§-English Extension 2 syllabus
NSW · NESA← English Extension 2
English Extension 2 syllabus, dot point by dot point
Every dot point in the NSW English Extension 2 syllabus, with a focused answer for each. Click any dot point for a worked explainer, past exam questions and links to related points.
The Major Work
Module overview →How does a critical response Major Work sustain an original, arguable thesis across up to 5000 words, and how does it differ from an extended school essay?
Students compose a Major Work in the form of a critical response, demonstrating a sustained original argument, scholarly engagement and a substantial independent investigation into the critical form
What does composing for the ear demand that composing for the page does not, and how do you build a podcast Major Work whose sound design, voice and structure are themselves the meaning rather than decoration on a script?
Students compose a podcast Major Work within the prescribed running time, controlling voice, sound and structure as the medium's distinctive meaning-making resources and submitting a supporting script
How does a script Major Work for film, television or drama convey concept through performance, image and subtext rather than narration, within a 25-minute performance limit?
Students compose a Major Work in the form of a script for film, television or drama, demonstrating control of dramatic craft, performability and a substantial independent investigation into the script form
How does creative nonfiction differ from both short fiction and the critical response, and how do you compose a Major Work in this form that is factually grounded yet shaped with the craft of imaginative writing?
Students compose a creative nonfiction Major Work that draws on factual material and lived or researched experience, shaped through the techniques of imaginative composition within the prescribed word limit
How does a multimedia, performance poetry, speech or podcast Major Work integrate text with sound, image or performance, and how do you evidence its composition within NESA's time limits?
Students compose a Major Work in a multimedia, performance or spoken form, demonstrating control of multimodal craft, integration of media and a substantial independent investigation into the form
How is composing performance poetry or a speech different from writing for the page, and how do you build a Major Work whose meaning depends on a live or recorded voice, body and audience rather than on silent reading?
Students compose performance pieces such as performance poetry or speeches within the prescribed running time, controlling the resources of live or recorded delivery and submitting a supporting print text
How does a poetry Major Work cohere as a suite rather than a collection, and how do form, sound and image carry an original concept across up to 3000 words?
Students compose a Major Work in the form of poetry, demonstrating control of poetic craft, coherence across a suite, and a substantial independent investigation into poetic form
How do the conventions of short fiction shape a sustained, original Major Work, and how do you control voice, structure and image across a piece of up to 6000 words?
Students compose a Major Work in the form of short fiction, demonstrating control of narrative craft, an original concept and a substantial independent investigation into the form
How do you move from a vague area of interest to a defensible Major Work concept and statement of intent that can sustain a year of independent investigation?
Students undertake a sustained independent investigation to develop an original concept, area of special interest and statement of intent that drives the composition of the Major Work
How do you keep a single concept alive, coherent and developing across an entire year of independent work, so that the finished Major Work reads as one sustained vision rather than a series of disconnected attempts?
Students sustain and develop a coherent concept across the extended composition process, maintaining conceptual unity and momentum while allowing the idea to deepen rather than drift
What does the independent investigation into form and concept actually involve, how do you read and research like a composer rather than a student, and how does that investigation visibly shape the Major Work?
Students undertake an ongoing, systematic and rigorous independent investigation into both the concept and the form of the Major Work, using research to inform and shape the composition
What does the written Major Work proposal have to establish, and how do you defend your concept, scope and form aloud in the Viva Voce so that the project is approved and set up to succeed?
Students prepare a written proposal for the Major Work and present and defend it in a Viva Voce, articulating the concept, scope, emphases and chosen form and their relationship to prior Stage 6 English study
How do you move from knowing the conventions of your chosen form to controlling them, manipulating language and structural features deliberately so that every choice shapes meaning and the responder's experience?
Students experiment with and control the language forms, features and structures of their chosen mode, manipulating them deliberately to shape meaning and the responses of an intended audience
Reflection and Process
Module overview →How do you draft and refine an Extension 2 Major Work across a year, using feedback, redrafting and editing to move from a first attempt to a controlled final composition?
Students develop, draft and refine the Major Work through cycles of composition, critical feedback and editing to produce a controlled, polished final composition
What is the Major Work Journal for, what should it record across the year of independent investigation, and how does it support both the Major Work and the Reflection Statement?
Students maintain a Major Work Journal documenting the ongoing process of independent investigation, decision-making and development across the composition of the Major Work
How is the Extension 2 Major Work actually marked, what do the markers reward across the composition and the Reflection Statement, and how do you read the criteria to make decisions that lift your project into the top band?
Students understand how the Major Work and Reflection Statement are assessed against NESA marking criteria, and use that understanding to make composition and reflection decisions that meet the standards of the highest band
What does the 1500-word Reflection Statement have to do, and how do you write a critical account of your Major Work that justifies concept, form and independent investigation rather than narrating what you did?
Students compose a Reflection Statement that critically reflects on the concept, form and independent investigation underpinning the Major Work and its relationship to that process