TCE English Literature past exams 2021–2025, by year and topic

Module 1 — Texts in Context: Poetry (Love and Loss) · 4 mapped questions

Also in this topic: 2026 Love set: Shakespeare 'Sonnet 147' (1609); Marvell 'To His Coy Mistress' (1681); Byron 'She Walks in Beauty' (1814); Barrett Browning 'Sonnet 43: How Do I Love Thee?' (1850); Wright 'Woman to Man' (1949); Eckermann 'Yankunytjatjara Love Poems' (2010) · 2026 Loss set: Donne 'A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning' (1633); Keats 'Ode to Autumn' (1820); Yeats 'When You Are Old' (1893); Plath 'Daddy' (1962); Harwood 'Father and Child: Barn Owl' (1969); Harkin 'These Days I Think of Aunty Doreen' (2015) · Linking historical and cultural context to a poem's imagery and stylistic choices · Literary conventions: sonnet, ode, dramatic monologue, free verse, iambic pentameter, metaphysical conceit · Comparing two poems from the same set with balanced treatment of both — question-level mapping in progress; the year table above links every official paper.

Module 2 — Single Text Study · 6 mapped questions

Also in this topic: 2026 list: Austen Persuasion; Behn The Rover; Brontë Jane Eyre; Clarke For the Term of His Natural Life; Euripides The Trojan Women; Hardy Far from the Madding Crowd; Ibsen A Doll's House; Shakespeare Othello; Stoker Dracula; Wilde The Picture of Dorian Gray · Historical context and prevailing ideologies at the time of composition and/or setting · Narrative features: structure, juxtaposition, characterisation, endings, conflict resolution, symbolism, voice · Applying critical interpretations and a reading position (feminist, Marxist, postcolonial) to support a personal argument · How medium, form, language and convention (verse drama, chorus, narrative voice) shape meaning — question-level mapping in progress; the year table above links every official paper.

Module 3 — Comparative Text Study · 6 mapped questions

Also in this topic: 2026 pairs: Hag-Seed / The Tempest; King Charles III / The King's Speech; A Month in the Country / The Dig; Boy Swallows Universe / Billy Elliot; James / Sweet Country; A Room with a View / The Piano; Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk / Gallipoli; The Lieutenant / Arrival; Pygmalion / Muriel's Wedding; Brooklyn / My Brilliant Career · Comparing contexts of composition across two eras within one pair · Form-specific features: mise-en-scène, cinematography, sound and editing for film; stagecraft and dialogue for drama; narrative voice for prose · Building an integrated comparative thesis rather than two parallel mini-essays · How authors represent Australian culture, place and identity — question-level mapping in progress; the year table above links every official paper.

The rest of the syllabus

Question-level mapping for this area is still being verified. Every official paper covering them is in the year table above.

• Module 4 — Independent Study (folio; not on the written exam) — Reflective statement (450–600 words), critical response (1,500–1,800 words) and imaginative response (1,200–1,500 words, or 600–750 words of poetry) · Externally assessed on Criteria 5, 6 and 7 — never on the written examination · Must use a text or poet not taught in Modules 1–3, and cannot be reused as a written-exam answer