English Combined

English Combined Summary

Discover a unique approach to English with Language and Literature and combine your study of novels, poems and plays with blogs, interviews, travel writing and forums. This course recognises that English is not easily divided between Language and Literature. When you study combined English, you will get the opportunity to investigate texts from a wide range of genres and periods, and become a confident reader as well as a skilled producer of original writing. The main focus throughout the course is focused on how language creates and shapes meanings in a range of texts. We study literature texts, such as Alice Sebold’s ‘The Lovely Bones, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’ and Tennessee Williams’s ‘A Streetcar Named Desire,’. If you enjoy creative writing, then you will particularly enjoy the unit on ‘The Great Gatsby’, as we re-write sections of the novel from different characters’ perspectives in order to understand more about what writers do when they create viewpoints and characters.

Entry Requirements

• GCSE Grade 5 or higher in English Language and English Literature

Course Duration

2 years full-time

Specification

AQA

How you will study

The combined course is text-centred, which means you will study novels, poetry, plays, and non-fiction writing. In working on this part of the subject content, you will learn about methods of language analysis. You will be required to adopt a close language focus, identifying salient features of language used in the respective texts. Your own viewpoints are essential, with debates aplenty and presentations to your peers. You’ll also work independently on the research and construction of your non-exam assessment (NEA).

Component breakdown

There are two exams, one for each module:
Paper 1: Telling Stories (40%)
Section A – Remembered places – One compulsory question on the AQA Anthology: Paris (40 marks)
Section B – Imagined worlds -One question from a choice of two on prose set text (35 marks)
Section C – Poetic voices -One question from a choice of two on poetry set text (25 marks)

Paper 2: Writing about society (40%)
Section A: Writing about society – One piece of re-creative writing using set text (25 marks) and a Critical commentary (30 marks)
Section B: Dramatic encounters – One question from a choice of two on drama set text (45 marks)
Non-Assessment – Making Connections (20%)
You will also produce an investigation into the language of literary and non-literary texts

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