AS A2 ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE - SOME SUMMER ACTIVITIES

If you are intending to continue into the second year of A Level English Language and Literature you might consider the following activities

Over the summer read and annotate the poems given out already, using the questions in the handout. If you don't have the anthology here are some links to relevant poems you may be studying next year.

Click here for a link to Daddy by Sylvia Plath
Click here for a link to London by William Blake
Click here for a link to Digging by Seamus Heaney
Click here for a link to Composed Upon Westminster Bridge by William Wordsworth
Click here for a link to Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost
Click here for a link to Because I could not stop for death by Emily Dickinson

And click here for a list of key questions to use when exploring poems.

Over the summer you should read regularly and widely a range of non fiction texts such as good quality weekend broadsheet and tabloid newspapers. You should concentrate on the supplements and commentaries / columnists rather than the news sections.

Consider texts that are autobiographical, biographical, travel writing, eye witness, opinion and social / political commentaries.

As you read these newspaper sections consider how the writer addresses audience, purpose and genre - these are key concepts in the second year. Why not find out what they mean and how they are used in non fiction texts. Try and identify the conventions - another key concept in the second year of the course - used to present these different types of writing. And finally identify different language techniques and the effect of these on an audience.

Most importantly - have a great summer and enjoy your reading!