Subject: English Literature

Head of Department: Mrs E Davies

Qualification: GCSE

Examination Board: WJEC

Course Content:

The course aims to enable students to develop their literary interests and become enthusiastic and knowledgeable readers. Students will be required to read and respond to a range of literary texts and to appreciate the ways in which authors achieve their effects. In doing so, they should also develop their own literary skills and expertise.

How will you learn:

• oracy - communicating with people clearly, through discussions, debates and drama;

• reading – reading with understanding and enjoyment, analysing novels, poetry and plays from different cultures and traditions;

• writing – writing clearly, confidently and accurately, in a variety of styles and for different purposes.

How you will be assessed:

There are two written examinations:

Unit 1 (35%) focuses on John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and an unseen poetry comparison (two-hour examination).

Unit 2b (40%) focuses on Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers and Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (two-hour examination).

The examinations are ‘closed text’, meaning students are not permitted to take copies of their set texts into their examinations.

In addition, there are non-examination assessments (25%) based on the study of a play by Shakespeare and a selection of poetry (Welsh Writing in English). Students will be entered either for Foundation Tier (Grades G to C) or Higher Tier (Grades D to A*)