Student Guide As Lit

AS English Literature

S tudent Guide 2008-2009

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Specification details AQA English Literature Specification B (for 2008 onwards)

Module 1 (60% of AS marks) 2 hr exam - open book Section A This section of the exam contains a two-part question for every set text. Candidates choose one question to answer. Part a) analysis of a specific extract from a set text (a chapter from a novel or a poem), discussing how meaning is conveyed using language, form and structure. Part b) relating the extract to the whole of the set text (i.e. whole novel or whole selection of poems), and discussing interpretations and contexts Section B This section of the exam contains two questions. Candidates choose one question to answer. Both questions require discussion of an aspect of narrative in any three of the set texts (not including the one discussed in Section A). Candidates must explore how language, form and structure shape meanings, and discuss interpretations in all three texts.

Module 2 (40% of AS marks) Coursework Total word count: 1200-1500 words x 2 Folder must contain: • Essay on a Shakespeare tragedy, focussing on an aspect of tragedy as a genre • Essay on another tragedy, focussing on an aspect of tragedy as a genre

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Set texts You will be supplied with the AQA Anthology, which contains the poetry for the AS course. For the remaining texts, any edition is acceptable to AQA. We will be selling editions for use, and providing clean copies of all texts for the exam. •

Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

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Andrea Levy, Small Island

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William Shakespeare, Othello

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Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman or Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire (please check with your teacher)

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Key dates and deadlines Coursework Draft deadlines These are set by your teachers, and may vary slightly from class to class. There is one draft before the final draft, and this is an important stage in the development of your coursework. If you miss a deadline, you will miss an opportunity for feedback and advice to improve your mark. You will still need to show your teachers that work is progressing, although your work may not be marked if it is late. Final internal deadline Each of the coursework essays has a final deadline: • The first coursework essay is due in the week beginning 5th January 2009 • The second coursework essay is due on Monday 23 February 2009. This and completed AQA coversheets (details and signatures) must be handed in during lesson time or, if there is no lesson, to the English work room (F23) by the end of lunchtime. Final deadlines are non-negotiable - work will not be accepted after these dates except in special circumstances. Plagiarism You will be given detailed advice on this issue during lessons and in consultations with your teacher, and you will be required to sign a declaration to the examination board to state that your coursework folder is entirely your own work. Cases of plagiarism will be dealt with very severely. If it is detected by the exam board, you may be disqualified from this module, your whole AS or A level, or all of your A levels. The key points to remember are: □ Do not copy, cut-and-paste or closely paraphrase the work of other students or critics, without clearly acknowledging your source □ Do not accept help from anyone else, if they are offering to write sentences or paragraphs for you □ Do not allow others to use your work in this way □ If in any doubt, ask for advice from your teacher

Exam Mock exam: you will be given a mock exam by the end of Term 2 by both of your teachers, who will inform you of the date in due course. External exam: Wednesday 20th May 2009 a.m. 4

Assessment You will be assessed by means of an exam and coursework folder. The assessment objectives (AOs) are given in bold print here. Exam (Section A and Section B): Total of 84 marks (60% of AS) Section A AO2 Demonstrate detailed critical understanding in analysing the ways in which structure, form and language shape meanings in literary texts

Section A Part a

Section A Part b

21 marks

AO1 Articulate creative,

AO3 Explore connections

AO4 Demonstrate understanding

informed and relevant responses to literary texts, using appropriate terminology and concepts, and coherent, accurate written expression

and comparisons between different literary texts, informed by interpretations of other readers

of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received

21 marks for these AOs together

Section B

Section B

AO1 Articulate creative, informed

AO2 Demonstrate

AO3 Explore connections and

and relevant responses to literary texts, using appropriate terminology and concepts, and coherent, accurate written expression

detailed critical understanding in analysing the ways in which structure, form and language shape meanings in literary texts

comparisons between different literary texts, informed by interpretations of other readers

42 marks for these AOs considered together

Coursework: Total of 30 marks (40% of AS)

Each essay

AO1 Articulate

AO2 Demonstrate

AO3 Explore

AO4 Demonstrate

creative, informed and relevant responses to literary texts, using appropriate terminology and concepts, and coherent, accurate written expression

detailed critical understanding in analysing the ways in which structure, form and language shape meanings in literary texts

connections and comparisons between different literary texts, informed by interpretations of other readers

understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received

30 marks for these AOs considered together (equally weighted)

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Total

30

Reading lists and resources for students GENERAL - covering all texts • Emagazine http://www.emagazine.org.uk The password and login for this year are displayed in sixth form classrooms. This contains essays and advice by teachers and students on all aspects of A Level English Lang and English Lit - excellent for independent wider reading.

JANE AUSTEN

• The Victorian Web http://www.victorianweb.org/previctorian/austen/austenov.html A useful selection of mini-essays concerning aspects of Jane Austen, under the heading 'pre-Victorian'. • Janet Todd, The Cambridge Introduction to Jane Austen (Cambridge University Press, • ed. Edward Copeland, The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen (Cambridge University Press, 1997)

ANDREA LEVY Very little published work is available on this author, as her work is so recent; some articles are on the internet, from broadsheet reviews, but little else.

ROBERT BROWNING • The Victorian Web http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/rb A collection of essays and notes concerning aspects of Browning. • Poetry Archive http://www.poetryarchive.org Follow the links for Historic Recordings to hear Browning's voice (the first person to have his voice heard after his death, recorded by Thomas Edison in 1889)!

ALFRED LORD TENNYSON • The Victorian Web http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/tennyson A collection of essays and notes concerning aspects of Tennyson. • BBC Arts and Culture - Poetry Out Loud http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/poetry/outloud Tennyson was also recorded by Edison, in 1890, and the recording is here.

SHAKESPEARE, OTHELLO •

Rex Gibson, Shakespearean and Jacobean Tragedy (Cambridge University Press, 2001)

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A. C. Bradley, Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth (2nd ed. London: Macmillan, 1905) - complete e-text is available at http://www.clicknotes.com/bradley/ (and other sites)

MILLER, DEATH OF A SALESMAN • •

Jennifer Wallace, The Cambridge Introduction to Tragedy (Cambridge University Press, 2007) - chapter on American tragedy (also Shakespeare) http://www.novelguide.com/deathofasalesman - a very basic overview of the whole text, with brief notes on key topics

WILLIAMS, STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE

• Sparknotes http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/streetcar/ Useful for introduction to the text • Jennifer Wallace, The Cambridge Introduction to Tragedy (Cambridge University Press, 2007) - chapter on American tragedy (also Shakespeare) makes reference to Streetcar (p. 85) but no detailed analysis - useful for context of tragedy

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Guidance for each module Module 1 'Aspects of Narrative' (Exam) You will have to do a great deal of reading as homework. Key chapters or extracts will be analysed in detail, in class time, but we will not be spending lessons reading together. You might also be doing small-scale research projects, for class presentations and you will be practising essay writing skills. For the exam, you'll need to be very well prepared: Section A Part a You need to learn: • Skills to analyse the ways that writers use form, structure and language to convey meanings (accurate terminology is also required) Section A Part b You need to learn: • The content of your set texts, in detail, so that any extract can be related to the whole and so that you can select appropriate evidence for your views • A range of interpretations for your set texts • The skills to evaluate any interpretation presented • The contexts of your set texts, and how the texts relate to these contexts Section B You need to learn: • How 'aspects of narrative' are used in your set texts • How to write about three texts within a time limit of 1 hour What are 'aspects of narrative'? • use of narrator(s) • use of characters (roles) • use of setting / places • use of chronology • devices such as letters, emails • openings of texts • closings of texts • [plus other aspects covered in lessons] How do you write about three texts? - not necessarily in equal depth - not necessary to compare / contrast - The exam board have said: 'the three texts do not have to be treated equally but there should be significant detail from all three texts. For poetry, some reference should

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ideally be made to two poems per 'text' where the selection includes a number of short poems, but use commonsense on what can be covered in an hour'

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Module 2 'Dramatic Genres' (Coursework) You need to learn: • To analyse texts in detail, considering writers' techniques (form, structure and language) • To consider a variety of interpretations and evaluate these, using evidence from the texts • To relate texts to their contexts • To write in an academic style, using the correct terminology • To write within minimum and maximum word limits (1200-1500 for each essay) • To use source material without plagiarising • To reference your work and use a bibliography • To develop your writing using peer and teacher advice, redrafting at least once You will be studying the whole text, focussing on literary methods, interpretations and contexts, and then your teachers will introduce a selection of possible coursework questions, giving you advice on the best choice of question and how to develop your essay at every stage. Your essays should be typed, using a standard font, size 12, with sufficient spacing and margins to allow for teacher annotations.

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