Detailed study of one text: how its language, form and structure work together, and how it holds up as a whole.
These are the statements the English Standard syllabus makes about Module B: Close Study of Literature. Dux records each one against the questions you answer, so you can see which of them you have actually been tested on and which have never been asked.
Sustained attention to the words on the page: diction, syntax, imagery and rhythm, and what each contributes to meaning.
What holds the text together as a whole: recurring concerns, structural logic and a consistent vision, and whether that coherence holds.
How the text uses or breaks the conventions of its form, and what that choice makes possible.
How character is constructed through language and action rather than description, and how motivation is revealed indirectly.
The central concerns of the text, expressed as a claim the text makes rather than a topic it mentions.
How the order of the text produces meaning, including the effect of withheld information and abrupt shifts.
A response that is genuinely yours and also defensible from the text, rather than a reaction with a quotation attached.
HSC English Standard - Trial Paper Shape is 100 marks in 180 minutes. Questions on Module B: Close Study of Literature are not one shape repeated: the command word decides what the marker is looking for, and the mark value decides how much of it. These are the ones English Standard uses.
Dux writes practice for this module in exactly these shapes, so the drill is the same task the paper sets — not a general knowledge quiz with the module name on it.
Module B: Close Study of Literature is module 3 of 4 in English Standard. Students routinely lose marks because a question spans two modules, so the neighbouring modules are worth reading next to this one.
Dux diagnoses English Standard dot point by dot point, then writes questions in the shape this course marks. Written answers come back marked against the bands.