Posted by Dan Baggott, Year 13 A level English Language & Literature student
English is one of those things you can't avoid, and I don't just mean through the under 16's national curriculum... It's everywhere you go, it's in every English-speaking person you meet, and it damn right makes up one healthy part of yourself. You write in English, you speak in English, even your inner-mental-monologue works through English! It's everywhere and everything, no matter what way you try to work around it: the use of language is in fact necessary for anything you want to do in life... An employer will judge you by the words you use, so will your parents, your friends, your girlfriends and your boyfriends! Now whether you want to embarrass yourself or not, well, that is up to you...
So when it comes to studying this great language at A-level... I would like to clear up some common misconceptions. Let's kick off with the good classic of “English is boring”... Well, okay guys, sorry to break up your generic foot-thump of an attitude, but literature spans from the ancient Greek mythological works of Homer, up to the very forefront of popular 21st century vampire/wizard fiction. Spanning from the erotic novels (yes, that does mean porn, kids) that your school library was too shy to stack, to the narcotics-fuelled breakouts (yeah, why not drugs too?) of the 1950s American depression, literature can open up worlds you couldn't dream of, even if you dreamed for every minute of your lifetime. Whether it's heartbreak you're looking for, death in a graveyard, psychotic clowns with knives... it's all written in English. Don't write it off just because Carol Ann Duffy doesn't want to smile on the anthology front cover! A-level is here to give you the chance and the push to get your socks on, get your trainers on, and start running laps around your local library, which, believe it or not, has more diversity than the packet of fruit pastilles you're used to stretching for.
Now another thing I have heard people say is that “English is too hard”. WELL GUYS, THIS IS A-LEVEL, AND IN SOME SENSE IT IS MEANT TO BE HARD! If you don't want an academic challenge, then I suggest maybe you get comfy on the sofa, flick through the morning shows, and reach forth for the Kettle chips? Now, I don't know if you've ever heard of something my parents called 'sex', but if you have... then you should appreciate that the best things come from those which are in fact 'hard'. But as a word of mention, I am in my 2nd year studying English, and there has not been one moment where I have doubted for the safety of my grade. I'd just like to say that English is quite a smooth ride, not only are you honoured with a full depth learning experience, but you're not restricted to the absolute rules and regulations that other subjects might offer. You have more room to breathe, and with that, more room to grow into areas you may have once overlooked.
Now what I like especially about English, which turns it away from subjects like Maths and Physics, is that there is no definitely right answer, English is always changing! Texts are always being read in different ways, with different meanings. Think about it... really, I'm serious, I'd like you to think, please? Guys? It's not too much to ask, is it? You see the thing with English... is that it is undefined! There is flexibility, interpretation, creation! With Science and Maths, all you do is study someone else's answers, findings, and memorise them until you can sweat them out, symbol for symbol, under the nose of an exam invigilator. English opens the door for you to step inside, look around, find what you like: beam it up, find what you don't like, and then tear it to shreds. You spend the first half of your English A-level year doing 2 pieces of CREATIVE WRITING! How versatile is that?! Write what you like, go on, I'm not joking! It's all up for the snatch! And if it's still not sounding to be “ur
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