11 Literature ATAR
Year 11
Week
Unit Content
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Term
Spring
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Week 1
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Weeks
2- 7
Irene McCormack Catholic College
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Teaching and Learning Activities
Understand how language,
structure and stylistic choices are
used in different literary forms
What is Literature?
Examine the ways in which
contexts shape how a text is
produced then received and
responded to by
readers/audiences
Discussion of favourite literary texts with consideration to what makes them literary.
How the production and
reception of texts is informed by
an understanding of the
conventions usually associated
with a genre
The differences between initial
personal responses and more
studied and complex responses
Approaches to characterisation,
including the use of archetypal
figures, authorial intrusion, the
2014/15
Assessment
A discussion of what constitutes literature and the social purposes of literature.
N/A
Comparison of text types using the chapter "What is Literature?" from Brian Moon.
History of literary periods and their main characteristics and notable works.
Oedipus Rex - Sophocles
Establishing the context of Greek theatre and the birth of drama.
Reading of excerpts from Robert Fagle’s introduction to Oedipus Rex.
Definitions of key terms from Greek Theatre.
Root words, discovering the modern theatre terms, which stem from Greek theatre.
Story Telling- Getting familiar with the tale of Oedipus prior to reading the play- in keeping with
how original audiences would have received the text. Intertextual comparisons with other
known tales- Batman, Dracula etc.
Assessment 1
Extended Written
Response on Context
(Week 4)
Assessment 2: SWR inclass, seen question, ½
page notes.
(Week 8)
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dramatisation of a character’s
inner life and the use of interior
monologue
Creation of a glossary of theatrical conventions.
Structuring arguments using
relevant textual evidence
Discussion of major and minor character construction. Discussion of symbols, motifs and set
design. Focus on themes, issues and ideas. Discussion of different possible readings of the text.
Reading and annotating the play as a class.
Assessment 1: Students are to research the context of Greek Theatre and complete a
research essay complete with footnoting on how the text is a reflection of its context and also
the differences in the context of production and reception
Introduction to Freud and the Oedipus Complex.
Students are to complete a number of practice paragraphs on essay questions similar to that of
their upcoming in-class essay:
Questions:
 The manipulation of dramatic conventions and other stylistic elements positions the
audience to make particular social meaning from the play.
 Discuss how generic expectations and use of conventional drama tropes affects the
audience's understanding of this text.
 Explore the ways dialogue, stage directions and props work together to shape your
response to gender, class or fate in the play Oedipus the King.
 Playwrights invite the audience to accept or reject a character through a variety of
mechanisms: dialogue, actions, lighting, costumes, music, scenery and stage directions.
How is this true of the play Oedipus the King?
 Audiences willingly accept the make-believe of stage drama because it frees them to
construct a version of social reality. Discuss how the play Oedipus the King encourages
the audience to accept a particular version of reality.
Investigation of different readings of Oedipus- focus on Psychoanalytical lens, Existential lens,
Feminist lens and the representation of royalty and the divine.
Assessment 2: In-class essay on characterisation/ conventions
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The degree to which individual
viewpoints, experiences and
contexts shape readings of texts.
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A reading of a text refers to a
meaning that can be made of a
text.
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In responding to a literary text,
readers might consider the
context of the writer, the society
and culture in which the text was
produced, their own experience of
reading and their own way of
thinking about the world
Term 1
Weeks
1-6
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The differences between initial
personal responses and more
studied and complex responses
How text structures, language
features and stylistic elements
shape meaning and create
Romantic Poetry
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Contextual understandings: Background to the Romantic poets
Social/Political Context
Religious/Philosophical Context
Literary Context
View a number of paintings from the romantic period and discussion of style and themes look
at the biographies for Keats, Shelley, Blake, Wordsworth, Byron
Close Readings of Romantic Poetry
Hand out poetic conventions glossary and familiarise
Students to read poems for meaning by summarising and paraphrasing language
Students to identify common themes and issues and characteristics:
 An interest in personal experience and subjective emotions
 An interest in the Gothic, the medieval and the heroic over the urban and intellectual
 Endorsement of imagination over reason
 A celebration of the natural world
Assessment 3 – Oral
Presentation, tutorial
on multiple readings of
a romantic poem
(Week 4)
Assessment 4: Creative
Writing – Produce a
romantic poem
(Week 5)
Assessment 5- SWR Inclass essay on poetry.
Unseen question
(Week 6)
particular effects and nuances,
including through allusions,
paradoxes and ambiguities
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Escapism
An interest in Hellenism or the Supernatural
The language of ‘ordinary people’
The use of figurative language,
including simile, metaphor,
symbolism, metonymy and
synecdoche to represent
concepts; and rhetorical devices
to shape texts, including irony,
hyperbole and exclamation
Analysis of tone, speaker, audience and argument in poems
The use of sound and visual
devices in literary texts to create
particular effects, including
alliteration, assonance, prosody,
rhyme, imagery, typography,
music, set design, properties and
lighting.
Analysis of similar/differing discourses in poetry; do they reinforce/challenge the ways of
thinking at the time?
Experimenting with aspects of
style and form to achieve
particular effects
Close readings of poems focusing on language and generic conventions, contextual influences,
themes/issues/ideas and intertextuality
Representations of women, human relationships, religion, God
Workshop on how to construct close readings using student work samples and activities from
Studying Poetry by Brian Moon
Cinderella Activity- how to apply different lenses to the same text- focus on Marxists, New
Historicist, Feminist, Psychoanalytical representations
Teacher to provide example of how to give two different readings of the same poem
Students choose a poem and create their tutorial offering two different readings of the same
poem
Students are to write their own “Romantic poem” using similar themes and techniques to the
Romantics and then prepare for in-class assessment to wrap up the topic - unseen question
Novel study: Jane Eyre
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Term 1
Week 6
to
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Term 2
Week 2
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Establish Context
Students to do readings at home about contextual information and then discuss in class
Different narrative approaches,
including multiple narrators, the
unreliable narrator, the
omniscient narrator and the use
of specific characters’ points of
view
How the production and reception
of texts is informed by an
understanding of the conventions
usually associated with a genre
How text structures, language
features and stylistic elements
shape meaning and create
particular effects and nuances,
including through allusions,
paradoxes and ambiguities
Approaches to characterisation,
including the use of archetypal
figures, authorial intrusion, the
dramatisation of a character’s
inner life and the use of interior
monologue
Contextual comparison of marriage in Bronte’s context and our own
Examination of Victorian ideologies
Introduction to the Gothic novel and the Romance genre
Reading of Novel
Focus on language usage and narrative conventions
Completion of comprehension and analysis activities
Students to name each chapter as a summary technique
Analysis of Novel
Discussion of differing/competing discourses in novel: Colonial discourse, educational discourse
etc.
Dominant anti-discourse, varying resistant discourses
Discussion of competing ideologies in novel and how discourses reveal competing ideologies
Discussion of the representation of Men and Women
Examination of key motifs; Fire and Ice etc.
Assessment 6SWR Unseen question,
Aesthetics vs. ideology
(Week 2)
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Structuring arguments using
relevant textual evidence
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Using appropriate linguistic,
stylistic and critical terminology to
respond to texts
Comparison of the Aesthetic and ideological purpose of the text, students to create T Chart
Examination of the “Othering” of Jane as female/ lower class and the “Othering” of Bertha
Discussion of characterisation – students to find quote for each character to summarise their
representation of particular issues
Discussion of representation of class, plot sequencing and irony, discussion of how that irony is
interpreted differently by readers from differing contextual backgrounds and with differing
values and attitudes
Constructing a feminist and authorial reading of Jane Eyre
Students to read and discuss “The Madwoman in the Attic” and “The I in Jane Eyre”
Preparation for in-class with a similar practice question
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Term 2
Week 3
The relationship between
conventions of genre, audience
expectations and interpretations
of texts
Practice of creating readings of unseen texts in class.
Revision of how to construct readings and major lenses.
Assessment 7 Practical
Criticism
Assessment - Unseen reading of a text
Exam preparation and revision
Hand out practice exam and go through exam format
Complete practice exam in class and at home.
Term 2
Week 5
All Semester 1 syllabus content
EXAMS
(Week 3)
Assessment 8
EXAM (Week 5)
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The ways in which texts are
influenced by other texts and by
contexts
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The relationship between
conventions of genre, audience
expectations and interpretations
of texts
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Term2
Weeks
7-11
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SEMESTER 2- Unit 2
Gwen Harwood Poems
Contextual Understandings: Background to Harwood’s Poetry
Authorial Context: The Bulletin Scandal, Christian influence, Harwood as a wife and mother
How the choice and combinations
of mode and form transform texts
Postmodernism vs. Modernism
The ways in which informed
reading influences interpretation
of texts
Social/Political Context – conservative Australian Government, struggle for women’s rights, no
pill, patriarchal ideals, nuclear family, etc.
The ways in which text structures,
language features and stylistic
choices provide a framework for
audiences’ expectations,
responses and interpretations
The ways in which different
literary forms may evolve by
blending and borrowing
conventions from other texts
and/or genres
The use of literary techniques,
Religious/Philosophical Context – Influence of Christianity / Philosophy on Harwood’s poetry
Literary Context – Harwood’s use of sonnets
PowerPoints on context and handouts summarising the above
Close Readings of Gwen Harwood’s Poetry
Poems to be studied as a whole class:
In the Park
Suburban Sonnet
Analysis of form conventions: identification of types of sonnets used by Harwood along with
Assessment 1
Gwen Harwood take
home reading
(Week 9)
Assessment 2
Gwen Harwood Unseen
Essay
(Week 11)
including poetic, dramatic and
narrative structure and devices
accompanying handout
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The use of a combination of sound
and visual devices in literary texts.
Analysis of language and generic conventions: imagery, tone, use of persona, metaphor,
diction, etc.
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Organising viewpoints and
arguments in different ways, for
example, in essays, reviews and
visual presentations

Using appropriate linguistic,
stylistic and critical terminology to
compare and contrast texts

Selecting appropriate argument
and evidence to support
readings/interpretations
Discussion of dominant, resistant, feminist and gendered readings of poems
Handouts summarising techniques and contextual influences
Discussion of the role of women in 1960’s Australia – is the persona an accurate representation
of the stereotypical woman during this time?
Harwood Poetry Tutorial and Close Reading
Students to be given a booklet with a selection of Harwood’s poetry along with a summary of
her context and techniques.
Poems to be studied include: At Mornington, Prize Giving, The Violets, Father and Child.
Students to choose two poems to analyse
Students to construct two readings of each poem, annotate techniques, construct a PowerPoint
and write an essay of their reading.
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Term 2
Week1
How readings are constructed as a
result of the reading practices or
strategies that readers apply and
as a result of readers relating the
Practical Criticism Poetry
Unseen poems with intertextual links to Gwen Harwood.
Assessment 3
Work through some as a class leading up to unseen text for assessment
Practical Criticism
Poetry (Week 1)
text to their understandings of the
world. In this way, multiple
readings of a text are possible.
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Term 3
Weeks
2-6
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How readings are constructed as a
result of the reading practices or
strategies that readers apply and
as a result of readers relating the
text to their understandings of the
world. In this way, multiple
readings of a text are possible.
The ways in which text structures,
language features and stylistic
choices provide a framework for
audiences’ expectations,
responses and interpretations
The ways in which texts resemble
and/or refer to other texts,
including through parody,
imitation, appropriation and
transformation; and the ways in
which adaptations of earlier texts
allow new insights into original
texts
How aspects of literary texts have
The Importance of Being Earnest
Contextual introduction:
Authorial Context: Oscar Wilde – teacher generated PowerPoint
The Aesthetic Movement and the role of Oscar Wilde and the novel with this.
Assessment 4 Creative
writing-
Social/Political Context – Victorian era morals and values. How these impact on the novel. The
bourgeois and the proletariat. The dandy and class differences
Compose a piece of
satire in either poetic,
dramatic or prose form
(Week 4)
Religious/Philosophical Context –Victorian philosophy vs. the philosophy of the aesthetic
movement. Influence of Christianity on the novel
Teacher generated PowerPoint to provide an overview of context
Introduction to satire and satirical drama conventions
Text Study
 Reading of the text aloud, annotating and discussing key themes, language and issues
 Developing profiles of how conventions have been used to shape character
representation
 Discussion of what values and attitudes/ ideologies are endorsed or challenged in the
text.
 Discussion of parody, satire, pun and other language techniques
 Discussion of archetypal and exaggerated characters
Assessment 5
Unseen essay on The
Importance of Being
Earnest
(Week 6)
been appropriated into popular
culture
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The use of literary techniques,
including poetic, dramatic and
narrative structure and devices

The use of a combination of sound
and visual devices in literary texts.

Experimenting with different
modes, media and forms.

Integrating real and imagined
experiences by selecting and
adapting particular aspects of
texts to create new texts

Using analysis of literary texts to
inform imaginative/creative
responses
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Transforming texts studied in one
medium or genre to another for
different audiences and purposes
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Reflecting on the significance and
effects of variations to texts.
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Breakdown of the text according to dramatic conventions
Create a glossary of satirical techniques
Students to create a satirical poem, drama or piece of prose in the manner of Oscar
Wilde
Students are given a practice question similar to their in-class essay and have to
prepare a half page of notes for their in-class.
.
Cloudstreet
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Term3
Week 7
–
Term 4
Week 4
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The ways in which different
literary forms may evolve by
blending and borrowing
conventions from other texts
and/or genres
Organising viewpoints and
arguments in different ways, for
example, in essays, reviews and
visual presentations
Using appropriate linguistic,
stylistic and critical terminology to
compare and contrast texts
Selecting appropriate argument
and evidence to support
readings/interpretations
The ways in which text structures,
language features and stylistic
choices provide a framework for
audiences’ expectations,
responses and interpretations
Discussion of historical, authorial, social, political, religious, philosophical context of Tim
Winton.
Students to read background about the author
Teacher to deliver lectures and PPT about the novel
Extension of discussion of postmodernism and magic realism.
Assessment 6
EWR- Cloudstreet essay
(Term 4, Week 1)
Examination of Post-Colonial Literature and where Cloudstreet fits.
Discussion of Australian Identity and national Identity.
Explain how Cloudstreet works to promote a particular version of Australian Identity and
examine its role in Australian culture.
Students to complete questions in their study guide to bring to class to discuss.
Analysis of language and generic conventions. Focus on characterisation using character
construction charts and the practice question:
“Characters in novels are constructed to enable readers to reach an understanding of human
experience. Discuss how the construction of two characters in the novel contributes to the
reader’s understanding of human experience, relationships and particular values and
attitudes.”
Discussion of contextual references in the novel
Assessment 7
Oral Production:
speech about
Cloudstreet’s
representations of
females and Aboriginal
Australians
(Term 4, Week 4)
Students to complete questions in their study guide to bring to class to discuss.
Analysis of language and generic conventions.
Focus on Narrative Point of View with the practice question:
"There is no such thing as a ‘neutral’ story or narrator. Discuss how the narrator positions the
reader to accept a particular reading of a text and privilege particular ideas and groups. Refer
to one or more texts in your answer"
Discussion of symbols, motifs and allusions in the text.
Analysis of language and generic conventions; Study of tone and language forms.
Completing teacher generated worksheets and on language and generic conventions in the
novel.
Reading, answering questions and discussion of scholarly articles offering a variety of
perspectives on the novel.
Discussion of a variety of ways to read the novel -- lenses.
Preparation for in-class extended written response assessment.
Term 4
Week 6
All syllabus content
Exams
Irene McCormack Catholic College
Year 11 English Literature ATAR 2014/15
Semester 1 Assessment Outline
Assessment Description
1. Oedipus Rex Research Context Question
2. Oedipus Rex In-Class Essay
3. Romantics Poetry Tutorial,
Weighting
Type of assessment
Due Date
15%
EWR
Term 4 Week 5
10%
SWR
Term 4 Week 8
10%
Oral Production
Term 1 Week 3
10%
Creative Writing
Term 1 Week 5
10%
SWR
Term 1 Week 6
12%
SWR
Term 2 Week 2
8%
SWR
Term 2 Week 3
25%
Examination
Presentation of multiple readings
4. Writing of a romantic poem
5. Romantics In-Class Essay
6. Jane Eyre Unseen In-Class Essay
7. Practical Criticism -- Prose
8. Examination
End of Semester 1
Term 2 Week 5
Irene McCormack Catholic College
Year 11 English Literature ATAR 2014/15
Semester 2 Assessment Outline
Assessment Description
Gwen Harwood Take Home Reading
Gwen Harwood Unseen Essay
Practical Criticism -- Poetry
Importance of Being Earnest Satirical Piece of Writing
Importance of Being Earnest Unseen Essay
Cloudstreet Extended Research Essay
Investigation of the relationship between texts,
Weighting
Type of assessment
Due Date
10%
SWR
Term 2 Week 9
10%
SWR
Term 2 Week 11
8%
SWR
Term 3 Week 1
10%
Creative Writing
Term 3 Week 4
12%
SWR
Term 3 Week 6
15%
EWR
Term 4 Week 1
10%
Oral Production
Term 4 Week 4
audiences and contexts.
Cloudstreet Persuasive Speech
Examination
25%
End of Semester 2
Examination
Week 6