English

English GCSE

Currently we are following the OCR specification for English and English Literature, Scheme B. This includes examination units on Non-fiction and Media, Short Stories and three pieces of continuous writing for English, with coursework on continuous writing and Shakespeare. The techniques that need to be mastered for this course include the ability to write a concise summary, the ability to analyse persuasive language and the ability to write imaginatively and creatively.

In the English Literature paper we thoroughly enjoy studying Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, with the girls ???oooing’ and ???aahing’ and shedding the odd tear here and there. Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd leaves the girls hating Troy, yet finding him daring and dashing; admiring the long-suffering, loyal Oak; damning all men when they discover Fanny’s fate; and unresolved whether to like or dislike Bathsheba, our feisty and fiercely independent heroine.

The Poetry study is a pre-1914 selection and requires a fairly demanding comparison for the examination. We read post-1914 Drama, Prose and Poetry for Literature coursework. The poetry coursework is also a comparative piece. A thorough understanding of literary terminology is required for this course, but also a willingness to participate, learn and take pleasure in the riches that literature has to offer.

English AS/A2

eng 4A-level English is not for the faint-hearted. If you enjoy being stretched intellectually, if you want to break the boundaries of everyday life, travel without leaving your seat both to other countries and other centuries and look into other people’s minds and hearts, this is the subject for you!

The course is taught by two very different teachers, each with her own undoubted talents and idiosyncrasies. You will study Shakespeare, Chaucer and EM Forster for your AS exams and you will prepare a piece of coursework on Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights . In doing so you will have the chance to understand the bases of our culture and see how the voices of the gifted are still able to speak to us through their exciting and ever-challenging works, despite the ages.

In your A2 course you will enter William Blake’s mind and see through his eyes the inequalities of the C18th, find out the impact of the French Revolution, the Industrial and the Agricultural Revolution and marvel at the complexity of a simple Nursery Rhyme. You will study Hamlet and the genre of tragedy, and finally understand Shakespeare’s knack at presenting humanity in all its glory and frailty and marvel at his magical use of language.

For coursework, you will be given the opportunity to study a modern novel of your choice and test your critical linguistic analytical skills in this in-depth literary study. Last but not least the culmination of your studies will involve entering The Gothic Tradition. You will study Frankenstein and The Dead School and experience horrors unmentionable while entering the minds of those who are losing their grip on reality. No, we are not talking about your teachers …