In this area of exploration, you’ll explore how texts are shaped by the world around them – and how, in turn, they shape our understanding of the world.

You’ll explore how different texts reflect the societies in which they were created, and how language can capture cultural identity, express social issues, or challenge ideas. This area encourages you to look at texts from around the world and across different time periods – helping you make connections between the local and the global, the past and the present. It also invites you to think critically about representation: how cultures, beliefs, and identities are portrayed in language and literature.

In this area, you will explore key ideas such as:

• How cultural, historical, and political contexts influence the way texts are written and read
• How meaning shifts when a text is read in a different time or place
• The ways texts reflect, challenge, or shape social values and beliefs
• How texts offer insights into unfamiliar cultures and perspectives
• How the identity of the author and the background of the audience affect interpretation
• The relationship between language, power, and identity in society