VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Ogawa demonstrates that humanity is eroded…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: Set in a dystopian world, Yoko Ogawa’s “The Memory Police” explores a mysterious force which induces memory loss.…
Set in a dystopian world, Yoko Ogawa’s “The Memory Police” explores a mysterious force which induces memory loss. While “The Memory Police” demonstrates that humanity can degrade once memories are lost, it also suggests that it can be maintained and recovered through resistance. This is shown through the strange ability of some to remember, as well as Narrator’s own effort to resist and the old man’s inability to do so. Overall, Ogawa is emphasising that resistance is essential to preserving identity.
Ogawa uses the orientation of the novel to establish that it is possible to possess a natural resistance to enforced erasure. This is illustrated through the characterisation of Narrator’s mother, who is able to remember everything that has disappeared despite ‘everyone else forget[ting]’ on the island. Her mother is shown to be ‘at her most lively’ when talking of things she remembered, highlighting how she was able to maintain these items as part of her identity, thus evading the erasure that comes with the disappearances. This innate resistance is also seen in others throughout the novel, such as the crazed woman at the book burnings, who exclaims ‘no one can erase the stories!’, presenting the idea that even without physical reminders, memories can still be retained. Ogawa uses these characters to show that despite the disappearances affecting many on the island, memories can still be kept by those who can resist, and therefore have a continued contribution to an individual’s identity.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: "It's a return! A return to the millions…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: "It's a return! A return to the millions of people who have never forgiven me for deserting the screen." Hollywood…
"It's a return! A return to the millions of people who have never forgiven me for deserting the screen."
Hollywood sells dreams but delivers illusions. To what extent does Wilder's film critique the false promises of stardom?
In the golden age of cinema, the Hollywood ‘dream factory’ dominated the US. The historic and enduring reputation of the Hollywood studio system promised to transform imagination, storytelling, and talent into globally consumed entertainment, advertising its ability to develop personal reinvention and fame. Billy Wilder’s 1950 noir melodrama “Sunset Boulevard” exposes the underbelly of the Hollywood industry and warns of the falsehood of stardom and success. Wilder presents the false promises of Hollywood by demonstrating the trade-off creatives in Hollywood are forced to make between their artistic integrity and vision and their desire to succeed and gain wealth. Furthermore, fetishization of youth and beauty and adherence to gender roles is revealed throughout the film to undermine the promises for women to succeed. However, whilst the film is largely cynical of Hollywood’s tendency to deliver false promises, the film does present that aspects of the ‘dreams’ the industry sells are truthful and desirable.
Much of Wilder’s film explores the corruption of the artistic vision due to compromises the creatives in Hollywood make to achieve not only fame, but economic stability, highlighting how the dreams of success Hollywood sells are often not reflective of true experiences of the industry. Namely, when Joe describes Betty being “so like all us writers when we first hit Hollywood itching with ambition, panting to get your names up there: Screenplay by. Original Story by. Hmph!” Wilder highlights how creatives in Hollywood quickly become disillusioned when realising the promises of stardom are unrealistic, specifically calling out the role the audience has to play in not crediting the creators behind films when Joe claims “Audiences don't know somebody sits down and writes a picture. They think the actors make it up as they go along”. Joe suits the genre of noir as a cynical protagonist – but his seeming indifference often acts as a façade for the resentment he feels towards Hollywood for undermining his love for cinema. A pinnacle moment for Joe in the beginning of the film reflecting Joe’s frustration towards Hollywood is when he describes “not having what it takes” and “wrap[ping] up the whole Hollywood deal and go[ing] home”. The “Hollywood deal” is an intentional reference to the Hollywood dream factory – Joe has been confronted by its falsehood and believes his only choice is to forego his artistic talent in exchange for the comfort of a “desk job in Ohio” which provides him with a stable income. Joe represents a common trope for creatives in Hollywood who are forced to trade-off their art for commerce, indicating Wilder believes the promises of Hollywood aren’t reflective of reality.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Comment on how Malouf uses setting to…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 62.5%: Throughout many of Malouf’s short stories, he emphasises how exploring a setting can lead to the transformation…
Throughout many of Malouf’s short stories, he emphasises how exploring a setting can lead to the transformation of characters. This transformation also includes a transformation of values and psychological development. Malouf utilises the protagonists Andy and Angus to emphasise this transformation. In ‘Valley of the Lagoons’, Angus’ desperation to be initiated into the masculine “code” is evident through describing the valley as a “secret place” for men to shoot pigs and birds, emphasising the idea of masculine initiation being a rare and valued accomplishment in Angus’ community. This contradicts the domestic life that Angus is exposed to in his home, influencing Angus to long for the life of masculinity. However, these values are altered after experiencing the Valley, as symbolised by the “rough tussocks” and “darkly colourless” foliage. This contrast in description compared to the “blue sky” when entering the
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Johnson’s postmodern film presents a world…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: Using his film as a construction site for collective memory, Johnson dismantles the foundational mythologies of…
Using his film as a construction site for collective memory, Johnson dismantles the foundational mythologies of colonial Australia, exposing a frontier sustained not by civilisation but by the systematic application of violence, exclusion and silence. From the outset of the film, the pairing of wide shots of tranquil Arnhem land and first nations non-diegetic music and lyrics, Johnson deconstructs a traditionally ‘white space’, and deliberately dismantling the doctrine of terra nullius. Concurrently, the abrupt and heavy, booted presence of European soldiers alongside Johnson's deliberate costuming of colonisers as standing out as unnatural invaders, is starkly juxtaposed to indigenous attire acting as an emblem of their place in the world, emphasising their connection to land, and characterising colonists as foreign and unnatural. As such, Johnson examines how Australia's history was built upon a lie, constructing a counter-memory through suggesting that the land was not empty, nor was it uncared for. . Yet cultural division alone did not sustain the colony; it required the apparatus of
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Fosse use the Kit Kat Klub's…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 77.5%: Over the course of history, art and artistic spaces have paralleled and critiqued politics and society. Bob…
Over the course of history, art and artistic spaces have paralleled and critiqued politics and society. Bob Fosse’s 1972 ‘Cabaret’ examines the tensions present in Weimar Berlin, a period of time between wars where frivolity commandeered society. ‘Cabaret’ displays the rise of Nazism and the militarisation of Germany, exemplified by the satirical performances of the Kit Kat Club. Fosse demonstrates that the club acts as a microcosm of Berlin, where satire song and dance paralleled political turbulence in Berlin. Further, ‘Cabaret’ illuminates the way in which the club fosters an escapist facade where ignorance prevails over awareness, enabling the authoritarian rise. Moreover, Fosse suggests that the diegetic audience and viewers of ‘Cabaret’ experience the Kit Kat Club unanimously, and are both distracted by the ostentatious performances.
Fosse accentuates the way that the Kit Kat Club functions as a microcosm of Berlin, mirroring wider political turbulence. The musical exemplifies the insidious rise of Nazism through the club. In the opening number, ‘Wilkommen’ viewers see a distorted reflection of the Emcee, beckoning society to indulge in the decadence within. The mirror is a reflection of the true society, explaining why viewers do not see it while the Emcee’s licentious performances are displayed – they are distracted. In the closing moments of the film however, the audience sees a reflection of a sea of Swastikas in the audience. This exemplifies how the insidious rise of authoritarianism occurred behind the backs of a sybaritic society. This moment also creates a cyclical structure, demonstrating how society has changed with the club. The last reflection is much clearer than the previous, amplifying the idea that the future is much more foreseeable than the past. This illuminates the club's parallels to the political tension as the viewers are ignorant to the rising authoritarianism until it is too late. This idea is further highlighted through Sally Bowles' final number ‘Life is a Cabaret.’ This performance illustrates the frivolous attitude of Sally, while suggesting that the Cabaret performances are representative of the club's attitudes. The piece demonstrates the connection between life in Weimar Berlin and the club's sybaritic and frivolous ways. The club acting as a microcosm representing Weimar Berlin is furthered by the juxtapositions between brutal acts of Nazis and the dances within the club. This is exemplified by the Bavarian slap dance flashing to gruesome imagery of a Nazi brown shirt beating the owner. This presents the way ostentatious dances within the Kit Kat Club parallel society at the time but in a subdued way. The performances represent the political decline and parallels to Weimar society while the Kit Kat Club acts as a microcosm of Berlin.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In We Have Always Lived in the Castle,…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 77.5%: Jackson utilises the domestic space of the Blackwood estate to manifest not only the sisters' physical isolation…
Jackson utilises the domestic space of the Blackwood estate to manifest not only the sisters' physical isolation but also their profound psychological isolation from the surrounding village community. Jackson emphasises this seclusion through the 'high fence' and 'locked gates' that border the property to establish a physical boundary between the blackwoods and the public. however for Merricat, the physical barriers are insuffcient, Merricats’s paranoia and incessant need for total separation lead her to feel as though she and Constance will not be safe without further intervention. Therefore, she reinforces this separation through magical rituals such as the usage of her 3 magical words: 'melody, glaucester [and] pegasus'. Suggesting their isolation is not just by choice, but out of necessity to keep the 'poison' of the outside world at bay. While these physical barriers help to provide a literal shield against the decay of the
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In We Have Always Lived in the Castle,…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 60%: Jackson utilises the domestic space of the Blackwood estate to manifest not only the sisters' physical isolation…
Jackson utilises the domestic space of the Blackwood estate to manifest not only the sisters' physical isolation but also their profound psychological isolation from the surrounding village community. Jackson emphasises this seclusion through the 'high fence' and 'locked gates' that border the property to establish a physical boundary between the blackwoods and the public. however for Merricat, the physical barriers are insuffcient, Merricats paranoia and incessant need for total separation lead her to feel as though she and Constance will not be safe without further intervention. therefore she reinforces this separation through magical rituals such as the usage of her 3 magical words: 'melody, glaucester [and] pegasus'. Suggesting their isolation is not just by choice, but out of necessity to keep the 'poison' of the outside world at bay. While these physical barriers help to provide a literal shield against the decay of the
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Hadley suggests violence is not always…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: Hadley suggests violence is not always physical. Discuss Over the course of history, wars, murders, and domestic…
Hadley suggests violence is not always physical. Discuss
Over the course of history, wars, murders, and domestic abuse have headlined as the only violence prevalent in society. Tessa Hadley’s ‘Bad Dreams and Other Stories’ (2017) depicts ten female protagonists sprawled across modern Britain in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Ultimately, the anthology reveals violence as a persistent force engrained in society, place, and experienced by all, through its characters plights. Hadley reveals tensions ingrained in domestic spaces. Furthermore, she depicts desertion as a cause of pain, thus condemning societies dependence on connection. Ultimately, the anthology illuminates patriarchal societal structures that domesticate women cyclically as a cause of immense suffering. Hadley’s collection depicts violence as everlasting and imbedded in constructs, contrasting history’s depiction of cruelty as purely physical.
Hadley reveals the everlasting tension and power imbalance in Britain’s spheres. Familial feuds are common throughout Hadley’s works, catalysed by power imbalances and stagnant settings. The unnamed family in the titular piece ‘Bad Dreams’, depicts the underlying conflict present in family, acting as a representation of the universal domestic experience due to their anonymous characterisation. The descriptions of the father’s opulence, ‘shiny trumpet’, ‘case open’, implies an entitlement prescribed only to the male sex, as his possessions juxtapose that of the mothers ‘put away’ sewing kit that ‘drove their days’. The mundanity of the mothers’ items suggests that the luxuries available to the father are unavailable and distant to her. Thus, Hadley depicts a stark power imbalance, mirroring British societies way of condemning women to the ‘lower things’ in life. The later revelation of the mother, in which she decides to go down a ‘long road of antagonism’, suggests that she is somewhat trapped in the domestic sphere and that her only option is to alienate her husband. Through this, the piece illuminates the entrapment of women in domestic spheres built on conflict, therefore highlighting the inescapability of tensions. Similarly, Susan and Claire’s long-term fight in ‘Flight’ encapsulates the conflict embedded within homes. The scarf made of a ‘silky fabric’ act as a symbol for the sister’s inability to communicate which perpetuates their conflict. Through Susan’s denial of the gift, Hadley depicts the conflict as underlying and persistent – unable to be reconciled. Susan’s long-term alienation of Claire exemplifies the silent and damaging violence present in the anthology. The imagery of Claires ‘heels [being] eerily loud on the cobbled footpath’ illuminates her unfamiliarity and exile from not only Susan’s house but also her world, including the ‘working-class’ suburbs of London. Through this, Hadley exemplifies conflict as a severing force, highlighting the tensions that drag families apart. Overall, Hadley illuminates silent and insidious violence within domestic spheres that alienates her characters.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “Jane Eyre is a novel about the struggle…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 92.5%: Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre ultimately presents autonomy not as a stable achievement but as a contested moral…
Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre ultimately presents autonomy not as a stable achievement but as a contested moral state, forged through suffering, self-denial and ethical resistance. While the novel traces Jane’s movement from social powerlessness to material independence, Brontë resists a simplistic narrative of liberation. Instead, autonomy emerges as the capacity to act in alignment with one’s moral conscience despite emotional, social and patriarchal pressures. Through Jane’s resistance to institutional oppression, her refusal of Rochester’s morally compromised love, and her rejection of St John’s spiritual tyranny, Brontë constructs autonomy as an inward, principled authority rather than external freedom alone. In doing so, Jane Eyre interrogates Victorian assumptions about female dependence and redefines autonomy as moral self-governance.
From its opening chapters, Brontë establishes autonomy as something denied to Jane within oppressive social structures, particularly those that conflate power with moral legitimacy. At Gateshead, Jane’s exclusion from the Reed family’s domestic sphere reflects her lack of agency within a rigid class hierarchy that privileges inheritance over merit. Mrs Reed’s condemnation of Jane as “deceitful” and “ungrateful” functions as a linguistic mechanism of control, using moral language to justify emotional and physical repression. Jane’s confinement in the Red Room symbolises the punitive consequences of self-assertion within patriarchal authority, as her attempt to articulate injustice is met with isolation rather than dialogue. However, Brontë frames Jane’s resistance — her insistence that she is “not deceitful” — as the nascent expression of autonomy. Even when materially powerless, Jane’s refusal to internalise unjust judgments signals Brontë’s belief that autonomy originates in self-definition rather than social validation. Thus, autonomy is initially represented as fragile but morally potent, existing in opposition to institutional power.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Jackson’s novel is ultimately about…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 85%: Shirley Jackson’s gothic narrative grapples with a patriarchal society’s fear of women who refuse to capitulate to…
Shirley Jackson’s gothic narrative grapples with a patriarchal society’s fear of women who refuse to capitulate to its norms, who are the ‘other’. In a world where men hold central power, those who do not conform will ultimately be met with disproportionate force, which is demonstrated through Merricat and Constance Blackwood. They emphasise the sheer magnitude of society’s fear of dissenting women and the resulting ostracism they suer. Bleakly, their only viable solution is to lock themselves away, in total isolation from the putrescence of the outside world, a world whose decay is symbolised by the 'rotten' food Merricat imagines poisoning the villagers with. Jackson establishes a staunchly repressive world, in which women who merely attempt to seek control over their lives are greeted with hostility, and otherised. The young and unruly Merricat encapsulates this notion, serving as the antithesis of the docile, passive women of mid-century America. A frequently “misbehaving child”, Merricat often exercised her autonomy, defying the patriarchal figurehead of her home, John Blackwood. The disproportionate and excessive “punishment” he would administer to his daughter exemplifies society’s fear of women who undermine its power. This trepidation is so intense, Merricat’s freedom must be completely restricted, and thus why she is essentially imprisoned in her room, and deprived of her supper. As such, this inherent fear of ‘the other’ is one of the driving forces behind Merricat’s drastic action of poisoning her family six years prior. Here, Jackson expresses her disdain for a society that oppresses those that do not conform to its norms, demonstrating that this will inevitably result in a cataclysmic confrontation. In this context, it is the men who “stayed young and did the gossiping” while “the women aged with grey evil weariness”: anyone who does not adhere to this dynamic will ultimately be targeted. For this reason, Constance, the domestic “slave”, is encouraged to “come back into the world” by Helen Clarke, for her alignment with traditionality and entrenched gender roles. As such, society’s acceptance of subordinate, conforming women only illuminates its contempt for the female ‘other’, who exert any control over their lives, and refuse to live with a ‘man of the house’.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “The greatest act of freedom is choosing…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 62.5%: In the film, Barbie (2023), directed by Greta Gerwig, Barbie explores her purpose and engages in personal growth…
In the film, Barbie (2023), directed by Greta Gerwig, Barbie explores her purpose and engages in personal growth and choice through unfamiliar interactions and eye-opening events. Barbie’s exposure to Real World relationships, such as Sasha and Glora, reveals the difficult, but realistic, obstacles experienced by members of the Real World. By interacting with real people, Barbie is introduced to the expression of emotions other than happiness. By combining Barbie’s newly experienced reactions with her conversations with Ruth Handler, she can engage in choice-making and find her purpose.
Contrasting the film's beginning, which highlights Barbie’s perfectionism, with the malfunctioning of her flat feet, etc., Barbie’s liberty and everyday routine are challenged. Greta explores this through her lyrical change in the soundtrack ‘Pink’, portrayed through the additional line “or is it the irrepressible thoughts of death”. This shift in lyrics and momentum is analysed to illustrate the larger picture of Barbie’s “perfect day” being contested. Instead of taking pride in her mistakes, Barbie resorts to “going back to how everything was”, by picking the heel instead of the Birkenstock when offered a choice from Weird Barbie. However, this ‘shoe selection’ foreshadows Barbie’s personal growth and mindset change as she interacts with members of the Real World. After contributing to the demolition of patriarchy in Barbie Land, with the support and motivation of Gloria and Sasha. Their support is shown through Gloria’s persistence in assisting Barbie in overcoming her cognitive dissonance under patriarchy and her loss of self-worth. After overcoming this challenge, Barbie is shown to be wearing Birkenstocks at the end of the film, which Greta uses as a form of symbolism, highlighting Barbie’s change and acceptance.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Sunset Boulevard suggests that the essence…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 60%: In his 1950 metacinematic film 'Sunset Boulevard", Billy Wilder divulges the true conniving nature of Hollywood,…
In his 1950 metacinematic film 'Sunset Boulevard", Billy Wilder divulges the true conniving nature of Hollywood, particularly it's propagation of lies to society as well as those working in the industry. The film follows the events of Joe's life, a struggling screenplay writer, with an emphasis on his involvement with forgotten silent film era star, Norma Desmond, leading up to his demise at the hands of Hollywood, and features aspects of both gothic horror and the film noir genre. Wilder suggests that although not everyone is privy to it, the intentional misrepresentation of the industry is a fundamentally rooted practice in Hollywood. The film foregrounds a multitude of falsehoods that Hollywood sells, specifically revealing the truth behind the glamourous portrayal of Hollywood, exposing the industries true value for artists as mere commodities, the delusion of eternal stardom, . While some are aware of Hollywood's prevarications, ultimately, wilder suggests that these people are often forced to accept them as they lack the power to succeed otherwise.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Idenity in Rainbows End by Jane Harrison
VCE Text Response essay scoring 67.5%: Harrison constructs the identities of the Dear family as intergenerational responses to Aboriginal dispossession…
Harrison constructs the identities of the Dear family as intergenerational responses to Aboriginal dispossession and assimilation. Right from the beginning of the play, Harrison emphasises Gladys’ and Nan Dear’s distinctive identities through their interactions with the Queen's visit. Gladys, who wouldn’t miss meeting the queen for ‘all the tea in China’ is succumbed by white royalty, suggested by her ‘white gloves’ which symbolise her subscription to the power of queen. Conversely, Nan Dear who has experienced past trauma with her daughter ‘taken away’ and the historic ‘Cummenjara’ walk-off is '[disgusted]' by the queen and claims ‘she [isn't her] queen’. Through their differences in views of the Queen, Harrison boldens the obvious statement that reactions to the queen differ negatively in terms of age, due to the longer possession of Indigenous identity, an identity described by Harrison, which has been upheld to constant racism and oppression as well as marginalised power and voice. This notion is further exemplified through Dolly, the youngest in the family, whose short lived violence by ‘white’ people, propels her influence by assimilation. Her high levels of education, being a
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: To what extent high ground suggests a just…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: Johnson portrays how the definition of justice can be diverse, suggesting that underlying morality can never be…
Johnson portrays how the definition of justice can be diverse, suggesting that underlying morality can never be universally consistent. In the meeting between the Wild Mob and settler authorities, Moran rhetorically attempts to enforce law he’s “duty-bound to uphold.“ In response, Darrpa expresses his deep admiration towards law that “comes from the soil“ and that “makes [them] one,” refusing to obey law that “comes from across the sea.“ To convince his audience, Johnson externalises the difference in their understanding of law, thus justice. As the shot captures the Wild Mob, they are painted in white ochres, blending into nature. They stand tall in the vicinity of each other, holding spears, in consistent with the verticality of the tall gum trees that surround them, casting their ethical system as grounded in the land and as a vital unification tool for them. The opposite is the shot of white characters that captures a contrast view. Moran stands pompously in an armchair, wearing
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: MEDEA analysis essay TOPICS: How does…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: In Euripides' tragic play ‘Medea', explored is the multifaceted nature of human suffering, and how it arises from…
In Euripides' tragic play ‘Medea', explored is the multifaceted nature of human suffering, and how it arises from both social and personal forces is explored. Euripides expresses that human despair is both an inevitable and complex emotion, highlighting how one’s personal misery can be brought through the upright agony of betrayal, the distraught effect of exile and the danger of unchecked emotions. Thus, Euripides warns his audience that human life is both fragile and chaotic, that both actions and emotions can have devastating effects on oneself and others around them.
Euripides explores how betrayal is the focal point for human despair, that broken trust within intimate relationships provokes intense distress within oneself and severe consequences towards those within. Euripides appeals strongly to Pathos, via Medea’s impassioned laments to the chorus, as she asserts that ‘of all creatures that have life…we women are the most wretched’; universalising Medea’s pain, Euripides targets the compassion of the audience by exposing both the grief and vulnerability of women bound by marriage. Thus, Euripides demonstrates that Jason’s betrayal of Medea not only caused her personal harm but symbolises the greater oppression of women in Ancient Greek society.
Furthermore, Euripides’s use of stichomythia amplifies the severe emotional toll of disloyalty; via Jason’s attempts to rationalize his acts, considering them to be pragmatic, hoping Medea would “stop thinking good is bad” and that she is actually “fortunate” are however, met by Medea’s sharp, anguished retorts of her actually being ‘alone’, nothing more than an ‘exile’. Theis rapid-back-and-forth and forth structure of their argument, mirrors the intensity of the adverse effects of Jason’s unrepentance and further emphasizes the psychological and emotional devastation caused by Jason’s disloyalty. Overall, Euripides warns, that the betrayal of others not only acts as the catalyst for one’s complete and utter despair, but also has the ability of converting an individual’s personal bonds into sources of misery.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Mary Oliver’s poetry explore the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: Oliver critiques traditional perspectives of death, where through nature illustrates how its inevitability should…
Oliver critiques traditional perspectives of death, where through nature illustrates how its inevitability should be honoured and the cyclical connection between life and death that can define our personal experiences. The author underscores that nature can be a reflection of unfiltered truths. In ‘Vultures’, Oliver describes the vultures as “large dark / lazy / butterflies they sweep over / the glades looking / for death”. The comparison between vultures which are often a symbol for death to butterflies a symbol for life demonstrates the co-existence of life and death and also reframes the idea of death to be delicate and transformative rather than final. The author develops this further in the alliteration of the lines “they discover / and descend to, demonstrating / each time the earth’s / appetite, the unending / waterfalls of change”. Oliver develops a sense of continuity that surpasses death, and a plosive speech sound in the repetition of ‘d’ to create dramatic tension and intensity. The juxtaposition between the plosive speech and the contents of the lines, outlining ‘discovery’, illustrate a sense of rebirth and transformation when one accepts the inevitability of death. In addition to the imagery of the ‘waterfalls of change’, it
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Ghost Wall suggests that obsession with an…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 87.5%: In Ghost Wall, Sarah Moss presents the longing for an “authentic” past as neither innocent nostalgia nor neutral…
In Ghost Wall, Sarah Moss presents the longing for an “authentic” past as neither innocent nostalgia nor neutral scholarship, but as a powerful mechanism for enforcing control in the present. Through Bill’s brutal fixation on Iron Age “authenticity”, the complicity of academic structures, and Silvie’s gradual recognition of history as a constructed narrative rather than an unchallengeable truth, Moss exposes how invented versions of the past legitimise contemporary hierarchies of gender, class and nation. The novel’s tightly controlled first-person narration, its framing prologue and its symbolic use of landscape all work together to suggest that claims to authenticity are less about recovering the past than about deciding who must submit in the present.
Moss first figures the obsession with an “authentic” past as a fundamentally patriarchal fantasy that enables Bill’s domestic tyranny. As Silvie’s father and a self‑taught “expert” in Iron Age Britain, Bill repeatedly invokes a purer, pre‑modern past to naturalise his authority over his wife and daughter, insisting, for example, that women “managed well enough before” modern conveniences and therefore do not “need” basic sanitary products. His nostalgia for a supposedly harsher, more “honest” way of life thus becomes a pretext for policing female bodies and enforcing their discomfort as historically proper. Characterisation and narrative voice are crucial here: because the novel is focalised through Silvie’s first‑person account, Bill’s obsession appears not as abstract ideology but as lived bodily harm, visible in the “bruises” on Alison’s arms and Silvie’s habitual flinching at the sound of his voice. The domestic setting is itself shaped by his fantasy of authenticity; he deliberately keeps the family’s life “pared back” and isolated, reflecting his belief that modern softness corrupts “real” Britishness. Moss thereby critiques a value system in which the past is selectively reconstructed as masculine, white and stoic, and then used to justify ongoing violence in the home.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 'Sunset Boulevard' reveals the dark side…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: Billy Wilder's 1950 noir melodrama 'Sunset Boulevard' delivers a vehement criticism of Hollywood culture during the…
Billy Wilder's 1950 noir melodrama 'Sunset Boulevard' delivers a vehement criticism of Hollywood culture during the 1940s and 50s. The film follows struggling screenwriter 'Joe Gillis' who becomes ensconced in the world of former silent film star 'Norma Desmond', eventually leading to Joe's loss of autonomy and subsequent murder. Although Wilder acknowledges the benefits of stardom, such as wealth, power and influence, ultimately he exposes the sinister side of notoriety, presenting fame as an addiction few can escape. Furthermore, Wilder explores how women suffer more greatly at the cruel hands of popularity compared to men, due to intense pressure placed on female stars to retain youth and perfection despite age.
Wilder's characterisation of Norma Desmond is central to his portrayal of the dangers of fame. Prior to the arrival of Joe Gillis, Norma lives in almost complete isolation from reality. Max von Mayerling, the 'waxworks' and Norma's deceased pet chimpanzee were her only connections to others. Norma's self induced isolation appears driven primarily by fear; Norma is no longer the star she once was, and it is far easier to live alone than admit this truth. Though Norma subconsciously knows she is no longer relevant, she cannot escape her obsession with stardom, filling her home with pictures of herself and constantly watching her own films. Max von Mayerling, Norma's devoted servant attends to Norma's every whim, even sending her forged fan letters to keep her happy.
This lack of interaction with other people causes Norma to lack social and communication skills. Wilder characterises Norma as struggling to form and maintain balanced relationships. Norma treats Max in a 'humiliating' way, ordering him around her mansion, rather than treating him as an equal. Norma's relationship with Joe is also fraught with issues, Norma constantly offers Joe money and expensive gifts, as if she believes that by doing so she can buy his friendship, or even love. This highlights how Norma sees wealth as a form of validation, likely used to being awarded money for her acting as a young woman. Though she is a woman of fifty, Norma has a juvenile personality, becoming upset with frequently changing emotions. Joe describes Norma as 'a bundle of raw nerves', highlighting her lack of emotional regulation. Norma is also known to have a 'childlike scrawl', demonstrating her immaturity. Wilder portrays Norma in this way to convey her loss of self after she rose to fame as a seventeen year old. Fame has frozen Norma's personality and prevented her from growing up in a normal fashion. Hence, Wilder portrays stardom as responsible for celebrity's becoming detached from reality, as it prevents personal growth.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 'Sunset Boulevard' reveals the dark side…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 67.5%: Billy Wilder's 1950 noir melodrama 'Sunset Boulevard' delivers a vehement criticism of Hollywood culture during…
Billy Wilder's 1950 noir melodrama 'Sunset Boulevard' delivers a vehement criticism of Hollywood culture during the 1940s and 50s. The film follows struggling screenwriter 'Joe Gillis' who becomes ensconced in the world of former silent film star 'Norma Desmond', eventually leading to Joe's loss of autonomy and subsequent murder. Although Wilder acknowledges the benefits of stardom, such as wealth, power and influence, ultimately he exposes the sinister side of notoriety, presenting fame as an addiction few can escape. Furthermore, Wilder explores how women suffer more greatly at the cruel hands of popularity compared to men, due to intense pressure placed on female stars to retain youth and perfection despite age.
Wilder's characterisation of Norma Desmond is central to his portrayal of the dangers of fame. Prior to the arrival of Joe Gillis, Norma lives in almost complete isolation from reality. Max von Mayerling, the 'waxworks' and Norma's deceased pet chimpanzee were her only connections to others. Norma's self induced isolation appears driven primarily by fear; Norma is no longer the star she once was, and it is far easier to live alone than admit this truth. Though Norma subconsciously knows she is no longer relevant, she cannot escape her obsession with stardom. Max von Mayerling, Norma's devoted servant attends to Norma's every whim, even sending her forged fan letters to filling her home with pictures of herself and constantly and ecstatically watching her own films.
keep her happy. This lack of interaction with other people causes Norma to lack social and communication skills. Wilder characterises Norma as struggling to form and maintain balanced relationships. Norma treats Max in a 'humiliating' way, ordering him around her mansion, rather than treating him as an equal. Norma's relationship with Joe is also fraught with issues. Norma constantly offers Joe money and expensive gifts, as if she believes that by doing so she can buy his friendship, or even love. This highlights how Norma sees wealth as a form of validation, likely used to being awarded money for her acting as a young woman. Though she is a woman of fifty, Norma has a juvenile personality, becoming upset with frequently changing emotions. Joe describes Norma as 'a bundle of raw nerves', highlighting her lack of emotional regulation. Norma is also known to have a 'childlike scrawl', demonstrating her immaturity. Wilder portrays Norma this way to convey her loss of self after she rose to fame as a seventeen year old. Fame has frozen Norma's personality and prevented her from growing up in a normal fashion. Hence, Wilder portrays stardom as responsible for celebrity's becoming detached from reality, as it prevents personal growth.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In sunset boulevard, Wilder suggests that…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: Exploiting the repercussions on victims of the Hollywood born yet abstract villains, Wilders quintessentially…
Exploiting the repercussions on victims of the Hollywood born yet abstract villains, Wilders quintessentially American Film, Sunset Boulevard (1950), explores people's roles as a casualty or an aggressor in the film industry with the potential existence of both occurring in coincidence. While fame and decadence is present to lure people in and trap them in Hollywood, at times making them simply a martyr for the industry, throughout manipulation is poised as being dealt out and received with the human nature of serving self interest often prevailing. Furthermore, while many are seen as victims of the apparatus, the ways in which they express this on others contradicts the initial creation of monstrosity. As such, Wilders conveys that while it is possible for one to be purely a victim or villain, often individuals engage in both in different scenarios to different people.
Initially painting this industry as intrinsically conniving, Wilder permeates the lure of fame and riches as being either from or against an individual with neither being able to occur in unison. Joe Gillis throughout the film is portrayed as being pragmatic yet ambitious with his pursuit. Coming from a "$35 a day job behind a copy desk at the Dayton Evening Post", the allure of Hollywood for Joe is both utopian and as such heavily desirable, ignorant of any stipulations that may come with it. The illusion of "the pool he always wanted" is irrefusable, symbolising the life of comfort and freedom one seeks for - however, the same pool he'd strived for eventually leads to his demise. His posthumous voiceover over the irony of "the homicide squad [being] complete with… newspaper" speaks to the fragility of it all with the industry being purely transactional, forgiving to those who can provide for it. While "he had some talent", the industry made way for him but as he materialised to "a writer with a couple of B pictures to his name" he was thrown out and discarded thus displaying Wilders sympathy for victims of Hollywood's façade while scrutinizing the industry's counterfeit relationships with its people being dependent on whom is the highest bidder and most lucrative candidate. Furthermore, the agent is the epitome of an aggravator of the lure of riches. Pictured on the golf course making his putt, the agent represents an exemplar of those that fuel the animosity of the industry. His ideology that "the finest things in the world were written on an empty stomach" speaks to the expectations of Hollywood. Hidden behind a façade of sensationalism and perfection, the reality is that one is only rewarded for what they can provide, with those often announcing themselves as "your friend" are simply only in it "for the 10%" after all. As such, while Wilder proposes that one can be a victim or a villain with the deception of fame and riches, he ultimately condemns those that push the rhetoric of using it as a force for personal gain while championing those that can withstand its force.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Sunset Boulevard explore the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: In Sunset Boulevard, performance isn’t simply confined to a stage, but rather a form of existence which individuals…
In Sunset Boulevard, performance isn’t simply confined to a stage, but rather a form of existence which individuals must maintain in order to survive. Billy Wilder’s 1950 film, set in post-war Hollywood, exposes an industry that celebrates dreams while quietly discarding dreamers who fail to maintain the spotlight. Wilder's portrayal of identity within an industry that demands performance, suggests that once identity becomes ceremonial, autonomy and sincerity begin to erode, ultimately motivating individuals to sacrifice their true-selves for recognition. This exploration unfolds through Norma's constructed reality, Joe Gillis’s loss of agency in chase of success wrapped in spectacle, and Max’s self-erasure as a means of sustaining Hollywood's promise.
Through the portrayal of Norma Desmond, Wilder critiques an industry that commodifies talent in favour of spectacle, suggesting that authenticity erodes within a system built on visibility. Norma's repeated viewings of her old films as she obsessively immerses herself within her former glory, exposes her dependence on Hollywood's gaze in order to exist whilst establishing her life as a recurring performance. This demonstrates Norma's loss of autonomy as she constructs her reality to sustain the stardom she once possessed, suggesting that when self-hood is solely based on recognition individuals can no longer accept the truth. Moreover through the use of medium close-up shots Wilder captures Norma's anachronistic and dramatic gestures, underscoring her performative existence where she is constantly on “stage” , even in the privacy of her own home. Through this Wilder frames Norma's performance as a product of Hollywood's promise, suggesting that when illusion is fused with reality, authenticity is inevitably destroyed.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In these stories, place is never just a…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: For many young Australians, landscape plays a significant role navigating the complex journey of understanding. In…
For many young Australians, landscape plays a significant role navigating the complex journey of understanding. In his philosophical collection of narratives (‘The Complete Stories’), David Malouf portrays place as important in shaping identity due to its rich history and heavy involvement in growth and understanding. The author highlights the misleading nature of place when it offers false promises of solace to characters, whilst also emphasising the personal connections that one can share with a place. Furthermore, Malouf showcases how place can create moments of introspection and growth, ultimately shaping identity.
Malouf’s evocative stories elucidate how the mythologisation of places can be a misleading cause of lost identity. Angus’ idealisation of ‘The Valley of Lagoons’ from a young age is created by ‘the magic of the name itself,’ illustrating an allure characterised with uncertainty. This idealisation prompts him to see others ‘who went out [to the valley] were changed’ and subsequently envision the valley as a place of transformation for him too. Due to this, he creates an unrealistic vision of the hunting trip in the valley, hoping that ‘everything [he] found unsatisfactory in [himself]... would come out [there].’ However, Malouf implies that by diverting his attention to a place that was so foreign, Angus was shaping his identity around a place lacking genuine personal connection. Through this, Malouf demonstrates that the mythologisation of place can detract from one's true identity. Whilst Angus romanticises the valley in order to fit in, Andy mythologises the city in ‘Elsewhere’ as a reminder of his past aspirations. Malouf describes his clinging ‘to a vision of himself (that)...had seemed golden and inextinguishable’ and viewed the city as a desired place to live. Andy’s failure to succeed as a rugby player saw him unable to migrate to Sydney, leaving him forever chasing ‘the exhilaration, the allure, of a faster, more crowded world.’ Malouf reveals Andy’s internal insecurity that ‘he had missed out’ as he struggled to maintain a genuine sense of self and belonging whilst also wishing for ‘something extra, something more.’ Thus, by mythologising Sydney in such a way, Malouf showcases Andy’s loss of identity and belonging due to his struggle to see where he fits in a society so large. Instead of being content with his current domestic life in the countryside, his romanticisation of the city hinders his connection to his actual life. Therefore, Malouf presents place as harmful to identity and belonging when excessively idealised.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Topic: This was the country I would go on…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 65%: This was the country I would go on dreaming in, wherever I lay my head.” How does Malouf accentuate the importance…
This was the country I would go on dreaming in, wherever I lay my head.”
How does Malouf accentuate the importance of place?
Across ‘Every Move You Make’[QK1] , David Malouf foregrounds the idea that place is not merely setting, but a vital condition for the making and remaking of self. Malouf depicts place as something that invites transformation for characters willing to confront its uncertainties yet, when people resign themselves to place that aren’t the best for them – growth becomes stagnate and slow. The natural world functions as a site that loosens imposed expectations, yet Malouf also recognises the profound difficulty of stepping outside the identities that communities assign. Thus, it is in moments of disconnection from social strictures and renewed attention to the natural world that characte encounter insight, healing, and an emerging sense of self, as they continue ‘dreaming’ wherever they lay their heads.
This is lovely, well done. I think the introduction would benefit from a line that reveals how important place is through the LOSS of place (that can be how place is accentuated)
Malouf accentuates the importance of country by constructing the natural environment as an active moral force, one that both manufactures and exposes the rigid masculine identities imposed upon young men. . [QK2] [QK3] Drawing on the conventions of the coming-of-age narrative to reveal the fraught transition between youth and adulthood, Malouf illustrates Angus’s deep attachment to landscape through the ritualised “hunting trip” at the Valley of Lagoons. The valley is imagined as a crucible for masculine identity, reserved for “fellows who went out there [and] were changed.” The religious imagery of the valley as a “page of Genesis” positions it as the birthplace of masculinity. This place also becomes the terrain upon which boys measure themselves against unforgiving masculine ideals. The importance of environment is further stressed in ‘War Baby’ through Charlie’s estrangement from place. His insistence that “Vietnam and his going was the certainty he needed to give his life direction” marks his refusal [QK4] to locate meaning in the domestic landscape, revealing his reliance on spectacular, externally validated experiences to confirm his identity. Charlie “sleepwalks” rejecting the ordinary rhythms of place that demand vulnerability and presence. Katie’s fear of “ending up marrying somebody like” Stuart reinforces the determinism of rural space for women, whose small-town environments leave narrow margins for those who deviate from prescribed gendered roles. Yet, despite the town’s smallness and its restricted “places,” Malouf still offers nature as a realm through which clarity and agency may be reclaimed.
Some of your points need more support from stronger evidence – be sure you are bringing strong foundations from the text to help prove your argument and thus really hit the topic
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “She was worried that she was overstepping…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 85%: Tessa Hadley’s short story “The Stain” explores Marina’s anxiety about “overstepping the mark” to reveal how…
Tessa Hadley’s short story “The Stain” explores Marina’s anxiety about “overstepping the mark” to reveal how gender, class, and patriarchy quietly regulate behaviour through guilt and silence. Marina’s fear reflects how deeply she has internalised social rules that determine who may act, speak, or show kindness without suspicion.