I found English Language GCSE to be more difficult to get a handle on than the Lit paper. That said, I got a higher grade in English Language. Like everyone else in the world, my text for Lit was Lord of the Flies, but for Shakespeare we did Othello, which is actually one of the more bearable plays. I was quite lucky on the Shakespeare front - I did Othello again at A-Level, and the Tempest as well, which is a bit mental but so full of ambiguity that you can quote any random section to prove any specious point you might come up with and get the marks.
I can sympathise on Dickens - he's shit. Pretty staggering how many Victorian authors/poets are so overrated. Him and Wordsworth especially. And those pre-Raphaelite painters are a waste of bloody time as well.
