Australia · ACARA Content Descriptions
Year 8 English
This course develops advanced literacy skills through the study of diverse texts, focusing on how authors use language to challenge perspectives and shape identity. Students refine their analytical writing and creative expression while exploring the intersection of culture, technology, and storytelling in the modern world.
The Art of the Narrative
Students examine the structural and linguistic choices made by authors to build tension, develop character arcs, and establish atmospheric settings.
Analyzing how authors use and subvert traditional character tropes to create complex, relatable protagonists and antagonists.
Exploring how plot devices like foreshadowing, flashbacks, and parallel narratives influence the reader's emotional journey.
Investigating the use of figurative language and sensory details to build immersive worlds and evoke specific moods.
Persuasion and Propaganda
A deep dive into the rhetoric of influence, examining how media and speeches use logic, emotion, and ethics to sway audiences.
Identifying and evaluating the three pillars of persuasion in historical and contemporary speeches.
Analyzing how layout, color, and symbolism are used in multi-modal texts to manipulate consumer behavior.
Writing compelling opinion pieces that use evidence and persuasive devices to advocate for social change.
Poetry and the Human Experience
Students explore the economy of language through poetry, learning how rhythm, sound, and metaphor distill complex emotions.
Examining how alliteration, assonance, and onomatopoeia contribute to the musicality and meaning of a poem.
Decoding how poets use recurring symbols and extended metaphors to represent abstract concepts like grief or hope.
Crafting original poetry that explores personal heritage, culture, and individual voice.
Dystopian Worlds and Social Critique
Analyzing speculative fiction to understand how authors use imagined futures to comment on contemporary societal issues.
Exploring themes of surveillance, control, and rebellion in dystopian literature.
Evaluating how authors predict the ethical consequences of technological advancement.
Analyzing the logic and consistency required to make an imagined world feel believable to the reader.
Dramatic Voices: Page to Stage
Examining the unique conventions of drama, focusing on dialogue, stagecraft, and the interpretation of performance.
Analyzing what is said versus what is meant, and how actors convey hidden meanings.
Investigating how lighting, props, and costume contribute to the storytelling process.
Comparing original dramatic texts with modern reimagining to see how themes endure over time.
Digital Literacies and New Media
Evaluating how digital platforms change the way we consume information and construct our public identities.
Exploring the permanence of digital communication and the responsibility of the content creator.
Analyzing how the structure of websites and social media feeds changes our reading habits.
Creating audio-based narratives that use sound effects and voice to engage a modern audience.