AS into A2

We’re jumping right in!

Weighting of Units

• AS Unit 1 (exam) = 30%• AS Unit 2 (coursework) = 20%• A2 Unit 3 (exam) =

30%• A2 Unit 4 (coursework) = 20%

The exam board say…• The A2 examination unit (LITA3) requires candidates to read widely and

independently and apply their knowledge and understanding of literature through time (Chaucer to the present day), and across genre and gender.

• Students need to draw upon a variety of close and wide reading skills as well as the ability to apply knowledge and understanding of the contexts of literature to link their wider reading to specific unseen texts on the examination paper.

• These connections will be made through synthesising the insights gained across a range of texts and through a variety of ways of making meaning.

• Candidates will focus on linguistic and literary techniques, evaluate different interpretations of texts and explore various cultural contexts.

• Candidates will explore various ways in which literary texts may contain encoded representations of moral, philosophical, religious, spiritual, political and other ideas valued at different times by different readers.

• They will explore ways in which texts may be generically linked and labelled, and the ways in which this process may be questioned.

• They will be expected to express their views and ideas in well structured prose, using accurate terminology appropriate to the subject at this level and some of the conventions of academic writing.

Assessment Objective Unit 3 Unit 4

AO1: Articulate creative, informed and relevant responses to literary texts, using appropriate terminology and concepts, and coherent, accurate written expression

7.5% 6%

AO2: Demonstrate detailed critical understanding in analysing the ways in which structure, form and language shape meanings in literary texts 7.5% 6%

AO3: Explore connections and comparisons between different literary texts, informed by interpretations of other readers 7.5% 6%

AO4: Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received 7.5% 2%

Core set texts

Love Through the Ages Ed. Geddes & InceOUP, 2009£9.50 new on Amazon

More Love Through the AgesEd. Geddes & MerrickOUP, 2012£9.50 new on Amazon

Other recommended texts

Contexts in Literature: The Literature of LoveWardCUP, 2009£6.50 on Amazon

AQA English Literature A – A2Camwell & OgbornNelson Thornes, 2008£12.94 on Amazon

Your presentation will…

• … be authoritative• … be informative• … be knowledgeable• … be well-researched• … be linked to the 4 Assessment Objectives• ... feature key quotes from the text which

show how it explores the theme of love

Romeo & Juliet

• Key facts:–A tragedy– First performed in 1597 = Elizabethan play– Set in Verona, Italy (Shakespeare had never

been there)–Not an original story, as with many other texts,

it was ‘inspired by’ other texts and sources

Sources for ‘Romeo & Juliet’• Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the story of Pyramus and

Thisbe from c. 8 AD– the lovers' parents despise each other, and Pyramus falsely

believes his lover Thisbe is dead• Xenophon’s Ephesiaca, from the 3rd century– in it the lovers are separated lovers and there is a potion

that induces a deathlike sleep• Mariotto and Gianozza by Massucio Salernitano from

1476– In this story there is a secret marriage, a colluding friar, the

fray where a prominent citizen is killed, Mariotto's exile, Gianozza's forced marriage, the potion plot, and the crucial message that goes astray. In this version, Mariotto is caught and beheaded and Gianozza dies of grief

Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet• Set in Verona, Italy

during the Renaissance era (late 14thC to early 15thC), an era which is best known for the renewed interest in the culture of classical antiquity (ancient Greek and Roman culture, history and literature)

• Understanding the historical context shows understanding of another level of meaning and possible interpretations for the play

• An audience in 1597 would be reacting to a setting in Catholic Italy of over a hundred years ago, whilst now we look at it as a 21stC audience and we have to consider the reactions of audiences in 1597 and all of the years in between, taking their culture and views into consideration.

Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet

Love in Romeo & Juliet

• Established from the opening Prologue

From forth the fatal loins of these two foesA pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;

The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,And the continuance of their parents' rage,Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;

Who is ‘in love’ in Romeo & Juliet?

Who ‘loves’ in Romeo & Juliet?

What is the difference between being ‘in love’ and ‘loving’

• Different kinds of love in the text– Sexual love/lust– Familial love– Fraternal love– Maternal love– Illicit love– Unrequited love– Love of nature/god/country

AO1: Articulate creative, informed and relevant responses to literary texts, using appropriate

terminology and concepts, and coherent, accurate written expression

Throughout the play, Shakespeare juxtaposes the opposite ideals of…This has the effect of…The audience is therefore forced to…

AO2: Demonstrate detailed critical understanding in analysing the ways in which structure, form and

language shape meanings in literary textsWith the tragic events of the play taking place over the course of just four days, the audience are aware of…This adds a further element of peril for the young lovers as they are forced to…A the start of the play the audience feel…However, by the end they feel…

AO3: Explore connections and comparisons between different literary texts, informed by interpretations of

other readersTo a modern audience, the actions of Lord Capulet towards his daughter may seem abhorrent as we view the play with modern ideals and a greater sense of equality and fairness between children and parents and men and women. With this view in mind, a feminst reading of the play would… However, in the context of the setting of the play, Lord Capulet is…Shakespeare’s original audience would have felt…

AO4: Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts

are written and receivedRomeo & Juliet is set in a culture dominated by Catholic doctrines and beliefs, as such we see…Shakespeare’s London would have held…Thus meaning that they would have been…

Key quotes about love“My only love sprung from my only hate!Too early seen unknown, and known too late!Prodigious birth of love it is to me,That I must love a loathed enemy.” “These violent delights have violent ends

And in their triumph die, like fire and powderWhich, as they kiss, consume”

“O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father refuse thy name, thou art thyself thou not a Montague, what is Montague? tis nor hand nor foot nor any other part belonging to a man What is in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, So Romeo would were he not Romeo called retain such dear perfection to which he owes without that title, Romeo, Doff thy name! And for that name which is no part of thee, take all thyself.”

“Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.”

Key quotes about love“These violent delights have violent endsAnd in their triumph die, like fire and powder,Which as they kiss consume. The sweetest honeyIs loathsome in his own deliciousnessAnd in the taste confounds the appetite.Therefore love moderately; long love doth so;Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.” “Tell me, daughter Juliet, How stands your

dispositions to be married"

It is an honor that I dream not of”

“Death lies on her like an untimely frostUpon the sweetest flower of all the field.”

“My only love sprung from my only hate!Too early seen unknown, and known too late!”

“And with a kiss I die”

Compare and contrast the writers’ presentation of maternal love in any three of these texts. You must write about a play by Shakespeare.

• Coriolanus / The Winter’s Tale / Hamlet• The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne• Ruth / North and South Elizabeth Gaskell• Bleak House Charles Dickens• Daniel Deronda George Eliot• A Woman of No Importance Oscar Wilde• Sons and Lovers D.H. Lawrence• Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Edward Albee• Poor Cow / Up the Junction Nell Dunn• The Fifth Child Doris Lessing• Waterland Graham Swift• Maps for Lost Lovers Nadeem Aslam• We Need to Talk About Kevin Lionel Shriver• Digging to America Anne Tyler

Compare and contrast the writers’ presentation of the destructive nature of desire in any three of these texts. You must write about a play byShakespeare.

• Measure for Measure / Othello / Antony and Cleopatra• Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë• Our Mutual Friend Charles Dickens• Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy• The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald• Selected Poems Sylvia Plath• Birthday Letters Ted Hughes• A View from the Bridge / The Crucible Arthur Miller• Enduring Love Ian McEwan

Compare and contrast the writers’ presentation of the darker side of love in any three of these texts. You must write about a play by Shakespeare.

• The Winter’s Tale / Othello• Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë• Selected Dramatic Monologues Robert Browning• Selected Poems Sylvia Plath• Birthday Letters Ted Hughes• A View from the Bridge / The Crucible Arthur

Miller• Enduring Love Ian McEwan

Compare and contrast the writers’ presentation of problems between parents and children in three of these texts. You must write about a play byShakespeare.

• King Lear / Hamlet / Romeo and Juliet … among others• Frankenstein Mary Shelley• Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë• The Fifth Child Doris Lessing• Waterland Graham Swift• About A Boy Nick Hornby• White Teeth Zadie Smith• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Mark

Haddon• We Need to Talk About Kevin Lionel Shriver• The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini

Compare and contrast the writers’ presentation of conflict between fathers and sons in any three of these texts. You must write about King Lear.• King Lear• Oedipus the King Sophocles• Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë• Felix Holt / Romola George Eliot• All My Sons Arthur Miller• Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Tennessee Williams• White Teeth Zadie Smith• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Mark

Haddon• Waterland Graham Swift• The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini

Compare and contrast the writers’ presentation of sibling relationships in any three of these texts. You must write about a play by Shakespeare.

• Twelfth Night / King Lear / The Comedy of Errors• Sense and Sensibility / Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen• Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë• Silas Marner George Eliot• Sons and Lovers /The Rainbow /Women in Love D.H. Lawrence• All My Sons Arthur Miller• The Catcher in the Rye / Franny and Zooey J.D. Salinger• A Streetcar Named Desire / Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Tennessee Williams• Waterland Graham Swift• On the Black Hill Bruce Chatwin• Wise Children Angela Carter• The God of Small Things Arundhati