The Examination
English Lit: AQA A Level The Great Gatsby - Specification A, topic 7.1.1
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.
Test yourself on The Examination
In which context will you be reading The Great Gatsby?
How does English Literature A encourage you to approach texts?
In what ways does English Literature A encourage you to explore texts?
How many unseen poems will you have to respond to in the exam?
What three texts will you study for your English Literature A Level?