This paper discusses the core school curriculum at a Victorian high school and problems of deciding the boundaries of the school curriculum. It is the fact that the secondary school has a multiplicity of roles that makes any decision either about the curriculum of a particular school or the content of a particular subject in that curriculum difficult to decide, as there is no single standard to which to appeal. One approach which has been made to this problem of deciding the boundaries of the school curriculum is to examine the needs of the student and then to find the subjects of study which meet these needs. Also discussed are the literary influences on students and whether the study of literature can be justified as a single subject, rather than a part of a general English language course. It is through literature that we can understand ourselves as individuals in society, by allowing out consciousness to be shaped by the words of other men, and it is through literature that our awareness of language can be shaped.