Introduction
For those inclined in languages, literature might be a possible subject that you could consider. Literature is probably one of the least content-heavy subjects in JC. Nonetheless, one needs to have great appreciation and passion for the written work, as literature requires more self-study and reading as compared to the other subjects. Contrary to common belief, Literature is a subject that can be “studied”. Those who excel in it actually treat it as a science, viewing their poems / texts through a lens of logic and using a great deal of rationale to bolster their essays. It is important that one does sufficient readings and pays close attention during classes to sieve out important information which might only be derived through rigorous thinking complemented with the opinions of teachers during lessons.
Also, another common misconception is that one requires a background in literature to study the subject (i.e. O Level Pure or Elective Literature). However, there are many people who have not taken literature previously, yet still do well in the subject in JC. Though exposure might be a slight issue as other more experienced students may be more well-acquainted in literary works and devices, this can be overcome as long as one makes an effort to listen and expose themselves to literary works outside of the syllabus. There is no fixed answer in literature, but only the responses that are well articulated, convincing, and logically backed are merited. As long as you take on this subject with an open mind and receptiveness to different perspectives, you will find that Literature is an incredibly enjoyable subject in JC!
Additionally, one important distinction in the way literature is taught in JC is that there is a great deal more focus on close textual analysis throughout most of the coursework as compared to the thematic focuses of secondary schools.
Examination Structure
All schools will prepare their students for Paper 1, a “compulsory paper designed to give students broad exposure to literary study” (9509_y22_sy Literature in English A-Level H2 for 2022). This 3-hour long paper consists of 3 sections - poetry, prose text, and drama. Students need to critically unpack and compare 2 unseen poems for the poetry section, write an essay based on their school’s chosen prose text with the choice of either a passage-based question or essay question, and another similar essay for their drama text.
Paper 2 and 3 are elective papers, and schools will choose only one. Paper 2 is a period-based paper (e.g Renaissance, RI 2019) while Paper 3 a topic-based paper (e.g The Mind and Self, VJC 2020). The era / theme is changed every few years, so do check with your intended school’s Literature department before deciding whether it’s suitable for you. This paper aims to assess students’ knowledge about their texts and the extent to which the student is able to appreciate the stylistic features and literary skills employed by the writer. Similar to Paper 1, it is 3 hours long and has 3 sections. In Section A, the students will choose one of two unseen texts related to the theme of the paper and write a critical commentary on it. In Section B, the student needs to compare 2 of the texts they have studied (arguably one of the hardest components of H2 Literature). In Section C, the student will use the last text that has not been used in their comparison essay and write a critical essay on it. One bonus of this elective paper is that you are able to choose which 2 texts you compare and which text you will write a single essay on, which gives you more leeway to select questions to your advantage. But this also means more preparation needed to compare all 3 texts.
Many students struggle to finish their papers within the stipulated time, given that each essay typically expects 3 body paragraphs. However, with sufficient preparation and a focused mind, it is undoubtedly doable.
Paper 1
Poetry Comparison: primarily focuses on response and comparison skills, at least one of the questions will contain a poem from a Singaporean poet.
Texts for Prose sections (2022 syllabus)
Mary Shelley: Frankenstein (1831 text)
F Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby
Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice
Kazuo Ishiguro: An Artist of the Floating World
Texts for Drama sections (2022 syllabus)
William Shakespeare: Measure for Measure
George Bernard Shaw: Saint Joan
Arthur Miller: Playing for Time (stage play version)
Timberlake Wertenbaker: Our Country’s Good
Common Mistakes in Paper 1:
Not giving equal weight to both poems when comparing
Points of comparison are too forced/contrived (try to focus on idea-based or stylistic comparisons)
Not annotating the poems sufficiently, causing the reader to miss out very good points of comparison - take your time to thoroughly engage with the text given
You need to compare HOW each idea / issue is presented in each poem by evaluating how the techniques shape the meaning of the text
Example driven/evidence driven writing – instead of points, people compare by literary devices, it is not bad, just not high level enough for B/A grades.
Superficially looking at texts – just because the paper is not created at a more ‘H2’ level, (paper 1 is also done by H1 students), does not mean the text does not have to be considered as deeply.
Papers 2 and 3
Paper 2:
This paper focuses on English writing from 1509 to 1660. The Renaissance period was one of ‘rebirth’ of classical ideas and art forms, characterised by the influence of the classics in literature, language, and philosophy, as well as the development of new ideas and art forms. The Literature that developed during this period was, amongst other things, an artistic engagement with many changes in society such as an increase in literacy and the abandonment of a feudal system, and their impact on morality and identity. The texts are literary explorations of the world of 16th and early 17th century England.
Texts
Andrew Marvell: selection of poems
Sir Philip Sidney: selection of sonnets from ‘Astrophil and Stella’
Francis Bacon: selection of prose
Thomas Kyd: The Spanish Tragedy
Christopher Marlowe: Doctor Faustus
Thomas Middleton: Women Beware Women
William Shakespeare: The Tempest
Ben Jonson: Volpone
John Donne: selection of poems and prose
Paper 3:
This paper explores the relationship between the mind and self as represented in Literature. This involves examining the means by which writers offer insight into how consciousness is linked to identity, individuality and social contexts. The texts are literary explorations of how the interaction between the mind and self underscores various forms of revelation and discovery
Texts
Sylvia Plath: selection of poems from Ariel (see list in Appendix A)
William Wordsworth: The Prelude, Book One & Book Two (1805 version)
James Joyce: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
J M Coetzee: Age of Iron
Pat Barker: Regeneration
Edward Albee: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
William Shakespeare: Hamlet
Elizabeth Jennings: selection of poems from Selected Poems (Carcanet edition)
Harold Pinter: The Caretaker
How to study for H2 Literature:
READ YOUR ENTIRE TEXT (some of you might have survived O level Literature with only half the pages cut / only the movie scenes playing through your head, but this won’t work for A level Literature. Some questions could ask you about just the conclusion of the book, which in that case is, obviously, necessary for you to talk about the ending.)
Make notes, share them with your friends, ask them to share theirs with you. Although you might be hesitant to let others benefit from your hard work, it would be optimal to find a small group of friends who you know would put in an equal amount of effort to contribute to your notes stack. The key to acing Literature is your ability to appreciate the text from different angles and perspectives, so even if you and your friend possess conflicting views, it would actually be beneficial to the both of you. This way, your notes will not be constrained by your own limited opinions. It’s also overall just less taxing on yourself to make notes with friends given the fact that you have other content-heavy subjects to study for. Make the smart choice.
Listen in class. This is a given, but no one knows the text better than your teacher, so do make a conscious effort to take down everything they say for future reference. Additionally, some teachers actually have predicted the A level questions for their students (in my case, they did) which already helps you to win half the battle if you heed their caution and prepare accordingly.
Exam Tips for Juniors:
Think from a macro perspective. Pay attention to the relationship between technique, meaning and intentions for all of your texts.
Try to memorise your quotes. Although you’ll have the text by your side, flipping through the pages will break your train of thought and waste time!
Make thematic notes that are flexible and applicable across different question types; don’t try to spot questions and write paragraphs to memorise.
ALWAYS pay attention to the techniques. H2 Literature is 80% about appreciating the writers’ craft and understanding how stylistic features shape meaning in the text
(Comments from the perspective of a Literature tutor) Some main problems students face include not being able to complete the essay on time, not being able to plan, etc. They lament that there isn’t enough time to write essays that can be quite long. It’s challenging, but it all boils down to the root issues of not just speed but planning. I cannot emphasise enough how much good planning and a well-positioned introduction will help you. Typically, once your introductions are done properly the rest of the essay will have a better chance of flowing well. Therefore, write good introductions – they’re 50% of the battle won. A good introduction means the examiner (and more importantly, you) understand what the keywords, main argument and question is asking.
Personal Experiences (Julianne)
Do you enjoy taking Literature, and would you advise juniors to do the same?
As someone who has experienced the conflicting decision between BCME and BCML, I understand the hesitance around studying something that is less by-the-book and less ‘practical’. Personally, I have never regretted choosing Literature over Economics, not only because my friends who later did study Economics would go on to moan about the dryness of the materials being taught, but also because Literature was an invigorating refresher from the rote-learning and mindless memorising required for my other subjects. I had teachers who were actually passionate about Literature and teaching it, which made lessons so exciting and often enlightening. It really does keep you on your toes especially because doing well in Literature also means actively participating in class discussions and mustering the courage to test your ideas openly. It also makes you feel very #bigbrain sometimes when you succeed in understanding those once-in-a-while convoluted and abstract poems (I even studied a poem about poop once… it was, for lack of a better word, fascinating). Because I studied Paper 3 (The Mind and Self), I personally enjoy the philosophical and interpretive nature of Literature, which often manifested into rich classroom debates and discussions. I studied “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” by Edward Albee, “Woman in Mind” by Alan Ayckbourn, and “Ariel” by Sylvia Plath, all of which overlapped for themes like descent into madness, denial of reality, delusion, gender oppression and self-liberation. The texts were rather dark and ruminative, even touching on sensitive issues such as suicide. In Literature you not only obtain better analytical and comprehension skills, but you also gain deeper insight into the theme of your paper. WAOVW was probably my favourite drama text. It captured the destruction of a marriage between two individuals who were not willing to admit their own personal failures and hence projected their insecurities onto each other, while also piling on illusions and creating a vicious vortex that saw the demolition of their relationship. They eventually descend into a state of absurdity in front of their guests and even become violent as the illusions they’ve constructed to keep their marriage together come breaking down, revealing the ugly and difficult truths that they try to conceal. It was complex, scarily relatable, and really made me think about how these themes were relevant in real life. I could go on about how emotive and impactful this play was, but I think it would be better for you to go experience it for yourself!
Furthermore, I really appreciated how supportive my teachers were in helping us to develop our argumentative styles as well. It was never “No, that’s not right” but always “Okay, so how would you explain that?”. Literature is definitely a subject with a lot of depth, and you need to be prepared to wrack your brains to get around certain themes or ideas, but not to fear as your teachers will guide you through the text during tutorials.
Another bonus is that Literature is definitely less content-heavy. I studied the least for Literature but it somehow stood as one of my best subjects throughout JC (though I did listen very attentively in class and scribed everything my teacher said). Although 5 books for H2 Literature sounds very daunting, if you really sit yourself down during your school breaks and read your texts for a few days, you’ll realise that all you have to do left is identify / unpack quotes and summarise the themes. How I prepared for Literature was not by preparing paragraphs for potential questions, but I studied the text intensively and made detailed notes according to general themes so that I could adapt my points to any question. Of course people have different studying methods that work best for them, but this was the one I found most effective personally. Oh, and you can highlight and bring your texts into the exam hall with you, how cool is that? (Although I definitely wouldn’t recommend wasting time flipping through your text during the paper itself to find quotes!)
A common misconception about Literature is that it doesn’t have a logical basis and you can just smoke your way through to get an easy A, but that’s completely false. H1/H2 Literature is truly a science that requires fast-paced thinking, a keen eye for detail, and an ability to analyse and draw connections. Yes, it does require a small extent of creativity and an “artistic eye” to be able to appreciate your text fully, but these are skills that can be trained and honed with adequate practice. Ultimately, your experience studying Literature will depend on a multitude of factors - your teachers, your texts, your receptivity to conflicting opinions. But I think that as long as you're willing to learn new things and have an interest in the subject, I would definitely recommend you to go for it. Have never heard a single person say that they regret taking Literature and that speaks for itself ;)
Contributed by Julianne Faye Ong (VJC’2020)90RP and A for H2 Literature in the 2020 A Levels
Updated by Esther David from The Spark of Creation (Dec 2022)