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King Edward VI Handsworth School for Girls
A Level English Literature Specification B NEA Manual 2019-20
Introduction
The NEA aspect of the A level course is by far the most exciting component (for both staff
and students!). It allows you the opportunity to spread your literary wings and explore how
much literature really has to offer. Your success for this module is very much dependent
on how successfully you prepare and execute your research and your essays.
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FAQs
What do I need to produce?
You will write two responses, each about a different literary text. One of the texts must be a poetry text
and the other must be prose.
What do I need the anthology for?
The anthology will provide the basis of the criticism/ lens you will use for your work. It is important you use
it as a springboard to support your thinking about the text you have chosen. Follow up any critics/ works
mentioned as part of your own research.
Can I write about the same theory in both pieces?
No, each text must be linked to a different section of the AQA critical anthology
How long does each response need to be?
The word count for each response is 1,250-1,500 words (not including quotations from critics/ the
anthology). You MUST provide a word count at the bottom of your work.
How many times will my teacher check my work?
You will have a series of 121 meetings with your teacher to discuss your progress but they will mark ONE
DRAFT only. It is imperative that you make your first draft the strongest it can possibily be, so that you
can reap the rewards of having the best possible feedback. In the past, students have misunderstood the
importance of the first draft and ended up not taking advantage of the opportunity for detailed feedback.
Don’t make the same mistake!
Do I design the question(s) myself?
Yes, you decide the direction of your debate, but it is worthwhile to ensure that you have a strong
argument. So, your question should have a strong, one-sided argument which will give you something
decent to debate. Your teacher will support you with any questions about your questions! The tasks must
be worded so that they give access to all five assessment objectives
So, can I choose anything?
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Well, no, not really. Again, ask your teacher if you are unsure. The reading list (enclosed) does give you
some support in what can and cannot be selected. Set texts listed for study in both A-level examination
components, Literary genres and Texts and genres, cannot be used for NEA. Both texts should be of
sufficient weight and of suitable ‘quality’ for A-level study; the set text lists for the examined components
help to exemplify what is meant by a substantial text, particularly in relation to selecting an appropriate
amount of poetry for the poetry ‘text’. Remember, however, that the A-level set texts cannot be used in
NEA.
● texts chosen for study must maximise opportunities for writing with reference to the AQA critical
anthology
● texts must allow access to a range of critical views and interpretations, including over time in the
conventional response, which students can evaluate and apply autonomously.
How long does the poetry collection need to be?
Poetry texts must be as substantial as a novel or a play. A poetry text could be either one longer narrative
poem or a single authored collection of shorter poems. A discrete Chaucer Tale would be suitable as a
text for study, as would a poem such as The Rape of the Lock. If students are using a collection of short
poems for a conventional response, they must have studied the whole text and select at least two poems
to write about in detail as examples of the wider collection.
What about prose?
Single authored collections of short stories are permissible. If students are using a collection of short
stories for a conventional response, they must have studied the whole text and select at least two stories
to write about in detail as examples of the wider collection. The prose choice should be of good quality!
Check with your teacher if you are unsure.
When covering A03, how much context is important?
Don’t shoe-horn information about writers/ time the work was published unless it is relevant to your
debate. Examiners are interested in contexts which arise naturally from the texts. Think about language of
possibility – “it may be seen that…”, “some readers…” to show that they are aware that this is one view.
Own readings are relevant as modern contemporary readers. Your teachers will discuss context of
reception and production, as this should form your contextual understanding of the text. Likewise, it is
important that you have a wealth of knowledge about the poet, poems/ novel/ author so that your work
can be informed. You may not use all of that knowledge in your essay, but it’s useful to have.
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When writing about poetry, do I need to compare the poems in the collection?
No, not really. However, you will want to ensure that you show you have understood the whole collection,
though no explicit comparison is required.
Referencing your sources correctly
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Both essays should include footnotes (see below) and should end with a bibliography and a
word count (not including quotations). Failure to do so will result in the loss of marks.
Footnote:1
Footnotes should be concise. They are most frequently used to give a bibliographical reference
at the bottom of the page. In this case, they should contain the following information:
Surname, Forename. Title of Text. City of publication: Publishers, Year published
Example:
Shakespeare, William. Othello2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
If you have read a chapter from a book, the bibliographical reference will appear as follows:
Fraser, Antonia. “Prologue: How Weak?”3 The Weaker Vessel: Woman’s Lot in Seventeeth-
Century England. London: Phoenix Press, 2002
If you have consulted a website, you need to use the following (note punctuation and italics):
Author, Initials. Title of article/ journal, Date of publication: Web address (Date accessed)
Bibliography:
List of books consulted. In alphabetical order by author.
Website addresses to follow texts. Include address followed by title of article.
Framing a question to give yourself the best chance
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Below is a table that shows how the question proposed aims to meet the assessment
objectives.
‘A Clockwork Orange is a protest novel about the powerlessness of human beings against
ruthless autocratic governments.’
Using ideas from the critical anthology to inform your argument, to what extent do you
agree with this view?
AO1: Articulate informed, personal and
creative responses to literary texts, using
associated concepts and terminology, and
coherent, accurate written expression.
In responding to the extent he/she agrees with
the given view, AO1 will be tested through the
way the student constructs the argument and
expresses ideas.
AO2: Analyse ways in which meanings are
shaped in literary texts.
AO2 is set up in the requirement for the
student to focus on the ways Burgess has/has
not presented A Clockwork Orange as a protest
novel, and on the implied presentation of
human beings as powerless and governments
as ruthless and autocratic.
AO3: Demonstrate understanding of the
significance and influence of the contexts
in which literary texts are written and
received.
AO3 will be addressed through the student
showing his/her understanding of a range of
possible contexts which arise from power and
powerlessness (e.g. cultural, gender, political
and historical contexts), and of the
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feminist/Marxist readings of the text that are
possible.
AO4: Explore connections across literary
texts.
AO4 is targeted by the requirement to refer to
the critical anthology, which is itself another
text. The student will also connect implicitly
with other ‘protest’ texts.
AO5: Explore literary texts informed by
different interpretations.
In debating the extent to which A Clockwork
Orange is a protest novel about the
powerlessness of human beings against
ruthless autocratic governments, the student
will directly engage with different
interpretations.
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A Level Theory and Independence: Reading List
You will need to explore two texts independently: one in poetry and one in prose. Each
exploration will need to be linked to a different section of the Critical Anthology.
The poetry must be a long narrative poem or a single authored collection of shorter poems. If you
choose to write on a collection of short poems, you must have studied the whole collection and
select at least two poems to write about in detail as well as giving examples from the wider
collection.
The prose should be a novel or a collection of short stories. If you choose to write on a collection of
short stories, you must have studied the whole collection and select at least two stories to write
about in detail as well as giving examples from the wider collection.
You CANNOT write on any of the following:
❖ Aktinson, Kate – When Will There Be Good News?
❖ Atwood, Margaret – The Handmaid’s Tale
❖ Austen, Jane – Emma
❖ Blake, William – Songs of Innocence and Experience
❖ Browning, Robert – The Laboratory, My Last Duchess or Porphyria’s Lover
❖ Chaucer, Geoffrey – ‘The Nun’s Priest’s Tale’
❖ Christie, Agatha – The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
❖ Coleridge, Samuel Taylor – The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
❖ Crabbe, George – Peter Grimes
❖ Crace, Jim – Harvest
❖ Dickens, Charles – Hard Times or Oliver Twist
❖ Fitzgerald, F. Scott – The Great Gatsby
❖ Greene, Graham – Brighton Rock
❖ Hardy, Thomas – Tess of the d’Urbervilles
❖ Harrison, Tony – Selected Poems (see AQA English Literature B Specification)
❖ Hosseini, Khaled – The Kite Runner
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❖ Keats, John – Selected Poems (see AQA English Literature B Specification)
❖ Levy, Andrea – Small Island
❖ McEwan, Ian – Atonement
❖ Wilde, Oscar – The Ballad of the Reading Gaol
❖ Any of the poems in the AQA English Literature B Poetry Anthology (tragedy or comedy -
see Specification for more details)
You will need to choose two out of the following six areas from the Critical Anthology:
❖ Literary Value and the Canon
❖ Feminist theory
❖ Marxist theory
❖ Post-colonial theory
❖ Eco-criticial theory
❖ Narrative theory
The suggested texts on the next pages could be used for more than area of the anthology;
where possible they have been included as such. The list is long but not by any means
exhaustive.
Possible areas of exploration
Literary value and the ‘canon’
1. You could apply ideas about value and the canon to ‘rubbish reading’ by finding your own
example of a forgotten text, considering why it has been neglected and what it might have to
offer readers.
2. You could apply ideas about value and the canon to ‘the test of time’ by choosing a novel of
collection of poetry published in the last ten years, considering the extent to which it
displays the qualities to ‘stand the test of time’ and think about whether it possesses these.
Prose texts to consider:
o Barker, Pat – The Regeneration Trilogy
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o Burgess, Anthony – A Clockwork Orange
o Coelho, Paulo – The Alchemist
o Collins, Susanne – The Hunger Games
o Doyle, Roddy – Paddy Clark Ha Ha Ha
o Faulkes, Sebastian - Birdsong
o Gregory, Philippa
o Haddon, Mark – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
o Harris, Joanne
o Heller, Joseph – Catch 22
o Hill, Susan – I’m the King of the Castle, The Woman in Black
o Hines, Barry – A Kestrel for a Knave
o Hosseini, Khaled – A Thousand Splendid Suns
o Ishiguro, Kazuo – Never Let Me Go, Remains of the Day
o Levy, Angela – Small Island
o Lively, Penelope – Moon Tiger
o Murkami – Kafka on the Shore
o Morrison, Toni – Beloved/any
o Pierre, DBC – Vernon God Little
o Pullman, Philip – Northern Lights
o Salinger, JD – The Catcher in the Rye
o Schlink – The Reader
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o Smith, Zadie – NW
o Syal, Meera – Anita and Me
o Waters, Sarah – Affinity
o Wollstonecraft, Mary – A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
o Zusak, Marcus – The Book Thief
o Touching the Void
Poetry to consider:
o George the Poet’s Search Party
o Carol Ann Duffy
o Seamus Heaney
o Ted Hughes
o Andrew Motion
o Adrian Mitchell
Narrative theory
You could apply narrative theory to texts which are told from more than one narrative or are
epistolary by analysing the stylistic devices used to create the sense of a narrative voice, trace
the way different stories/voices/perspectives are intertwined and shed light on each other, and
analysing the writer’s manipulation of time.
You could apply narrative theory to a text told from a different perspective to its protagonist by
considering the effect of the chosen narrative perspective/voice on our view of the protagonist and
thinking about the effect of not allowing this character to tell their story.
Prose texts to consider:
o Bronte, Emily – Wuthering Heights
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o Coelho, Paul – The Alchemist and others
o Collins, Wilkie – The Moonstone, The Woman in White
o Doyle, Roddy – Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
o Ford Maddox Ford – The Good Soldier
o Richardson, Samuel – Pamela
o Sterne, Laurence - Tristram Shandy
o Stoker, Bram - Dracula
Poetry to consider: Byron
Feminist theory
You could apply feminist ideas to a text written prior to all (or some) waves of Feminism by
exploring the depiction of women in the text and identifying attitudes towards relationships,
marriage and domesticity, from the point of view of both men and women.
You could apply feminist ideas to a more modern text by tracing the feelings of a female protagonist
about her identity as woman and the way it has been shaped by different people and ideas and
examining the protagonist’s use of language when interacting with both men and women.
Prose texts to consider:
o Adichie, Chimanda – Half of a Yellow Sun
o Alcott, Louisa May – Little Women
o Angelou, Maya – I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
o Atwood, Margaret – The Blind Assassin, Moral Disorder
o Austen, Jane – all except Emma
o Bronte, Anne – The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
o Bronte, Charlotte – Vilette, Jane Eyre
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o Bronte, Emily – Wuthering Heights
o Burgess, Anthony – A Clockwork Orange
o Byatt, AS – Possession
o Carol, Lewis – Alice in Wonderland
o Carter, Angela – The Bloody Chamber
o Coelho, Paul – several
o Dahl, Roald – anything
o Defoe, Daniel – Journal of the Plague Year, Moll Flanders, Roxanne
o Desai, Anita – A Village By the Sea
o Dickens, Charles – all, except Oliver Twist or Hard Times
o Doerr, Anthony – All the Light we Cannot See
o Conan Doyle, Arthur – anything
o Doyle, Roddy – anything
o Du Maurier, Daphne – Rebecca, Jamaica Inn
o Eliot, George – anything
o Ford Maddox Ford – The Good Soldier
o Forster, EM – A Passage to India, Howards End, A Room with a View
o Gaskell, Elizabeth – North and South
o Golden, Arthur – Memoirs of a Geisha
o Golding, William – Lord of the Flies
o Lancelyn Green, Roger – King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table
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o Gregory, Phillipa – anything
o Hardy, Thomas – anything
o Hill, Susan – The Woman in Black
o Kundera, Milan – The Unbearable Likeness of Being
o Joyce, James – A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man., Dubliners
o Lee, Harper – To Kill a Mockingbird
o Levy, Andrea – Small Island
o McEwan, Ian – Enduring Love, The Child in Time, On Chesil Beach
o Morrison, Toni – anything
o Orwell, George – 1984
o Plath, Sylvia – The Bell Jar
o Rhys, Jean – Wide Sargasso Sea
o Steinbeck, John – East of Eden
o Stoker, Bram – Dracula
o Waters, Sarah – The Color Purple
o Waugh, Evelyn – Brideshead Revisted, Vile Bodies
o Wilde, Oscar – Dorian Gray
o Woolf, Virginia – Mrs Dalloway, To The Lighthouse
Poetry to consider:
o Pope’s The Rape of the Lock
o Adrian Mitchell
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o Milton – Paradise Lost
o Malory – Morte D’Arthur
o Ted Hughes
o TS Eliot
o Carol Ann Duffy
o Marvell
o Maya Angelou
o Emily Dickenson
o Chaucer
o Hardy’s poetry
o John Donne
o Lewis Carol poetry
o Bryon’s Don Juan
o John Clare
o Gillian Clarke
o Elizabeth Barrett Browning
o Plath’s Ariel
o Alfred Tennyson
Marxist theory
You could apply Marxist ideas to a text by exploring what the links between language and identity
in the text, analysing the way in which culture is used to signify inclusion and exclusion, and
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considering the effect of the chosen form and its relationship with the ‘bourgeoisie’ or the
‘proletariat’.
You could apply Marxist theory to a piece of writing in dialect by analysing how dialect is used in
the narrative and dialogue of the text, exploring the depiction of working class experience, and
considering the extent to which the reader is encouraged to prejudge the characters based on
their use of dialect.
Prose texts to consider:
o Atwood, Margaret – The Blind Assassin
o Austen, Jane – all except Emma
o Bronte sisters – all as in Feminism
o Burgess, Anthony – A Clockwork Orange
o Byatt, AS – Possession
o Defoe, Daniel – Robinson Crusoe, Roxanne, Moll Flanders
o Dickens, Charles – all (exceptions see p1), Great Expectations, Bleak House,
Little Dorrit
o Conan Doyle, Arthur – all
o Du Maurier – Rebecca
o Eliot, George – any
o Forster, EM – A Passage to India, A Room with a View, Howards End
o Gaskell, Elizabeth – North and South
o Golding, William – Lord of the Flies
o Haddon, Mark – Curious Incident
o Heller, Joseph –Catch 22
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o Ishiguro, Kazuo – Remains of the Day, Never Let Me Go
o Orwell, George – 1984, Animal Farm, Down and Out in Paris
o Huckleberry Finn
o Waugh, Evelyn - any
o See most Feminism suggestions!
Poetry to consider:
o Carrol Ann Duffy
o John Clare
o Elizabeth Barrett Browning
o Lord Byron
o John Donne
o Lewis Carroll
o The Waste Land
o War poetry? Jesse Pope
o Zephaniah
o Worsdworth
o Adrian Mitchell
o Tennyson
o Pope’s Rape of the Lock
Post-colonial theory
You could apply post-colonial theory to texts written in Europe before the end of colonialism by
identifying the different ways in which non-European characters are described or omitted,
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looking at the racial and moral implications of these descriptions, and exploring the historical
context of the events described.
You could apply post-colonial theory to texts written since the end of colonialism or during troubles
related to it by identifying the perspectives of characters of colonial rule including its perceived
benefits and injustices, considering the use of narrative perspective, and exploring the stability
or lack of stability of language and meaning.
Prose texts to consider:
o Achebe, Chinua – Things Fall Apart
o Austen, Jane – Mansfield Park
o Brontes – Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
o Conrad, Joseph – Heart of Darkness
o Defoe, Daniel – Robinson Crusoe
o Dickens, Charles – Great Expectations
o Farrell, JG - Troubles
o Forster, EM – A Passage to India
o Golden, Arthur - Memoirs of a Geisha
o Golding, William – Lord of the Flies
o Ishiguro, Kazuo – The Remains of the Day
o Joyce, James – A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man
o McEwan, Ian – A Move Abroad
o Morrison, Toni – anything
o Orwell, George – 1984
o Syal, Meera – Anita and Me
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o Rhys, Jean – Wide Sargasso Sea
Poetry to consider:
o Zephaniah
o Tennyson
o Seamus Heaney
Eco-critical theory
You could apply an eco-critical approach to a text depicting the beauty of nature by analysing the
effect of form and structure on the sense of peace and continuity and considering whether
biographical or historical evidence can provide clues to the writer’s relationship with the
location.
You could apply an eco-critical approach to a text focused on rural life by exploring the writer’s
depiction of country life, analysing any incidents that draw attention to the hardships of country
life, and unpicking the extent to which the writer is nostalgic toward the countryside.
You could also consider texts set exclusively within the city or within dystopia by analysing
negative imagery when describe urban scene and the use of rural or natural imagery.
Prose texts to consider:
o Gothic novels such as The Mysteries of Udolpho, The Castle of Otranto,
Northanger Abbey, Frankenstein
o Dystopian novels such as The Drowned World, 1984 and Brave New World
o Brooks, Geraldine –
o Carol, Lewis – Alice in Wonderland
o Coelho, Paul –
o Defoe, Daniel – Robinson Crusoe
o Du Maurier, Daphne - Rebecca, Jamaica Inn
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o Eliot, George – Adam Bede, Silas Marner, Mill on the Floss
o Forster, EM – Howards End, A Passage to India, A Room with a View
o Gaskell, Elizabeth - North and South
o Hardy, Thomas – various
o Hosseini, Khaled - various
o Rhys, Jean – Wide Sargasso Sea
o Trollope, Anthony - The Warden
Poetry to consider:
o Pastoral poetry of any kind
o Romantics: Wordsworth!
o Milton’s Paradise Lost
o T.S. Eliot’s Four Seasons and The Waste Land
o Seamus Heaney
o Edward Thomas and other poets writing around the Industrial Revolution
o WWI Poets
o John Clare
o John Donne
o Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Top Tips on how to approach NEA from previous students:
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