A level English set books - clutching at straws for help!

[tobee]

My 16 year old son is on long summer break after GCSEs. He wants to do English lit for A level and just been sent a compulsory reading list from school of 3 books for the summer for the AS part.

He's very good at the subject but is a slow reader for various sen reasons. We thought of audible (and whisper sync) . It's surprisingly hard for teenager to get into the habit of audio listening.His dad is planning to download the first book and they can each read a chapter or two a day and then compare notes.

The books are Jane Eyre, A Room With a View and Wide Sargasso Sea. He's mostly read modern novels and Shakespeare for GCSE.

How can I encourage him to not been downhearted if he finds them girly or alien (especially Jane Eyre being Victorian) ? Part of me realises it might just be tough luck!

[Preminstreltension]

Retelling not rebelling.

[Preminstreltension]

Ooh I never thought of Rebecca as a rebelling of Jane Eyre. LOVE that

[tobee]

Yes I'm forever boring on to my kids to read "Rebecca". Finally got them to watch the Olivier and Fontaine film anyway.

[olafisking]

Jane Eyre is a spectacular novel and if your DS just sees it as about girl stuff he will miss the point - I hope he finds more in it. It's a novel about Jane's struggle to find a place in the world - not love as such, but a place to be accepted for who she is and to feel at home. It's one of the reasons I think it speaks to teenage girls but with not too big a stretch it could just as easily speak to a teenage boy - that sense of not fitting in is a quintessential teenage feeling! Jane's issues are just as much to do with her slightly odd social status as her gender - as a governess she was not a servant but neither was she family - often in the Victorian home she might have eaten with the children not just because it was her job but because there was no one else with whom it was suitable for her to eat.

It's worth your son having a look at the great Victorian novel, how many of them are either by women or have a female protagonist, or both, and having a think about why that might be. The role of women was changing so rapidly that in order to comment on society, an author was almost compelled to include a female perspective in a way they might not have done before.

Worthwhile extra reading to complement Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea would be Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. It's quite an easy read and is an early 20th century retelling of the Jane Eyre story, but with a more modern twist. It would be well worth thinking about how the telling differs from the original, and how both Rebecca and Wide Sargasso Sea complement the original.

[hackmum]

I agree completely with preminstreltension.

I've mentioned this on another thread, but for A-level French, we studied four texts, all by male authors:

Terre des Hommes by Sainte-Exupery (no female characters)
Trois Contes by Flaubert (three short stories, all good, I guess, but not terribly female-friendly)
La Symphonie Pastorale by Gide (rather creepy novel about a vicar who falls in love with his young adoptive daughter)
Les Femmes Savantes -by Moliere (satire about women wanting a proper education, ho ho)

There were five students in our A-level class, four of us female. You couldn't have come up with a set of texts less likely to inspire us if you'd tried.

[BertrandRussell]

"hat's the point Bertrand. Men are not expected to read books by women and about women - it might gay them. Women are fully expected to read books by and about exclusively men - and to accept that that as the norm. Men don't read books by or primarily about women and that's wrong."

I absolutely agree. But I think it's also more complicated than that. Back later when I've formed the words to explain why I think that!

[tobee]

Here, here!

[Preminstreltension]

Sorry to harp on but there are boys and men who read - and they read men. I think boys tend to read less than girls anyway but when they do read they read men whereas girls read both. That's the problem.

I always scan those little bits in the Sunday supplements where people list their five favourite books and regularly men will choose 5 books by men whereas the women choose across the genders.

That's why I really think it's important for children to be actively introduced to a range of writers - particularly at A level when they are capable of reading more than just something about someone like them. I know this isn't the feminism board but this is exactly why women's writing and by extension women's lives aren't taken seriously - because women's stories are seen as optional for men in a way that men's stories are never optional for women. In fact men's stories are the canon in literature and therefore compulsory.

[tobee]

I'm not sure if it's a simple male/femaleness of texts, I think it's maybe that boys just aren't expected to read by their contempories. Girls maybe more so. It's like girls colour within the lines etc. This is obviously from my very limited experience and I'm prepared to be shot down in flames if necessary.

It brings up the question of whether you should choose A level subjects you enjoy versus subjects you are good at which often aren't the same thing. It seems such a shame (my favourite emotion of the thread!) that what seems to count is getting a B or above to push on to university rather than just doing the subjects for their own enjoyment. I don't think this is a fault of teachers, but the governments' education policy for the last 20 odd years. Everything now is about value; value for money, value to the school's league tables, close down or rebrand the school if it doesn't get the right percentages. That's a pretty depressing thought to be shoved down your face for your entire education. There's plenty of that misery and cynicism to go through in adult life!

Delores, thanks for the info about breaks. Fortunately my son has an excellent sen teacher who I'm sure would respond favourably to any enquiry I may make.

[Preminstreltension]

That's the point Bertrand. Men are not expected to read books by women and about women - it might gay them. Women are fully expected to read books by and about exclusively men - and to accept that that as the norm. Men don't read books by or primarily about women and that's wrong.

If I look back on my A Level set texts we had Shakespeare, Chaucer, F Scott Fitzgerald, Byron, Gerard Manley Hopkins, LP Hartley, Oscar Wilde.....and Jane Austen. One out of eight. And that was unremarkable and normal to me. If I can read bloody Byron (tedious as hell btw) an English student can get to grips with reading two books by women over two years.

[antimatter]

Thanks Dolores - I'll try to get him to read some lighter books from those lists.

[DoloresLandingham]

scatter: you're quite right. Some pupils do very well indeed when they are very bright. I'm sorry if I sounded discouraging when my intention was to be realistic. This may not apply to the OP's DS, but in ten years of A Level teaching I have seen countless students with unrealistic expectations of the literature course, some of whom then decide to drop or change subjects in year 12 with significant disruption to their studies. I know how much of an impact our words can have on sixteen-year-olds and I never discourage a student from taking the subject; I do, however, lay out very clearly our expectations of them and the workload that they can expect. It's often said that the jump in difficulty from GCSE to A Level is greater than that from A Level to degree, and in the case of Literature I have found this to be true.

OP, as an aside - I believe that there is no need for formal assessment for pupils to have rest breaks, so if your DS feels that this would be beneficial then it is worth asking the school to put this in place for him.

[BertrandRussell]

I find the idea of books being "female" very interesting. I would say that the books the OP lists really are more likely to be enjoyed by teenage girls than boys- I am prepared to bet that very few adult men have Jane Eyre as their favourite book- and lots of women do. I was going to start a similar thread actually about 14 year old ds having Pride and Prejudice on his summer reading list...I have suggested he pick something else because I think that reading it now will spoil it for him for later. I wouldn't say that to a girl.

[scatterthenuns]

I think he also needs to think very carefully about whether he's willing to undertake the kind of extra reading that is essential for a B grade or above.

Dsis walked her English Lit A Level with an A* in 2014. She only has ever read the set texts. As did I, many many years back, despite not liking reading very much then.

You are being discouraging - I understand if you are referring to potential English lit students, but for kids who just want to carry on with something they are reasonably good at for another poxy two years, your view is off-putting. It is perfectly possible to achieve higher than a B without doing much reading for pleasure.

It may not be the ideal scenario (or be much fun to hear as a teacher) but it is very, very doable.

[scatterthenuns]

Can he watch the adaptations first, so that he's got an idea of the plot whilst reading so he doesn't get discouraged?

[tobee]

PS Just thought. My ds, having just come out of GCSEs, and all the compulsory subjects his school made him take, and having to jump through the hoop of getting points to even get into his school 6th form, probably can't envisage yet the wonderful freedom that doing A levels brings in comparison. Just studying a few, complementary subjects that you have chosen. Having study periods to be able to begin to learn how to work properly by yourself. You can read a book when you haven't just been driven to distraction by maths homework!!!!!

[tobee]

Hi Dolores. Thanks for your interesting reply. Currently my ds has time and a half for exams which, I think, is the maximum possible. He doesn't get rest breaks. There is no oppotunity to do language and literature. Actually, in my earlier post I stated that pupils don't get classic novels at the beginning of secondary. At my mixed state school we were set The Mayor of Casterbridge at age 12. But I certainly wasn't meaning to criticise teachers. I think they've got an impossible task in this respect. How do you cater for those in year 7 who will take A level English ( and everyone else ) when no one knows who they will be?! I suppose I just sometimes feel sad that there are so many demands on teenagers time these days. But probably there always has been. I could go on and start a debate about the pressures on today's teens and the highly publicised competitive academic world. I managed to do a b.a in English when I only got a D at A level and still got a 2.2. Unlike ds, I wasn't very good at the subject but I read quite a lot. But I digress....

[DoloresLandingham]

Hi antimatter, I have some stuff at school so the following isn't mine, but looks like a good start:

This thread on the Student Room is aimed at students applying to read Lit at university but has some good suggestions.

This document has a good reading list towards the end.

Hope this helps.

[antimatter]

Do?ores do you have list of books you'd expect an aspiring A level student to read?

[DoloresLandingham]

Sorry - I've just reread my post and it sounds like I think your DS doesn't like reading. That isn't quite what I meant; rather, I wanted to communicate how challenging the course can be for pupils who don't, or have not, read, for whatever reason.

[DoloresLandingham]

I'm an English teacher. I've seen a lot of pupils take Lit A Level despite not especially liking reading, or ever reading anything beyond the syllabus. It's very frustrating. I must take issue, however, with your point about schools giving pupils less challenging texts because teenagers don't read; we choose texts for younger pupils based on very different factors to those for A Level. We expect the able, interested pupils to read the 'classics' independently, and we encourage this through library lessons and reading lists. I would expect the set texts of 11-16 schooling to comprise only a very small proportion of the reading of a student beginning A Level English. It sounds like your son has an aptitude for the subject, and that he does need a confidence boost, but I think he also needs to think very carefully about whether he's willing to undertake the kind of extra reading that is essential for a B grade or above.

I really don't mean to be negative and I hope I don't come across as such; I'm simply annually amazed by the number of students who take Literature but don't really like books very much, and I know what a slog is ahead of them. Does his school / college offer English Language? He might find that this is more suited to his analytical nature.

Incidentally, if his SEN are related to processing then it's crucial that he receives proper exam access arrangements, if these aren't already in place. He should be entitled to extra time and possibly rest breaks, and it's essential that he receives these for all pieces of timed writing and mocks as well as external exams.

[Preminstreltension]

I think though you'd still be hard pressed to find an equivalent of "Of Mice & Men" or "Lord of the Flies" in female form. It's annoying but normal to read books or watch films that have no female characters whatsoever but I can't think of an equivalent book only about women with no male characters that would be deemed a classic (rather than niche) or that would find itself on A level set texts. After all Jane Eyre might be about JE but the story revolves around men and two particularly strong male characters who have the power and status that Jane doesn't have.

I agree that it's a fine balance for A level students - they need to explore other lives but they also need a point of reference that they can relate to. Women still are expected to explore other lives in fiction rather than see themselves reflected, and if they need to relate to anyone, well the walk on part or the nameless character who dies will do.

[tobee]

I've just googled Emag and, if I've got the right place, it seems to say you need to join up via your school. Does this sound right or am I reading it wrong? Thanks if anyone knows.

[angstridden2]

Agree about Emag. Really good articles, written to supplement AS and A2 English Lit. Most School Libraries should either have the hard copy or online access. A really user friendly way for students to 'read around the book'.

[Seriouslyffs]

^^what hackmum said. I was the poster who was shocked at how female all the chosen set texts are. I'm struggling to justify that comment! I think it's because the whole concept of analysing different life experiences in a literary criticism context is a bit strange anyway. Particularly as an 18 yo.