4.3 Theory and independence

This component is designed to allow students to read widely, to choose their own texts (if appropriate) and to understand that contemporary study of literature needs to be informed by the fact that different theoretical and critical methods can be applied to the subject. This area of the course provides a challenging and wide-ranging opportunity for an introduction to different ways of reading texts and for independent study. The title 'Theory and independence' highlights the important idea that, within a literature course, students should have the opportunity to work as independently as possible. A range of differentiated texts and tasks will ideally be seen across a school’s or college's non-exam assessment submission for this component.

This process is supported by the AQA Critical anthology, which has accessible extracts on the following critical methods and ideas:

• narrative theory
• feminist theory
• Marxist theory
• eco-critical theory
• post-colonial theory
• literary value and the canon.

In this component, students write about two different literary texts. One of the texts must be a poetry text and the other must be prose. Each text must be linked to a different section of the Critical anthology. Students cannot choose texts from any of the A-Level exam set text lists.

Texts chosen for study must allow access to a range of critical views and interpretations, including over time, and must maximise opportunities for writing with reference to the AQA Critical anthology.

The study of the Critical anthology supports the exploration of different meanings in literary texts and offers different ways of reading. Having explored their chosen text in the light of some critical ideas, students then demonstrate their understanding through their written work, comprising of two pieces of writing, one on each of the chosen texts. Students produce two essays of 1250-1500 words. One response will be a conventional essay; the second can be re-creative. It is possible to submit two conventional responses.

A conventional essay will focus on debate and explore potential meanings in a literary text using critical theories and ideas. A conventional task drawing on the post-colonial section might be:

'Forster has written A Passage to India in such a way that it is impossible to sympathise with any of the English characters as there is so little to redeem them.

Using ideas from the Critical anthology to inform your argument, to what extent do you agree with this view?'

A re-creative response allows students to explore aspects of a text and its potential meanings and at the same time show enjoyment in the creative aspects of their task. The purpose of a re-creative response is to offer a critical reading of the base text that has been informed by working with the Critical anthology.

Re-creative work can find the ‘narrative gaps’ or ‘absence’ in a base text and by filling some of these gaps students offer a critical reading of the text. New light can be shed on a text and its potential ambiguities by re-creating part of it through a new voice and genre. New light can also be shed on a conventional reading of a text by offering a reading from a different critical and/or contextual starting point.

There is no requirement for students to replicate the form and language of the chosen base text, but the selection of narrative voice matters. It is often far more effective and interesting to present the point of view of a character who is at times marginalised as a voice in the base text.

The re-creative piece is accompanied by a commentary which needs to establish a clear connection between the re-creative piece, the base text and the relevant section of the Critical anthology. The commentary should illustrate the significant choices that have been made in the production of the re-creative piece and explain how those choices led to a critical reading.

A re-creative task drawing from the sections on feminist theory and/or Marxist theory might be:

'Write a series of journal entries by Miss Kenton written at different points in the narrative of The Remains of the Day in which she reflects on her treatment by Stevens and others at Darlington Hall.

Use ideas from the Critical anthology to inform your work and include a commentary explaining how you have explored ideas from feminism and/or Marxism in your re-creative piece.'

Text selection

• students must study one prose and one poetry text
• set texts listed for the A-level exam components cannot be used for non-exam assessment, even if they will not be used in the exam.

All texts must be suitable for A-level study and should reflect the quality of the texts used for the exams. It is important that students are able to cover all of the assessment objectives while studying the text.

The poetry text could be either one longer narrative poem or a single authored collection of shorter poems. If using a collection of poetry and writing a conventional response, students must have studied the whole rext and select at least two poems to write about in detail as examples of the wider collection. If using a selection of poetry and writing a re-creative response, students must have studied the whole text and will choose an appropriate part of the base text as the focus for their re-creative piece, and thus it is acceptable to focus on a single poem.

Single authored collections of short stories are permissible. If using a collection of short stories, students must have studied the whole text and select at least two stories to write about in detail as examples of the wider collection. If using a collection of short stories and writing a re-creative response, students must have studied the whole text and will choose an appropriate part of the base text as the focus for their re-creative piece, and thus it is acceptable to focus on a single short story.

Texts chosen for study may include one text in translation that has been influential and significant in the development of literature in English. The translated text should be treated as the original writer's own words for assessment purposes. Therefore, schools and colleges should ensure that they use a version recognised by academia as being a high quality translation which supports the original author's writing appropriately.

NEA prohibited texts

Students cannot use the following texts for non-exam assessment as they appear on the exam set text lists.

A

B

C

D

F

G

H

I

K

L

M

R

S

T

W

Y