§-Literature syllabus
QLD · QCAA← Literature
Literature syllabus, dot point by dot point
Every dot point in the QLD Literature syllabus, with a focused answer for each. Click any dot point for a worked explainer, past exam questions and links to related points.
Unit 3: Literature and identity
Module overview →How do the aesthetic features and stylistic devices of a literary text create its effects and shape a reader's response?
Analyse how aesthetic features and stylistic devices achieve particular effects in literary texts
How do the context a text was made in and the context it is read in each shape its meaning?
Analyse how the context of production and the context of reception shape the meanings of a literary text
How do the cultural assumptions, attitudes, values and beliefs inside a literary text shape the reading it invites?
Analyse how cultural assumptions, attitudes, values and beliefs underpin literary texts and invite readers to take up positions
How can an imaginative transformation of a literary text demonstrate understanding of identity and representation?
Create an imaginative response that transforms a literary text to explore identity, perspective and representation (IA2)
How does a literary text draw on other texts, and what does that borrowing do to its meaning?
Examine how intertextuality and allusion connect a literary text to other texts and shape its meaning
How do literary texts represent the relationship between language, culture and identity?
Examine how language choices in literary texts construct and represent cultural identity, belonging and difference
How do perspectives within and around a literary text shape the representation of identity?
Examine how the perspectives of writers, readers and characters shape the representation of identity in literary texts
How does a literary text invite a reader to take up a particular position, and how can a reader become aware of the invitation?
Analyse how literary texts position readers and invite them to take up particular attitudes, values and responses
How does the power of language allow literary texts to represent ideas, events and people?
Analyse how literary texts use the power of language to represent ideas, events and people and to position readers
What does it mean to read a literary text in different ways, and how does the way of reading change what the text seems to mean?
Examine the ways of reading literary texts and how a chosen way of reading shapes the meanings a reader produces
Unit 4: Independent explorations
Module overview →How do you build a sustained analytical thesis about a literary text under examination conditions?
Construct a sustained analytical response to an unseen question on a literary text for the external assessment
How does a text build a character, and how does the choice of whose perception we share shape our reading?
Analyse how characterisation and focalisation construct characters and direct a reader's sympathy
What does a close reading of drama attend to, and how do dialogue, structure and the stage carry meaning?
Conduct close readings of drama, analysing how dialogue, dramatic conventions and staging generate meaning
What does a literary close reading of a poem attend to, and how do form and sound carry meaning?
Conduct close readings of poetry, analysing how form, sound, rhythm and image generate meaning
What does a close reading of prose fiction attend to, and how do narration and sentence-level choices shape meaning?
Conduct close readings of prose fiction, analysing how narration, sentence craft and structure generate meaning
How does reading two literary texts against each other produce meaning neither text holds alone?
Compare literary texts to generate readings that depend on the relationship between them
How do critical perspectives change the questions a reader asks of a literary text?
Apply critical perspectives to generate and defend independent readings of literary texts
Why does the interpretation of a literary text change across readers, contexts and time?
Examine the dynamic nature of literary interpretation and how meaning shifts across readers and contexts
How does the order a text reveals its events in shape what those events mean?
Analyse how plot structure and narrative sequencing, including non-linear order, shape meaning
How do point of view and narrative voice control what a reader knows and how they judge it?
Analyse how point of view and narrative voice shape a reader's knowledge and judgement of a literary text
How do setting and the mood it generates shape the meaning and emotional pressure of a literary text?
Analyse how setting, mood and atmosphere shape meaning and position a reader emotionally
How do style, structure and subject matter work together to produce a text's effect?
Closely examine how style, structure and subject matter interact to shape meaning in a literary text
How do symbols, motifs and patterns of imagery build meaning across a whole literary text?
Analyse how symbolism, motif and patterned imagery generate meaning across a literary text
How does a reader draw on a range of existing interpretations to build an independent reading of their own?
Synthesise a range of interpretations of a literary text into an independent, sustained reading