A Level English Literature

Why Study English Literature?

Research shows that companies value the strong communication skills that an A level in English literature teaches. You will develop your collaborative skills, critical thinking skills and creative thinking skills. You will also develop the skills of working independently, demonstrating tenacity and resilience. You will research, synthesise, contextualise and adapt your ideas. Employers love these skills!

What are the Career Opportunities?

An A level in English literature combines well with a wide range of A level subjects, including more technical STEM subjects. It helps pupils to keep their options—and their minds—open.

Choosing English Literature is useful for a wide range of careers. Former Dunottar students have taken their A level to become a BBC news presenter and reporter, a strategy consultant, an IT consultant, an entrepreneur and a solicitor…and there are many other examples of careers!

Course Outline and Assessment

English is about you: your ability to think about the world around you, to form critical opinions and to express yourself. As an English student, you’ll study the past and apply it to the present and the future.

At Dunottar, you’ll be studying for the OCR A level in English literature:

• Drama and poetry pre-1900: exam assessed, worth 40% of A Level
• Comparative and textual study: exam assessed, worth 40% of A Level
• Non-examined coursework, worth 20% of A Level

The texts might vary from year to year because we want to keep the teaching as fresh and lively as possible! You will have two English teachers, who will share their individual expertise with you. So far, the drama and poetry pre-1900 texts have been The Tempest, The Doll’s House and poetry by Christina Rossetti. In recent years, the comparative and textual study unit has either focused on American texts (Grapes of Wrath and The Great Gatsby) or Gothic texts (The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories and Dracula or Frankenstein) or dystopian literature (The Handmaid’s Tale and Nineteen Eighty-Four). At the present time, the coursework texts are A Streetcar Named Desire, Property and Carol Ann Duffy’s The World’s Wife.