Year 8 English – Term 1 (WA Curriculum): Language in Action - Literary Devices, Text Structure and Academic Writing

What this unit covers

In Term 1, Year 8 English in the WA Curriculum centres on the unit “Language in Action - Literary Devices, Text Structure and Academic Writing”.

Students explore how authors create meaning through literary devices, text structure, and language choices while developing academic writing skills and understanding multimodal texts.

Lesson sequence (30 lessons)

The unit breaks down into the following lesson-by-lesson sequence — each title below is a teachable lesson, in order:

1. Identifying Similes and Metaphors in Contemporary Poetry
2. Creating Layers of Meaning Through Literary Devices
3. Exploring Irony in Short Stories
4. Understanding Hyperbole in Persuasive Texts
5. Recognising Parody in Modern Media
6. Analysing Understatement in Humorous Writing
7. Combining Literary Devices for Effect
8. Introduction to Genre Blending in Literature
9. Exploring Verse Novels: Poetry Meets Prose
10. Analysing Mockumentaries: Fiction and Documentary Elements
11. Creating Hybrid Texts Using Multiple Genres
12. Building Strong Paragraph Structure with Evidence
13. Using Quotations Effectively in Analytical Writing
14. Supporting Claims with Statistics and Facts
15. Writing Persuasive Paragraphs with Examples
16. Understanding Simple and Complex Clauses
17. Exploring Embedded Clauses in Sentences
18. Using Embedded Clauses to Add Information
19. Manipulating Meaning Through Clause Structure
20. Creating Sophisticated Sentences with Multiple Clauses
21. Introduction to Nominalisation in Academic Texts
22. Converting Verbs to Nouns Using Suffixes
23. Analysing the Impact of Nominalisation on Tone
24. Understanding Intertextual References in Picture Books
25. Exploring Visual Texts and Hidden Meanings
26. Building Academic Vocabulary for Report Writing
27. Using Evidence and Consequence in Academic Writing
28. Mastering Semicolons to Connect Ideas
29. Using Dashes for Emphasis and Interruption
30. Creating Dramatic Dialogue with Advanced Punctuation

Curriculum codes in this unit

Content codes:

Reading the codes: WA codes (the ones starting with WA) pack the year level, learning area, strand and content number into one string, while the national Australian Curriculum v9 uses a different anatomy that starts with AC9 — same content family, different labels. Our complete WA Curriculum guide decodes both, character by character.

Planning notes for Term 1

WA terms run roughly 9–11 weeks, and in 2026 Term 1 runs from Monday 2 February to Thursday 2 April — 9 weeks for WA public schools. With 30 lessons in this unit, that leaves breathing room for assessment, moderation and the weeks that disappear to carnivals, camps and public holidays — plan the assessable work to land two to three weeks before the end of term rather than in the final week.