GCSE LEVEL English Literature

IGCSE Course Outline

What is IGCSE English Literature?

The IGCSE English Literature course is designed to strengthen and develop reading comprehension and writing skills. The course explores a range of texts from a variety of cultures and gives you an understanding of the development and cultural significance of classic and contemporary poetry, drama and prose. It also provides you with the foundations for writing clear, well-argued essays.

Examination structure

Paper 1: Poetry and Modern Prose

2 hours examination
60% of IGCSE

Section A - Unseen Poetry: one 20-mark essay on an unseen poem

Section B - Anthology Poetry: one 30-mark essay comparing two anthology poems

Section C - Modern Prose: one 40-mark essay question on a set text

Coursework:
Internal assessment 40% of IGCSE

Essay 1: a response to a Modern Drama text

Essay 2: a response to a Literary Heritage text

Set texts*

Modern Prose
John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men

Modern Drama
Arthur Miller, A View from the Bridge

Literary Heritage Text
William Shakespeare, Macbeth

Poetry anthology
You will study a wide range of classic and contemporary poetry from the Edexcel Anthology.

ENGLISH LITERATURE (EDX) IGCSE Specification
	Method of Assessment	Duration	Weighting
Unit 1	Poetry and Modern Prose	2 hour examination	60% of IGCSE
Unit 2	Coursework Drama and Literary Heritage	Autumn & Spring Terms	40% of IGCSE

Structure of the Course

The course is often offered as a one-year course, the length of study depending on the needs and development of the student concerned. The Edexcel IGCSE English Literature course is taught in three one-hour lessons per week.

Challenges of the course

You will be required to think in depth about the texts that we study and to work hard on your written expression in order to meet the needs of the course. You will also be expected to read as widely as possible outside the classroom.

Introductory and Further Reading

The best way to improve as an English student is to read as much as possible. You might enjoy the following books:

Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe

Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes stories

George Eliot, Silas Marner

Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

Michael Frayn, Spies

William Golding, Lord of the Flies

Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

Barry Hines, A Kestrel for a Knave

Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go

Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

Arthur Miller, All My Sons

George Orwell, 1984

Philip Pullman, His Dark Materials

R. L. Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

H.G. Wells, War of the Worlds
*Set text choices may change.