The new DP language & literature course is divided into three areas of exploration (AoE), offering different approaches or lenses for the study of literary and non-literary texts and the development of related skills. The AoE are:

1. an exploration of the nature of interactions between Readers, Writers & Texts;
2. an exploration of how texts interact with Time & Space;
3. an exploration of Intertextuality – how texts connect with each other.

Although the AoE seem to offer an ordered progression through the course, they are inherently over-lapping, iterative, circular and allow for flexibility in course design. The organisation of the texts into the AoE allows for opportunities in each area to connect, compare and contrast texts written originally in the language studied with those studied in translation, texts from different literary forms & text types, and texts from diverse times & places. The three AoE should not be thought of as isolated compartments, but as complementary approaches in the study of the selected texts. While each will propose a specific lens through which to explore a text, it is expected that teachers will take advantage of opportunities to make consistent references to the immanent, the contextual and the comparative study of texts, and integrate these throughout the course. (Adapted from the L&L guide)

To help you and your students navigate the AoE, you might find these condensed, simplified and visually coded posters useful. I plan to have my students insert these in their learner portfolio for reference and contemplation: