7.1.1
The Examination
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Approaching AQA English Literature: Specification A
The specification encourages the exploration of texts in a number of different ways.
English Literature A
- English Literature A’s historicist approach to the study of literature rests upon reading texts within a shared context.
- Working from the belief that no text exists in isolation but is the product of the time in which it was produced, English Literature A encourages students to explore the relationships that exist between texts and the contexts within which they are written, received and understood.
English Literature A cont.
- Studying texts within a shared context enables students to investigate and connect them, drawing out patterns of similarity and difference using a variety of reading strategies and perspectives.
- English Literature A encourages the process of making autonomous meaning, encouraging students to debate and challenge the interpretations of other readers as they develop their own informed personal responses.
Exploring texts
- The specification encourages the exploration of texts in a number of different ways:
- The study of a literary theme over time.
- The study of various texts, both singly and comparatively, chosen from a list of core set texts and a list of chosen comparative texts.
- Writing about texts in a number of different ways.
Exploring texts cont.
- The study of literature through engaging with two of the main historicist perspectives:
- The diachronic (reading texts written across widely different time periods that explore the same theme).
- The synchronic (reading texts written within a narrower and clearly defined time period).
- You will be reading The Great Gatsby in a diachronic context.
Love Through the Ages - Overview
The aim of this topic area is to encourage students to explore aspects of a central literary theme as seen over time, using unseen material and set texts.
Love through the Ages
- Students should be prepared for Love through the Ages by reading widely in the topic area, reading texts from a range of authors and times.
- The range of comparative prose texts (of which The Great Gatsby is one) allows students to study representations of love by a variety of authors across time.
The exam
- Within the examination, students study three texts:
- One poem.
- One prose text (possibly The Great Gatsby), of which one must be written pre-1900.
- One Shakespeare play.
- You will also respond to two unseen poems in the exam.
1Specification Overview
1.1Specification Overview
2Context
3Plot Summary
3.1Chapter One
3.2Chapter Two
3.3Chapter Three
3.4Chapter Four
3.6Chapter Six
3.7Chapter Seven
3.8Chapter Eight
4Character Profiles
4.3Daisy Buchanan
4.5Minor Characters
5Key Ideas
6Writing Techniques
6.1Structure, Genre & Narrative Voice
7Love Through the Ages - Thematic Analysis
7.1Love Through the Ages
Jump to other topics
1Specification Overview
1.1Specification Overview
2Context
3Plot Summary
3.1Chapter One
3.2Chapter Two
3.3Chapter Three
3.4Chapter Four
3.6Chapter Six
3.7Chapter Seven
3.8Chapter Eight
4Character Profiles
4.3Daisy Buchanan
4.5Minor Characters
5Key Ideas
6Writing Techniques
6.1Structure, Genre & Narrative Voice
7Love Through the Ages - Thematic Analysis
7.1Love Through the Ages
Practice questions on The Examination
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- 1In which context will you be reading _The Great Gatsby_?Multiple choice
- 2How does English Literature A encourage you to approach texts?Fill in the list
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