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4831080-42354500St John’s RC AcademyAdvanced HigherCourse Information Booklet2018-2019What do you need?A good pass at Higher (ideally B or above)A passion for reading (there is a lot of reading involved!)Self-disciplineThe ability to work independently, to deadlines and under pressure.How is the course taught?Classes are small and taught in an informal tutorial manner. There will be lectures, group discussion, working together to answer questions, “make and share” note sessions and pupil-led presentations.A high level of independent study is required for the coursework elements.Your teacher will guide your studies – but it is you who have responsibility.Workload is demanding and homework is regular.Why study Advanced Higher English?It is excellent preparation for studying English at UniversityThe skills used and developed are valued by universities and employers as highly desirable.For example: skills of interpretation and criticism; problem solving; analytical skills; processing, sifting and evaluating vast amounts of information; creative thinking; communication and expression.Taking responsibility for your own learning will be expected of you in Higher Education.It is the best chance you have at school to study literature and writing in depthIt is good fun, if English is your thing and you like discussing literature with your peers!What do we study?There are two internal units to pass: Analysis and Evaluation and Creation and Production.To pass the A and E unit you will need to show that you can critically analyse and evaluate complex and sophisticated literary texts in depth, comparing and connecting several texts AND you will have to show that you have developed literary research skills.To pass the C and P unit you will need to produce a variety of complex and sophisticated written texts across a range of genres: persuasive, informative, argumentative, personal/reflective, poetry, prose fiction, dramaExternal assessment consists of a dissertation, a portfolio of writing and a 2 part exam.30% of the grade is the dissertation: a 2500 - 3000 word independent study of literature of your choice. You need to show that you can undertake independent planning, research and presentation of your understanding of you chosen text/s30% of your grade is made up by your creative writing folio: you will craft and draft your 2 best pieces to send away to be marked by the SQA.The final exam is worth 40% and there are two papers – Textual Analysis and Literary StudyTextual Analysis: you will choose one question on an UNSEEN literary text and write an extended critical analysis of it. You will be able to select from poetry, prose, prose non-fiction or drama.Literary Study: you will choose one question from a range of questions and write a critical essay response to it. This will be on something taught throughout the session but not the dissertation text/s. In class we will study the work of a small number of writers. This could include: Thomas Hardy, Shakespeare, Carol Ann Duffy, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Charles Dickens, John Keats, John Donne…SkillsAdvanced Higher English requires you to work independently for much of the course. You will have to read a great deal more extensively, but also research, write and keep to deadlines, which means organising yourself and learning to love the freedom to personalise and choose where you go on your learning journey.There will still be opportunities to work collaboratively with learners on aspects of the course such as:creative writing – critiquing each other’s writingliterary study – discussing aspects of the texts togetherpresenting a tutorial and the discussion and learning that ensue from that.Independent learning is a great opportunity for you to pursue the areas which you want to explore in your learning. There are no longer any restrictions on your learning and it is your opportunity to shine because the more you know about a topic, the better you will write on it. For example:The dissertation: Know your texts inside out and secondary works and background context to your writers. Do not just stop at one article but read more books written by your writers/additional secondary works and research the history of the time your writer was writing. You may not use half of this information but it will give you more confidence when you do write.The same applies to the texts you are studying for the literary study unit.The ideas you generate for your creative writing folio can also come from reading poetry, short stories, quality journalism and editorial columns in newspapers.Motivating yourselfIn order to manage independent learning, it is necessary for you to stay motivated. Keeping going when there seems to be a mountain of work to get through can be challenging, especially when the big deadlines are looming in the New Year.Think about what you want to achieve by doing this course and not just the fact you want the qualification, although that is a start. There is also a whole host of other skills and experiences you will achieve by working on Advanced Higher English. You will show any further education establishment and any employer that you are able to:present to an audiencewrite essays and a dissertation at an academic leveldevelop good organisational skillskeep to deadlineswork collaboratively with otherswork independentlyshow initiative.Another way to motivate yourself is by setting achievable goals and breaking down large tasks into smaller chunks. For example, the dissertation deadlines for the first draft are looming and you begin to panic about putting pen to paper and handing the dissertation first draft in on time.By doing this as early on in your course as possible, you avoid the mad panic mentioned above and you ensure you are working on tasks which you can manage and which may even prove to be enjoyable to you.Also remember that a lot of learning can take place outside of the library or the school. You could try and do the following:Attend any theatre performances of texts you are studying or other texts being performed by the playwright you are studying, or just go to the theatre for the enjoyment of watching live drama.Attend any literary events happening in your local library. Again, Shakespeare or Austen or MacDiarmid may not be appearing there, but writers may give you good ideas for your creative writing folio. If you listen to them talking about how they write, that will help you to write.Attend other literary events being held in your local area, for example book festivals. It does not matter that your particular writer is not there – what matters is the learning you are doing about how literature works or how it is created.Watch films – this is really good for setting and context if the texts you are studying come from a particular era. There are many good films of literary texts but remember they are never a substitute for the texts themselves.Most contemporary writers promote their work by reading in public at festivals or other events. Many writers also lead creative writing workshops. These events are a great way to access the very latest literary writing, and will help you to think about your own reading and writing.Avoid seeing learning as something restricted to the classroom – there is a whole world of learning opportunities out there and this is one of the major motivating factors you can have to help you learn independently – a love of learning itself.The most important task to undertake to prepare for the course is to decide on some reading for your dissertation and get this completed over the summer break. A comparison of 2 novels or plays or a range of poetry on a similar theme or by the same poetDissertation – first draftRead text 1 – make general notesRead text 2 – make general notesRead key passages from the texts and make own notesResearch writersResearch key secondary critical works about the textsEnsure all quotations are page referenced, all online pages are saved and all reference books are written in a bibliography (it helps to do this as you go along)Examples of dissertation topics from recent years:The American dream in 20th Century fictionShakespeare’s villainsModern British GothicSatire in non-fictionThe Supernatural and Extraordinary in Victorian NovelsPoetry of personal crisisThe contemporary short storyThe thriller in historyDrama of extremesThe courtly lover in traditional poetryComponent 1 – Literary Study Component 2 – Textual Analysis Component 3 – Portfolio Writing Component 4 – Dissertation The purpose of this question paper is to assess candidates’ ability to apply the skills of critical analysis and evaluation to previously studied literary texts. The purpose of this question paper is to assess candidates’ ability to apply the skills of critical analysis and evaluation to an unseen literary text. This portfolio will give candidates an opportunity to demonstrate the following skills, knowledge and understanding through writing in different genres for a range of purposes and audiences This dissertation will give candidates an opportunity to demonstrate the following skills, knowledge and understanding through independent planning, research and presentation of their knowledge and understanding of an aspect or aspects of literature -Candidates will choose one question from a range of questions and write a critical essay in response to it. -Candidates will select from poetry, prose, prose, prose non-fiction or drama. This will have 20 marks (20% of the total mark). -Candidates will choose one question on an unseen literary text and write an extended critical analysis of it. -Candidates will select from poetry, prose, prose non-fiction or drama. This will have 20 marks (20% of the total mark). -The candidates are free to select the same genre in each question paper. Candidates will produce two pieces of writing for two different purposes and audiences. The writing can be from any of the following types: persuasive informative argumentative personal/reflective poetry prose fiction drama There is no requirement to write both creatively and discursively. This Component will have 30 marks (30% of the total mark). Up to 15 marks will be awarded for each piece of writing selected for the portfolio. -This dissertation will be between 2,500 and 3,000 words long and will have 30 marks (30% of the total mark). -The text(s) chosen must not be the same as those used in the Literary Study question paper ................
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