1. A-level English Literature
AQA English Literature A 7712 – become familiar with the digital information on the AQA website so you are not reliant on teachers to understand the specification.
7712

2. A note on this slideshow…
Mrs Taylor is going to print these slides out for her own planning and teaching and cling to it like a mollusc to a rock. There is a lot to remember regarding the rubric of this A-level which is new for us all. She suggests that you also form a close bond to this document and keep a copy in your book for reference and a copy electronically so you can access the links (and for when you lose the paper copy).

3. What is ‘the spirit’ of your course?
Understanding literature from a historicist perspective:
DIACHRONIC APPROACH – looking at the same theme across texts from different periods (Love Through The Ages)
SYNCHRONIC APPROACH – looking at texts from within the same period
All tasks demand critical debate requiring you to argue and show personal responses and critical preferences – they are seeking creativity in your answer to the questions.
They want you to appreciate the multiplicity of meaning generated in literature – to understand that there are different ways of reading a text. They hope that this will prepare students for undergraduate study.

4. Paper 1: Love through the ages
75 marks – THREE EQUALLY WEIGHTED QUESTIONS
40% of A-level
3 HOURS
Section A: Shakespeare: one passage-based question with linked essay (25 marks) CLOSED BOOK- this is your only closed book exam
Section B: Unseen poetry: compulsory essay question on two unseen poems (25 marks)
Section C: Comparing texts: one essay question linking two texts (25 marks)OPEN BOOK

5. Paper 2: Texts in shared contexts
Option 2B: Modern times: literature from 1945 to the present day
2 hours 30 minutes
open book
75 marks THREE EQUALLY WEIGHTED QUESTIONS
40% of A-level
Section A: Top Girls: One essay question on set text (25 marks)
Section B: Contextual linking
• one compulsory question on an unseen extract (25 marks)
• one essay question linking Handmaid’s Tale & Feminine Gospels (25 marks)

6. Non-exam assessment: Independent critical study
Comparative critical study of two texts, at least one of which must have been written pre-1900.
One extended essay (2,500 words) and a bibliography
50 marks
20% of A-level
Assessed by teachers & moderated by AQA
a/teach/nea-resource-package

7. Wow, that’s useful. Online you can read four examples of Band 5 NEAs
It has been argued that the epistolary novel is the ideal form for conveying minds under stress in literature. Yellow Wallpaper and We have to Talk About Kevin. Compare and contrast the ways in which Elizabeth Gaskell and Henrik Ibsen present the relationships between Margaret Hale and John Thornton in North and South ( ) and Nora and Torvald Helmer in A Doll’s House (1879). Examine the view that, in both texts, ‘the personal is political’ It has been said that ‘Writers often blur the boundary between the respectable citizen and the criminal.’ Compare and contrast the presentation of the respectable citizen and the criminal in Great Expectations and A Clockwork Orange in the light of this view. It has been said that ‘human culture is connected to the physical world, affecting it and affected by it.’ Compare and contrast the presentation of human culture and the physical world in Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy and in the poetry of R. S. Thomas in the light of this view. B5.PDF

8. NEA Schedule
Term 1 Weeks 1&2: Supervision meeting to discuss your detailed plan
First draft deadline: 10th October
First draft feedback: 31st October
Redraft deadline: 28th November

9. AOs – a reminder
AO1: well expressed, creative, personal response AO2: structure of texts and ways meaning is created, see glossary of terms: AO3: contexts of text AO4: literary connections and links AO5: debate and interpretation; seeing the multiple interpretations possible.

10. Love Through the Ages : Types of love
“Although not an exhaustive list of aspects of Love through the ages, areas that can usefully be explored include: romantic love of many kinds; love and sex; love and loss; social conventions and taboos; love through the ages according to history and time; love through the ages according to individual lives (young love, maturing love); jealousy and guilt; truth and deception; proximity and distance; marriage; approval and disapproval”
P.14 specification online

11. Love Through the Ages: Section A: Othello
Example question:
‘Typically texts about husbands and wives present marriage from a male perspective.’ In the light of this view discuss how Shakespeare presents the relationship between Othello and Desdemona in this extract and elsewhere in the play 3.3 (Iago and Othello discussing Desdemona’s honesty ‘I do not think but Desdemona’s honest…’ until ‘I’ll not believe’t it.’
Closed book exam but examiners will credit: single words/ exact quotes/ paraphrased quotes/ wider references to events and characters
Independent revision you can start now – characters / settings/ structure / types of love / themes / stagecraft/ contexts / tragedy genre / critical ideas and perspectives
Use your AS notes / Buy a copy of Othello and annotate for revision / York Notes for A-level / see library for critical essays / spark notes / have Othello film party / group chat about one act per month?
We will revisit the play and undertake practice questions with a strong focus on arguing for/against critical views as well as looking more closely at the whole play structure/ final act .

12. Love Through the Ages: Section B Unseen poetry
It has been said that Rossetti’s poem is conventional and celebratory , whereas Millay’s poem offers a very different view of love.
Compare and contrast the presentation fo love in the following poems in the light of this comment.
Rossetti’s ‘A Birthday’ and Millay’s ‘Love is not All’.
You will look at: how the poems have been crafted such as their form (sonnet for example), structure (tonal shifts), imagery, language choices…You will also explore connections between the two poems in terms of attitudes and feelings, mood, ideas. You will consider the times when they were written, the gender of the poet, the literary context of the poetic style. You will make sure you offer an opinion and critical response to the statement – there is no right/wrong if you can defend your viewpoint in an informed way (contextually). You should interrogate the terms in the question , e.g ‘passion’ and offer more than one interpretation of it.
You need to write about at least two poems to get into band 4 and above.

13. Love Through the Ages: Section C Comparing Texts
Gatsby & Pre-1900 love poetry. Example questions:
Compare how the authors of two texts you have studied present ideas about passion Or
Compare how the authors of two texts you have studied present barriers to love
Clean texts for the exam – it is open book (you will have a clean copy of the anthology provided in the exam and for timed essays in class) . You may wish to buy your own texts that you can annotate in class and for revision purposes.
We will bring fresh eyes to these two previously taught texts to forge links and practice answering exam style questions. You need to bring your knowledge of the texts and their contexts to these lessons – there will not be time to reteach the texts themselves.
You can start revising independently by: annotating a fresh copy of texts / re-reading AS notes/ reading York Notes Advanced for Gatsby / reading critical essays for novel and poems ( school library?)/ Re-reading both texts and keeping notes on links between poems and parts of the novel – this will be invaluable.

14. Paper 2 Texts in Shared Contexts : 2B Modern Times (1945- present)
“Although not an exhaustive list of aspects of Modern times, areas that can usefully be explored include: wars and the legacy of wars; personal and social identity; changing morality and social structures; gender, class, race and ethnicity; political upheaval and change; resistance and rebellion; imperialism, post-imperialism and nationalism; engagement with the social, political, personal and literary issues which have helped to shape the latter half of the 20th century and the early decades of the 21st century” p.18 specification
You need to find out about all of these: documentary / historical source/ textbook / film / theatre / fiction / poetry / radio programmes / social media / art . You should keep notes from your research . This will particularly support the unseen prose question which will draw on your ability to recognise the ideas/ feelings/ issues at the time of writing.

15. Option 2 Section A: Drama Set Text
Top Girls
‘ Churchill presents a cynical, negative critique of powerful women’ Examine this view of Top Girls Or
Examine the View that the character of Dull Gret is insignificant within the play as a whole.
OPEN BOOK – you are welcome to buy your own that you can annotate
In your answer you will comment on aspects of dramatic form / social, political, literary context/ private and public roles of women in other reading/ arguments for and against
There are some excellent critical secondary texts in the school library on the playwright and this play . Watch a tv adaptation on you tube. Go and see the play if you can. Act it out with your friends / family / at the dinner table.

16. Section B: Unseen prose & Prose and Poetry Contextual Linking
Question 1 (unseen prose): Read the insert carefully, it is taken from X by the author Y published in XXXX. IT is about…….
Explore the significance of isolation in this extract. Remember to include in your answer relevant detailed analysis of the ways that Ali shapes meanings.
Your wider reading and exposure to extracts from modern literature will serve you well in preparation for this question
Question 2 (comparative taught prose): Handmaid’s Tale & Feminine Gospels
Modern literature shows isolated characters as being profoundly damaged. Compare the significance of isolation in two other texts you have studied. Remember to include in your answer how meanings have been shaped in the texts you are comparing.
As this is open book, the examiner expects you to pay close attention to the methods used and use detailed and accurate quotations.

17. Resources you will need from the AQA website for Paper 1
a/teach/love-through-the-ages-resource-package

18. Resources you will need from the AQA website for Paper 2
Above link: example answers for Section B Paper 2 Above link: example answers for Section B Paper 1 Example unseen extracts 2-8 – scroll down on this page and click on the linked attachment: a/teach/modern-times-literature-from-1945-to-the-present-day-resource- package

19. How are we going to help you prepare effectively for the terminal exams?
Timely and frequent opportunities for timed practice with exam style questions (see our plan for the year)
Proportionate curriculum time across all six exam questions
January mocks (term 3 week 5 ) you will be assessed on all taught texts
March Unseen mocks ( term 4 week 3) you will be assessed on both the unseen prose and unseen poetry
Guidance on revision from September onwards
By readily helping you with individual questions and worries if you have taken the time to seek us out in a timely and courteous way
Enjoying the texts together and making the most of your final year at DHSG!