QCE · Internal Assessment 3
Internal Assessment 3: JOJO abbit monoluge
QCE Internal Assessment 3 essay scoring 95%: [Allied artillery shakes the ruined pavement under a bruised sky. A haze of plaster dust hangs in the air…
[Allied artillery shakes the ruined pavement under a bruised sky. A haze of plaster dust hangs in the air like a poorly managed smoke machine. CAPTAIN K stands amidst the rubble, a tragic anomaly in an absurd, feathered uniform. His cape billows in the wind, and his epaulets drip with hand-stitched sequins.]
Finkel… Finkel! Look at this. Be honest—the sequins on the epaulets? Don’t they give a sort of… tragic elegance to my silhouette? A bit of "end-of-the-world" chic? And look at the way the muzzle flashes glide along the stitching like a piano, the light dancing into the ground. It’s the best lighting we’ve had all season, wouldn't you say?
[He pulls a crumpled list out of his lapel, squinting at it through the grit.]
C’mon Finkel. Up you get. No sitting on the job, we haven’t finished our list. Still three more things to do before the curtain drops and the critics tear us apart. Whaddaya say? One last dignified hurrah for two morons. Finkel and K: The Seelenverwandters. Two stars of a show cancelled by popular demand.
[K turns around, hand extended to pull Finkel up. His smile freezes. His shoulders collapse; the persona evaporates.]
Finkel?
No. No, no… It’s going to be okay. It’s ju-just a nick, Finkel. Just a bit of a costume malfunction. A loose thread. We can… we can stitch it back together.
[K looks down at his trembling hands, now slick with blood. He looks at the sequins, stained dark. Tears swell in his eyes, carving tracks through the dust on his face. He drags himself along the wall, sliding down to sit heavily beside Finkel’s body.]
Right.
[He takes a jagged gulp from his flask.]
Look at this feathered, sequined rubbish we wore to the end of the world. Fancy wrapping on a crushed, empty cardboard box, isn't it? We spent hours on this thing. You nearly punched me because I sewed the sleeve on crooked. Remember? Three bloody hours you made me unpick the entire thing and start again because you thought it "lacked artistic integrity."
Artistic integrity. In a world of concrete and hatred. We spent the last weeks of our lives on these costumes because we thought that if we died looking ridiculous enough, we could forget what we did. In Poland. In Stalingrad. We wore their uniform then. The grey one. The one that didn't have room for feathers. The one that made us look like part of the scenery.
QCE · Internal Assessment 3
Internal Assessment 3: JOJO abbit monoluge
QCE Internal Assessment 3 essay scoring 95%: Going Out in Style Character: Captain K Setting: The ruins of Berlin, 1945. [Allied artillery shakes the…
Going Out in Style
Character: Captain K Setting: The ruins of Berlin, 1945.
[Allied artillery shakes the ruined pavement under a bruised, violet sky. A haze of plaster dust hangs in the air like a poorly managed smoke machine. CAPTAIN K stands amidst the rubble, a tragic anomaly in an absurd, feathered uniform. His cape billows in the wind of a nearby explosion, and his epaulets drip with hand-stitched sequins.]
Finkel… Finkel! Look at this. Be honest—the sequins on the epaulets? Don’t they give a sort of… tragic elegance to my silhouette? A bit of "end-of-the-world" chic? And look at the way the muzzle flashes glide along the stitching like a piano, the light dancing into the ground. It’s the best lighting we’ve had all season, wouldn't you say? Much better than that damp basement in the Ministry.
[He pulls a crumpled list out of his lapel, squinting at it through the grit.]
C’mon Finkel. Up you get. No sitting on the job, we haven’t finished our list. Still three more things to do before the curtain drops and the critics tear us apart. Whaddaya say? One last dignified hurrah for two morons. Finkel and K: The Seelenverwandters. Two stars of a show that’s been cancelled by popular demand.
[K turns around, hand extended to pull Finkel up. His smile freezes. The theatrical mask doesn't just slip—it shatters. K’s shoulders collapse; the persona evaporates.]
Finkel?
No. No, no… It’s going to be okay. It’s ju-just a nick, Finkel. Just a bit of a costume malfunction. A loose thread. We can… we can stitch it back together. I’ve got the needle in my kit, I just…
[K looks down at his trembling hands, now slick with blood. He looks at the sequins, stained dark. Tears swell in his eyes, carving tracks through the dust on his face. He drags himself along the wall, sliding down to sit heavily beside Finkel’s body.]
Right.
[He takes a jagged gulp from his flask, the liquid burning his throat.]
Look at this feathered, sequined rubbish we wore to the end of the world. Fancy wrapping on a crushed, empty cardboard box, isn't it? We spent hours on this thing. You nearly punched me because I sewed the sleeve on crooked. Remember? Three bloody hours you made me unpick the entire thing and start again because you thought it "lacked artistic integrity."
Artistic integrity. In a world of concrete and hatred. We spent the last weeks of our lives on these costumes because we thought that if we died looking ridiculous enough, we could forget what we did. In Poland. In Stalingrad. We wore their uniform then. The grey one. The one that didn't have room for feathers. The one that made us look like part of the scenery while the world screamed.
If we made the end of the war look like some… some fucking cabaret, could we avoid staring at the bloodstains on our boots? We weren’t perfect, Finkel. We got very good at not looking. Very good at stepping over broken glass and pretending it was just diamonds on the road. Very good at hearing screams as background noise, part of the soundtrack. All in the name of a Director who didn’t even value the actors.
QCE · Internal Assessment 3
Internal Assessment 3: Take a Concept/Theme/Idea from the…
QCE Internal Assessment 3 essay scoring 90%: The Glitter Never Washes Off The hotel sink glittered beneath the fluorescent light. Silver particulate…
The Glitter Never Washes Off
The hotel sink glittered beneath the fluorescent light.
Silver particulate clung stubbornly to the porcelain basin in wet constellations, gathering around the drain where water spiralled endlessly in shimmering ribbons. More remained scattered across Celeste’s hands, embedded in the fissures of reddened knuckles, trapped beneath bitten fingernails and caught along the blue veins beneath her wrists like something that had been there long before she noticed.
She scrubbed harder.
The water scalded but her hands kept moving. Steam climbed the mirror in translucent sheets until only fragments remained.
The glitter stayed.
As if it belonged there more than she did.
“Shit,” she mumbled, breathless more than angry.
Outside the bathroom, the hotel suite lay exactly as success was supposed to look. A purple sequined bodysuit had collapsed behind the bed like shed skin, still glittering faintly beneath the amber lamplight. A white rose, left by some executive whose name she had never been given, drooped from a crystal vase beside unopened champagne and melting ice.
She braced herself against the marble counter and finally looked up.
The girl in the mirror looked exhausted in an expensive way. Mascara feathered beneath her eyes and glitter still clung to her cheekbone despite the raw patches where she had scrubbed.
For a moment, she just stared.
The reflection stared back.
Then slowly, mechanically, the girl in the mirror smiled.
The expression arrived with practised precision, before she had decided to make it, her teeth perfect in the anaemic light.
A small breath escaped her throat. Almost a laugh. Almost not.
“God,” she gritted, slamming her fist against the counter.
Under the fluorescent light, the glitter no longer looked celebratory; it looked metallic, sedimentary – something that had been accumulating long before she thought to look.
Water struck the porcelain in sharp, splintering bursts.
Celeste closed her eyes and let the sound of the water fill the silence.
* * * * *
A few hours prior
Backstage was sweltering.
Heat clung to everything – the curtains dividing dressing rooms, the people moving shoulder-to-shoulder, the air thick with hairspray, sweat and overheated lighting rigs. Glitter crowded backstage, dusting countertops and stitched into jackets.
Backstage was a different world entirely – one I had not yet learned to move through without giving myself away.
Dana appeared beside me without warning, still staring down at the tablet in her hands.
“You need bigger energy than Melbourne.”
I nodded automatically.
“Smile more this time,” she added. “You looked nervous.”
She was swallowed back into the noise before I could blink.
I glanced around backstage.
Then I saw her.
Lyra smiled at the room the way someone smiles at something they no longer believe in.
Up close, she was stunning in a way that almost looked exhausting. Glitter still clung so completely to her eyes it looked less like makeup and more like a second skin.
She caught me staring.
“You’re Celeste right?”
I nodded.
“Thought so.”
She leaned on the counter beside me, champagne in one hand.
“First tour?”
“Yeah.”
A small laugh left her as she shook her head.
Lyra slipped a hand into the pocket of her blazer. When she opened her palm something small caught the light.
The capsule shimmered softly beneath the dressing room bulbs – silver dust pressed inside a clear casing like crushed glitter suspended in glass.
“It’s tiny,” Lyra said gently. “It just… takes the edge off. Makes everything quieter.”
For just a moment, Lyra’s expression softened into something that looked almost like guilt. The kind that lives in someone who knows what they’re doing, but decided the alternative is worse.
I swallowed hard, my hand coming up instinctively.
“I don’t really- “
“Come on, take it.”
She pressed her open palm to my chest, turning stricter.
Around us the room continued normally. Makeup brushes against skin, equipment checks, champagne fizzling softly.
Routine.
This was routine.
“Take it,” she ordered, her tone freezing over.
Then she placed the capsule carefully into my hand, like something precious rather than poisoned.
QCE · Internal Assessment 3
Internal Assessment 3: imaginiatie short story from a…
QCE Internal Assessment 3 essay scoring 75%: A single, icy weaved its way through the canopy to strike viciously at my cheek, its path following the…
A single, icy weaved its way through the canopy to strike viciously at my cheek, its path following the contours of my features as it added to the ever-present mire below. Only a few drops now, but I had learned never to think too optimistically. The trench carved by suffering more than shovels. 8 feet of earth held back by mildewed timber, stretching through the horizon, like a lacerated wound, festering with the stench of decay. the floor shifting underfoot, mud threaded with spent cartridges and things I couldn’t describe, the opposite of what was told back home, the exciting scene described a stark contrast to what is was witnessing.
It was here I decided we would not die.
Our choice had overrun us, the way the rot had. A letter to Robert’s wife, thrown back at him for including ‘negative propaganda’. apparently, dislike for the conditions was not allowed.
The plan had been Roberts, desert under the cover of darkness, move through the craters in no man’s land to the gulley 300 meters west, then slip behind the lines. If challenged, we had gone out to recover a wounded man. A story that would hold long enough.
Across from me, Robert stirred, his mud caked khaki-stained brown, corrupted beyond recognition, absorbed into the trench itself. His weary features not from starvation but a longing for home so constant, not even he knew its influence. I had known his face for 3 years, I no longer thought I would recognise it. Hunched in the slowly melting mud sat Grady and will, bent over a tin of rations, sweaty, callused hands prying at the remaining morsels. Three years of war hadn’t broken them, but it had changed its meaning, the last person I would not lie to.
“Alright,” Robert said, rising with agonising slowness, the relentless work of time grinding deep into his bones. “Get up”.
We gathered close, the precipitation of our breath gathered, intertwining our treacherous words tighter.
He said some things but I wasn’t listening, my mind wandering, obscuring his message until his final words.
If they ask what kind of men we are, gaze sinking into the mud, quietening his thoughts. We went back for our own. That’s all they need to know. He paused, that’s all we need to know. the occasional drop had become a steady patter, occupying the trench floor with more authority. The words filtered through my mind like the rain, the realisation permeating into my consciousness. How easily the lie had taken shape, not driven by cowardness, but sheer survival. And that, I thought was the more frightening thing, how quickly survival resembled virtue.
The ground out there is still warm, Robert said, almost to himself. From the ones who went before, the ones who didn’t know. We know that we have to carry that.
No one answered. The betrayal was etched within the silence. This wasn’t honourable, but it was needed, the lie we were told only known by a few. (
Robert took the gripped the rung of the ladder first, palms grasped around mud and bloodstains, boring the handprints of men who never came back. He pulled himself up and over, feet dangling before the darkness enshrouding him, the rain masking his movements as its steady trickle concealed him. I followed.
The world beyond the parapet felt disorienting after months in the trench, the cold rain lashed against my cheek in sharp, relentless needles, each drop striking like ice as it streaked down my neck, the night air thick with the smell of iron and the distant rumble of thunder, rolling through the darkness above, indistinguishable from the artillery. I pressed flat and crawled.
Robert was already in the first crater, crouched low, eyes squinted from the rain.
“Keep your bloody head down,” he hissed. “You’re the brightest thing out here.”
QCE · Internal Assessment 3
Internal Assessment 3: Take an element/concept or theme…
QCE Internal Assessment 3 essay scoring 80%: The Glitter Never Washes Off The hotel sink glittered beneath the fluorescent light. Silver particulate…
The Glitter Never Washes Off
The hotel sink glittered beneath the fluorescent light.
Silver particulate clung stubbornly to the porcelain basin in wet constellations, gathering around the drain where water spiralled endlessly in shimmering ribbons. More remained scattered across Celeste’s hands, embedded in the fissures of reddened knuckles, trapped beneath bitten fingernails and caught along the blue veins beneath her wrists like something that had been there long before she noticed.
She scrubbed harder.
The water scalded but her hands kept moving. Steam climbed the mirror in translucent sheets until only fragments remained.
The glitter stayed.
As if it belonged there more than she did.
“Shit,” she mumbled, breathless more than angry.
Outside the bathroom, the hotel suite lay exactly as success was supposed to look. A purple sequined bodysuit had collapsed behind the bed like shed skin, still glittering faintly beneath the amber lamplight. A white rose, left by some executive whose name she had never been given, drooped from a crystal vase beside unopened champagne and melting ice.
She braced herself against the marble counter and finally looked up.
The girl in the mirror looked exhausted in an expensive way. Mascara feathered beneath her eyes and glitter still clung to her cheekbone despite the raw patches where she had scrubbed.
For a moment, she just stared.
The reflection stared back.
Then slowly, mechanically, the girl in the mirror smiled.
The expression arrived with practised precision, before she had decided to make it, her teeth perfect in the anaemic light.
A small breath escaped her throat. Almost a laugh. Almost not.
“God,” she gritted, slamming her fist against the counter.
Under the fluorescent light, the glitter no longer looked celebratory; it looked metallic, sedimentary – something that had been accumulating long before she thought to look.
Water struck the porcelain in sharp, splintering bursts.
Celeste closed her eyes and let the sound of the water fill the silence.
* * * * *
A few hours prior
Backstage was sweltering.
Heat clung to everything – the curtains dividing dressing rooms, the people moving shoulder-to-shoulder, the air thick with hairspray, sweat and overheated lighting rigs. Glitter crowded backstage, dusting countertops and stitched into jackets.
Backstage was a different world entirely – one I had not yet learned to move through without giving myself away.
Dana appeared beside me without warning, still staring down at the tablet in her hands.
“You need bigger energy than Melbourne.”
I nodded automatically.
“Smile more this time,” she added. “You looked nervous.”
She was swallowed back into the noise before I could blink.
I glanced around backstage.
Then I saw her.
Lyra smiled at the room the way someone smiles at something they no longer believe in.
Up close, she was stunning in a way that almost looked exhausting. Glitter still clung so completely to her eyes it looked less like makeup and more like a second skin.
She caught me staring.
“You’re Celeste right?”
I nodded.
“Thought so.”
She leaned on the counter beside me, champagne in one hand.
“First tour?”
“Yeah.”
A small laugh left her as she shook her head.
Lyra slipped a hand into the pocket of her blazer. When she opened her palm something small caught the light.
The capsule shimmered softly beneath the dressing room bulbs – silver dust pressed inside a clear casing like crushed glitter suspended in glass.
“It’s tiny,” Lyra said gently. “It just… takes the edge off. Makes everything quieter.”
For just a moment, Lyra’s expression softened into something that looked almost like guilt. The kind that lives in someone who knows what they’re doing, but decided the alternative is worse.
I swallowed hard, my hand coming up instinctively.
“I don’t really- “
“Come on, take it.”
She pressed her open palm to my chest, turning stricter.
Around us the room continued normally. Makeup brushes against skin, equipment checks, champagne fizzling softly.
Routine.
This was routine.
“Take it,” she ordered, her tone freezing over.
Then she placed the capsule carefully into my hand, like something precious rather than poisoned.
QCE · Internal Assessment 2
Internal Assessment 2: The Conversation is running a…
QCE Internal Assessment 2 essay scoring 75%: Imagine a world where the colour of your skin dictates the path of your life. This concept is reality in…
Imagine a world where the colour of your skin dictates the path of your life. This concept is reality in both Harper Lee’s bildungsroman To Kill A Mockingbird, set in the 1930s segregated fictional community of Maycomb, Alabama, and Tate Taylor’s drama The Help (2011), based on the 2009 novel set in 1960s Mississippi. In classical texts such as these, characters simultaneously conform to and challenge the deeply rooted inequalities of systemic racism and social hierarchy that are present in Southern American communities. Societies unknowingly follow these social norms and racist attitudes without complaint, and the few characters that break these values are socially isolated from the general community.
Communities in both texts submit themselves to the prejudiced values and beliefs society has evoked upon itself without question. Racist and social inequalities are deeply rooted in both Southern communities, passed on through all levels of society as an underlying pressure that residents are forced to comply with. The compulsion to conform is evident through the character of Mr Dolphus Raymond in To Kill a Mockingbird, who poses as a drunk so people have reasoning for his involvement in an interracial relationship. He explains to the children that society ‘could never, never understand that I live like I do because that’s the way I want to live’ (p.221). The repetition of ‘never’ underscores how deeply racism is ingrained into society; Mr Raymond’s interracial relationship is incomprehensible to most, and for the community to understand and ‘accept’ him he pretends to be an alcoholic. Lee highlights the hypocrisy of social norms and the lengths Mr Raymond must go to protect his family with irony, revealing that alcoholism is more socially accepted than interracial relationships in Maycomb. The parallelism of ‘I live like I do because that’s the way I want to live’ creates a sense of finality and amplifies his unusual decision to ignore social norms in favour of personal happiness. Readers are both positioned to understand the lengths people must go to conform to societal pressures and shown that morality can be complicated. These events mirror today’s society, with hidden regulations and pressures such as body stereotypes and trends, that are forcefully placed on certain groups in society. To Kill a Mockingbird calls out these ingrained beliefs, highlighting and reminding the audience of the powers of individuality and original thought.
QCE · Extended Analytical Response
Extended Analytical Response: How is the reader invited…
QCE Extended Analytical Response essay scoring 60%: Set within the rigid hierarchies of Venetian society, Othello dramatises Jacobean anxieties around…
Set within the rigid hierarchies of Venetian society, Othello dramatises Jacobean anxieties around social order, race, and patriarchy, exposing how emotion is confined by cultural values and societal boundaries. Shakespeare constructs a world where love is regulated by reputation and operates within the walls of aristocratic society. By intertwining romance with patriotism, self-love, and friendship, he invites the audience to witness how Venetian society blends affection into obligation, and questions the extent to which true love can exist in a society governed by status.
In Othello, Shakespeare presents love in the form of patriotism, representing how devotion to Venice is valued initially. Othello’s authority as a high-ranking general portrays how an aristocratic society rewards this and values him for his allegiance. This is exemplified in the Duke’s language towards him: “Valiant Othello, we must straight employ you.” The word valiant has connotations of heroism and courageousness, representing how, at this stage, the aristocrats can overlook their prejudice and insurmountable social hierarchy to benefit their country. Shakespeare invites the audience to view Venetian prejudice as utilitarian, welcoming Othello for his service rather than accepting him as a true part of society. However, this conditional acceptance is short-lived. Following Othello’s tragic downfall, the aristocratic society reveals its duplicity by desiring him, exclaiming, “Where is this rash and unfortunate man?” This line underscores the abrupt erasure of Othello’s status once he is no longer politically or socially useful. This positions the audience to recognise that devotion to the state is not inherently virtuous, but rather a mechanism that allows society to remain insurmountable and ensure society remains in its predetermined role.
QCE · Extended Analytical Response
Extended Analytical Response: To what extent does…
QCE Extended Analytical Response essay scoring 90%: Question: To what extent does jealousy cause the downfall of key relationships in Othello? In…
Question: To what extent does jealousy cause the downfall of key relationships in Othello?
In Othello, jealousy is not born, it is constructed. Iago engineers it with hints, staged signs, and false “ocular proof”, and Venice, which values reputation and male honour, lets those signs pass as truth. The handkerchief works as fake evidence that turns suspicion into certainty. To a great extent, jealousy breaks the key relationships because Iago makes it and the culture accepts it. Othello is especially vulnerable. His public honour comes from the story he tells about himself. When Iago gives him a rival story with visible signs, that new story replaces his judgement and twists his love.
In Cyprus, far from the senate, rumours move faster than checks, so Iago’s staged signs can pass as knowledge. He says “I am not what I am” while others call him “Honest Iago”, so seeming hides being. In Act 3 Scene 3, the temptation scene, Shakespeare uses dramatic irony. We see the plan while Othello cannot. Iago does not bring facts. He makes “ocular proof” and even names jealousy the “green-eyed monster” to teach Othello how to read signs. Iago’s intent to “pour this pestilence” into Othello’s ear frames his slander as a poison that works from within and corrupts reason. The handkerchief, “spotted with strawberries” and the “first gift”, becomes the fake proof. In Act 3 Scene 4 its loss turns trust into doubt. When Othello later sees it with Cassio, suspicion hardens. Iago also sets up a talk with Bianca so Othello overhears and misreads it. Because the staging passes as proof, jealousy is authorised and the marriage begins to fail.
QCE · Extended Analytical Response
Extended Analytical Response: How is revenge represented…
QCE Extended Analytical Response essay scoring 77.5%: The Destructive Act of Revenge in Othello: A Dish Best Not Served At All. Othello, William…
The Destructive Act of Revenge in Othello: A Dish Best Not Served At All.
Othello, William Shakespeare's poignant tragedy first thought to be performed to a Jacobean audience in 1604 tells the tale of valiant general Othello’s manipulation at the hands of his misanthropic ensign, Iago. While many Shakespearean tragedies centre around supernatural forces or plain ambition, Othello’s tragedy revolves around the vengeful nature of corrupted individuals, even when this revenge is baseless and results in far more harm than good. Thus, Shakespeare represents revenge in Othello an irreversibly destructive act. This perspective is masterfully conveyed through the motifs of poison, traps and violent imagery.
Through the motif of poison, Shakespeare criticises the act of revenge as incurably toxic. Jealous and corrupted Iago seeks revenge on Othello, poisoning Othello with his corrosive revenge for the belief that Othello has slept with his wife, Emilia. Reflecting on his bitter desire for revenge due to his belief in his wife’s disloyalty, Iago soliloquises “I do suspect the lusty Moor hath leaped into my seat, the thought whereof doth, like a poisonous mineral gnaw my inwards….I shall not content until I am even’d with him, wife for wife.” The simile of a “poisonous mineral” – something inherently deadly and toxic, potentially even fatal to a Jacobean audience without modern medicine – likens Iago’s jealous thoughts and resultant desire for revenge to something wholly consuming and destructive. Furthermore, Iago’s latter expressal of his desire for revenge “wife for wife” strengthens this idea of his corruption, highlighting with the former simile to a Jacobean audience that those with a thirst for revenge are incurably corrupted and poisoned. Iago’s desire to take revenge on and in turn corrupt Othello further for his supposed infidelity with Iago’s wife, demonstrates the toxic nature of revenge, as Iago schemes to poison Othello’s thoughts about his own wife, making him feel the sting of jealousy for himself. Thus, Iago vows to “pour this pestilence into [Othello’s] ear.” The metaphorical comparison of Iago’s revenge to “pestilence” – a deadly disease or toxin that plagued and resulted in many fatalities for a Jacobean audience – allows Shakespeare to equate Iago’s revenge to hm spreading a poisonous disease. This toxic metaphor highlights to a Jacobean audience the inherently poisonous and deadly nature of Iago’s revenge, positioning them to criticise this act as shockingly toxic and life-ruining. Thus, Shakespeare effectively uses the motif of poison to condemn the act of revenge as irreversibly destructive.
QCE · Extended Analytical Response
Extended Analytical Response: Analyse how the concept of…
QCE Extended Analytical Response essay scoring 65%: Othello initially challenges the somewhat widespread Jacobean view that race predetermines one’s…
Othello initially challenges the somewhat widespread Jacobean view that race predetermines one’s character. As Othello is taken to a hearing to prove the legitimacy of his and Desdemona’s love and subsequent marriage, the Duke favours his case despite his racial identity due to his social standing as a general, and his virtuous qualities. During his hearing, the Duke refers to Othello as “valiant Moor.” By calling Othello “valiant,” the Duke alludes to Othello’s reputation as noble, respected and even revered in society. This is contrasted by his referral to Othello as a “Moor,” which was a term prevalent in Jacobean society to refer to people of North African descent, often paired with the view of inferiority by white Jacobean audiences. The juxtaposition of the positive trait of “valiant” with the almost derogatory reference to Othello’s race positions audiences to initially challenge their preconceptions of Othello as inferior and impure due to his race. Shakespeare therefore confronts the idea that race predetermines worth and social standing through Othello’s initial perception by the Duke, someone of equal societal importance. Furthermore, in response to
QCE · Extended Analytical Response
Extended Analytical Response: Analyse how the concept of…
QCE Extended Analytical Response essay scoring 65%: Othello initially challenges the somewhat widespread Jacobean view that race predetermines one’s…
Othello initially challenges the somewhat widespread Jacobean view that race predetermines one’s character. As Othello is taken to a hearing to prove the legitimacy of his and Desdemona’s love and subsequent marriage, the Duke favours his case despite his racial identity due to his social standing as a general, and his virtuous qualities. During his hearing, the Duke refers to Othello as “valiant Moor.” By calling Othello “valiant,” the Duke alludes to Othello’s reputation as noble, respected and even revered in society. This is contrasted by his referral to Othello as a “Moor,” which was a term prevalent in Jacobean society to refer to people of North African descent, often paired with the view of inferiority by white Jacobean audiences. The juxtaposition of the positive trait of “valiant” with the almost derogatory reference to Othello’s race positions audiences to initially challenge their preconceptions of people of other races as inferior, impure or even sinful. Shakespeare therefore confronts the idea that race
QCE · Extended Analytical Response
Extended Analytical Response: Analyse how the concept of…
QCE Extended Analytical Response essay scoring 80%: Written within the Christian Jacobean Era, where deception was heavily frowned upon due to its…
Written within the Christian Jacobean Era, where deception was heavily frowned upon due to its association with evil and sin, ‘Othello’, William Shakespeare’s eponymous tragedy written in 1604, explores the detrimental effects of deception. Through the characterization of characters who use deception out of self-interest, whether it be for love (like Desdemona) or to morally corrupt others, like Iago—the epitome of evil—Shakespeare warns the audience of the evils lying beneath deception, likening it to the devil’s work. Throughout the play, Shakespeare highlights the chaos and disorder that follow deception, which is inevitably used for selfish, personal purposes.
Through Desdemona’s scandalous elopement with Othello, Shakespeare positions the audience to understand that deception will always be a corrosive force, even when rooted in love. Desdemona, the daughter of a noble Venetian senator, marries Othello, a valiant ‘outsider’ out of love; however, in order to do this, she betrays her father, Brabantio (“So much I challenge that I may profess due to the Moor my lord”). Despite, Desdemona’s loving action, a Jacobean audience would have empathized with Brabantio, criticizing Desdemona, who undermined the societal expectations of women, where being submissive to men meant adhering to the Great Chain of Being. As Othello and Desdemona defend their love(“But, here’s my husband”), Brabantio grudgingly gives his daughter to Othello. However, before he exits, he warns Othello, “Look to her, Moor, if thou has eyes to see: She has deceived her father, and may thee”. Through the use of the symbol of sight (“if thou hast eyes to see”) and foreshadowing, Shakespeare highlights the source of doubt regarding Desdemona’s fidelity, while cautioning the audience of the fragility of a relationship built upon deception. This further reinforces the Jacobean belief that order must be returned to society, where the result of deceit and disobedience for personal motives is chaos.
QCE · Internal Assessment
Internal Assessment: Ancient History IA3 - 24/25
QCE Internal Assessment essay scoring 77.5%: The Roman Republic was founded to create a stable government where power was shared with elected personnel,…
The Roman Republic was founded to create a stable government where power was shared with elected personnel, representing both the aristocracy (patricians) and the common people (plebeians) to prevent anyone from gaining a redundant amount of individual power. However its breakdown remains very contentious and subject to historical debates. The downfall of the Roman Republic (27 BCE) is often attributed to the profound economic and social divisions between the plebeians and patricians. However, this example of hierarchy and class was not the reason for the republic's ultimate downfall. Instead, it can be blamed on the actions of powerful individuals who exploited their authority and used it for personal gain. Important examples can be illustrated by figures such as Tiberius Gracchus, Gaius Marius, and Julius Caesar who manipulated the cursus honorum (Sequence of Public Office) and potestas (Authority). Undermining the traditional Republican values and hastening the transition from a Republic to an Empire.
Some historians argue that the fall of the Roman Republic was caused by the socio-economic divide and the inequality between the patricians and plebeians. Inequality was continually enforced by the Republic system since the cursus honorum was originally created to restrict patricians, and exclude the plebeians from holding office. This struggle caused increasing tensions and instability throughout the Republic, eventually leading to its downfall according to some. Roman Historian and author Titus Livius (Livy) who wrote during Augustus’s reign reflects the Republic's earlier tensions in his book The History of Rome where he describes the ambition of the plebeians and states “There was no final settlement in sight….. As long as agitators were honoured” highlighting the persistent instability caused by plebeian ambition and political unrest (Livy, 27 BCE). This excerpt reveals the patrician anxiety over social change in the hierarchy, portraying the plebeians as threats to the stability of the Republic. This source is useful for understanding the patrician perspective and overall bias throughout the downfall of the Republic. However it remains less reliable as an objective account, due to Livy’s senatorial and demoralising tone. The Republic remained intact for centuries despite the divide between classes. The conflict between both social classes in the Roman Republic led to significant political reform, including the creation of the tribune of the plebs in early 494 BCE, a political office made to protect the rights of the plebeians. This was created to protect the interests of plebeians and address their grievances. It was not the inequality throughout Rome that fractured the state, but the ambition of power hungry individuals who manipulated the political and military structures for personal growth, who manipulated the divide to satisfy their personal ambition. Tiberius Gracchus, is an important and controversial example of how power was manipulated for individual growth, disguised between reforming the Roman city and challenging the fragility of the Roman Republic. Elected as tribune in 133 BCE, Gracchus avoided the senatorial policies whilst manipulating his popularity to push the ideology concerning agrarian and the redistribution of land. Cicero, a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, and philosopher states in his book of dialogue about Roman Politics De re publica (On the republic) that “As time goes on, this habit of disregarding legality begins to spread, and transforms our empire from the rule of law to the rule of force....” (On the republic, p.184-85).The meaning found throughout this source suggests that the erosion of legal norms including the moral and political decay of an empire, where strength would replace justice and the long term stability is sacrificed for a short amount of time to control. In this excerpt, Cicero argued that the reforms made by Gracchus concealed “Personal ambition and hatred of the Roman senate” stating that “His tenure was thoroughly turbulent” which was heavily influenced by hatred rather than the moral principle (On the republic, p.254). This perspective is extremely useful as it reflects the power of the Senate and how the elites viewed the actions made by Gracchus to unveil the political disruption and violence throughout Rome. However, Cicero’s reliability remains limited, as he was not Tiberius Gracchus' contemporary during the time and his position as an optimate lead to bias in favour of the Senate. Nonetheless, Both excerpts from Cicero and Livy provide a discerning corroboration, in which they both reflect the period's unstable political view. However, the key factor to both of these sources is challenging the existion of the social divide but allowing room for the actual downfall of the Roman republic which was credited to the concentration of individual power.
QCE · Internal Assessment
Internal Assessment: Write a literary essay that…
QCE Internal Assessment essay scoring 80%: The Shaping of Young Minds “Prejudice is a learned trait. You're not born prejudiced; you're taught it.” ―…
The Shaping of Young Minds
“Prejudice is a learned trait. You're not born prejudiced; you're taught it.”
― Charles R. Swindoll
This directly links to Harper Lee’s 1960s novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” set in the 1930s during the Great Depression, exploring the oppression and segregation faced by African Americans in Maycomb, Alabama, through the journey of young Jem and Scout Finch. Lee successfully addresses prejudice across class, gender and race, highlighting how children were brought up to view prejudice as the social norm. This representation continues to remain relevant, shaping children’s attitudes, values and beliefs today, although shared more subtly. Lee successfully portrays multiple types of prejudice through the perspective of young individuals.
Class prejudice plays a significant role in the novel demonstrating the strong beliefs in Maycomb from a young age. Jem drills Aunt Alexandra’s firm beliefs that those of higher social status must not be associated with people of the lower class into Scout. This is evident when Jem explains the individuals in Maycomb “…there’s the ordinary kind…, the kind like the Cunningham’s out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump and the N****.” (pg. 249). Lee deliberately repeats “the kind like” to emphasise the different classes. This is a clear example of prejudicial values in society categorising groups based on wealth, behaviour and race. By placing the ‘ordinary’ people first, Lee reinforces the belief that they are higher on the social hierarchy. Through Jem’s point of view, Lee draws attention to the heavily placed attitudes in society that influence children’s behaviour and the expectation for them to conform. As Jem matures, he starts to understand the prejudicial attitudes of the town because of how ingrained these ideas are in society, inadvertently passing these ideas to Scout. This encourages readers to question the morality of society and similar prejudices that occur in today’s community. It also highlights how easily prejudicial attitudes are passed on unintentionally and picked up by children. Class prejudice is often seen throughout the novel from a child's perspective to demonstrate the values at the time.