English Literature

Head of Department: Mrs Smith, smithr@ashfordschool.co.uk

Essential reading for English Literature lessons in September:

− The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood.

Please collect your copy from the English Office before the end of term.

Please then complete an essay on the following:

How does the first chapter of The Handmaid’s Tale establish a dystopian world?

Reading for pleasure:

We recommend reading for pleasure this summer! Please note these are not set texts for A level. There is no expectation that you will read all of the texts below, but the English Department highly recommends these excellent writers.

Novels

Bonjour Tristesse - Françoise Sagan The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Agatha Christie Atonement - Ian McEwan The Buddha of Suburbia- Hanif Kureishi Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh Fiesta: The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway Breakfast at Tiffany’s - Truman Capote Spies - Michael Frayn The Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad The Turn of the Screw - Henry James The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis De Bernieres Pride and Prejudice- Jane Austin

Short Stories

First Love, Last Rites - Ian McEwan

Plays

Noises Off - Michael Frayn Waiting for Godot - Samuel Beckett Uncle Vanya – Anton Chkov

Poetry

The Whitsun Weddings - Philip Larkin Selected Poems - Tony Harrison The World’s Wife - Carol Ann Duffy