If you love reading and creative writing, and you enjoy talking about and analysing the different ways in which we use language to communicate both in speech and writing, this is the course for you. You will develop analytical skills so that you can become an informed, more independent reader and understand and explain how language, structure and form shape meaning in a wide variety of literary and non-literary texts – fiction, drama, transcripts of spoken language, non-fiction and more. You will also be able to use these skills to produce your own written texts.
To prepare you for one of the literary texts you will be studying from September, please read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby.
Watch a film version of The Great Gatsby and note your response.
There are a number of filmed versions of the novel available, including the most recent and popular version directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Leonardo di Caprio, Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan. Watch this, or another adaptation, and write your personal response to the story, settings and characters, in 300 words or under.
You could also watch the documentary, the BBC’s ‘Sincerely F Scott Fitzgerald’ which explores the life of the author of the novel and the inspirations behind it.
You will eventually be comparing The Great Gatsby to a play by William Shakespeare called Othello. You could also start to find out something about Shakespeare’s life and times. Good luck and enjoy.
*This is a representation of your learning space and may not be the exact room you will be using
