What You Will Study

English Language and Literature challenges the whole concept of ‘literature’. You will explore a diverse range of prose, poetry and drama, from contemporary music videos like Beyonce’s ‘Lemonade’ to Shakepeare’s plays and sonnets.

You will learn the skills and language needed to analyse any text, whatever its genre, audience and purpose. We place texts in context and explore highly topical contemporary ideas such as feminism, post-modernism and post-colonialism. You will initially learn the textual analysis skills which underpin the whole two-year course, exploring concepts such as lexical choices, grammar, syntax and phonology. You will use a variety of texts to do this: poetry, novels, drama, music, adverts and videos. You will then have the skills to analyse texts including Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, Diane Samuels’ Kindertransport, Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing and Alice Walker’s The Color Purple.

In the non-exam assessment unit, you will study the ever-popular gothic genre. You will read Frankenstein with the class, with a great range of texts for you to choose from for your second novel, including Wuthering Heights, Dracula and the short stories of Angela Carter. You will also get the chance to write two pieces of gothic creative writing – this course really is diverse and interesting!

Lessons are engaging, diverse and fun and will take you outside of the classroom to experience theatrical productions. Previous students travelled to London to see Tom Hiddleston perform in ‘Much Ado about Nothing’ at Covent Garden - a brilliant experience highly valued by learners.