Marvel comics and the television sitcom Modern Family might not be considered synonymous with essay writing, but they are on the list of suggested texts for year 11 and 12 students studying English in Western Australia.
The list, which includes a range of formats from films to graphic novels, is meant to guide teachers on what to pick for their students to study.
Recommended texts include Tintin, Macbeth, The Help, Jasper Jones, Marvel Comics and Modern Family. Credit: Cameron Myles
Examples provided for students studying general English include Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and The Help – both book and film.
Alongside the more up-to-date examples are the classics like Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.
Those studying ATAR English are recommended George Orwell’s 1984 and Orson Welles’ 1941 film Citizen Kane alongside television shows like Mad Men.
It is recommended that for both courses, at least one third of all texts studied should be produced or written in Australia, but there is no hard and fast rule.
However, students who choose to study literature instead of English have a more structured plan and a separate list of texts to choose from, although there is some overlap like Macbeth and WA author Craig Silvey’s Jasper Jones.
Unlike in English, what year 12 students can study and then write about in their final exam is limited to those listed – but that list can change each year.
The list of plays available has changed slightly for students starting year 11 in 2025, but the selection of novels has not – ranging from Phillip Pullman’s Northern Lights to classics including John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, or Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
There is an examination penalty of 15 per cent applied for any ATAR literature exam response that uses, as a primary reference, a text that does not appear on the prescribed list.
Students are also required to study at least one Australian text in each pair of units. There are 146 novels on offer (minus the complete work of Charles Dickens) – 53 of which are written by Australian authors.
Examples include multiple options from WA’s Tim Winton.
The texts are also typically older than those on the English course list, with the most recent text published in 2010 and the oldest being plays written by Sophocles and performed around 430 BCE.
They do not include any film, television shows or graphic novels – a major difference between the two subjects.
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