YEAR 13 LITERATURE IN ENGLISH COURSE SYLLABUS

Course Outline

Overview

The Cambridge International AS & A Level Literature in English at GEMS Wesgreen International Primary School will provide learners with the opportunity to gain further knowledge and understanding of international poetry, prose and drama, with candidates studying all genres at both levels.

A wide range of inspiring set texts have been carefully selected to offer a depth and breadth of literary study. At AS Level learners will study three set texts and prepare for one unseen text. At A Level they will study four further set texts.

Throughout the AS and A Level course learners will be encouraged to practise their skills in close reading through the study of literary extracts and unseen texts; developing skills of analysis and interpretation of texts, alongside their expression of personal response to the texts studied. Learners will explore the conventions of genres of texts and the contexts in which works have been written, read and received.

At A Level learners will further develop their subject knowledge through the evaluation of opinions and ideas, both their own and those of others. These are highly transferable skills and can help learners in other subject areas, as well as equipping them with life skills.

Cambridge International AS Level Literature in English makes up the first half of the Cambridge International A Level course in Literature in English and provides a foundation for the study of Literature in English at Cambridge International A Level.

Learning Outcomes

The aims of the AS Literature describe the purposes of the course based on this syllabus and suggests how the student may be changed by the learning experience.

The aims of the AS Literature are to enable students to:

• Enjoy the experience of reading literature.
• Develop an appreciation of and an informed personal response to literature in English in a range of texts in different forms, and from different periods and cultures.
• Communicate effectively, accurately and appropriately in written form.
• Develop the interdependent skills of reading, analysis and communication.
• Analyse and evaluate the methods writers use in creating meaning and effects.
• Encourage wider reading and an understanding of how it may contribute to personal development.
• Build a firm foundation for further study of literature.

Assessment Objectives

AO1 Knowledge and understanding

Respond with understanding to literary texts in a variety of forms, from different cultures; with an appreciation of relevant contexts that illuminate readings of the texts.

AO2 Analysis

Analyse ways in which writers’ choices of language, form and structure shape meanings and effects.

AO3 Personal response

Produce informed independent opinions and interpretations of literary texts.

AO4 Communication

Communicate a relevant, structured and supported response appropriate to literary study.

AO5 Evaluation of opinion

Discuss and evaluate varying opinions and interpretations of literary texts.

All questions in this syllabus assess the four assessment objectives: AO1, AO2, AO3 and AO4.

Ongoing Objectives

There are objectives that are covered and built upon throughout each unit of work. These will help students develop skills and abilities including:

• Developing a greater depth as well as breadth of subject knowledge.
• Developing higher order thinking skills – analysis, critical thinking, problem solving.
• Presenting ordered and coherent arguments.
• Developing independent learning and research.
• Developing confidence, especially in applying knowledge and skills in new situations.
• Building the vocabulary to discuss the subject conceptually and show how different aspects link together.

Unit Overviews

AS Level Literature re-visits and integrates skills learnt at IGCSE level, introduces students to the course and gives an overview of the skills needed in this course including analysis, note taking, essay writing techniques, and the use of quotations.

Key Concepts:

The key concepts for Cambridge International AS & A Level Literature in English are:

• Language

Exploring the variety and use of language in literary texts. Identifying literary techniques and explaining how their use contributes to a reader’s analysis and understanding of the text.

• Form

Considering the ways in which writers use – or depart from – conventions of literary forms of prose, poetry and drama and how those inform meaning and effects.

• Structure

When analysed in reading: the organisation of a text or passage, its shape and development and how this contributes to the readers’ understanding of its meaning and effects. When used in writing: the construction of a relevant and supported argument appropriate to the question.

• Genre

Exploring the characteristics of different text types: for example, tragedy, comedy and satire.

• Context

Exploring the relationship between a text and its historical, social and cultural backgrounds and the ways in which this can illuminate the reading of a text. In response to unseen texts, considering the ways in which a text’s meaning is shaped by conventions of form alongside those of language and style.

• Style

Analysing the ways in which choices regarding form, structure and language interact to create a distinctive style, for different forms and genres.

• Interpretation

At AS Level: Evaluating and explaining different ideas within a text.

At A Level: Evaluating and explaining different ideas within a text and using different critical readings to explore an understanding of texts and to help support literary arguments.

These Key concepts enrich teaching and learning, and help students develop a deep understanding and make links between different aspects. They open up new ways of thinking about, understanding or interpreting the important things to be learned, and help students gain:

• A greater depth as well as breadth of subject knowledge.
• Confidence, especially in applying knowledge and skills in new situations.
• The vocabulary to discuss their subject conceptually and show how different aspects link together.
• A level of mastery of their subject to help them enter higher education.

Term 1 Subject content

Unit 1 – Poetry: Selected poems from “Songs of Ourselves”, Volume 2

Approximate length: 7-8 weeks

In this unit, learners will study twenty-five set texts focusing on the key concepts for Cambridge International AS & A Level Literature in English, and practice answering a wide variety of essay questions.

1. A Complaint by William Wordsworth
2. A Song of Faith Forsworn by John Warren, Lord de Tabley
3. A Wife in London (December,1899) by Thomas Hardy
4. Distant Fields/ANZAC Parade by Rhian Gallagher
5. Farewell, Ungrateful Traitor by John Dryden
6. First March by Ivor Gurney
7. Futility by Wilfred Owen
8. Homecoming by Lenrie Peters
9. I Years had been from Home by Emily Dickinson
10. If Thou must Love Me by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
11. On This Day I Complete My Thirty-Sixth Year by George Gordon, Lord Byron
12. Shirt by Robert Pinsky
13. Sleep by Kenneth Slessor
14. Song by Lady Mary Wroth
15. Song of the Shirt by Thomas Hood
16. Sonnet 19 by William Shakespeare
17. The Death-Bed by Siegfried Sassoon
18. The Mountain by Elizabeth Bishop
19. The Pains of Sleep by Samuel Coleridge
20. The Pride of Lions by by Joanna Preston
21. The Wedding by Moniza Alvi
22. Waterfall by Lauris Edmond
23. When We Two Parted by George Gordon, Lord Byron
24. When You are Old by W B Yeats
25. Written Near a Port on a Dark Evening by Charlotte Smith

Specific Curriculum Objectives Covered:

Candidates must demonstrate the following:

• Knowledge and understanding of the set text they have studied and an appreciation of relevant contexts.
• Analysis of the ways in which writers’ choices shape meaning and create effects.
• An informed, independent opinion about the text studied.
• Appropriate communication of literary ideas and arguments.

Unit 2 – Prose: Selected stories from “Stories of Ourselves”, Volume 2

Approximate length: 4-5 weeks

In this unit, Learners study 15 set texts focusing on the key concepts for Cambridge International AS & A Level Literature in English, and practice answering a wide variety of essay questions.

1. An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce
2. The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion by Thomas Hardy
3. The Lady’s Maid’s Bell by Edith Wharton
4. Gabriel-Ernest Saki (Hector Hugh Munro)
5. The Doll’s House by Katherine Mansfield
6. A Warning to the Curious by M R James
7. Death in the Woods by Sherwood Anderson
8. The Black Ball by Ralph Ellison
9. Stability by Philip K Dick
10. The Tower by Marghanita Laski
11. The Axe by Penelope Fitzgerald
12. When It Happens by Margaret Atwood
13. The Plantation by Ovo Adagha
14. Haywards Heath by Aminatta Forna
15. The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu

Specific Curriculum Objectives Covered:

Candidates must demonstrate the following:

• Knowledge and understanding of the set text they have studied and an appreciation of relevant contexts.
• Analysis of the ways in which writers’ choices shape meaning and create effects.
• An informed, independent opinion about the text studied.
• Appropriate communication of literary ideas and arguments.

Unit 3 – Drama

Approximate length: 2 weeks

In this unit, learners will study one set text focusing on the key concepts for Cambridge International AS & A Level Literature in English, and practice answering a wide variety of essay questions.

1. All My Sons Arthur Miller

Specific Curriculum Objectives Covered:

Candidates must demonstrate the following:

• Knowledge and understanding of the set text they have studied and an appreciation of relevant contexts.
• Analysis of the ways in which writers’ choices shape meaning and create effects.
• An informed, independent opinion about the text studied.
• Appropriate communication of literary ideas and arguments.

Term 2

Programme of Study

Term 3

Unit 8 – Mock Exams

Approximate length: 4 weeks

Assessment

Baseline Test: At the beginning of the academic year, the students write an internal and standardized baseline test, which is used to measure progress.

Formative: Throughout the units, the children will complete graded work, quizzes and speaking and listening activities, which allows the teacher to assess the students’ attainment and inform their planning.

For each unit the students complete a pre and post write of the text type. This allows us to see progress across the units.

Summative: At the end of each term, we complete internal and standardized tests. This allows us to measure the students’ progress throughout the term and year. At the end of the academic year, the students complete the standardized GL assessment.

Action for blended learning

Due to Covid-19 safety measures, we are following a blended model of remote and face-to-face learning, which is technology-centred. In addition to the traditional copybook, we will use:

• GEMS Phoenix classroom.
• GCSE pods.
• Microsoft Office.
• Education websites and applications, such as Kahoot, Padlet, etc.