Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency

ACCAC
CCEA
QCA
GCE ADVANCED SUBSIDIARY AND ADVANCED LEVEL SPECIFICATIONS

SUBJECT CRITERIA FOR ENGLISH LITERATURE

1. Introduction

1.1 AS and A level subject criteria set out the knowledge, understanding, skills and assessment objectives common to all AS and A level specifications in a given subject. They provide the framework within which the awarding body creates the detail of the specification.

Subject criteria are intended to:

• help ensure consistent and comparable standards in the same subject across the awarding bodies;
• define the relationship between the AS and A level specifications, with the AS as a subset of the A level;
• ensure that the rigour of A level is maintained;
• help higher education institutions and employers know what has been studied and assessed.

Any specification which contains significant elements of the subject English Literature must be consistent with the relevant parts of these subject criteria.

2. Aims

2.1 AS and A level specifications in English Literature should encourage students to develop their interest and enjoyment in literary studies through reading widely, independently and critically. AS and A level courses should involve an introduction to the traditions of English Literature. Wider reading could include literature in English from outside the UK and literature in translation.

2.2 AS students should develop as confident, independent and reflective readers of a range of texts, learning to express their responses effectively through speech and writing. They should use critical concepts and terminology with understanding and discrimination. AS courses should encourage students to reflect on their own responses to texts, considering other readers' interpretations, with some awareness of the contexts in which texts were written.

2.3 A level courses should broaden and deepen the knowledge, skills and understanding developed in the AS and enable students to gain a wider sense of the scope of literary study. Students should be encouraged to use their detailed knowledge and understanding of individual texts to explore comparisons and connections between them, and to appreciate the significance of cultural and historical influences upon readers and writers.

3. Specification Content

3.1 AS and A level specifications in English Literature should build on the knowledge, understanding and skills established at GCSE. AS specifications will introduce students to the discipline of advanced literary study and require reading of the major literary genres. A level specifications will extend this study in breadth and depth, and develop further students' techniques of analysis, evaluation and comparison.

Knowledge, Understanding and Skills

3.2 AS specifications should require candidates to show knowledge and understanding of:

• a minimum of four texts covering prose, poetry and drama. These should include a play by Shakespeare and at least one other text published before 1900. The texts read should be of sufficient substance and quality to merit serious consideration, and should have been originally written in English;
• how texts relate to the contexts in which they were written;
• the different ways in which texts are interpreted by different readers, acknowledging that literary texts have a range of meanings and the significance of these is related to readers' knowledge, experience and ideas.

3.3 In addition, A level specifications should require candidates to show knowledge and understanding of:

• a minimum of four further texts, covering prose, poetry and drama. At least one work should have been published before 1770 (pre-Romantic), and at least one other before 1900. The texts read should be of sufficient substance and quality to merit serious consideration, and should have been written originally in English;
• how texts relate to the contexts in which they were written, including the importance of cultural and historical influences on texts and the relevance of the author's life and his/her other works;
• the significance of literary traditions, periods and movements in relation to texts studied;
• the ways in which texts have been interpreted and valued by different readers at different times, acknowledging that interpretation of literary texts can depend on a reader's assumptions and stance;
• the connections and comparisons between texts and how texts relate to one another.

3.4 AS specifications should require candidates to:

• read, analyse and communicate accurately and effectively their knowledge, understanding and judgement of texts;
• understand, respond to and evaluate how writers use form, structure and language to shape meanings;
• produce fluent and convincing responses demonstrating close and detailed reading of texts;
• identify and consider how attitudes and values are created and conveyed in texts;
• draw upon their understanding of different interpretations in evaluating texts;
• make appropriate use of literary critical concepts and terminology.

3.5 In addition, A level specifications should require candidates to:

• make comparisons between substantial whole texts in order to understand and comment on what they have in common and on significant differences between them;
• synthesise their knowledge and understanding of the styles, contexts and meanings of literary texts.

4. Key Skills

4.1 AS and A level specifications in English Literature should provide opportunities for developing and generating evidence for assessing the Key Skills listed below. Where appropriate these opportunities should be directly cross-referenced, at specified level(s), to the criteria listed in part B of the Key Skills specifications.

• Communication
• Information Technology
• Improving own Learning and Performance
• Working with Others

5. Assessment Objectives

5.1 The differences between AS and A level assessment objectives reflect the differences in the depth and breadth of the requirements of the specifications.

5.2 Knowledge, understanding and skills are closely linked. The specifications must require that all candidates meet the following assessment objectives in the context of the content and skills prescribed. The assessment objectives are to be weighted in all specifications within the ranges indicated.

5.3 Assessment objective 4 draws on the knowledge and understanding specified in paragraphs 3.2 and 3.3 above.

5.4 In each part of the specification there are 5 assessment objectives, of which AO1, AO3 and AO4 are common. Assessment objectives 2ii and 5ii are framed in ways which indicate the greater demand of the second part of the specification while building on the knowledge, skills and understanding established in the AS.

 

Assessment Objectives		% Weighting
		AS	A2	A level
AO1	communicate clearly the knowledge, understanding and insight appropriate to literary study, using appropriate terminology and accurate and coherent written expression	10 - 20	10 - 20	10 - 20
AO2i	respond with knowledge and understanding to literary texts of different types and periods	15 - 25	-	} } } 15-25
AO2ii	respond with knowledge and understanding to literary texts of different types and periods, exploring and commenting on relationships and comparisons between literary texts	-	15 - 25	} } }
AO3	show detailed understanding of the ways in which writers' choices of form, structure and language shape meanings	10 - 20	10 - 20	10 - 20
AO4	articulate independent opinions and judgements, informed by different interpretations of literary texts by other readers	20 - 30	20 - 30	20 - 30
AO5i	show understanding of the contexts in which literary texts are written and understood	15 - 25	-	} } }15 - 25
AO5ii	evaluate the significance of cultural, historical and other contextual influences on literary texts and study	-	15 - 25	} } }

 

6. Scheme of Assessment

Internal Assessment

6.1 All A level specifications in English Literature may include internal assessment to a maximum weighting of 30%. A maximum of 10% of assessment may be used for oral work.

Synoptic Assessment

6.2 All specifications should include a minimum of 20% synoptic assessment. All synoptic assessment units should be taken at the end of the course and be externally assessed. Synoptic assessment will draw on all the A level assessment objectives.

6.3 Synoptic assessment in English Literature will take account of the requirement that A level qualifications should enable candidates to develop a broader and deeper understanding of the connections between the knowledge and understanding set out in the specification as a whole. Synoptic assessment will involve the explicit synthesis of insights gained from a close and detailed study of a range of texts important for the development of English Literature. It will require candidates to show evidence of the ways in which contextual factors and different interpretations of texts illuminate their own readings, and ensure that candidates demonstrate their skills of interpretation and expression to give articulate, well-argued responses.

Examples of synoptic assessment might include:

• a task based on Shakespearean drama in which candidates bring to bear their knowledge gained from previous study, to inform their interpretation of episodes from a play not previously studied as part of the course. The task might contain some additional material relating to different critical approaches or traditions of performance, eg, the ways in which Shakespeare's language and use of sources was responded to when the plays were first produced and in subsequent periods;
• a task requiring the analysis, evaluation and comparison of two texts, drawing on candidates' study of other texts and materials from a period identified in the specification, eg, the thirties, the Gothic novel, medieval drama;
• a task focusing on the characteristics of a particular literary movement or period including direct reference to and comparison between at least two writers, eg, a study of Romantic poetry based on poems by Wordsworth and Coleridge.

Resources in examinations

6.4 Where a scheme of assessment includes access to open book or pre-release materials in examinations, a clear rationale must be given for their use. Awarding bodies must prescribe the nature of editorial material and accompanying commentaries that texts used in examinations can include.

6.5 In all AS and A level schemes of assessment, at least one AS and one A2 externally assessed assessment unit must be examined without texts being available to candidates during the examination.

Key Skills Assessment

6.6 The Key Skill of Communication must contribute to the assessment of English Literature at AS and A level. The requirement for all AS and A level specifications to assess candidates' quality of written communication will be met through assessment objective 1. AS and A level specifications must identify the relevant criteria for speaking, reading and writing from the Key Skills specification for Communication at the appropriate level(s).

7. Grade Descriptions

7.1 The following grade descriptions indicate the level of attainment characteristic of the given grade at A level. They give a general indication of the required learning outcomes at each specified grade. The descriptions should be interpreted in relation to the content outlined in the specification; they are not designed to define that content. The grade awarded will depend in practice upon the extent to which the candidate has met the assessment objectives overall. Shortcomings in some aspects of the examination may be balanced by better performances in others.

7.2 Grade A

Candidates demonstrate a comprehensive, detailed knowledge and understanding of a wide range of literary texts from the past to the present, and of the critical concepts associated with literary study. Their discussion of texts shows depth, independence and insight in response to the tasks set, and they analyse and evaluate the ways in which form, structure and language shape meanings. Where appropriate, candidates identify the influence on texts of the cultural and historical contexts in which they were written. They are able to make significant and productive comparisons between texts which enhance and extend their readings, and are sensitive to the scope of their own and others' interpretations of texts. Their material is well organised and presented, making effective use of textual evidence in support of arguments. Written expression is fluent, well-structured, accurate and precise, and shows confident grasp of appropriate terminology.

7.3 Grade C

Candidates demonstrate secure knowledge and understanding of a range of texts from different periods and of different types, and make use of some of the critical concepts relevant to the study of literature. Candidates comment perceptively on texts in response to the tasks set. They respond to some details in the ways authors use form, structure and language to create meaning, as well as showing some awareness of contextual influences. They relate their own judgements to those of others as appropriate in developing interpretations of texts. They are able to pursue comparisons between texts in order to show how texts can illuminate one another. Their material is clearly organised and presented, and incorporates examples to help sustain a line of argument. Written expression is accurate and clear and shows a sound use of appropriate terminology.

7.4 Grade E

Candidates demonstrate some knowledge and understanding of a range of different texts and comment on them in response to the tasks set, sometimes supporting their views by reference to the links between meanings and author's uses of form, structure and language. Candidates note the possible effects of context and may show some understanding of how other readers interpret the texts. They can draw out broad lines of similarities and differences between texts, not necessarily within a wider critical framework. Their written work is generally accurate in conveying statements and opinions, sometimes supported by reference to the texts, and shows the use of some terminology appropriate to the subject.