The course is structured around three areas of exploration. This section details each of these, along with the six associated organizing questions designed to help you to understand the kind of approach that each of the areas proposes.
While your study of literature will be structured by reading the works selected, you should also consider the broader questions of the area of exploration and the concepts of the course as a whole. The following questions are meant to guide your study of the works in each area. It could be helpful to consider using some of these as prompts to develop in your Learner Portfolio.
| Areas of exploration | Approach | Number of Works |
| Readers, writers, and text | This area of exploration looks at the ways in which literary texts are produced, read, interpreted, responded to, and performed, and explores the role of literature. In it, students will be developing the skills and approaches required to engage with how meaning is created in texts. Students will be attentive to the works on the page, the literal meaning of words, the type of literary work being read, the themes, characters, setting, word choice, and stylistic features. | At least two |
| Time and Space | This area of exploration considers how a literary text interacts with the context in which it is produced and received. In it, students will be developing skills and approaches required to explore how texts are affected by a wide variety of factors such as the life of the author, the times the author lived in, and the way the context of reception and the work impacted each other. Students will look at how the works they are reading represent, reflect, and become part of life and culture. | At least two |
| Intertextuality: Connecting Texts | This area of exploration focuses on the connections between and among diverse literary texts, traditions, creators, and ideas. In it, students will develop skills and approaches required to compare and contrast texts in order to gain a deeper understanding of the unique characteristics of texts and the interesting connections between them. Students will look at how texts affect each other, and at the wide range of ways texts can be connected and grouped. | At least two |