Literature

VCE Literature provides opportunities for students to develop their awareness of other people, places and cultures and explore the way texts represent the complexity of human experience. Students examine the evolving and dialogic nature of texts, the changing contexts in which they were produced and notions of value. 

They develop an understanding and appreciation of literature, and an ability to reflect critically on the aesthetic and intellectual aspects of texts. The study of Literature enables students to consider the power and complexity of language, the ways literary features and techniques contribute to meaning and the significance of form and structure.

Unit 1: Approaches to literature

In this unit students focus on the ways the interaction between text and reader creates meaning. Students’ analyses of the features and conventions of texts help them develop responses to a range of literary forms and styles. They develop an awareness of how the views and values that readers hold may influence the reading of a text.

Unit 2:  Context and connections

In this unit students explore the ways literary texts connect with each other and with the world. They deepen their examination of the ways their own culture and the cultures represented in texts can influence their interpretations and shape different meanings. Students consider the relationships between authors, audiences and contexts and analyse the similarities and differences across texts and establish connections between them. They engage in close reading of texts and create analytical responses that are evidence-based.

Unit 3: Form and transformation

In this unit students consider how the form of a text affects meaning, and how writers construct their texts. They investigate ways writers adapt and transform texts and how meaning is affected as texts are adapted and transformed. They consider how the perspectives of those adapting texts may inform or influence the adaptations. Students develop creative responses to texts and their skills in communicating ideas in both written and oral forms.

Unit 4: Interpreting texts

In this unit students develop critical and analytic responses to texts. They investigate literary criticism informing both the reading and writing of texts. Students develop an informed and sustained interpretation supported by close textual analysis.

Assessment

Satisfactory completion

The award of satisfactory completion for a unit is based on a decision that the student has demonstrated achievement of the set of outcomes specified for the unit. This decision will be based on the teacher’s assessment of the student’s performance on assessment tasks designated for the unit. 

Levels of achievement

Units 1 and 2: A range of school based assessment tasks, including end of unit exams

Units 3 and 4

Students’ level of achievement will be determined by School-assessed Coursework (SAC) as specified in the VCE study design, and external assessment.

Percentage contributions to the study score in VCE Literature are as follows:

Unit 3 School-assessed Coursework: 25 per cent

Unit 4 School-assessed Coursework: 25 percent

End-of-year examination:                       50 per cent