Literature Unit 3 and 4

Prerequisite

A study of a unit from the VCE English Group at Unit 1 or 2. Students must complete Unit 3 prior to undertaking Unit 4.

Course Description

In Literature, students explore the ways writers construct their work and how text features influence meaning. Students also investigate how texts are adapted and transformed by writers as well as considering how literary criticism informs the reading and writing of texts. Students study at least six texts, including at least one novel, a collection of poetry and a play. Students may also study a collection of short stories, a film or other literature. Texts are selected from early and contemporary literature. Students create analytical and creative responses to the texts they study.

Areas of Study

Unit 3

Area of Study 1

Adaptations and transformations

In this area of study students focus on how the form of a text contributes to its meaning. Students explore the form of a set text by constructing a close analysis of that text. They then reflect on the extent to which adapting the text to a different form, and often in a new or reimagined context, affects its meaning, comparing the original with the adaptation. By exploring an adaptation, students also consider how creators of adaptations may emphasise or minimise viewpoints, assumptions and ideas present in the original text.

Area of Study 2

Developing interpretations

In this area of study students explore the different ways we can read and understand a text by developing, considering and comparing interpretations of a set text.

Students first develop their own interpretations of a set text, analysing how ideas, views and values are presented in a text, and the ways these are endorsed, challenged and/or marginalised through literary forms, features and language. These student interpretations should consider the historical, social and cultural context in which a text is written and set. Students also consider their own views and values as readers.

Unit 4

Area of Study 1

Creative responses to texts

In this area of study students focus on the imaginative techniques used for creating and recreating a literary work. Students use their knowledge of how the meaning of texts can change as context and form change to construct their own creative transformations of texts. They learn how authors develop representations of people and places, and they develop an understanding of language, voice, form and structure. Students draw inferences from the original text in order to create their own writing. In their adaptation of the tone and the style of the original text, students develop an understanding of the views and values explored.

Area of Study 2

Close analysis of texts

In this area of study students focus on a detailed scrutiny of the language, style, concerns and construction of texts. Students attend closely to textual details to examine the ways specific passages in a text contribute to their overall understanding of the whole text. Students consider literary forms, features and language, and the views and values of the text. They write expressively to develop a close analysis, using detailed references to the text.

Assessment

Unit 3 Outcomes	Assessment Tasks	Marks Allocated
Unit 3 Outcomes	(school-assessed coursework)	Marks Allocated
Outcome 1 Analyse aspects of a text, drawing on close analysis of textual detail, and then discuss the extent to which meaning changes when that text is adapted to a different form.	A written interpretation of a text, supported by close textual analysis, using a key passage. An analysis of how textual form influences meaning. Students may: compare a dramatised version of a scene or scenes from a text with the original text compare a print text with the text’s adaptation into another form.	20 30
Outcome 2 Develop interpretations of a set text informed by the ideas, views and values of the set text and a supplementary reading.	Part A: An initial interpretation of the text’s views and values within its historical, social and cultural context Part B: A written response that compares/interweaves and analyses an initial interpretation with a subsequent interpretation, using a key moment from the text.	50
Total Marks		100

Unit 4 Outcomes	Assessment Tasks	Marks Allocated
	(school-assessed coursework)
Outcome 1 Respond creatively to a text and comment critically on both the original text and the creative response.	A creative response to a text. Students may: submit an original piece of writing, presented in a manner consistent with the style and context of the original text recreate or rework an aspect of the text, such as adding to the text, recasting a part of the text in another setting or form, or presenting an episode in the text from another point of view. A close analysis of a key passage from the original text, which includes reflections on connections between the creative response and the original text.	40 20
Outcome 2 Analyse literary forms, features and language to present a coherent view of a whole text.	A close analysis of a text, supported by an examination of textual details, based on a selection of passages.	40
Total Marks		100
At least one assessment task in either Unit 3 or 4 must include the language modes of speaking and listening.

Overall Final Assessment

Graded Assessment	Title	Assessment	Exam Duration	Contribution to Study Score (%)
1	Unit 3 Coursework	School-assessed		25
2	Unit 4 Coursework	School-assessed		25
3	Written Examination	November	2 hours	50