VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Sophocles convey the message that…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 65%: Sophocles employs dramatic irony to demonstrate how free will is mere fantasy agains the all encompassing will of…
Sophocles employs dramatic irony to demonstrate how free will is mere fantasy agains the all encompassing will of the gods. This is illustrated through Oedipus’ escape from Corinth out of moral agency, believing that he was able to outrun his “dreadful prophecy”. During his flight from Corinth, Oedipus encounters a “triple crossroad”. Sophocles utilises the irony of the crossroads which commonly represent choice and free will to instill dread within Athenian audiences who know that although Oedipus is granted choice in the moment, he will unknowingly fulfill his own fate. Sophocles further utilises the peripeteia to mock Oedipus’ autonomy; the path which he takes to avoid his fate is also the one that leads him to fulfill it. Here, the motif of the “triple crossroads” serve as a metaphor for the inescapable nature of fate.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: The characters in We Have Always Lived in…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 67.5%: Jackson illustrates fixed routines as a safety net for oppressed individuals, condemning change as threat to…
Jackson illustrates fixed routines as a safety net for oppressed individuals, condemning change as threat to one's autonomy, leading them to seclusion. Due to the tyrannical nature of the patriarchs within 1960’s American society, oppressed individuals often found solace in fixed routines or lifestyles as it provided a sense of autonomy and predictability in a world where they have no social power. When patriarchal figures with higher power, such as Charles, who already are in control of the “big” things such as money, law, and power, take “ little cousin Mary’s job away from her””, Merricat is then stripped of the few things she still has control over within her life, leading her to react in violent ways as a form of defence and attempt to regain agency. In doing so, Jackson suggests that for the oppressed, the assumption that normalcy, such as a male taking over the heavy work, is beneficial to them is merely a mask for stripping away their autonomy. Furthermore, Jackon highlights the safety that the Blackwoods residency
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: The characters in We Have Always Lived in…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: Jackson illustrates fixed routines as a safety net for oppressed individuals, condemning change as threat to one's…
Jackson illustrates fixed routines as a safety net for oppressed individuals, condemning change as threat to one's autonomy, leading them to seclusion. Due to the tyrannical nature of the patriarchs within 1960’s American society, oppressed individuals often found solace in fixed routines or lifestyles as it provided a sense of autonomy and predictability in a world where they have no social power. When individuals with higher power, such as Charles who already are in control of the “big” things such as money, law, and power, take “ little cousin Mary’s job” of doing the groceries “away from her””, Merricat is stripped of the few things she still has control over within her life, leading her to react in violent ways as a form of defence and attempt to regain agency. In doing so, Jackson suggests that for the oppressed, the assumption that normalcy, such as a male taking over the heavy work, is beneficial to them is merely a mask for stripping away their autonomy. Furthermore, Jackon highlights the safety that the Blackwoods residency
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 1. How does Jackson present a variety of…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: In her gothic fiction We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson critiques the conservative values of…
In her gothic fiction We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson critiques the conservative values of mid-twentieth century America. By developing a variety of settings Jackson exposes the patriarchal society and the stifling principles it creates. Written during the McCarthyist era, where suburban life was centered around accusations and fear of outsiders, the novel reveals the flaws within restrictive societies. The setting of the kitchen is used to explore domesticity while critiquing the picturesque female role and the confinement it creates. The idealistic lifestyle of mid-century America and the oppression it casts on women is exposed in the setting of the Blackwood house. The poor treatment of those that refuse to conform to traditional roles and the damaging effects of ostracization is challenged by exploring surrealist settings, reflecting Jackson’s experience living in small town America as an outcast. Through her use of setting, Jackson ultimately expresses her hatred for the patriarchal principles of mid-twentieth century America and the ways it impacted her life.
Jackson critiques the female role and expectations to recede into domestic roles through the setting of the kitchen. By using the metaphor of the "heart" when Constance "leaves the heart of the house unguarded" when cousin Charles first arrives, Jackson reinforces a key gothic idea that the home is not fully safe, creating a sense of eeriness. In doing this, Jackson condemns mid-century America's obsession with domestic security, exposing that the ideal home in mid-century America and the nuclear family is vulnerable. The symbol of food in the cellar reflects the 1950s American expectation of women to be homemakers, as “all the Blackwood women had made food and had taken pride in adding to the great supply of food in the cellar." This reinforces the idea that women were absorbed into marriage and forced to confine into domestic, subservient roles. Jackson critiques the restricting domestic sphere and the lack of freedom women possessed in mid-century America. The rejection of the patriarchy is represented by Charles’s unsuccessful attempt at becoming the patriarchal figurehead, celebrating the power of the domestic sphere. The symbolism of the preserves in the cellar that "would stand there forever" highlight the strength of female legacy. Jackson celebrates the matrilineal power anchored by the kitchen, being stronger than the traditional androcentrism America, while encouraging her mid-twentieth century audience to leverage the agency feminine settings provide. Furthermore, the kitchen remaining after the fire and being surrounded by "blackness" and "burned rooms' reinforces the strength of the domestic sphere and the female legacy. Through the symbolism of the kitchen remaining standing, Jackson endorses the power of a traditionally confining role. Ultimately, Jackson's proto-feminist novel We Have Always Lived in the Castle, challenges conservative domestic roles while championing the power and strength it provides to women in mid-century America.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Marquez maintain a mysterious air…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 60%: How does Marquez maintain a mysterious air surrounding the events of the novella? Set against the backdrop of the…
How does Marquez maintain a mysterious air surrounding the events of the novella?
Set against the backdrop of the 1960s Colombian society, Gabriel Garcia Marquez reflects the rigid honour codes and patriarchal standards in his novella, Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Through the lens of an unnamed and proposedly flawed narrator, Marquez explores the events leading up to, during and after the single act of violence, while maintaining an air of mystery. He crafts the setting of a convoluted town corrupted by its tradition and controlled by fate, as well as embodying the narrator's journalistic style to present the investigator. Marquez also structures the novella in a suspenseful structure, despite revealing the details of the murder from the very beginning.
Encapsulating the events in the setting of a complicated town, Marquez nurtures a mystery throughout the novella. Leading up to the murder, the narrator incorporates numerous "fatal coincidences" that would otherwise have interfered with the violence. Alluding to the idea of fate, as repeatedly laced in failed attempts to prevent the murder, Marquez eliminates free will in the town, paralysing its people from performing change. Using this mysterious power that controls the events in the town, the author evokes frustration from society in regards to the perfect conditions established that compel the occurrence of the killing, sympathising for those unable to break it. Furthermore, Maruqez further complexes the setting of the event by enforcing the contradicting existence of a church and brothel in the seemingly Christian-identifying society. He challenges the authenticity of society's moral standards evoking confusion from the late 20th Century readers to how the society could be so disrespectful to God. The author reinforces this flaw through the complacency of the townspeople themselves, who believe that honour killing is a "sacred monopoly" and instead "took up positions" to watch "the drama unfold. Maruqez disapproves of this ironical light treatment of violence in Colombian society, provoking readers to question the acceptance of such a serious crime. By framing the town to perceive it as an entertainment instead, Marquez deepens the mystery in the convoluted attitude of the townspeople, in the event of the novella. Hence, through embedding the murder in the setting of an unexplainable town, always intertwined in the events of the novella, Marquez maintains an air of mystery.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: To what extent does the anarchy ideology…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: To what extent does the anarchy ideology presented in ‘V for Vendetta’ empower – or ultimately manipulate – the…
To what extent does the anarchy ideology presented in ‘V for Vendetta’ empower – or ultimately manipulate – the citizens it is meant to liberate?
Set in a dystopian London governed by oppression, ‘V for Vendetta’ examines the liberating power of anarchy under a rigid authoritarian regime, navigating its empowering - yet manipulative nature. The seemingly ubiquitous injustice present within the film creates a landscape in which compliance becomes necessary for survival, revealing anarchy as a force that enlightens and strengthens those who face tyranny. However, through the morally ambiguous actions that occur under the guise of salvation, McTeigue exposes the underlying manipulation that comes with an attitude that rejects order for agency. Nevertheless, the film ultimately contends that despite being tainted by coercion and spectacle, anarchy’s ability to unify the oppressed and restore autonomy justifies its chaotic impact. McTeigue thus constructs ‘V for Vendetta’ as a politically charged message that invites audiences to reconsider anarchy not as nihilistic disorder, but as a necessary response to systemic oppression.
Sutler’s facist London defines a corrupt world where personal liberty is reserved only for those in power - positioning anarchy not as dysfunction, but as the reclamation of moral agency when legality no longer aligns with justice. The oppressive darkness of the mise-en-scene and the disorienting camerawork that frames Evey’s confrontation with the fingermen visually entrap both Evey and the audience, mirroring the psychologically enforced fear that arises from authoritarian surveillance. In this context, V’s stylised entrance, underscored by grandiose choreography and rhetorical flourish, elevates him beyond a mere vigilante: despite his violence, anarchy is constructed as an act of intention rather than damaging recklessness. Yet, the film develops anarchy not just as a method of justice, but a transformative force. Emerging from her imprisonment later in the film - a microcosm of Sutler’s totalitarian regime - Evey stands outstretched as rain cleanses her metaphorically of her trauma and suffering. The high-angle shot diminishes the physical world around her, whilst the reserved non-diegetic sound isolates Evey’s baptismal transformation as sacred, even transcendent. In relinquishing fear, the very mechanism through which the state maintained control collapses, rendering Evey psychologically untouchable. Hence, McTeigue further cultivates anarchy not just as necessary, but as fundamental for authentic selfhood under the oppressive power of fear. Utilising the progression of the film’s narrative, ‘V for Vendetta’ contends that when is authority is sustained by fear rather than justice, the disorder of anarchy is superior to oppressive ‘order’.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “Madame is the greatest star of them all.”…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 60%: Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard posits the idea of obsession leading into psychological devastation. The concept of…
Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard posits the idea of obsession leading into psychological devastation. The concept of addiction in Hollywood consists of obsession over individual figures, obsession over the
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “We are going to be very happy,…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 82.5%: However, simultaneously Jackson underscores the sobering reality that this radical withdrawal necessitates a…
However, simultaneously Jackson underscores the sobering reality that this radical withdrawal necessitates a profound sacrifice of psychological growth and genuine personal agency. While isolation provides an impenetrable bulwark against patriarchal intrusion, it simultaneously results in a state of permanent arrested development. By sealing themselves within the “castle”, the sisters effectively freeze their identities in the trauma of the past, rendering any meaningful transition into adulthood or maturity impossible. This psychological stagnation is most chillingly realised in Merricat's declaration that she knew they would “like” it on the “moon.” By equating their charred, boarded-up ruin into a lunar landscape, Jackson highlights the sterile nature of their victory. The “moon”, a site of absolute isolation and silence, serves as a metaphor for the psychological void the sisters now inhabit. While they are finally safe from the hostile intrusion of the villagers, they exist in a sovereign vacuum; a life that is only precious because it has been entirely purged of its humanity. Furthermore, Jackson reveals that this radical withdrawal results in a profoundly stunted agency for Constance, whose psychological growth is sacrificed to maintain Merricat’s “castle.” While she once briefly entertained the prospect of rejoining society, her final retreat into the “charred” “kitchen” marks a
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “Discuss how rejection shapes the lives…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: Jackson presents rejection as fear inducing but also explores how it can enable protection and strengthen the bonds…
Jackson presents rejection as fear inducing but also explores how it can enable protection and strengthen the bonds of its victims. Whilst the villagers present themselves as the main threat to Merricat and Constance’s livelihoods, rejection allows them to form a sanctuary away from the villagers, and the negative views imposed upon them. Through Merricat’s creation of an idealised “moon”, she envisions herself as being able to escape to the place furthest from another human’s touch. Utilising evocative visual imagery, Jackson reinforces the psychological fortress that the sisters have constructed against the village. Jackson illustrates this through Merricat’s defensive detachment from society whilst she visited the town, being forced to speak to people to buy food. Consequently, she envisions that she is able to freely create her own rules and refuse social reconciliation by “pretending that [she] did not speak their language”. The reference to a separate “language” shows a total separation of communication between the sisters and the villagers, who both have opposing views, showing her complete disconnection from their reality. This shows the sisters’ isolation as a deliberate, protective act, positioning the reader to see their
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “Look at this street. All cardboard, all…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 60%: The creation of the 1950’s film “Sunset Boulevard” set in the Film Noir era, critiques the authenticity of the…
The creation of the 1950’s film “Sunset Boulevard” set in the Film Noir era, critiques the authenticity of the glamorous fame in Hollywood's industry. Billy Wilder illuminates the underlying theme of a disillusioned fantasy and contentment only to be met with disappointment in the end. Luring in passionate youth, to eventually disappear from the cameras and screens. Wilder illustrates a metaphoric portrayal through the background scenes of movie sets and Norma Desmond's house, a depiction that the glamorous lives shown through movies and film sets do not always showcase the true nature of an audience's unrealistic expectations. Hollywood curates a false identity for vulnerable youth, manipulates an unchecked world of greed and desire by promising fame and glamour that comes back with unimaginable consequences. Wilder's searing warning that everything is not as it seems is depicted from an unappreciative approach to those behind the camera. It seems only those
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “Oh, wake up Norma… The audience left…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 60%: Through the bleak aesthetic of film noir, Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard navigates a world in which delusion is…
Through the bleak aesthetic of film noir, Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard navigates a world in which delusion is deeply embedded in the construction of identity, blurring the perilous boundary between survival and self-destruction. Wilder unearths how delusion entraps individuals into sustaining a false sense of identity that functions as both a psychological safeguard against irrelevance and a force that deepens personal and moral confinement. In a similar vein, Wilder cautions that delusion can further deteriorate relationships by distorting relationships into cycles of control and reliance, eroding authentic connection. Ultimately the film serves as an instrument for Wilder to condemn the morally bankrupt fabric of Hollywood and that despite the risks delusion is necessary to preserve one's identity.
Wilder draws attention to how delusion entraps individuals into physical and psychological confinement, preventing self awareness and reinforcing a false sense of identity. This is exemplified through Norma’s mansion, seen as being “Stricken with a kind of creeping paralysis out beat with the rest of the world”. The exterior of the house is shown as dilapidated and run down - the pool, a symbol of previous wealth and status, now rendered a relic of its former glory - mirroring the stardom of Norma Desmond and how she has been abandoned from the spotlight of Hollywood. In comparison, the interior of her house brims with memorabilia from her past portraits and pictures, desperately clinging on to the belief that “ [ she is ] big! its the pictures that got small”. Trapping her in both space and memory, Revealing her delusion of relevance of current society in Hollywood. Wilder reinforces her delusion through Joe’s stark admonition, “Oh, wake up Norma… The audience left twenty years ago. Now, face it,” highlighting the peril of refusing to confront reality. Wilder uses her mansion to simultaneously represent her physical and psychological confinement to condemn the false sense of identity incessantly fuelled by delusion. Likewise, Max actively enables Norma’s delusion, dedicating his life to shielding her from reality and sustaining the illusion of her stardom, admitting, “ I made her a star, I cannot let her be destroyed.” Though Max’s actions were previously perceived as well-intentioned, here Wilder signals toward a more sinister side of his enabling - exposing how Max embodies a sense of ownership and lacks to view the autonomy within Norma and rather sees her as a reflection of his past success .Subsequently, this is shown when Max would “run the projector machine” , acting as a physical and metaphorical director fuelling her delusions - taking complete l/authority over Norma’s life trajectory. In essence Wilder uses Sunset Boulevard to serve as a vehicle to emphasize how delusion ensnares individuals into both physical and psychological entrapment and how this containment sanctions stability in a false sense of identity.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: : While not a religious text, Orbital is…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 60%: Since humans first looked to the stars in the night sky they have pondered on the celestial lights and woven divine…
Since humans first looked to the stars in the night sky they have pondered on the celestial lights and woven divine mythologies about them, subsequently every culture on Earth has creation stories which all take a similar form and place a ‘divine creator’ those ‘heavens’ out of human reach. Essentially human fascination with the stars led them to become ‘the worshippers of gods [and] the tellers of time’ (p.112). Samantha Harvey has given this uniquely human narrative a contemporary makeover with her elegiac novella, Orbital (2023). By drawing on Classical Mythology, Western Philosophy and Christian Theology to frame her novella, she transcends those ancient mythologies of divine creation to meditate on the fragility of life on earth today. In Orbital, her primary focus is to explore humanity's connection to something greater than gods / God because those ancient mythologies can no longer guide humanity’s stewardship of, and relationship with, the Earth in a time when those ‘heavens’ are now within reach due to human space travel and space exploration. Instead of focussing on religion, or the nihilistic retreat from religion, she is exploring humanity’s essential spiritual connection with and reliance on the Earth itself and the unknown universe beyond. She contends that with a backdrop today of rapid climate change, environmental degradation, wealth inequality and political instability – humans are facing an urgent reckoning brought on by their hubristic and greedy behaviours. Harvey invites her readers to challenge their own assumptions about what is truly important to ensure survival of life on Earth, encouraging all to draw on both art and science when making decisions which create a legacy for future generations. More broadly, she hopes her readers will draw on the innate virtues of humanity which unite and protect life on earth, such as empathy and kindness, rather than focus on the vices of humanity which divide and destroy, such as hubris and greed. In doing so, she invites people to unite and protect their deep spiritual connection with the ‘home’ planet as well as those mythical stars beyond which ignited the initial spark of human imagination and religion in ‘our orbit’. Harvey exposes the legacy of hubris and ‘godly view’ (p.69), which culminated in vast environmental degradation, wealth inequality and political instability which has in turn given rise to an angry planet. The ‘typhoon’ symbolises the retributive power of the planet’s wrath. The earth is personified by Harvey to warn that it has run out of patience with the humans who are mistreating her. Harvey’s denunciation is focussed on those people who have failed to notice the problems caused by their hubris and greed because they are egotistically focussed on themselves and their ‘fake stars [which] they’re going to put in space in the shape of company logos (p.51). Harvey implies that it is ‘a hubris so almighty it’s matched only by its stupidity’ (p.53) because ironically, whether the wealthy like it or not, there is currently nowhere to ‘flee’ to (p.39) to escape the planet’s wrath. In the text, it is ‘Pietro, the mind’ (p.19) who represents the empathetic thinkers on earth as he laments the hopelessness of the situation for those like the fisherman and his family who are at ‘typhoons’ mercy. Through this Harvey censures the wealthy, calling them ‘farcical’ because all they are is ‘louder, bigger, more ostentatious, more unscrupulously wanting of the play of power than those around them’ (p.74). Thereby implying that the danger for all humanity is that the powerful are following their own dreams and care little for the dreams of the poor who are ‘first in the firing line’ (p.57). The irony here is that those dreams of ascension into the heavens began when humans first looked at the stars and now those dreams are damaging the earth which initially conceived them. However, to further mimic the complexities of life, Harvey invites her readers to contemplate the interplay between hubris being both a ‘blessing and also [a] curse’ (p.73). The ‘blessing’ being the human ability to ‘dream’ big because humans have always sought to ‘understand life through perceptions and dreams and art’ (p.6) making up stories about the gods in the heavens to steward human morality. The ironic ‘curse’ is that ‘without the planet there’s no life’ (p.8) to steward. Harvey reminds us that humans are the frail species, they ‘sail at [an] in-between distance of low earth orbit, [our] half-mast view’ (p.29), humans perceptions of power are inconsequential to the universe, the only power humans actually have is over their own behaviours on earth. When humans misuse that power then everyone and everything that relies on the earth suffers. The earth is personified as both a ‘mother’ and a ’lover’ for humanity implying that the earth wants to protect humanity, but, like a parent, it now needs to teach its egocentric children a lesson about humility. The irony is that the childlike humans do not realise this and they keep hubristically looking to the mythologies they created in their own image, instead of looking to ‘mother Earth’ for guidance. Moreover, in the face of natural disasters, the poor feel powerless and consequently put their faith in religion as they ‘shelter behind the altar’ (p.134) for protection, but deep down the wealthy know that ‘if their shields were to fail they’d be cooked’ (p.90) as
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: "Merricat is both the victim and the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 62.5%: Introduction In Shirley Jackson’s Gothic novel We Have Always Lived in the Castle, the narrator Mary Katherine…
Introduction
In Shirley Jackson’s Gothic novel We Have Always Lived in the Castle, the narrator Mary Katherine (Merricat) Blackwood is a complex character who defies simple labels. While Merricat is undoubtedly a victim of the village’s cruelty and her family’s strict rules, Jackson suggests she is also a dangerous villain who uses violence to maintain control. Ultimately, Merricat is a figure driven by a toxic need for isolation, proving that she is as much a threat to her sister’s freedom as the villagers are.
Body Paragraph 1: Merricat as the Victim (The Village)
Jackson first establishes Merricat as a victim of a hostile and prejudiced society. Every time Merricat leaves the "castle" to go into the village, she is met with animosity and harassment. The villagers’ "dark breathing" and the children’s cruel rhymes like "285, take a check at the sugar bowl" show that Merricat has been ostracized for years. This constant bullying pushes her further into her world of "magic" and "spells" as a way to cope with a world that hates her. In this sense, her "villainous" behavior is a direct result of being a victim of social cruelty.
Body Paragraph 2: Merricat as the Villain (The Poisoning)
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: No one has free will in Oedipus the King.…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 82.5%: Under a looming cloud of divine prophecy, the idea of free will traps the characters in a state of ‘half-agency’.…
Under a looming cloud of divine prophecy, the idea of free will traps the characters in a state of ‘half-agency’. ‘Half-agency’ is defined by the freedom of characters within the confines of their fate. Sophocles explores this liminal space through the consequences of Oedipus’s actions during this state. “O triple roads - it all comes back, the secret, dark ravine, and the oaks closing in where the three roads join…” Sophocles leverages imagery to evoke a sense of entrapment in his Athenian audience, mirroring the inescapable nature of fate felt by the characters. The “triple roads” serve as a symbolic site of ‘half-agency’. Oedipus’s choice to engage in ‘ego-driven’ rage against the travellers precipitates the fulfilment of his destiny. Seemingly an act of free will, Sophocles delineates how fate is the destination, but Oedipus’s own hamartia is the engine that drives him toward it. Sophocles marks the anagnorisis through the exclamation of “It all comes back”,
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Debra Dank use storytelling…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 77.5%: The way stories are told reflects the values of the culture they come from. Western literary traditions often…
The way stories are told reflects the values of the culture they come from. Western
literary traditions often privilege linear narratives, individual heroism, and progress
through conquest, reinforcing colonial ways of understanding history and identity. In We
Come With This Place (2022), Debra Dank challenges these colonial constructs through
her use of Indigenous storytelling conventions grounded in Gudanji ways of knowing. By
employing cyclical narrative structures, centring Country as the storyteller, and
privileging collective rather than individual identity, Dank disrupts dominant Western
literary expectations. However, as the text is written for a largely non-Indigenous
readership, she also strategically engages with recognisable Western narrative tropes in
order to ensure effective truth-telling. Through this balance, Dank challenges colonial
storytelling while remaining accessible to her audience.
One of the primary ways Dank challenges colonial constructs of storytelling is through
her rejection of linear time. Western narratives typically follow a chronological structure
that values progress and resolution, reinforcing ideas of development and conquest. In
contrast, Dank structures her text around cycles that reflect Aboriginal Songlines and
Dreaming. These stories exist across time, place and body, rather than moving forward
towards a single conclusion. Dank explains that Gudanji stories, or kujiga, “live inside
each other, as well as out there across our country, and inside our bodies” (p. 11),
rejecting the Western separation of past and present. By using fragmented vignettes
instead of a continuous plot, Dank challenges the colonial assumption that history is
fixed or complete. This cyclical storytelling asserts the ongoing presence of Indigenous
culture and undermines colonial myths such as terra nullius, which positioned
Indigenous Australians as belonging only to the past.
Dank also challenges colonial storytelling through her refusal to adopt the traditional
Western ‘hero’s journey’. Rather than focusing on an individual protagonist who
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: The characters in Oedipus The King are…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 65%: Sophocles’ 5th century BCE classical Athenian tragedy “Oedipus The King”, explores the contextual nature of the…
Sophocles’ 5th century BCE classical Athenian tragedy “Oedipus The King”, explores the contextual nature of the inevitability of fate and its importance towards the drama. Sophocles contends that the attempt to escape fate proves it futile, and rather leads to its fulfilment. The playwright demonstrates this through the irony of the character’s failed attempts to escape prophecy, the symbolic contrast between sight and blindness, and the relentless investigation for truth leads one into the turmoil of their own fate.
Sophocles employs dramatic irony to demonstrate how the attempt to circumvent prophecy is the key that leads to its fulfilment. In an Ancient Athenian society, the words of an Oracle were sacred, as they were believed to be messages from the gods, meaning defying these words would lead to catastrophic consequences. After hearing the prophecy from the Oracle of Delphi that Laius and Jocasta’s son would “strike [Laius] down” and “couple with his mother”, they “fastened his ankles” and abandoned him on Mount Cithareon to die. This act of infanticide is what separates Oedipus from his family lineage, allowing him to mature as a “stranger”, who would inevitably kill their father at the crossroads. Through this, Sophocles demonstrates how the act of cruelty has no impact in the face of fate, warning an Athenian audience that the more that one fights to circumvent it, the more they contribute to its materialisation. Moreover, the symbolism of the crossroads serves as a physical manifestation of the inescapability of fate. Oedipus, believing that fate can be avoided, runs away from Corinth to ironically encounter Laius. This moment represents how one can believe they are making a choice out of freewill, yet the “paths” depict the endless alleys leading to a predestined fate. Sophocles' choice of placing the murder at the crossroads symbolises the illusion of free will, suggesting that for ‘a prisoner of fate’, all roads lead to the same preordained ‘cell’. Ultimately, the characters attempt to outmanoeuvre prophecy by physical displacement proves that they are prisoners whose every step towards supposed ‘freedom and safety’ lead to their inevitable demise.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 'Sophocles' play reminds his audience that…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 60%: Oedipus the King, a tragic play written by Sophocles, illustrates the religious and moral beliefs of ancient Greek…
Oedipus the King, a tragic play written by Sophocles, illustrates the religious and moral beliefs of ancient Greek society, exploring how divine authority, fate, and human limitation shape suffering within a tragic world governed by the gods. Sophocles showcases the pointlessness of denying the will of the Gods. This is evident throughout the play as the characters’ ability of free will is limited. Additionally, knowledge of the truth can lead to fulfillment of fate. Finally, attempting to deny the will of the Gods can lead characters to receive punishment not only from the gods.
Sophocles portrays free will as limited to the boundaries of fate and is seen through attempts to escape destiny. When the Oracle told Oedipus about his fate, he “heard all that and ran”. This conveys the king’s attempt to run away and escape his fate. Sophocles’ use of irony, which ultimately led Oedipus to fall into his fate, reminds the audience of the power of the gods. Oedipus showed relentless determination to find the truth by forcing the shepherd to “talk with pain”. This portrays the extent to which the king wanted to escape his fate by bearing the truth. Thus, Sophocles highlights that the efforts to escape fate through free will will not overturn the will of the gods. Furthermore, Oedipus aims to save Thebes from the plague and claims he is “ready to help” the people. Thus, highlighting the pride that Oedipus has and his self-confidence to save Thebes from the plague. Sophocles presents Oedipus’ hubristic personality through this and highlights how his attempts to save Thebes led to his own downfall. Sophocles showcases how the free will of Oedipus is refined due to his destiny through his attempts to escape fate, as well as wanting to save Thebes.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: examine how love is portrayed as a…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: Examine how love is portrayed as a destructive force within Sunset Boulevard. In Billy Wilder’s 1950 film Sunset…
Examine how love is portrayed as a destructive force within Sunset Boulevard.
In Billy Wilder’s 1950 film Sunset Boulevard, love is presented as a contradictory phenomenon, having the potential for both destructive and positive consequences. Industry adoration of young stars is presented as a profound danger due to the lurking threat of a downfall from fame, and even ostensibly sincere love such as that Max has for Norma and that Norma has for Joe result in destruction such as delusion and loss of independence. However, love is also presented as a shining light in the dark, providing hope, passion, and creativity.
Hollywood’s infatuation with young stars is presented as a destructive force when the stars are eventually cast out from the industry. The character of Norma Desmond is a representation of the lives of numerous real-life faded silent-film stars, highlighting the dangerous consequences that can result when stars are no longer considered appealing to the industry. A common analysis of Norma’s name is that it is a combination of the names of silent film star Mabel Normand and director William Desmond Taylor, where Mabel Normand was a hugely popular silent film actress whose film career declined after she lost industry favour, and William Desmond Taylor was a famous silent film director whose unsolved murder was heavily
sensationalised by the media and exploited by the industry. This name choice is therefore a reflection of how the industry quickly turns on the stars that it was once infatuated by, leaving them to fade away in obscurity or exploiting them for industry benefit. Hollywood lifted Norma to a position of stardom so immense that “men bribed her hairdresser to get a lock of her hair”, a level of fame that Norma is depicted as trying to preserve. This is epitomised by the unsettling number of old photographs of Norma that she displays in her mansion as well as her privately screening her older silent films, creating a sense of claustrophobia within hermansion that is symbolic of the suffocation of aging stars by the industry, ungracefully abandoned once the industry no longer sees them as appealing. The fact that the photographs and films depict her in her heyday represents Norma’s inability to move on from a time where she was loved by the industry, highlighting the dark side of Hollywood’s infatuation with young stars by presenting the damaging consequences of the withdrawal of industry love and attention. Furthermore, the tango theme composed by Franz Waxman for Norma’s character was based on a scene in the film where Norma talks about dancing the tango with Valentino, a reference to real-life silent-film star Rudolph Valentino. Basing her theme entirely around this memory is an auditory reflection of Norma’s refusal to move on from the past where she was a beloved star within the industry. However, in the final scene where Norma descends the staircase in a state of complete delusion, her earlier tango theme becomes darkly distorted and transforms into a grotesque parody of traditional film ending music. This dark subversion represents the dangerous consequences that have resulted from the industry’s infatuation with Norma and then the subsequent abandonment of her once she lost her appeal, therefore highlighting the potential for love to be a force of destruction.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In Orbital human life is portrayed as…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 60%: The 2023 novel Orbital, written by Samantha Harvey examines the varied perspectives of six astronauts as they…
The 2023 novel Orbital, written by Samantha Harvey examines the varied perspectives of six astronauts as they navigate not only physical challenges of living in space but the perspective shift that occurs as they can do nothing more than observe life on earth from a distance. While Harvey presents individual lives as inevitably fleeting and subject to the ailments of mortal life humanity itself will last longer than each of us therefore we have a responsibility to care for the earth's life so it can continue to protect us.
Throughout the novel, Harvey examines the inevitably fleeting nature of human life by highlighting death as an ever present possibility. Harvey's early descriptions of the astronauts being “shot into the sky on a kerosene bomb” underscores the violence and risk inherent in space travel, suggesting that human advancement is inseparable from mortal danger. By emphasising that they are 'shot' upward, Harvey implies a recklessness and a lack of control, positioning humanity to blame for placing itself in proximity to death in the pursuit of 'more.' In this way, mortality is not merely an external threat but a consequence of 'man's hubris.' Aboard the ISS, the astronauts exist in a space where survival is precarious, emphasised through the metaphor that 'some metal' stands between them and 'the void' with death being described as 'so close.' The novel's setting in space reinforces how fragile the human body is when removed from Earth, with life dependent on only a thin barrier; a 'void' referencing not only the physically empty space but the coldness and terrifying vastness that being in 'raw space' is especially for humans. Harvey repeatedly refers to the ISS station as the astronauts’ 'life support,' which when coupled with the nine-month span of living in space, underscores their complete dependence on this artificial system for survival. The repetition of 'nine months' evokes gestation, casting the spacecraft as a metallic womb in which they are sustained yet confined as they 'weightless[ly] drift' defenceless and vulnerable. The astronaut's prolonged enclosure highlights the fragility and temporariness of their existence, reinforcing the idea that while life in orbit is sustained, it is never secure and Harvey constantly reminds readers of their inevitably fleeting life despite the lengths we take to prolong it.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Oedipus the King act as a…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 67.5%: Written in 429 BCE, during the uncertainty of the Peloponnesian war, Sophocles' tragedy Oedipus the King explores…
Written in 429 BCE, during the uncertainty of the Peloponnesian war, Sophocles' tragedy Oedipus the King explores suffering as a sign of moral disorder in a world governed by the gods. Through the persistent search for truth, which ultimately uncovers the devastating reality of the mystery, Sophocles invites Ancient Athenians to reconsider willful ignorance and disrespect to the gods, suggesting that ignorance and excessive pride leads to the fragmentation of society. Sophocles attempts to warn Athenians, through critiquing hubris, disrespecting natural order and ignorant leadership. In doing so, Sophocles ultimately warns readers against believing that they are superior, and encourages them to display humility by encouraging introspection.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: "The Blackwood family's isolation is both…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 65%: Introduction In We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson shows that the Blackwood family’s isolation is…
Introduction
In We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson shows that the Blackwood family’s isolation is both protective and destructive. While separating themselves from the village shields Merricat and Constance from ridicule and danger, Jackson also reveals how this seclusion warps their perception, traps them in trauma, and prevents personal growth. The sisters’ isolation may give them a sense of safety and control, but Jackson presents it as ultimately unsettling and psychologically damaging. Through the novel, isolation is shown as both a gift and a curse.
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Jackson presents isolation as a way for the Blackwoods to protect themselves from the village’s cruelty. The villagers mock them with the rhyme, “Merricat, said Connie, would you like a cup of tea? Oh no, said Merricat, you’ll poison me.” This chant shows how suspicion and fear have turned into ritualised cruelty, leaving the sisters vulnerable to constant humiliation. Within the estate, Merricat reassures herself, “I could not help thinking that we were safe here, safe.” The repetition of “safe” emphasises that while isolation brings comfort, it also highlights how fragile that security is, as it must be constantly repeated to feel real. Even Constance recognises the pressure of public scrutiny, admitting, “Someday I’ll go.” Jackson uses this line to show that isolation is not entirely chosen; it is a response to fear and shame, suggesting that retreating from society can protect the sisters physically and emotionally, but it comes at the cost of choice.
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VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “Several of them would have protested if…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: George Orwell’s 1945 allegorical novella Animal Farm is based on the Russian Revolution and depicts how tyrannical…
George Orwell’s 1945 allegorical novella Animal Farm is based on the Russian Revolution and
depicts how tyrannical leaders are capable of controlling the populace through the use of fear
and ignorance, which entrenches oppression. In Animal farm, the use of fear is highlighted to be
one of the main methods of oppression in order to control the masses. Although, the use of
exploiting the animal’s illiteracy allowed ignorance to prove effective in indoctrinating the
populace. However, without the use of propaganda, oppression would not have been as easily
possible. Whilst fear and ignorance did lead to the animal’s subjugation, Orwell demonstrated
how it was propaganda which ensured the animals continued compliance, allowing for
tyrannical leader’s regimes to thrive.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: POSSESSING POWER DOES NOT NECESSARILY…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 65%: POSSESSING POWER DOES NOT NECESSARILY EQUATE TO HAVING ABSOLUTE CONTROL. TO WHAT EXTENT IS THIS TRUE. Directed by…
POSSESSING POWER DOES NOT NECESSARILY EQUATE TO HAVING ABSOLUTE CONTROL. TO WHAT EXTENT IS THIS TRUE.
Directed by Billy Wilder, the noir and gothic horror film, ‘Sunset Boulevard’ was released in 1950, it provided insight towards the evolution from silent films to audio. Wilder presents authority causes total control through manipulation of one’s psyche through decades of deceit, and the concept of ambition and how when obsessed enough, can control one’s life, yet when the backbone of the power is wealth and money, it does not carry enough strength for control.
Wilder exhibits that when one is deceptive enough to earn false trust, he earns full control. This was highlighted through the manipulation of Max Von Mayerling. In dim lighting and close shot, Max admits to Joe Gillis about his past with Norma, and how he went from being the one who ‘discovered’ her to her first husband, and after their divorce, her personal butler. He justified his demotion with his care and love for her, ‘I found everything unendurable without her.’ Through the dim lighting used, the dark contrast on Max’s face symbolises Max’s dark past and gives a more sadistic approach to guilt trip Joe, aiding in the lie of him loving her. The truth is he was her biggest fan; however, he also was one of the few causes of her mental health deteriorating. He’d regularly send her fake ‘fan-mails’ to deceive her into believing she is ‘still big’ so she would not learn the harsh reality of how ‘30 million fans have given her the brush.’ Max seems innocent to preserve her happiness, however psychologically it is ruining her as she gets ‘moments of melancholy,’ yet Max never takes her to a therapist to help her, instead he feeds her ‘lies and more lies’ to build on her delusions. In the end when the delusion got to her of how much of a ‘star’ she is, she killed Joe. It was implied that Max called the police as there was no one else near the property nor knew about the murder. Before her arrest, once again Max deceived her into believing she was about to record the first scene of her new film ‘Salome’ when in reality she was getting arrested. Max controlled her as a director from when she was young, to her last moments of freedom as a butler. Hence, Wilder illustrates decades of dishonesty; complete control is achievable.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Jackson use the town's attitude…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 67.5%: Across literature, although communities strive to maintain an image or harmony and order, they are often shaped…
Across literature, although communities strive to maintain an image or harmony and order, they are often shaped by underlying conflict and contradiction that influence how difference is perceived and policed. The world in which Jackson creates not only discusses issues within itself but mirrors those of the issues of her time. The world is inherently complex, and individuals within it must navigate a place shaped by conflict, tension and contradiction. Through her neo-gothic novel, Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle, mirrors these ideas (name them) alongside the heavy affairs of the time. Jackson establishes a world that feeds off envy and hatred, mirroring that of the society around her, utilising the antagonistic relationship between the insular Blackwood family and the surrounding village as a microcosm for the inherent cruelty of human society. Jackson reflects this through the town's abhorrence of the Blackwood family, not simply through distaste but deeply rooted in fear of the other and a need for social conformity. Furthermore, Jackson utilises the collapse of society into a predatory mob to critique the fragility of civilisation and human nature. Finally, Jackson critiques the performative nature of communal guilt, demonstrating how the construction of local folklore serves to exculpate the townspeople from the reality of their own atavistic cruelty.
Jackson utilises the village’s pervasive hostility toward the Blackwood family to expose a society that prioritises rigid conformity and surface-level normalcy over the acceptance of those who exist outside the traditional social order. By positioning Constance and Merricat outside the expectations of marriage, domestic contribution and social participation, the villagers cast them as aberrations whose very existence threatens the illusion of social order. Jackson filters this antagonism through Merricat’s visceral depiction of the town as “dingy” and infected with “rot,” transforming communal prejudice into a moral decay that festers beneath the village’s façade of civility. In contrast, the “fine china” and ritualistic order of the Blackwood estate symbolise an alternative self-contained world that refuses assimilation. The villagers’ resentment of the family’s inherited wealth and isolation reflects a broader societal tendency to demonise those who resist economic and social conformity. Jackson further reinforces this division through stark binary imagery that separates the “rotten” town from the enclosed estate, illustrating how communities construct ‘otherness’ to preserve their own fragile identity. By reducing the Blackwoods to the subject of mockery rhymes and gossip, the villagers trivialise tragedy and legitimise cruelty, revealing how collective prejudice transforms suspicion into sanctioned persecution. Thus, Jackson uses the towns sustained hostility to critique a society that sustains its cohesion not through compassion, but through the exclusion and dehumanization of those to refuse to conform. Whilst the villagers’ hostility towards the Blackwood sisters exposes a society that prioritises rigid social standards above empathy, the community’s readiness to embrace figures who reinforce conventional authority further underscores its obsessive investment in restoring a controlled and recognisable social order. Jackson reinforces this critique through the town’s immediate acceptance of Charles, whom they openly “liked” and with whom they conversed “easily.” These seemingly casual affirmations reveal how swiftly society rewards those who embody familiar structures of masculine authority. His effortless assimilation is sharply juxtaposed against the villagers’ enduring resentment of the sisters, exposing the conditional nature of communal patriarchal approval. Jackson positions him as a symbolic restoration of patriarchal order, a “ghost” of the sisters’ dead father whose presence signals the reassertion of male dominance within the household. His greed and desire for control are not condemned but implicitly encouraged, suggesting that moral corruption is acceptable when it reinforces traditional hierarchies. By privileging a “normal” villain over “abnormal” victims, the villagers expose the hypocrisy underpinning their supposed moral concern. Jackson, therefore, critiques a broader societal impulse to “fix” unconventional women by reinstating patriarchal control, revealing that what the community truly fears is not immorality but female autonomy. Through this disparity in treatment, Jackson demonstrates how societies preserve their sense of order by rewarding conformity to gendered power structures while punishing those who exist outside them.