extension 1

HSC English Extension 1: Literary Worlds and the electives

English Extension 1 is studied through one module, Literary Worlds, and one elective. From HSC 2027 the electives are Confessional worlds, Historical worlds, Hybrid worlds, Natural worlds, Shakespearean worlds. The exam is worth 50 marks over 2 hours plus 10 minutes reading time: a 25-mark question on Literary Worlds, in response to stimulus or unseen material, and a 25-mark sustained critical response on your elective's prescribed texts. From 2027 it is sat online.

Last updated . An independent guide by Afterhour, not affiliated with NESA. Quoted syllabus text, exam specifications, marking guidelines and marker feedback are © NSW Education Standards Authority.

At a glance

exam

Online

sat on a computer from HSC 2027, with headphones for video and audio stimulus

marks

50

two questions, 25 marks each

time

2 h

+ 10 min reading

electives

5

you study one, through Literary worlds

what it asks, in one line

Question 1 responds to stimulus and/or unseen material on Literary worlds (critical, creative or both). Question 2 is a sustained critical response on your elective's prescribed texts and a related text.

English Extension 1, HSC 2027 on50 marks

  1. Online exam2 h+ 10 min reading

    25Question 125Question 2

block width: marks writing time reading time

Literary Worlds

Literary worlds are textual creations of imagination through which a complex relationship is established between author, reader and text. Literary worlds are the narrative representations of people and events; they transcend time and space, and offer depictions that are realistic or metaphoric, possible or fictional, public or private. Students engage with, interpret and experiment with the complex relationship between texts, authors, readers and contexts. They explore a range of short texts and extracts from larger works that construct literary worlds.

English Extension 11–12 Syllabus (2024): Year 12 focus area — Literary worlds

What the syllabus says you'll come to understand

  1. The aesthetic qualities of language and the ways they shape meaning and communicate values
  2. Changing contexts and values, and how they influence the ways meaning is made
  3. A range of critical perspectives that shape personal responses to complex texts
  4. Social, historical and personal values in texts, and how they shape meaning and influence responses
HSC 2019–2026: Common Module: Literary Worlds
In this module students explore, investigate, experiment with and evaluate the ways texts represent and illuminate the complexity of individual and collective lives in literary worlds. Students evaluate how ideas and ways of thinking are shaped by personal, social, historical and cultural contexts. They extend their understanding of the ways that texts contribute to their awareness of the diversity of ideas, attitudes and perspectives evident in texts.
English Extension Stage 6 Syllabus (2017) (DOCX, updated implementation info)

The electives and their texts (HSC 2027–2030)

Each elective's description is NESA's, quoted from the 2024 syllabus. The text lists come from Afterhour's copy of the prescriptions; check them against NESA's current prescriptions with your teacher before you start reading.

Elective 1: Confessional worlds

In this elective, students consider the interplay of performance, intimacy and artifice in confessional worlds. They explore and evaluate the construction of voices used in confessional worlds as representations of revelation and evaluate the implications of unreliability, subjectivity and bias. In reading and engaging with texts students explore how the auto-biographical nature of confession challenges, enlightens and personalises significant cultural, historical, and political contexts and can reveal insights about authenticity, identity, memory, and self-representation. Students explore the way writers adapt, reshape, and experiment with textual forms, language features and voice to interact with their socio-cultural contexts. They examine how language can both reveal and conceal an author’s culture, context, and personality.
Prose fiction 2Poetry 1Drama 1Film 1Nonfiction 1, 6 texts in all
  • The Tenant of Wildfell HallAnne BrontëProse fiction
  • The White AlbumJoan DidionNonfiction
  • Birthday LettersTed HughesPoetry
  • The Collected StoriesKatherine MansfieldProse fiction (short stories)
  • The Glass MenagerieTennessee WilliamsDrama
  • The Darjeeling LimitedWes AndersonFilm

Elective 2: Historical worlds

In this elective, students consider the interplay between truth and reality in historical worlds. They explore and evaluate the ways historical worlds represent events, periods, and people, shape our understanding of the past, and can challenge notions of bias, authority, legitimacy and truth. Students explore texts that are a representation of the past and texts that use the past to make sense of our time and place. In reading and engaging with historical texts they explore the representation of memory and the relationship between personal and collective experiences. Students critically evaluate the ways historical worlds can represent shifting political, social and cultural values, contexts and attitudes. In reading and engaging with texts students reconsider their own values and assumptions about the past and the ways in which we come to know it.
Prose fiction 3Poetry 1Film 1Nonfiction 1, 6 texts in all
  • Selected PoemsW.H. AudenPoetry
  • PossessionA.S. ByattProse fiction
  • The Hare with Amber EyesEdmund de WaalNonfiction
  • North and SouthElizabeth GaskellProse fiction
  • An Artist of the Floating WorldKazuo IshiguroProse fiction
  • Marie AntoinetteSofia CoppolaFilm

Elective 3: Hybrid worlds

In this elective, students consider literary worlds that experiment with and manipulate form and language to explore new possibilities for structure, time and hybridity. They explore and evaluate a range of hybrid literature that can represent notions of exploration, experimentation, vulnerability and exaltation. Students also examine the ways texts call attention to their form and the ways the reader and writer participate in shaping meaning. They explore experimental writing that tests the limits of genre to draw attention to textuality and the way we read.
Prose fiction 2Poetry 2Film 1Nonfiction 1, 6 texts in all
  • DropbearEvelyn AraluenPoetry
  • Northanger AbbeyJane AustenProse fiction
  • As I Lay DyingWilliam FaulknerProse fiction
  • Life on MarsTracy K. SmithPoetry
  • Consider the LobsterDavid Foster WallaceNonfiction
  • MementoChristopher NolanFilm

Elective 4: Natural worlds

In this elective, students consider the relationship between literature and the natural environment. By exploring and evaluating natural worlds that can celebrate nature, the wilderness and our place within it, students consider notions of self-renewal and the pastoral. They encounter a range of local and global authors who build literary worlds to show the intersection of culture and nature. Students also consider natural worlds for their beauty and fragility and the role they play in shaping culture, identity and purpose. Students explore texts that represent the relationship between literature and the natural world in a changing ecological context.
Prose fiction 2Poetry 2Drama 1Nonfiction 1, 6 texts in all
  • Samuel Taylor Coleridge: The Complete PoemsSamuel Taylor ColeridgePoetry
  • IslandAlistair MacLeodProse fiction (short stories)
  • New and Selected Poems, Volume OneMary OliverPoetry
  • As You Like ItWilliam ShakespeareDrama
  • AutumnAli SmithProse fiction
  • Sand TalkTyson YunkaportaNonfiction

Elective 5: Shakespearean worlds

In this elective, students consider the nature and characteristics of the worlds of Shakespeare's works. They explore, interrogate and evaluate the ways these worlds can be referenced, reconstructed, extended or subverted in other texts. Students consider the enduring nature of Shakespeare’s work, and the way his work is valued across a range of cultures and contexts. They examine how Shakespeare’s worlds can represent concepts of individualism and subjectivity. In reading and engaging with Shakespearean worlds through texts other than those written by Shakespeare, they will deepen their understanding of the ways structure, ideas, content, and language are adapted and appropriated in new ways. Students evaluate Shakespearean worlds that represent moments of crisis and new ways of understanding the world.
Prose fiction 1Drama 3Film 1Nonfiction 1, 6 texts in all
  • The Arab Shakespeare TrilogySulayman Al BassamDrama
  • Hag-SeedMargaret AtwoodProse fiction
  • The Merchant of VeniceWilliam ShakespeareDrama
  • 1599: A Year in the Life of William ShakespeareJames ShapiroNonfiction
  • Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are DeadTom StoppardDrama
  • The Big ShortAdam McKayFilm
HSC 2019–2026 electives

For HSC 2019–2026 the electives were:

  • Elective 1: Literary homelands
  • Elective 2: Worlds of upheaval
  • Elective 3: Reimagined worlds
  • Elective 4: Literary mindscapes
  • Elective 5: Intersecting worlds

Their text lists aren't in this guide. They're in NESA's HSC English Prescriptions 2019–2026: Modules, Electives and Texts (updated May 2024).

The exam

  • Online examination (50 marks)
  • This examination will be undertaken by students using a computer.
  • The examination will be worth 50 marks.
  • Time allowed: 2 hours plus 10 minutes reading time.
  • Headphones will be required for questions with video and audio stimulus.
  • The paper will consist of 2 questions.
  • Question 1 – Literary worlds (25 marks)
  • The question will require a response to stimulus and/or unseen material.
  • The question may contain two parts or it may require a sustained response.
  • The question will require a critical or creative response, or both.
  • Question 2 – Electives (25 marks)
  • Students will be required to answer one question based on their elective.
  • The question may include stimulus.
  • The question will require a sustained critical response based on the student’s prescribed texts and related text.

From English Extension 11–12 Syllabus (2024): HSC examinations, © NESA.

HSC 2019–2026 (written paper)50 marks

  1. Written paper2 h+ 10 min reading

    25Section I25Section II

block width: marks writing time reading time

HSC 2019–2026
  • The exam will consist of a written paper worth 50 marks.
  • The time allowed is 2 hours plus 10 minutes reading time.
  • The paper will consist of two sections.
  • Section I – Common Module (25 marks)
  • There will be one question in response to stimulus and/or unseen material.
  • The question may require a critical or creative response, or both. It may be a single, sustained response, or it may be in two parts.
  • Section II – Elective (25 marks)
  • There will be one question, which may include stimulus.
  • The question will require a sustained critical response based on the candidate’s prescribed texts and related texts.

From Assessment and reporting (English Extension Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)): HSC exam specifications, © NESA.

How it's marked

Each question is worth 25 marks. When a question is marked as a whole, its guideline has five ranges: 21–25, 16–20, 11–15, 6–10 and 1–5 (some years split Question 1 into two parts with their own tables). The 2019–2026 papers print the same assessment box for both questions: your answer will be assessed on how well you:

  • demonstrate an understanding of the ideas and values of Literary Worlds and how they are shaped and reflected in texts
  • craft a sustained composition appropriate to the question, demonstrating control of the use of language

Question 1, Literary Worlds: the 2025 HSC criteria

  1. 21–25marks
    • Provides a response that extends the ideas in Text 1 in sophisticated ways
    • Demonstrates sophisticated insights into how texts make meaning through the crafting of literary worlds
    • Demonstrates sophisticated control of language and discursive form
  2. 16–20marks
    • Provides a response that extends the ideas in Text 1 in highly effective ways
    • Demonstrates highly effective insights into how texts make meaning through the crafting of literary worlds
    • Demonstrates highly effective control of language and discursive form
  3. 11–15marks
    • Provides a response that extends the ideas in Text 1 in sound ways
    • Demonstrates sound insights into how texts make meaning through the crafting of literary worlds
    • Demonstrates sound control of language and discursive form
  4. 6–10marks
    • Provides a response that extends the ideas in Text 1 in limited ways
    • Demonstrates limited insights into how texts make meaning through the crafting of literary worlds
    • Demonstrates limited control of language and form
  5. 1–5marks
    • Attempts to respond to the ideas in Text 1
    • Attempts to provide insights into how texts make meaning
    • Attempts to control language and form
Marking guideline: 2025 HSC English Extension 1, Question 1, 25 marks, Section I — Common Module: Literary Worlds. 2025 HSC English Extension 1 Marking Guidelines, © NESA. Highlighted: the words that change from the range below.

Question 2, Electives: the 2025 HSC criteria

  1. 21–25marks
    • Provides a sophisticated argument about how Text 2 shapes an understanding of the ways texts ‘creatively break’ dominant assumptions in the elective studied
    • Demonstrates a sophisticated ability to support their argument through close reference to two prescribed texts from their elective and one other text of their own choosing
    • Demonstrates a sophisticated control of language and form
  2. 16–20marks
    • Provides a highly effective argument about how Text 2 shapes an understanding of the ways texts ‘creatively break’ dominant assumptions in the elective studied
    • Demonstrates a highly effective ability to support their argument through close reference to two prescribed texts from their elective and one other text of their own choosing
    • Demonstrates a highly effective control of language and form
  3. 11–15marks
    • Provides a sound argument about how Text 2 shapes an understanding of the ways texts ‘creatively break’ dominant assumptions in the elective studied
    • Demonstrates a sound ability to support their argument through close reference to two prescribed texts from their elective and one other text of their own choosing
    • Demonstrates a sound control of language and form
  4. 6–10marks
    • Provides a limited argument about how Text 2 shapes an understanding of the ways texts ‘creatively break’ dominant assumptions in the elective studied
    • Demonstrates a limited ability to support their argument through close reference to texts
    • Demonstrates a limited control of language and form
  5. 1–5marks
    • Attempts to respond to the question
    • Attempts to support an argument with reference to texts
    • Attempts to control language and form
Marking guideline: 2025 HSC English Extension 1, Question 2, 25 marks, Section II — Electives. 2025 HSC English Extension 1 Marking Guidelines, © NESA. Highlighted: the words that change from the range below.

What markers said

Literary Worlds, 2025 HSC

In better responses, students were able to:

  • extend the ideas in Text 1 in a sophisticated way through elaborating on the ideas, offering textual or critical examples of the ideas, or crafting their own imaginative or anecdotal representation of the ideas, for example, exploring ideas such as the power of metaphor, the notion of writing as an act of translation, the ordering structure of narrative and the concept of narrative fallacy, the relationship between the reader and the writer, or the ‘miraculous’ nature of written communication
  • demonstrate an informed understanding of the construction and reception of literary worlds, offering insights into how the ‘crafting’ of literary worlds shapes meaning
  • engage with and extend the ideas in the extract, draw connections and synthesise with original insights
  • use a sophisticated critical vocabulary in their discussion of the extract and of the way texts shape meaning
  • integrate literary terminology in an appropriate and relevant way
  • present a strong personal argument which develops in a cohesive and sustained way
  • demonstrate control of the discursive form

Areas for students to improve include:

  • engaging consistently with the question and stimulus
  • demonstrating an informed understanding of literary worlds
  • drawing connections between ideas in the extract and ideas encountered in their study of literary worlds
  • supporting discussion of literary worlds with reference to a range of literary texts
  • demonstrating sustained control of language and discursive form

Students should:

  • demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the module Literary Worlds through close engagement with the question
  • consider all aspects of the question, reflecting an understanding of the values and ideas of a literary world
  • demonstrate purposeful control of the discursive form
  • use language to communicate complex ideas with clarity
  • communicate clearly and take care with syntax, grammar, paragraphing and punctuation

Electives, 2025 HSC

In better responses, students were able to:

  • develop a sustained and cohesive argument that demonstrates an insightful understanding of how their prescribed and related text ‘creatively break’ the dominant assumptions in their elective
  • use analysis that is purposeful in its selection of textual evidence to support their argument
  • incorporate discussion of both context and form to support their argument about the ways the texts ‘creatively break’ the dominant assumptions in the elective
  • establish a conceptual argument that demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of the elective
  • sustain an argument with fluent and intentional control of language

Areas for students to improve include:

  • developing a clear argument that is sustained through a exploration of the prescribed texts and a related text
  • integrating all aspects of the question in their response
  • demonstrating an effective understanding of the elective in relation to both the question and their texts
  • communicating an argument that uses language that is appropriate to audience, purpose and context, evident through choices in vocabulary and syntax

Students should:

  • develop a strong understanding of all aspects of the elective description and syllabus content, its central ideas and its directives, in preparation for writing a response
  • read the question carefully and ensure all components are addressed in the construction of their central arguments
  • judiciously select one related text that allows students to further explore the ideas in the elective
  • express their knowledge and understanding of texts and the elective clearly and concisely
  • analyse and evaluate language features and forms in texts
  • respond in a cohesive and integrated manner, synthesising their understanding of both prescribed and related texts
  • examine the role of contextual values and the impact of these on form and purpose
  • respond to the question with an authentic voice that meaningfully integrates metalanguage
  • synthesise and sustain an argument with judiciously selected examples that support the central ideas of the response

From English Extension 1 2025 HSC exam pack: Marking feedback, © NESA.

Past HSC questions

  1. 20252025 HSC

    • Question 125 marksSection I — Common Module: Literary Worldsdiscursive

      Read Text 1 on page 3. Compose a discursive response in which you extend the ideas in Text 1. In your response, articulate your insights into how texts make meaning through the crafting of literary worlds.

    • Question 225 marksSection II — Electives

      Read Text 2. How does Text 2 shape your understanding of the ways your texts ‘creatively break’ dominant assumptions in the elective you have studied? In your response, make close reference to TWO prescribed texts from your elective and ONE other text of your own choosing.

  2. 20242024 HSC

    • Question 1 (a)15 marksSection I — Common Module: Literary Worldsimaginative

      Read the extract and then answer the questions that follow. Use the ideas in the extract to compose a narrative in which you construct a literary world to explore ‘something which is real and which lives behind the words’.

    • Question 1 (b)10 marksSection I — Common Module: Literary Worlds

      Read the extract and then answer the questions that follow. Analyse how you constructed a literary world in part (a) to explore ‘something which is real and which lives behind the words’.

    • Question 225 marksSection II — Electives

      Why do we value literary worlds that immerse us in powerful and challenging experiences? Justify your argument in light of the literary worlds you have studied in your elective. In your response, make close reference to TWO prescribed texts and ONE other text of your own choosing.

  3. 20232023 HSC

    • Question 125 marksSection I — Common Module: Literary Worldsimaginativediscursive

      Compose an imaginative or discursive response which examines the possibilities and problems exposed by literary worlds. In your response, include an unexpected journey into a literary world that transforms an individual.

    • Questions 2 (a)–2 (e)25 marksSection II — Electives

      5 questions, one for each prescribed text
      • Elective 1: Literary HomelandsRead the stimulus provided below. Evaluate how the ideas in the stimulus echo, unsettle or oppose your understanding of the texts you have studied in Literary Homelands. In your response, make close reference to TWO prescribed texts and ONE other text of your own choosing.
      • Elective 2: Worlds of UpheavalRead the stimulus provided below. Evaluate how the ideas in the stimulus echo, unsettle or oppose your understanding of the texts you have studied in Worlds of Upheaval. In your response, make close reference to TWO prescribed texts and ONE other text of your own choosing.
      • Elective 3: Reimagined WorldsRead the stimulus provided below. Evaluate how the ideas in the stimulus echo, unsettle or oppose your understanding of the texts you have studied in Reimagined Worlds. In your response, make close reference to TWO prescribed texts and ONE other text of your own choosing.
      • Elective 4: Literary MindscapesRead the stimulus provided below. Evaluate how the ideas in the stimulus echo, unsettle or oppose your understanding of the texts you have studied in Literary Mindscapes. In your response, make close reference to TWO prescribed texts and ONE other text of your own choosing.
      • Elective 5: Intersecting WorldsRead the stimulus provided below. Evaluate how the ideas in the stimulus echo, unsettle or oppose your understanding of the texts you have studied in Intersecting Worlds. In your response, make close reference to TWO prescribed texts and ONE other text of your own choosing.

  4. 20222022 HSC

    • Question 125 marksSection I — Common Module: Literary Worldsimaginative

      Read Texts 1, 2 and 3 on pages 4–5. Consider the ideas about Literary Worlds that are common to Texts 1, 2 and 3. Use these ideas as the basis of an imaginative response where you create a world with characters who represent divergent points of view.

    • Question 225 marksSection II — Electives

      Voices in literary texts are constructs through which competing points of view are reflected, reconciled or left unresolved. Evaluate how this idea is realised in the texts you have studied in your elective. In your response, refer to TWO of your prescribed texts and at least ONE related text of your own choosing.

  5. 20212021 HSC

    • Question 125 marksSection I — Common Module: Literary Worlds

      Read Text 1 on pages 3–4. How does Hanya Yanagihara’s closing address challenge your understanding of the nature of literary worlds?

    • Questions 2 (a)–2 (e)25 marksSection II — Electives

      5 questions, one for each prescribed text
      • Elective 1: Literary HomelandsThrough the unique ways they explore questions of difference, composers allow us ‘to practise our own humanity’. How does this statement reflect your experience of studying Literary Homelands? In your response, refer to TWO of your prescribed texts and at least ONE related text of your own choosing.
      • Elective 2: Worlds of UpheavalThrough the unique ways they explore possibilities of liberty, composers allow us ‘to practise our own humanity’. How does this statement reflect your experience of studying Worlds of Upheaval? In your response, refer to TWO of your prescribed texts and at least ONE related text of your own choosing.
      • Elective 3: Reimagined WorldsThrough the unique ways they explore questions of certainty, composers allow us ‘to practise our own humanity’. How does this statement reflect your experience of studying Reimagined Worlds? In your response, refer to TWO of your prescribed texts and at least ONE related text of your own choosing.
      • Elective 4: Literary MindscapesThrough the unique ways they explore the possibility of enlightenment, composers allow us ‘to practise our own humanity’. How does this statement reflect your experience of studying Literary Mindscapes? In your response, refer to TWO of your prescribed texts and at least ONE related text of your own choosing.
      • Elective 5: Intersecting WorldsThrough the unique ways they explore the possibilities of renewal, composers allow us ‘to practise our own humanity’. How does this statement reflect your experience of studying Intersecting Worlds? In your response, refer to TWO of your prescribed texts and at least ONE related text of your own choosing.

  6. 20202020 HSC

    • Question 125 marksSection I — Common Module: Literary Worlds

      Read Texts 1, 2 and 3. Compare how the construction of literary worlds offers you new insights. In your response, refer to TWO of the extracts provided.

    • Question 225 marksSection II — Electives

      When composers construct texts that interrogate contextual values, we are positioned to consider the complexity of the world. Discuss this statement in light of the elective that you have studied. In your response, refer to TWO of your prescribed texts and ONE related text of your own choosing.

  7. 20192019 HSC

    • Question 1 (a)10 marksSection I — Common Module: Literary Worlds

      In your response to parts (a) and (b), draw on your understanding of the module Literary Worlds and the extract(s) provided. Use Text 1 and Text 2 to answer this part. To what extent do both extracts resonate with your understanding of why we compose literary worlds?

    • Question 1 (b)15 marksSection I — Common Module: Literary Worldsimaginative

      In your response to parts (a) and (b), draw on your understanding of the module Literary Worlds and the extract(s) provided. Use Text 2 to answer this part. Using the character in Text 2, imagine a moment in which the past intrudes on this character’s fabricated world. Compose a piece of imaginative writing that explores this intrusion.

    • Questions 2–625 marksSection II — Electives

      5 questions, one for each prescribed text
      • Elective 1: Literary HomelandsTo what extent has your study of ideas and values in Literary Homelands enhanced your understanding of the relationship between marginalisation and empowerment? In your response, refer to TWO of your prescribed texts and at least ONE related text of your own choosing.
      • Elective 2: Worlds of UpheavalTo what extent has your study of ideas and values in Worlds of Upheaval enhanced your understanding of the relationship between aspiration and acceptance? In your response, refer to TWO of your prescribed texts and at least ONE related text of your own choosing.
      • Elective 3: Reimagined WorldsTo what extent has your study of ideas and values in Reimagined Worlds enhanced your understanding of the relationship between insight and wonder? In your response, refer to TWO of your prescribed texts and at least ONE related text of your own choosing.
      • Elective 4: Literary MindscapesTo what extent has your study of ideas and values in Literary Mindscapes enhanced your understanding of the relationship between being and yearning? In your response, refer to TWO of your prescribed texts and at least ONE related text of your own choosing.
      • Elective 5: Intersecting WorldsTo what extent has your study of ideas and values in Intersecting Worlds enhanced your understanding of the relationship between beauty and necessity? In your response, refer to TWO of your prescribed texts and at least ONE related text of your own choosing.

Questions

What are the HSC English Extension 1 electives for 2027–2030?

There are five, each studied through the Literary worlds module: Confessional worlds, Historical worlds, Hybrid worlds, Natural worlds, Shakespearean worlds. Each has 6 prescribed texts in this guide's list.

How is the HSC English Extension 1 exam structured?

From HSC 2027 it is an online exam sat on a computer, worth 50 marks, in 2 hours plus 10 minutes reading time, with headphones for questions with video and audio stimulus. Question 1, Literary worlds (25 marks), responds to stimulus and/or unseen material and may need a critical or creative response, or both. Question 2, Electives (25 marks), is a sustained critical response on your prescribed texts and a related text.

What do the Extension 1 bands E1 to E4 mean?

They're NESA's performance bands for the Extension 1 course result, E4 the highest. In NESA's 2017-syllabus band descriptions, a typical E4 performance "demonstrates insightful understanding and sophisticated evaluation of the concepts and values in texts and the ways in which these are expressed". Band E1 means the minimum standard expected was not demonstrated.