English / Year 10 / Literature / Examining literature

Curriculum content descriptions

Analyse and evaluate text structures and language features of literary texts and make relevant thematic and intertextual connections with other texts (ACELT1774)

Elaborations
  • using terms associated with literary text analysis (for example narrative, characters, poetry, figurative language, symbolism, soundtrack) when evaluating aspects that are valued and that contain aesthetic qualities
  • writing or speaking about how effectively the author constructed the text and engaged and sustained the reader’s/viewer’s/listener’s personal interest
General capabilities
  • Literacy Literacy
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
ScOT terms

Imaginative texts,  Intertextuality

Video

First Tuesday Book Club: Navigating 'Cloud Atlas'

Some authors like to take readers on a journey, none more so than David Mitchell, the author of 'Cloud Atlas'. His novel is a complex tale that attempts to weave together six different narratives over a period of hundreds of years. Join in this discussion and find out if he succeeds. This clip is the second in a series of two.

Video

Radio National: Is the Great Gatsby 'tilting at windmills'?

Intertextuality is about the process of making connections, either consciously or subconsciously, and can shape the way we interpret a text. In this audio clip, explore the intertextual link between two classic novels: 'The great Gatsby' by F Scott Fitzgerald and 'Don Quixote' by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. This clip ...

Interactive

Syllabus bites: Exploring Asia-related texts

This resource has information, links and study guides on Asia-related texts to support the Australian Curriculum in English for Year 7, 8, 9, 10.

Video

Great Expectations: Victorian and Gothic

How does Charles Dickens weave Gothic elements into his classic Victorian novel, Great Expectations? Listen as Literary Professor John Bowen explains some of the ways in which Dickens draws on the Gothic tradition to challenge the conventions of Victorian literature. Consider the importance of time, repetition, violence, ...

Video

First Tuesday Book Club: The story behind 'Jasper Jones'

'Jasper Jones' is a novel that recently featured on a list of '10 Aussie books to read before you die'. Does it belong on the list? Many texts make connections to other texts but is this novel too close a retelling of the classic American novel 'To Kill a Mockingbird'? Explore the concept of 'intertextuality' in this clip.

Video

First Tuesday Book Club: Savouring 'The Magic Pudding'

It's been nearly 100 years since Norman Lindsay's madcap tale of a bad-tempered pudding was published, yet it continues to remain popular with children and adults alike. Over the years it's been a puppet show, cartoon, play, film and even an opera. What are the reasons for its enduring popularity? Explore the real magic ...

Video

Radio National: The Great Gatsby meets Willy Loman

Different writers can use quite distinct ways to make similar comments about their culture. In this audio clip, explore the connection between F Scott Fitzgerald's novel, 'The great Gatsby' and Arthur Miller's play, 'Death of a salesman'. At first the two texts might seem very different, but are they more similar than we ...

Video

Heywire: Life-changing moments: from basketball to guitar

Sometimes devastating events have a silver lining. Brendon Reynolds's life changed completely after a major injury during a basketball game. Hear how as you listen to his Heywire audio story.<br /><br />Could you write or record a story about yourself and/or your community? The ABC's Heywire competition calls for stories ...

Audio

Radio National: Shakespeare sweated it!

Ben Jonson, a 17th-century playwright and critic, said of Shakespeare that 'a great poet is not just born, but made'. Enjoy this discussion between Phillip Adams and John Bell, Australian actor and director of the Bell Shakespeare company. They explore soliloquies, authorship and why Shakespeare came to be considered the ...

Video

The language of criticism

Language is a powerful tool and the way it is used can sometimes disempower or devalue people and their ideas. Listen to young art critic and aspiring painter Robert Hughes as he discusses the Beat Generation. Explore how questions can be used to influence listeners and how language can reveal the attitudes and values of ...

Text

Setting the Story

In this lesson, students will examine setting as a significant element of fiction. They will learn to use elements of mood and spatial order as methods of creating realistic settings. Students will write a short story describing a scene then create sketches interpreting their peers' writing pieces.

Text

Learning From Lyrics

In this lesson, students will research the lyrics of contemporary songs to analyse how social issues, are expressed through music and other art forms. Students will interpret song lyrics to create original art expressing the theme, issue, point of view, and/or facts from the song.

Text

The Poetics of Hip Hop

What is the relationship between Shakespearean sonnets and hip hop music? In this lesson, students will analyse the rhythm, form, diction, and sound of hip hop and Shakespearean sonnets. They will then compare characteristics between Shakespeare’s work and the work of hip hop artists to create an original poem or set of lyrics.

Text

Performing a Haiku: How can spoken word transform a poem?

In this lesson, students will reflect on small moments of peace or happiness to write an original haiku. Students will demonstrate spoken word to perform a haiku for an audience.

Text

Tracks: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support the autobiographical account by Robyn Davidson of her journey in the 1970s across 1,700 miles of Australian desert to the sea with four camels and a dog for company. This unit provides practical teaching ideas, an assessment task and an essay by Tony Birch.

Text

Radiance: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support the play Radiance. The play focuses on three half-sisters who have drifted far apart but have come together to bury their mother. Themes include acceptance, family, grief, identity, loss and memory. This unit provides practical teaching ideas, an assessment task and an essay ...

Text

Bran Nue Dae: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support the script of Bran Nue Dae which includes themes of belonging, coming of age, displacement, First Nations experiences and identity. It would also provide some support for use of the film of this text. This unit provides practical teaching ideas, an assessment task and an essay ...

Text

Becoming Kirrali Lewis: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support the novel Becoming Kirrali Lewis. The novel follows the journey of a young Aboriginal teenager as she leaves her home town in rural Victoria to go to university. It explores the themes of Aboriginal history and culture, acceptance, adoption, belonging, coming of age, government ...

Text

The Arrival: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support the textless graphic novel The Arrival. The book draws its inspiration from tales of migrants in past and recent times. Find themes related to the Australian landscape, colonisation, connection to place, fear, identity, isolation, marginalisation and the migrant experience. ...

Text

Work sample Year 10 English: Essay on the Romantic poetry movement with visual representations

This work sample demonstrates evidence of student learning in relation to aspects of the achievement standards for Year 10 English. The primary purpose for the work sample is to demonstrate the standard, so the focus is on what is evident in the sample not how it was created. The sample is an authentic representation of ...