Novel Study - Lives of Animals - Year 10 English
Resource Description
The Lives of Animals Unit of Work features:
- Five focus areas complete with teacher instructions
- Student worksheets and handouts
- Opportunities for extension
- Formative and summative assessment tasks
- Student glossary
To use the accompanying Quizlet and Animal Protection Encyclopedia for this unit, visit the Voiceless Schools page here: https://voiceless.org.au/schools/lives-of-animals/
The Lives of Animals centres on the fictional character of Elizabeth Costello, a well-known novelist with strong views concerning human treatment of animals.
Invited to speak at a prestigious university lecture series, Costello uses the event as an opportunity to discuss the human/animal relationship. Different perspectives on the issues raised are explored through the responses of other characters, including Costello’s son and daughter-in-law.
This novella is an ideal text for secondary school English, demonstrating the power of language and the art of literature. It invites students to consider how:
- Attitudes towards animals are reflected in language choice;
- Authors can influence audience perceptions of animals through metaphor and other language choices;
- Fictional texts can present varied perspectives on moral, philosophical, and ethical issues, in addition to how fiction can be used to explore real world issues.
This Australian Curriculum alignment statement is based on the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) materials, which are licensed under CC BY 4.0. The material has been modified from the Australian Curriculum website (accessed January 2020).
All activities have been created by educators for educators and are linked to the Australian Curriculum (Version 8.4). We advise teachers to consult the ACARA website for the most up-to-date curriculum outcomes.