Australia · ACARA Content Descriptions
Year 12 English
This course challenges students to critically analyze how complex texts represent human experiences and cultural perspectives. Students develop sophisticated writing and speaking skills through the exploration of canonical and contemporary literature, film, and media.
The Art of Persuasion and Rhetoric
Exploration of how language is used to manipulate, persuade, and challenge audiences in public discourse.
Analysis of how political leaders use ethos, pathos, and logos to construct authority and national identity.
Examining the shift from traditional oratory to the rapid-fire persuasion of digital platforms.
Analyzing satire and parody as tools for critiquing dominant social and political narratives.
Literary Worlds and Cultural Values
A deep dive into how prose fiction constructs immersive worlds that reflect or reject the values of their time.
Investigating how authors build psychological depth to explore universal human struggles.
Analyzing how the choice of narrator influences the reader's trust and interpretation of events.
Unpacking the layers of meaning hidden within recurring images and objects in a text.
Dramatic Forms and Performance
Analyzing dramatic texts through the lens of performance, staging, and audience engagement.
Examining how playwrights use dialogue and stage directions to escalate interpersonal and societal conflict.
Tracing the evolution of the tragic hero from classical origins to modern interpretations.
Investigating metatheatre and techniques that acknowledge the artifice of the performance.
Poetic Language and Emotional Resonance
A study of how poets compress language to evoke intense emotion and explore complex themes.
Analyzing how poets use sensory language to ground abstract ideas in concrete experience.
Exploring how the formal properties of a poem contribute to its meaning and mood.
Examining the persona in the poem and the relationship between the speaker and the poet.
Cinematic Storytelling and Visual Literacy
Analyzing film as a multi-modal text that uses visual and auditory techniques to convey meaning.
Investigating how everything within the frame contributes to the narrative and mood.
Analyzing how the rhythm of cuts and the use of diegetic and non-diegetic sound shape the viewer's experience.
Exploring how films adhere to or challenge the expectations of specific genres.
The Craft of Writing
A workshop-focused unit where students apply their analytical knowledge to create their own imaginative, persuasive, or discursive texts.
Learning to experiment with style and tone to establish a unique authorial presence.
Understanding that writing is a recursive process of drafting, feedback, and refinement.
Adapting language and structure to suit specific audiences and purposes.