English Literature

Welcome! Congratulations on making an excellent choice of A Level subject! 

Further down this page you will find a resource which is a collection of articles about 

Tyger, Tyger (p40) I suggest you start here: you will already know this poem by William Blake. Take a look at in depth analysis of something that seems to simple, yet has hidden depths. 

Macbeth (p12) Again, you will know this from IGCSE. Chances are you know this play pretty well. Studying a play for A Level is a different affair, though, as you will see when you read this.

The Art of the Essay (p66) A fascinating article on what makes an effective essay. You will write a lot essays, making this essential reading. 

Re-creative Writing (p62) Part of the English Literature A Level involves the option to re-create a set text - write in the style of another writer, showing how well you understand their methods and techniques. It's something you are unlikely to have experience of, and is an excellent place to start. Why not try writing an extra chapter for Of Mice and Men? Or an extra scene for An Inspector Calls? 

Literature on Screen (p20) This article covers what happens when texts move from the page to the screen. It starts with Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, a dystopian novel that we often teach at A Level. If you haven't, you should watch the Channel 4 series - be warned, it's a tough watch. 

The Great American Novel? (p22) You may well have read Of Mice and Men, and maybe To Kill a Mockingbird, but F. Scott's Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is definitely an all-time-great. Money, sex, affairs, partying, cars - this is a gem of a novel and well worth a read. This article may well whet your appetite. Plus, there's a film starring Leonardo Di Caprio as jay Gatsby, complete with a soundtrack by Jay Z. What's not to like? 

The Lovely Bones (p28) Perhaps a page-turner rather than a heavyweight text, but this article looks at Alice Sebold's dark but inspiring novel from an A Level perspective. The first chapter of the novel is incredibly striking - told from the point of view of girl who has just been assaulted and murdered. 

The Crossover Novel (p24) With texts such as the Harry Potter novels, Lord of the Rings, Twilight, Noughts and Crosses, The Hunger Games and the Gone series proving popular with readers of all ages, what are the ingredients of a blockbuster?