ENGLISH LITERATURE

Units 1 & 2 (Year 11)

Unit 1: Approaches to Literature

• Close analysis of texts

• Ideas, concerns, and values in literature

• Literary perspectives and interpretations

• Language, style, and structure in texts

• Characterisation, setting, and themes

• Literary devices and techniques (symbolism, metaphor, imagery, etc.)

• The role of the reader in constructing meaning

• Genre conventions (novel, poetry, drama, short story)

Unit 2: The Text, the Reader, and Their Contexts

• Influence of historical, social, and cultural contexts on texts

• Literary movements and their impact on meaning

• Different readings and interpretations of texts

• Intertextuality and allusions

• Adaptations and transformations of texts

• Representations of gender, race, and class in literature

• The role of ideology in shaping meaning

Units 3 & 4 (Year 12)

Unit 3: Form and Transformation

• Texts in conversation with each other (comparative study)

• Transformations and reinterpretations of texts

• The role of adaptations (film, stage, re-imaginings)

• Authorial intent vs. reader response

• The impact of different mediums on meaning

• Creative responses to texts (mimicry, pastiche, rewriting)

• Theoretical and critical perspectives on texts

Unit 4: Interpreting Texts

• Close reading and textual analysis

• Perspectives informed by literary theories (feminist, postcolonial, psychoanalytic, Marxist, etc.)

• Examining dominant, resistant, and alternative readings

• Literary criticism and its role in interpretation

• Evaluating different interpretations and arguments

• Language, structure, and style in shaping meaning

• The ethical, political, and philosophical dimensions of texts