Year 12
Exploring Love and
Literary Tradition
In Year 12, students begin by studying the theme of love through a range of literary forms and historical contexts. Set texts include Shakespeare plays such as Othello and Measure for Measure, alongside an anthology of pre-1900 poetry and selected prose fiction, such as Wuthering Heights or The Great Gatsby. The aim is to deepen students’ ability to analyse how love is represented across different genres and time periods.
This part of the course is assessed through a 3-hour open-book written examination in which students answer three questions: a close analysis of a Shakespeare text, a thematic essay based on the love poetry anthology and a comparative question on unseen poetry. The focus in Year 12 is on developing a confident critical voice, understanding literary conventions and refining essay-writing skills through group work, debate and independent reading.
Year 13
War Literature and
Critical Perspectives
In Year 13, students explore literature in context by focusing on the theme of World War I and its aftermath. Through the study of plays such as Journey’s End and poems by Wilfred Owen, as well as texts like First Casualty, students investigate how writers respond to war and conflict. The exam paper involves a mixture of unseen and comparative questions and is open-book, encouraging students to engage deeply with the texts.
In addition, students complete a coursework unit worth 20% of the A Level, involving a 2,500-word comparative essay on two texts of their own choosing. One of these must be pre-1900, and both must demonstrate literary merit. This element allows students to tailor their learning, developing their research skills and literary insight. By the end of the course, students will have gained a strong foundation for further study in English and the arts, as well as a highly transferable skill set for careers in communication, research and education.
Contact
The Thomas Adams School
Lowe Hill
Wem
Shropshire
SY4 5UB
Tel: +44 1939 237000
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