AS and A‐Level English Literature Reading List Literature
2015 Compulsory Reading: These texts are compulsory and must be read before the beginning of the course in September when we study Aspects of Tragedy, alongside any attached reading material. William Shakespeare Othello Arthur Miller Death of a Salesman F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby John Keats selected poetry La Belle Dame sans Merci,
The Eve of St Agnes Lamia Isabella, or The Pot of Basil (try to read more Keats) Towards the end of the first year, a study of the following will commence, for an element entitled Political & Social Protest Writing. At this point, they will become compulsory. William Blake Margaret Atwood Khaled Hosseini Songs of Innocence and of Experience The Handmaid’s Tale The Kite Runner Please read the article 'Very Sad: What Else is Tragedy?' by Emma Smith. Available at: http://www.academia.edu/1418370/Very_Sad_What_Else_is_Tragedy_ Further Reading: These are texts that contain elements of tragedy, some more so than others. Whilst not a pre‐requisite for the course, it is expected that a student of literature undertakes freely a wider reading from a range of genres and forms. This list is not exhaustive. Sophocles William Shakespeare Oedipus Rex Romeo & Juliet King Lear Hamlet Doctor Faustas Tess of the D’urbervilles Wuthering Heights Great Expectations Dracula Heart of Darkness A Doll’s House selected poetry The Bell Jar The Yellow Wallpaper A Room of One’s Own A Streetcar Named Desire Things Fall Apart The Remains of the Day Snow Falling on Cedars Oryx and Crake The Book Thief Christopher Marlowe Thomas Hardy Emily Bronte Charles Dickens Bram Stoker Joseph Conrad Henrik Ibsen W.B. Yeats Sylvia Plath Charlotte Perkins Gilman Virginia Woolf Tennessee Williams Chinua Achebe Kazuo Ishiguro David Guterson Margaret Atwood Markus Zusak In the second year of the course, you will be required to write two NEA pieces; these are Non‐
examined assessments, or coursework. They do not have to be linked to Tragedy or Political & Social Protest Writing. This is an opportunity for you to choose your own texts dependent on your interests, one prose and one poetry, which must be written about with reference to a Critical Anthology. ASS and A‐LLevel Engglish Liteerature R
Reading LList Literature
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2015
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Other: O
Do D try to rread materrial from th
he ‘prizes’ such as The Man Bo
ooker prizee or the Orange O
prizze. Broadsheet B
newspaper and non‐ficction writinng are also u
useful. Reference B
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Books: A Dictionary
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y of Literary Terms by M
Martin Grayy AQA English A
Literature B
B (AS and A
A2) by Oxforrd Doing Englis
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sh by Robertt Eaglestone How to Writ
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te Better Esssays by Bryaan Greetha m Oxford conci
O
ise companion to Engliish Literaturre by Margaaret Drabble
e and Jennyy Stringer Pastoral by T
P
Terry Gifforrd The Poet’s C
T
Craft by Sand
dy Brownjohn Magazines/J
M
Journals: The Times Li
T
iterary Supp
plement – a weekly liteerary review
w Literary Even
nts: The Guardia
T
n Hay Festival BBC Proms L
B
Literary Festtival Henley litera
H
ary festival Cinemas/Th
C
eatres: Do look out D
presenting llive screenings of dram
ma performeed by the RSC and otheer for our locaal cinemas p
companies –– this is happening morre often. W e also have
e some wonderful thea tres in the region. Useful Webs
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sites http://www.guardian.co.uk/bookss http://www.themanboo
okerprize.com http://www.goodreads.com http://www.womensprrizeforfiction.co.uk Exploring Tragedy through a ‘Lens’ 2015
In our texts, a tragic hero or heroine is flawed in some way; they may suffer and cause suffering to others. We will also encounter an interchange between what might be seen as villains and victims. The following is a list of ‘lenses’, or aspects, that we will encounter in our study of the set texts. We must try to look at each text through a tragic lens and question why it has been used, or even why a particular aspect is absent. This list is by no means exhaustive and we can certainly add to it as we see fit!  Classical tragedy ‐ about public figures 
Domestic tragedy ‐ represents ordinary people 
Settings ‐ both place and times, with relevant context 
The journey towards death of the protagonists: o their flaws o pride and folly o blindness and insight o discovery and learning o being a mix of good and evil 
The role of the tragic villain or opponent, who: o directly affects the fortunes of the hero o may engage in a contest of power and is partly responsible for the hero’s demise 
Noble characters who must confront obstacle from external forces, and within 
The presence of fate ‐ how the hero’s end is inevitable 
How the behaviour of the hero affects the world around him, creating chaos and influences the lives of others 
The significance of: o humour and moments of happiness o violence and revenge 
The structural pattern of text: o a movement from complication to catastrophe o from order to disorder o through climax to resolution o the prosperity and happiness of the hero to the tragic end o the use of plots and sub‐plots o the way that language is used to heighten the tragedy 
Ultimately, how tragedy affects the audience: o acting as a commentary on the real world o moving the audience through pity and fear to an understanding of the human condition Once we have identified a lens, we must ask what meanings arise from it:  What is the significance?  What does it show?  What dramatic methods have been used?