Singapore Secondary 2 Literature in English (G2)

This course entry is based on the Singapore Ministry of Education's Literature in English syllabus, implemented starting with the 2019 Secondary One and Three Cohorts.

Overview

The Secondary 2 G2 Literature in English course aims to build a strong foundation in literary analysis and appreciation. It emphasizes holistic understanding, encouraging students to explore texts through different lenses: experiencing story, appreciating style, and interpreting theme. The curriculum focuses on developing empathetic and global thinkers, critical readers, creative meaning-makers, and convincing communicators.

Curriculum Framework

The curriculum is structured around a Literary Response Framework, which guides students to engage with texts in a multifaceted way. This framework emphasizes the interconnectedness of five key areas of study:

• Plot: Understanding the arrangement of events and their cause-and-effect relationships.
• Character: Analyzing representations of people, creatures, and objects, including their motivations and qualities.
• Setting and Atmosphere: Examining the time, place, and circumstances of a story, along with the mood created.
• Style: Appreciating the writer's use of language to achieve specific effects.
• Theme: Exploring the central ideas and concerns of a text.

Students develop their understanding through dialogue and writing, making connections to themselves, the world, other readers, and other texts.

Lower Secondary Requirements

By the end of lower secondary, students will have studied:

• Prose: One novel in its entirety or a range of short stories.
• Poetry: A range of 8-12 poems from Singapore and other parts of the world.
• Drama: One play in its entirety or a range of short plays (excluding film scripts).

Texts are selected to provide opportunities for critical analysis and to represent diverse perspectives. They must include works from Singapore and other parts of the world. Texts are studied in their entirety, although excerpts may be used to supplement learning. Schools can choose texts from the Lower Secondary Recommended Text List.

Assessment

Assessment is for learning, aiming to identify learning gaps and guide instruction. Students are assessed holistically on their understanding, interpretation, and response to literary texts. By Secondary Two, students will have been formally assessed in all three genres, including sustained critical responses to passage-based and essay questions (modified for G2 students). Other assessment tasks, such as performance tasks and portfolios, may also be used. Band descriptors are used for marking.