Reflecting on literature in our English classrooms
March 9, 2023SFX English classrooms are often buzzing with students critically analyzing written and visual texts. Students’ ability to reflect on a text’s purpose, understand the author’s context and apply thematic messages to their lives is constantly being practiced and assessed.
Below are student comments about some of the more popular texts currently being studied in our classrooms. Parents are encouraged to speak with their child/ren about the texts they are currently reading and discuss what meaning they can find within them.
Ghost Boys (12 English)
Marc M
Year 12
I enjoyed the novel due to its simplicity but also gives an intimate personality to it. The portrayal of Jerome is gripping as it clearly shows his development towards his death. His perspective being unique as he is the dead man, he is the center of the story yet he has such little control on the situation. I also enjoyed the natural progression to giving the novel a conclusion or finality to Jerome’s story as a ghost and his family’s journey to healing and acceptance.
Jasper Jones (10 English)
Yaraoslava K
Year 10
I like reading the novel ‘Jasper Jones’ because it gives the reader a better understanding of what the characters go through on a daily basis and can relate to them in many ways. For me, studying this novel has been an eye opener for the things that we all see happen around us. Whether it’s finding the courage to stand up for what you think is right or coming to a realisation that the world isn’t all what it seems to be
Brodie S
Year 10
Jasper Jones is a novel that focuses on some of the issues that were present within the 1960’s, providing context and promoting readers to consider the relationship to those we see today. It outlines and provides another perspective to some of the major problems that certain minorities of the population faced, and in some cases, still face, which is important to education that works to prevent these now and into the future.
Mia G
Year 10
The novel Jasper Jones is an insightful text, which carefully describes racism and the impacts it has on society. It displays how certain Indvidual’s and characters reveal the harshness of the racism and how especially the character Charlie finds it astonishing. He is the main individual who judges society and questions why certain actions and remarks are made towards specific people. Jasper Jones is a fantastic read.