VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Sunset Boulevard explores the dangers of…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: Set in post-war Hollywood, Billy Wilder’s American masterpiece ‘Sunset Boulevard’ exposes an industry obsessed with…
Set in post-war Hollywood, Billy Wilder’s American masterpiece ‘Sunset Boulevard’ exposes an industry obsessed with fame and image at the expense of authentic relationships. Demonstrated through his examination of the effects of illusion vs reality, Billy Wilder’s American film noir ‘Sunset Boulevard’ suggests how a misinterpretation of reality can not only lead to erosion of identity but can also unmoor an individual’s sanity. However, Wilder further demonstrates how delusion allows for individuals to remain in a safe bubble, free from the harsh realities of the real world. Initially, Wilder diminishes how a crave for stardom leads to an erosion of one’s identity. Furthermore, he then demonstrates how transactional and commensalistic relationships feed into delusionality, thus allowing for dangers to occur. Yet, Wilder still exuberates the utter importance of illusion as a psychological shield insulating one from life’s brutal truths.
Initially, Wilder portrays how Norma Desmond’s relentless craving for renewed stardom gradually erodes her sense of self, blurring the boundary between her true identity and the roles she once played. Cooped up in her decaying mansion, isolated from the real world, Norma remains convinced that she is still adored by her “fans”, proclaiming “I am big. It’s the pictures that got small.” Through this, Wilder lambasts how continual denial and self-obsession can warp one’s grasp on reality, reducing identity to a fragile performance sustained only by elusion. Moreover, Wilder furthers this toward the end of the film, displaying the consequences of feeding into Norma’s fantasy as her desire for stardom is perpetuated, she states how “[She is] the greatest star of them all” and how “[the fans] still want [her].” By embedding these famous lines, Wilder highlights how Hollywood’s disposability of stars leads to erosion of their identity as they cling to outdated images of themselves, mistaking nostalgic adoration for present reality and surrendering any stable sense of who they are beyond their fame. In doing so, Wilder suggests that Norma’s desperate attachment to her former stardom is not merely vanity, but a tragic by-product of an industry that builds identities on illusion and then abandons them once the spotlight moves on, proving Hollywood’s ability to ‘lend’ actors fame when they most desire – demonstrating their corrupt nature.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Sunset Boulevard shows that the pursuit of…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 87.5%: The corruption of the Hollywood dream is central to Billy Wilder’s 1950 pax-Americana film noir, Sunset…
The corruption of the Hollywood dream is central to Billy Wilder’s 1950 pax-Americana film noir, Sunset Boulevard. Set after the advent of the 'talkies,' the film explores how the endeavor of stardom is corrupted by the toxic hollywood environment. Additionally, Wilder conveys how such ambition can be detrimental to one's own well-being and mental state. Despite this, the film reveals that although the pursuit of status can be treacherous, it is not always inevitable. Ultimately, Wilder emphasises how fame is an illusion that consumes those who worship it.
Wilder conveys how the strive for status is consequentially jeopardised as a result of Hollywood’s toxic underbelly. This notion is reiterated through Betty Schaefer, a young, desiring actress who fails to succeed in the industry because “they didn't like [her] nose”. Undertaking strenuous training and a payment of “$300” to get her nose "fixed," Betty’s prolonging dream was again closed as they "didn't like [her] acting”, yet were now “crazy about [her] nose". By going to the extent of surgically altering physical appearance, Wilder reveals how aspiring individuals like Betty were willing to take extreme measures to meet the benchmark of Hollywood. Furthermore, the director uses her nose job to condemn the industry's unethical expectations, manipulating ambitious individuals into feeling worthless if they do not meet certain specifications, requiring complete “fixe[s]” to physical identity to satisfy these high standards. However, Wilder expresses that these measures are not innate to the youth. This is furthered through Norma's deluded ambition to “return to the screen”, which is established early on through the thick makeup accentuating her lips and eyes, reminiscent of the style of the silent film era. The director employs this technique to lambast the consequences attached to an individual's rise of fame within Hollywood, creating harmful obsessions with the substantial commercial standards that gradually apply to both work and personal life. As the film progresses, Norma continues to immerse herself into the commercial standards, undertaking arduous beauty procedures conveyed by extreme close ups. By magnifying minor facial characteristics such as her eyebags, Wilder further condemns the strict physical specifications that Hollywood abides by to grant fame, consequentially creating detrimental self-image for those who strive for status in the industry. Therefore, Wilder suggests that the commercial standards of the industry enable a pursuit for fame to be perilous.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Norma only has herself to blame for her…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 65%: Wilder reflects upon the lack of control Norma Desmond has in dictating her own story, through the use of…
Wilder reflects upon the lack of control Norma Desmond has in dictating her own story, through the use of structural film techniques. Sunset boulevard presents an uncommon film technique of cyclical structure alongside symbols relevant to Norma which represents her future to be inevitable. In the film, Wilder cleverly implements a cyclical structure by showing the frame of Joe dead in the pool at both the beginning and the end of the film. This cyclical structure introduces the theme of inevitability, as the ending is already established. This causes the audience to experience a sense of helplessness towards Norma's gradual demise, thus affirming its inescapable nature. Furthermore, Norma’s lack of control is reiterated through Joe’s consistent narration throughout the film. Joe narrates the plot and describes each scene from his personal perspective and beliefs. Wilder’s choice of this narration translates to how
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Change is unwelcome in We Have Always…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 100%: Set against the suffocating atmosphere of 1960s New England, Shirley Jackson’s ‘We Have Always Lived in the…
Set against the suffocating atmosphere of 1960s New England, Shirley Jackson’s ‘We Have Always Lived in the Castle’ serves as a cultural critique of the chains of a conforming society. While change is greatly feared in the narrative, it ultimately leads the characters to an ideal reality and serves as their saviour. The story illustrates the ghastliness of the societal expectations imposed upon the women of the era. Furthermore the author utilises fantasy as an effective coping mechanism to ‘change’ one’s reality. Ultimately, Jackson presents change as a dire need for the characters in the novel, and how it leads to their utopia.
Critiquing oppressive domestic expectations, Jackson exposes the unwelcome fear that a patriarchal environment brings. The gothic elements of the story are utilised by the author to foreground the ‘fictitious’ nature of the fear that ‘ordinary’ women faced during the time. Merricat’s deluded view of Charles as a “ghost…sleeping in father’s bed” serves as a testament to this gothic register. She views Charles as an apparition to demonstrate her fear against the ‘ghost’ of patriarchal intrusion, and the change he threatens to bring. Jackson’s crafting of Merricat’s eccentric view is used to reflect her own feelings against the era that fought to confine her, and the ostracization that comes from a defiance to small-town conformity. This gothic element is further compounded by its dehumanising nature, where Charles is depicted as a “big white face…still looking like our father”. This dehumanisation is used to further subvert the ‘humanity’ that a paternalistic society holds and directly mirrors the “flat grey faces” of the village. Through this juxtaposition, Jackson proposes that oppression doesn’t only take place in the ‘macro’ of large mobs but takes root directly in the domestic sphere as well, illustrating a corrupt and androcentric society as a weed that binds women. The author solidifies the horrific nature of the conforming society through the authority meant to help them. The act of Jim Donnell “[taking] off his hat saying ‘CHIEF’…in complete silence” serves as a dramatic device of ‘slow building’ apprehension; Jackson renders mob violence with horrifying deliberateness, where villagers' "justice" is exposed as pure cruelty, vindicating the sisters' original choice to isolate. Jackson implicates the community as the true source of violence - the sisters are not dangerous outcasts but rational escapees from a genuinely brutal social order. Ultimately, Jackson subverts the gothic trope of the ‘monster’ by painting an ‘ordinary’ conforming society as monstrous harbingers of change.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “Apollo commands us – he was quite clear –…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 85%: ‘Oedipus The King’ is a Greek tragedy, written by Sophocles in 429 BCE, and performed in Dionysia – a festival for…
‘Oedipus The King’ is a Greek tragedy, written by Sophocles in 429 BCE, and performed in Dionysia – a festival for the god Dionysus. The play centres Oedipus - the king of Thebes, praised and crowned for saving Thebes from the Sphinx. Despite the triumph, Oedipus is not free from human flaws, which later leads to his downfall. Further to be shown, a plague strikes down to Thebes, from Apollo’s command – to “drive the corruption from the land”, to “root [the corruption] out”, Oedipus is actually stepping away from the truth by the hubris and the inability to find out the truth despite his determination of pursue the truth at all costs, contributing to the continuation of Thebes’ suffering.
Sophocles illustrates how hubris can badly lead Oedipus to his own ruin, extending Thebes’ suffering. By being able to solve the Sphinx’s riddle that no one can solve, this creates a foundation of Oedipus’s hubris when he is triumphed to be the king of Thebes after Laius’s death. Oedipus believes he possesses an incredible intelligence that can be equivalent to gods, to “grant the prayers”, believes that he is destined to bring the plague away, further accentuates when he has the highest authority throughout Thebes despite the words came from the priest that he “cannot equal the gods". Oedipus lives on the demand of gaining people’s respect, wanting his name to be renowned throughout the world, “the world knows [his] fame, [he is] Oedipus”. This is further portrayed during stichomythia between Creon and Oedipus, Oedipus accuses everyone is conspiring against him, including Creon who is “equal” to Oedipus thinking “[Creon], plotting to kill me, kill the king—I see it all”; or Chorus, the people he is fighting for, after they begs for the pair to meditate for good intentions, assuming they "want [him] banished or want [him] dead", without realising the absurdity of this false logic. Oedipus is overshadowed by his own hubris, and thus cumulatively being more reckless and impulsive as a leader or “the tyrant”. This delays the resolution of the truth, thereby prolonging Thebes’ suffering.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Oedipus The King suggests that suffering…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 85%: ‘Oedipus The King’ is a classic Greek tragedy, written by Sophocles in 429 BCE. The play centres on Oedipus, a…
‘Oedipus The King’ is a classic Greek tragedy, written by Sophocles in 429 BCE. The play centres on Oedipus, a noble protagonist, who is prophesised to kill his father and marry his mother. By attempting to escape the oracle’s decree, Oedipus ultimately leads to own inevitable suffering by reconcile himself to the price of his own eyesight for the truth and restoration of Thebes. However, Sophocles suggests that while humans do not have control over their own fate, they have the power to define their character on how they respond to that suffering.
Firstly, Sophocles emphasises the unavoidability of fate that binds mortal lives within an inescapable loop. The play begins when Oedipus decides to flee Corinth after hearing the oracle’s prophecy, believing he has self-autonomy without any deities’ active control. However, this attempt paradoxically leads Oedipus closer to fulfilling the revelation, as he encounters the “triple crossroads”, where he unknowingly kills Laius, his true father. The “triple crossroads” here symbolises fate, evidently establishing how Oedipus is bound to his fate no matter what path he chooses, it is futile. Sophocles uses Oedipus to represent the human belief in self-control, illustrating the tragic consequences of hubris and hamartia when they arrogantly defy the omnipotence of the gods. After successfully becoming the ‘saviour’ of Thebes from the Sphinx, Oedipus builds a foundation of hubris, which subsequently leads him toward to be a theomaniac. Despite the Priest’s reminder that he is “not equal to the gods”, his ego leads him to believe he can “grant” the prayers of the people, once more attempting to save Thebes from the destructive plague by investigating Laius’s murder. Ironically, this investigation is the factor that pushes Oedipus into his “ruin” as each step taken in pursuit of truth brings him closer to the fulfilment of the prophecy and ultimately his destined suffering. Sophocles suggests that attempts to challenge fate ultimately result in suffering, as Oedipus’ pursuit of truth only draws him closer to his inevitable downfall.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Does Sophocles present a world where…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: The Greek Tragedy ‘Oedipus the King’ written by Sophocles, explores the overarching tension between human agency…
The Greek Tragedy ‘Oedipus the King’ written by Sophocles, explores the overarching tension between human agency over the unavoidable fate that is governed by the gods. The ancient playwright aimed for 5th century ancient Athenian audiences reminds society of the implications of defying omnipotence. Through the tragic downfall of Oedipus, Sophocles examines the complex relationship between destiny and personal choice, illustrating how fate determines the trajectory of human existence whilst individual actions contribute to the way in which that destiny unfolds. Through the manner in which Oedipus exercises his freewill and his compulsive desire for truth, Sophocles establishes the subsequent collapse that suggests that human volition is ultimately powerless.
Sophocles advocates the notion that fate is inescapable as he uncovers the governing nature of gods. He contends that the divine of authority of the gods is unparalleled as he suggests that to defy the gods is subject one to their downfall. From the outset of the play, the prophecy delivered by the oracle of Apollo at Delphi informs Oedipus that he will murder his father and marry his mother which functions as the foundational foreshadowing whilst the plague impacting Thebes functions as both a literal crisis and a metaphor for the moral corruption that stems from unresolved divine judgment. Oedipus is initially a greatly admired leader, looked up to as he “stopped the sphinx”, he promises to save his people, however the audience becomes aware through dramatic irony that he himself is the source of the city's problems. This irony reinforces Sophocles' suggestion that fate operates beyond human understanding as one “cannot equal the gods”. The interaction between Oedipus and Tiresias is particularly significant in illustrating the supremacy of divine knowledge over mortal perception. Tiresias, the blind prophet, possesses true insight, while Oedipus, who can physically see, remains blind of his own identity. The recurring motif of sight and blindness highlights the limitations of human reason when confronted with divine truth. Sophocles demonstrates the true nature of fate to be ruled by the gods, as he argues that attempts to control it is futile.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “Desire for fame destroys morality” Discuss
VCE Text Response essay scoring 87.5%: The 1950s Pax Americana social zeitgeist revealed an era in film where any social criticisms of the time were…
The 1950s Pax Americana social zeitgeist revealed an era in film where any social criticisms of the time were ludicrously cloaked behind the red velvet curtains and silver screens of Hollywood. Yet even such a glamorous industry could not conceal the gaudy and intoxicating culture of the screens that had perhaps never been so removed from the American Psyche. Billy Wilder’s 1950 cynical noirish melodrama, ‘Sunset Boulevard’, is a meta-cinema allegory which critiques how individuals’ endless pursuits for fame often come at the great cost of personal morality. Primarily, Wilder postulates that the erosion of morality in ‘Sunset Boulevard’ is fundamentally rooted in the desperate fear to stay relevant and famous. Wilder further portrays how individuals engage in a cycle of mutual exploitation and psychological manipulation to achieve the falsified dream promoted by Hollywood. Finally, Wilder lambasts the consequences of prioritizing the hollow dream of fame over ethical integrity as a tragic fall into self-destruction. Thus, this gothic horror film serves as a reflection of not only Hollywood’s superficiality, but also of a broader cultural mindset that prizes visibility, recognition and public validation above all else. Ultimately, each successive age functions as a renewed indictment of an industry overshadowed by an inevitable decline, where the “sun will forever set”.
From the outset, Wilder posits that the initial decay of integrity is triggered by fear and an insatiable ambition to keep success in a city that portrays those who lack success as failures. From the beginning, Wilder non-diagetically overlays Joe Gillis’ postmortem voice, depicting the nature of the crime scene where he describes himself as “nobody important, really. Just a movie writer,” which dismissively portrays how Joe is a fading movie writer, setting up his pathway and endless pursuit for wealth and recognition within the writing industry. Wilder portrays through a posthumous, omniscient third person narrator that the desire for success stems from the fear of fading. Moreover, Wilder continues to portray how fear is the trigger to desire fame through Norma Desmond, and the meta-casting and allusion to the real life actress Gloria Swanson, particularly through the depiction of “Queen Kelly” in the background of a scene in ‘Sunset Boulevard’. Ironically, the film stars Gloria Swanson at the age of 30 playing a 16 year old church girl, which Wilder uses to critique how women are cast as young girls because that is what the industry values, and mirrors it to an aging star within the film ‘Sunset Boulevard’, Norma Desmond to draw a correlation to her disconnect from the industry displaying why she is desperate for success in an industry that portrays a lack of success as failure. Additionally, Wilder continues to encapsulate Norma’s stemming of insatiable ambition for fame through her declaration that she is “big. It’s the pictures that got small”. Norma denies how the spotlight has shifted from her, further emphasising her endless pursuit of not being forgotten. She blames the pictures for her lack of recent success, not her aging, which Wilder paints as her subconscious fear. In essence, Wilder portrays how the erosion of morality is fundamentally rooted in the desperate fear of failure and lack of success.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In what ways does Macbeth explore the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 87.5%: Shakespeare reveals that the repercussions of remorse and immoral deeds lead to a shameful reputation, a burdened…
Shakespeare reveals that the repercussions of remorse and immoral deeds lead to a shameful reputation, a burdened mind and a broken society. In Act 5 Scene 8, Macduff proclaims ‘Look here I have Macbeth’s head’, which demonstrates a stark contrast to the beginning of the play where Macbeth was the one celebrated for displaying the rebel’s head on a stick. Shakespeare exposes that Macbeth’s immoral sins-such as committing regicide- and his subsequent guilt ultimately transformed him from a ‘loyal thane’ to being described as the ‘dead butcher’, demonstrating to the Jacobean audience that power stripped of morality guarantees a legacy of infamy, not honour. Additionally, Shakespeare emphasises through the character of Lady Macbeth that the fruits of guilt and immorality are a tainted conscience that cannot be salvaged. In the play’s exposition, Lady Macbeth is portrayed to possess a fierce, dominating and masculine personality as she tells her husband ‘Look like the innocent flower but be the snake underneath’. Shakespeare utilises this metaphor to convey how Lady Macbeth was challenging traditional gender roles and to imply that Lady Macbeth was the ‘snake’
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Fuller reveals the consequences of…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 65%: Ghost bird is a novel written by Lisa Fuller; it follows Stacey Thompson as she sets on a journey to find her…
Ghost bird is a novel written by Lisa Fuller; it follows Stacey Thompson as she sets on a journey to find her missing twin and reaccept aboriginal spirituality back into her life after her Nan's death. Fuller explores the impacts of colonisation through the erasure of Stacey's culture and the systemic racism Stacey faces when searching for her sister. However Fuller also highlights the enduring strength of Aboriginal culture though its continuation.
Fuller explores the impacts of colonisation on culture through its erasure. Following Nan’s death Stacey turns her back on her culture and relies on Western beliefs and reasoning over her own cultural teachings. She describes Western reasoning as “reason“and Aboriginal Spirituality as “superstition“. This highlights the developed internal colonial attitudes of Stacey; how she positions Western beliefs as superior to Aboriginal spirituality. This reflects a major impact of the colonisation of Australia; white colonizers sought to devalue Aboriginal teachings. Fuller highlights the disregard for aboriginal preservation. At the History Centre, Stacey observes that the information kept there was “wall to wall white history “This hyperbole emphasises the deliberate institutional erasure of Indigenous narratives, inevitably leading to the parts of their culture being lost to time. Fuller demonstrates Connection to Country through the personification of the land. When Stacey was driving up to the Potters place, she described the trees as “sentries… to protect or warn” “comforting and feel like home”, the personification of the trees encourages the reader to connect to the land as the way Stacey does, to understand her connection to Country, how the land is not just land but more akin to a family member. So, when they are “poisoned" the emotional impact on the reader is increased, this encourages the reader to understand that to Stacey the poisoning of the trees is not just environmental destruction but destroying a connection to her culture as a result of colonisation.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: It is fear, rather than the supernatural,…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: In her novel Ghost Bird, Lisa Fuller explores the themes of racism, trauma, grief and family. The novel follows…
In her novel Ghost Bird, Lisa Fuller explores the themes of racism, trauma, grief and family. The novel follows Stacey Thomson as she sets on a journey to save her sister from supernatural forces and to re-accept Aboriginal spirituality into her life. Fuller illustrates the theme of grief and trauma through a plethora of characters, specifically Stacey’s mother and elders. The elders in Stacey's life disguise their trauma as protection as they refuse to teach Stacey about the mountain, and Stacey's mother’s grief isolates Stacey in her journey to find Laney. However, Fuller demonstrates that fear does not just isolate but can bring communities together.
Fuller explores how intergenerational trauma can be disguised as protection through the stories of the elders. In her journey to find Laney, Stacey travels to the “mountain” and incredible taboo place to her culture. Stacey knew that Laney was trapped in the mountains, however due to the trauma from her elders her Mob refused to search the area, leading to Stacey going alone. Fuller demonstrates how the ignorance of Stacey and the fear from the elders was disguised as protection, resulting in the isolation of Stacey as she investigated for her sister.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: ‘I’m not the same girl who walked into…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 77.5%: In her novel Ghostbird, Lisa Fuller explores themes of family, duality and identity through Stacey's…
In her novel Ghostbird, Lisa Fuller explores themes of family, duality and identity through Stacey's transformation and her journey as she struggles to find her missing twin and re-accept Aboriginal spirituality back into her life. Fuller develops the theme of duality and identity through Stacey and Laney being mirror twins, but to save her twin Stacey needs to extend beyond the mirror image she associated herself with. Stacey begins the novel relying on Western reasoning and as she continues on her journey accepts Aboriginal knowledge as truth, reflecting the theme of cultural identity. However, Fuller also explores how familial connections in Mob withstand transformations and contribute to the courage of individuals.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Sophocles present the concept of…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 85%: Sophocles's tragic 405BC play, Oedipus the King presents Pride as catalyst of Oedipus's downfall and potrays the…
Sophocles's tragic 405BC play, Oedipus the King presents Pride as catalyst of Oedipus's downfall and potrays the gain of wisdom when pride is abscent. Based on Athenian history and performed in the Athenian Golden age, the play acts as a fierce warning to show respect to the Gods and the distressing outcome of prideful defiance. The playwright illustrates this by potraying the negative impact of pride as well as the positive knowledge gained when pride is diminished using dramatic and language conventions.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: To what extent is fear used to control and…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: George Orwell's allegorical novel demonstrates how fear is used extensively to manipulate and control animals on…
George Orwell's allegorical novel demonstrates how fear is used extensively to manipulate and control animals on the farm. Through Napoleon's use of propaganda, violence and psychological manipulation, Orwell criticises totalitarian governments and warns readers about how abuse of power can destroy independent thought and weaken resistance.
Orwell reveals how fear allows those in power to manipulate truth and control without resistance. When commandment 4 about beds is altered to only omit sleeping "with sheets", the animals are left confused and uncertain about what they originally agreed to. This is shown to be exactly what Napoleon and the pigs want, as it is revealed that animals who doubt their memory are too uncertain of themselves to ever fight back. Through this, Orwell demonstrates how authoritarian regimes manipulate the truth to weaken collective resistance. Although some animals begin to notice something is wrong, the ominous and intimidating presence of Napoleon's dogs means that even any trace of resistance is enough to get one killed. Through this, it is shown how such fear does not just stop the animals from acting, but it will stop the animals from even thinking about acting. This reinforces the idea that fear is an effective weapon when violence is used to eliminate resistance and enforce obedience, as only one animal questions the alteration. This becomes even more powerful, shown through Squeeler's rhetorical speech of whether the animals "had dreamed" of the original commandments. When Squeeler suggests that their memories cannot be trusted, the animals are left with no solid evidence to fight back as they no longer know what is real. Orwell's warning becomes increasingly unsettling for the reader, as Napoleon demonstrates that totalitarian leaders do not just control their subjects' behaviour, but also their thoughts. This is shown to be very important, as it reveals that Napoleon's reign is based on propaganda, and he never had true power. Orwell warns that this is the most dangerous form of oppression, because a society that has lost trust in its own memory has lost the chance to resist entirely.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: "While the Christians in the play preach…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 60%: Written in 1598, William Shakespeare’s play ‘The Merchant of Venice’ demonstrates how during the Elizabethan era,…
Written in 1598, William Shakespeare’s play ‘The Merchant of Venice’ demonstrates how during the Elizabethan era, although the Christians reveal that it is good to have mercy, they do not often show it themselves. Through Portia telling Shylock to have mercy then later mercilessly oppressing against him in the courtroom, as well as the Venetian citizens constantly discriminating against Shylock, it is mostly shown that Christians often do not show compassion to others. Ultimately, Shakespeare uses his play ‘The Merchant of Venice’ to criticise Venetian Christians’ for not displaying core values which they preach that one should show.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: ‘Arrogance is ultimately punished with…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: Sophocles’ Greek tragedy, Oedipus the King, explores the importance of humility in a society that condemns…
Sophocles’ Greek tragedy, Oedipus the King, explores the importance of humility in a society that condemns egotistical disposition. The punishments of hubris are exemplified through Oedipus’ magnified fulfilment of his prophesied downfall, as well as intellectual blindness that exposes personal flaws and prevents individuals from true understanding of the world, which in conjunction, serves as root of shame in the Ancient Greek setting. Thus, while Sophocles warns that excessive pride ultimately dismantles social standing and facilitates one’s own self-destruction, he invites readers to sympathise with victims of both their hamartias and their unavoidable fate.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Shakespeare use characters…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 60%: Written in 1598, William Shakespeare’s play ‘The Merchant of Venice’ demonstrates that in such Venetian societies,…
Written in 1598, William Shakespeare’s play ‘The Merchant of Venice’ demonstrates that in such Venetian societies, appearances are presented as unreliable as people and objects often hide their real intentions behind clothes and words. Through the caskets deceiving suitors by its appearance and Portia dressing up as a judge to benefit her side, it is revealed that appearances cannot be trusted. Ultimately, Shakespeare uses ‘Merchant of Venice’ to criticise how prejudice, materialism and false appearances distort justice and human relationships.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Text analysis on the Hunger Games
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: The Hunger Games — Text Response Essay “In The Hunger Games, survival is not achieved through strength alone, but…
The Hunger Games — Text Response Essay
“In The Hunger Games, survival is not achieved through strength alone, but through the preservation of humanity. Discuss.”
Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games presents survival as a complex battle between physical endurance and moral resistance, revealing that the greatest threat within an oppressive society is not merely death, but the destruction of human identity. Through Katniss Everdeen’s experience in the arena, Collins exposes how authoritarian power relies upon forcing individuals to abandon compassion, trust and individuality. However, the novel ultimately suggests that preserving one’s humanity becomes the most powerful form of rebellion. Katniss’ survival is not defined by her ability to defeat others, but by her refusal to fully become the violent symbol that the Capitol attempts to create.
From the beginning of the novel, Collins establishes that the Capitol’s greatest weapon is not simply violence, but the manipulation of human relationships. The Hunger Games are presented as a form of entertainment, transforming suffering into a spectacle for privileged citizens. By forcing children to fight for public amusement, the Capitol demonstrates how power can corrupt society’s understanding of morality. The arena becomes a microcosm of Panem itself, where individuals are encouraged to view each other as enemies rather than victims of the same system. Katniss recognises this cruelty when she understands that the Games are designed not only to eliminate tributes physically, but to psychologically destroy them by making them participate in their own oppression. Therefore, Collins suggests that survival within an unjust society requires resistance against the values imposed by those in power.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: text analysis on miracles by lucy corin
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: Text Analysis: “Miracles” by Lucy Corin Lucy Corin’s short story “Miracles” examines the fragile relationship…
Text Analysis: “Miracles” by Lucy Corin
Lucy Corin’s short story “Miracles” examines the fragile relationship between wonder, memory, and catastrophe, questioning whether moments of beauty can exist alongside violence and loss. Through its compressed structure, unsettling imagery, and unreliable retrospective narration, Corin transforms an ordinary childhood memory into a meditation on how human beings attempt to understand trauma. The story’s title becomes deliberately ironic: the “miracle” of life is presented not as purely magical, but as something entangled with fear, destruction, and the uncertainty of human experience.
Corin’s use of first-person plural narration creates a complex relationship between individual memory and collective identity. The narrator repeatedly speaks through “we,” representing the shared perspective of siblings who experienced the event together. This collective voice suggests childhood unity, as the children observe the world with curiosity and dependence on their father’s guidance. However, the narration also creates distance, because the adult narrator is reconstructing a memory rather than directly experiencing it. The story therefore highlights the unreliability of memory: the past is not preserved exactly, but reshaped by later knowledge and emotional understanding. The final shift toward “after the apocalypse” disrupts the innocence of the earlier scene, forcing the reader to reconsider what appeared to be a simple childhood observation.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Text analysis on Pride and prejudice
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: Text Analysis Essay: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice explores the complexity…
Text Analysis Essay: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice explores the complexity of human judgement, social expectations, and personal growth within the restrictive environment of Regency-era England. Through the relationship between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy, Austen challenges the values of a society that prioritises wealth, reputation, and social status over genuine character. By using irony, character development, and contrasting perspectives, Austen reveals that prejudice and pride often prevent individuals from understanding themselves and others.
Austen presents Elizabeth Bennet as an intelligent and independent character who initially believes she can accurately judge others. However, her confidence becomes flawed when her own prejudice influences her perception of Mr Darcy. After Darcy’s first proposal, Elizabeth criticises him for his arrogance, stating that she has “never desired your good opinion” and rejects his feelings. This moment demonstrates Elizabeth’s belief that her judgement is morally superior, yet Austen uses this conflict to expose Elizabeth’s own pride. Her refusal to consider Darcy’s perspective reflects the same narrow thinking she condemns in him. Through Elizabeth’s journey, Austen suggests that true maturity requires self-reflection and the willingness to challenge personal assumptions.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Shakespeare’s play, ‘The Merchant of…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: Shakespeare’s play, ‘The Merchant of Venice’ emphasises the idea that one’s appearance does not always match…
Shakespeare’s play, ‘The Merchant of Venice’ emphasises the idea that one’s appearance does not always match reality. Discuss.
Appearances can often be misleading. William Shakespeare explores this in his 1598 play ‘The Merchant of Venice’. Shakespeare contends that whilst superficial looks usually don’t reflect the truth, there are exceptions. This is discussed through characters masking their appearance to make them seem more appealing to society or to gain wealth or power. However, some characters are shown to be true to their surface impression.
From the outset of the play, Shakespeare demonstrates how people will often alter their appearance to appear more appealing to those around them. Characters are shown trying to present themselves as better than they are to impress others or make themselves seem superior. Bassanio clearly demonstrates this in the first scene of the play by borrowing money to gain servants and ‘furnish [himself to win] fair Portia’. By getting Bassanio to borrow money, Shakespeare highlights how his wealthy appearance is merely for show. Shakespeare furthers this with the first suitor, the prince of Morrocco, who bids Portia to not judge ‘[him] for [his] complexion’ but proceeds to base his guess in the casket lottery on the most appealing casket, gold. This irony highlights how characters can appear and intend to be a certain way but be another. The author finalises this at the climax of the play where the Christians plead for Shylock to be merciful as they argue it is a ‘divine quality’ that is better than justice. However, when they are in power over Shylock, they strip Shylock of his religion, wealth. By taking away his religion, the Christians effectively take away his identity showing their double standards. Shakespeare uses this to express how although the Christians in the play present themselves as people valuing mercy, they are not as inclined to show mercy. This ultimately shows how characters will alter their outward appearance to make them seem more attractive.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: ‘Sleep no more: Macbeth does murder…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: In the tragedy of “Macbeth”, written by William Shakespeare, the experience of guilt is depicted in many forms.…
In the tragedy of “Macbeth”, written by William Shakespeare, the experience of guilt is depicted in many forms. The feeling of remorse is strongly interlinked with the internal struggles and intrinsic sourses within the character. The remorse that stems from within the self also materialises into extrinsic and supernatural experiences. The tragedian further conveying the experience of guilt by conteplating the meaning of life, and the purpose of enduring guilt.
Shakespeare demonstrates the journey of feeling guilty by using intrinsic sources of self remorse. Macbeth's regicide of king Duncan is the source of his guilt. Right after committing the heinous crime, he “could not say Amen” nor could he sleep. This signifies his religious morals as a part of his remorse. In both the era of Shakespeare and “Macbeth”, society was deeply entangled with the church and religion. The disconnect between Macbeth and his religion allows Shakespeare to convey the audience, the extent to which his guilt is. Additionally, Macbeth could not “sleep [anymore]… he hath murdered sleep,” in response to murdering Duncan. In the play, the symbol of sleep is often related to innocence and peace. In later scenes, Lady Macbeth experiences similar troubles with sleep where she is seen sleep walking. The two examples of the two perpetrators of the regicide who are losing the ability to sleep exposes Shakespeare’s intentions. He aims to show the inability to sleep to be a torturous depiction of the experience of guilt. Furthermore, blood is a strong symbol of guilt and the psychomania that follows the two Macbeths. “Neptune oceans” were not able to “clean the blood” off of Macbeths hands, neither were “all the perfumes of Arabia” able to “sweeten” Lady Macbeth’s “little hand”. The hyperbolic statements from the couple show the permanence of guilt and the haunting and heavy burden it has on their soul. Lady Macbeth was not able to get the “damn spot…out” of her hand. Clearly, a simple hand wash could not rid her of this physical stain, but in this instance she was referring to the blood on her soul. The impossibility of ridding herself from the guilt is the root of her psychomania. Shakespeare uses the symbol and motifs of sleep and blood to illustrate the heavy burden of remore.
The playwright shifts from intrinsic sources of guilt to the extrinsic and supernatural source. The supernatural is intertwined with the plot of this play and makes significant contributions. The hallucinatory “false” dagger created by the “heat-oppressed mind” is ambiguous in its sources. Whether it is a supernatural sign sent by the witches or a vision created by Macbeth out of anxiousness in anticipation of killing Duncan, Shakespeare leaves this detail to the discretion of the audience. The interconnected origin of this dagger that symbolises guilt allows Shakespeare to express how different forms and manifestations of guilt can work together to create a terrifying hallucinatory vision. Additionally, the topic of the supernatural in the context of Shakespeare's time allows his message to resonate deeply with his audience. Their King James had published a journal called “Daemonology”, causing the altitude towards the supernatural to turn sour. Shakespeare decision in using the supernatural to depict the experience of guilt has allowed him to appease his king, by validating his published book. The audience also understood the severity of the guilt Macbeth was enduring by how Shakespeare juxtaposed the internal and supernatural sorces of guilt. Furthermore, Macbeth ordered his close friend Banquo to be murdered. Banquo had “promised to be [at the banquet]” however he was murdered before he had the chance to attend. Shakespeare rights this line as an equovocation and foreshadowing to the arrival of Banquo’s ghost at the Banquet. This comes as a warning to ‘be careful what you wish for’. Macbeth duplicitously invites Banquo to the feast, knowing he would be dead. His conscience does not let him rest and sends Banquo as a ghost, as a manifestation of his remorse. In this scene Shakespeare demonstrates that one’s guilt can not easily dissapear and it will always find a way to haunt you.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “In High Ground, good intentions can be as…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 87.5%: Throughout history, individuals have often justified their actions through noble intentions, believing that good…
Throughout history, individuals have often justified their actions through noble intentions, believing that good motives inevitably lead to positive outcomes. However, intentions alone do not determine the consequences of actions, particularly when they exist within systems of violence, prejudice and inequality. While evil intentions are overtly destructive, well-meaning actions can also inflict significant harm when they are misguided, naïve or complicit in broader injustices. Set amid the violent frontier conflicts of 1930s Arnhem Land, Stephen Johnson’s film High Ground explores the devastating consequences of both malicious and benevolent actions in colonial Australia. Through Travis’ attempts to protect Indigenous communities, Gutjuk’s desire to bridge two cultures and Moran’s ruthless pursuit of colonial order, Johnson reveals that good intentions can indeed cause harm when they fail to challenge oppressive systems. Nevertheless, he ultimately suggests that destructive consequences arise not merely from good intentions themselves, but from the failure to accompany those intentions with moral courage and genuine understanding. In doing so, Johnson encourages Australian audiences to critically examine the legacy of colonialism and recognise that meaningful change requires more than simply good intentions.
There is no doubt that Johnson initially presents Travis’ good intentions as deeply destructive because his attempts to protect Indigenous Australians remain entangled within the colonial system responsible for their suffering. By positioning Travis as both a former perpetrator and reluctant protector, Johnson illustrates how benevolent motives cannot easily erase the consequences of past wrongdoing. Following the frontier massacre, Travis seeks redemption by helping Gutjuk and preventing further violence; however, his efforts repeatedly fail to shield Indigenous communities from harm. This moral tension is evident when Travis insists, “I’m not a tracker. I’m a soldier,” revealing his continuing struggle between duty and conscience. While Travis wishes to distance himself from colonial brutality, Johnson suggests that he remains shaped by the very institution he seeks to resist. Significantly, Johnson’s frequent use of sweeping aerial shots positions the Arnhem Land landscape as an ancient witness to human conflict, diminishing the significance of individual intentions against the enduring impact of colonial violence. In contrast to Travis’ desire to act honourably, the land itself symbolises the lasting consequences of European invasion. Furthermore, the juxtaposition between Travis’ protective actions and the repeated suffering experienced by Indigenous characters reinforces the limitations of individual goodwill within an unjust system. Johnson thereby compels Australian audiences to recognise that good intentions alone cannot undo historical injustice when systemic oppression remains unchallenged. Consequently, Travis’ well-meaning actions become destructive because they fail to fully confront the colonial structures that continue to cause harm.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: "In The Merchant of Venice, the law is not…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: Written in 1598, William Shakespeare’s play ‘The Merchant of Venice’ reveals that the law can be both a tool for…
Written in 1598, William Shakespeare’s play ‘The Merchant of Venice’ reveals that the law can be both a tool for justice and a weapon that is used to establish power. Shakespeare exposes how the courtroom functions simultaneously as a decider of fairness and an instrument of power. Ultimately, Shakespeare uses his play ‘Merchant of Venice’ to reveal that in such Venetian societies, in the Elizabethan era, the law is ultimately used to legalise the oppression of others.