Stage 5 reading - Character analysis
Learning focus
Students learn to identify how a character is portrayed in a narrative and infer reasons for actions and behaviours.
Syllabus outcome
- EN5-2A: effectively uses and critically assesses a wide range of processes, skills, strategies and knowledge for responding to and composing a wide range of texts in different media and technologies
- EN5-7D: understands and evaluates the diverse ways texts can represent personal and public worlds.
- EN5-8D: questions, challenges and evaluates cultural assumptions in texts and their effects on meaning
National Literacy Learning Progression
Understanding texts
- UnT9: justifies an opinion or response by citing evidence from a text (comprehension); classifies ideas or information for a set task or purpose (comprehension); selects reading/viewing pathways appropriate to reading purpose (scans text for key phrase or close reading for learning) (process)
- UnT10: synthesises information from a variety of complex texts (comprehension); integrates automatically a range of processes such as predicting, confirming predications, monitoring and connecting relevant elements of the text to build meaning (process)
- UnT11: interprets symbolism in text, providing evidence to justify interpretation (comprehension): identifies relevant and irrelevant information in texts (process)
NAPLAN item descriptors
The relevant NAPLAN item descriptors are included in the resource, available for download on this page.
Task outline
Full task descriptions are included in the resource, available for download on this page.
Task 1: Creative characterisation
Students articulate predicted thoughts and ideas for characters (three activities).
Task 2: Voice
Students identify voice and the techniques authors use to distinguish between voice in texts (four activities).
Task 3: Identify and infer character traits
Students identify and infer character traits from text excerpts (four activities).
Task 4: Interpreting a character’s feelings through motif
Students analyse texts to determine feelings or emotions of characters (four activities).
Task 5: Elements of characterisation
Students identify how characters can be presented explicitly and implicitly (four activities).
