Overview
The study of English is incredibly wide-ranging. In this subject, we get to read widely and experience some of the most exciting and thought-provoking texts ever written. We are encouraged to think creatively, critically and independently whilst also learning the conventions of academic writing so that we can articulate our ideas clearly and confidently. As we study the construction of texts and explore the impact of the writer’s choices, we develop the skills of analysis and evaluation and, more importantly, come to understand how powerful language really is. Naturally, as we develop our knowledge of the writer’s craft, we also add to our own skills as writers and readers. This enables us to write purposefully and imaginatively in creative and real-life situations, drawing on our understanding of the techniques used by professional writers to inform our own writing. While the study of English allows us to become confident readers and writers, it also has another power: it opens gateways to past, present and imagined worlds allowing us to explore some of life’s biggest questions about the human condition. Ultimately, the more we read, the more we develop our capacity to empathise with others, and the more we develop our understanding of what it means to be human.
Autumn Term
Social and Political Protest
Reading: Animal Farm
Writing: Letter Writing
Key knowledge/concepts: persuasive linguistic features; the conventions of letter writing and protest literature; the text as an allegory.
Social class and inequality; the concept of protest; the Russian Revolution of 1917
Spring Term
Voyages
Reading: poetry and a range of extracts
Writing: descriptive diary entries
Key knowledge/concepts: descriptive linguistic features, diary writing, poetic techniques (analysing language and some structure), using extended metaphor. Gender/society in the Victorian era; the concept of voyages (literal and metaphorical)
Summer Term
Shakespeare
From Page to Stage
Reading: Romeo and Juliet
Writing: scripts
Key knowledge/ concepts: Text in performance; dramatic techniques and elements of staging
Shakespeare’s life and the Globe; Elizabethan society; the conventions of script writing
Scripted drama: DNA by Dennis Kelly and The Last Resort by Chris Owens
Autumn Term
Gothic Literature
Reading: poetry and short stories
Writing: narrative
Key knowledge/ concepts: the conventions of gothic literature; conventions of narrative writing including structural features; dramatic monologue; unreliable narrators; introducing setting and character through lens of the gothic and the supernatural; comparative phrases and comparing poems
Spring Term
Conflict
Reading: Salt to the Sea
Writing: memoir
Key knowledge/ concepts: memoir writing; descriptive devices; WW2 historical context; the concept of conflict and civilisation versus savagery; man’s inherent evil and the ability to overcome
Summer Term
Shakespeare
Heroes and Villains
Reading: Othello
Writing:
Key knowledge/ concepts: introduction to tragic arc and the tragic hero/villain; the end of the Elizabethan era; duality; close textual analysis; the conventions of monologues
Autumn Term
Voices
Reading: Of Mice and Men, non-fiction extracts and poetry
Writing: Express a point of view
Key knowledge/ concepts: the text as a construct- microcosm; developing conceptualised interpretations; 1930s America historical context; structuring an argument and rhetorical techniques.
Spring Term
Freedom
Reading: Educating Rita/ Our Day Out
Writing: Structured description
Key knowledge/ concepts: dramatic devices; motifs; analysis of language, structure and form; 1980s Britain and Thatcherism; social class and inequality; gender stereotypes; local identity Writing to describe driven by symbolism – language, form and structure
Summer Term
Shakespeare
Guilt and Ambition
Introduction to Macbeth
Key knowledge/ concepts: Plot and character; aspects of tragedy and the tragic hero; the Jacobean era historical context; elements of staging and dramatic techniques; thematic strands including the supernatural, fate versus free will and duality
Autumn Term
Modern Drama: An Inspector Calls
Key knowledge/ concepts: dramatic devices; Edwardian England and post-WW2 (1912 and 1945); social class and inequality; protest and the proletariat revolution; the text as a construct/ microcosm/ political diatribe
Language Paper 2 section B
Key knowledge/ concepts: consolidate and master persuasive linguistic and structural features, audience, purpose and text types (non-fiction)
Spring Term
Modern Poetry: Love and Relationships Anthology and unseen poetry
Key knowledge/ concepts: poetic techniques (language, form and structure) including dramatic monologue and the sonnet form; gender/society in the Victorian era; types of love. Consolidate and master writing to narrate/describe – language, form and structure
Language Paper 1 sections A and B Key knowledge/ concepts: consolidate and master the analysis and production of creative writing linguistic and structural features, audience, purpose and text types
Summer Term
19th Century Prose: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Key knowledge/ concepts: Victorian era historical context; social class; repression and Freud (id, ego, superego); the concept of civilisation versus savagery and man’s inherent evil; gothic and the supernatural; duality; microcosm
Autumn Term
19th Century Prose: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Key knowledge/ concepts: Victorian era historical context; social class; repression and Freud (id, ego, superego); the concept of civilisation versus savagery and man’s inherent evil; gothic and the supernatural; duality; microcosm
Shakespeare: Macbeth revisited
Key knowledge/ concepts: Further aspects of tragedy and the tragic hero; the Jacobean era historical context; gothic and the supernatural; fate versus free will; duality; dramatic techniques and elements of staging,
Language: Paper 2 section A
Key knowledge/ concepts: consolidate and master the analysis of persuasive linguistic and structural features, audience, purpose and text types (non-fiction)
Spring Term
Shakespeare continues: Macbeth
Key knowledge/ concepts: Further aspects of tragedy and the tragic hero; the Jacobean era historical context; gothic and the supernatural; fate versus free will; duality; dramatic techniques and elements of staging.
FULL FOCUS ON REVISION AND EXAM PREPARATION FOR BOTH COURSES
Summer Term
FINAL REVISION AND EXAM PREPARATION FOR BOTH COURSES
Autumn Term
Aspects of Tragedy: Shakespeare’s Othello
Post Modern Drama: Death of a Salesman
Spring Term
Aspects of Tragedy: Shakespeare’s Othello
Pre 1914 Poetry: Keats
Summer Term
Non-Examined Assessment: Study and Application of Literary Theory to two texts
Autumn Term
Social and Political Protest: The Kite Runner and A Doll’s House
Spring Term
Social and Political Protest: The Kite Runner and A Doll’s House
Summer Term
Social and Political Protest: Tony Harrison’s Poetry and unseen texts