marks - asks you to consider a proposition using your knowledge of the whole of The Tempest and assesses AO1 and AO5. Section 2 - Drama & Poetry pre-1900 there will be a choice of six questions, each with a thematic or literary focus, each worth 30 marks. You must choose ONE of these, basing your answer on a comparative study with substantial discussion of BOTH Paradise Lost books ix & x and A Doll's House. AO3, AO4, AO1 and AO5 are assessed in this section. Component 02 - written examination paper, worth 40% of the total A level Comparative and contextual study (2 hours 30 minutes) This paper focuses on your comparative and contextual study 'Women in Literature' and sets two tasks: Task 1 - Close reading there will be one unseen prose extract (choose the one labelled 'Women in Literature') worth 30 marks. You analyse the extract; answers will be assessed for AO2, AO1 and AO3. Task 2 - Comparative essay there will be a choice of three questions - you choose ONE, worth 30 marks, which must enable you to compare Mrs Dalloway with The Bell Jar. You must range across the texts in your answer; you will be assessed for AO3, AO4, AO1 and AO5.
