VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Discuss the importance of relationships in…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 85%: ‘When Michael Met Mina’, authored by Randa Abdel-Fattah, traverses the riveting notion that when inherited…
‘When Michael Met Mina’, authored by Randa Abdel-Fattah, traverses the riveting notion that when inherited prejudice leads to a perpetuating cycle of hate, true change begins when this bigotry is dismantled. Michael, the male protagonist, initially embraces a Eurocentric worldview, a product of his upbringing and other surrounding factors. However, Mina, the female protagonist, incessantly questions him, nudging him to confront his own prejudice and form his own opinions. Her inspiration in Michael leads him to undergo significant personal growth nearing the end as he finally empathises with the ineffable hardships refugees face.
Abdel-Fattah critiques the notion of inherited prejudice, depicting it as not inherent, warping an individual’s worldview before they can grasp. The novel interrogates the roots of racism through Michael, where he inadvertently adheres to discriminatory ideologies due to his upbringing. Early in the novel, Michael shares a heated discussion with Mina about the suffering of refugees, arguing, “it’s not ideal what they’re going through…But Australia has the right to protect its borders,” revealing his lack of empathy for groups that do not affect him. His dismissive tone immediately disregards the grief refugees face, following an attempt to rationalise injustice. Additionally, when he expresses “if you’ve come by boat, you’ve jumped the queue”, further demonstrates how he is not capable of forming autonomous thoughts as he repeats a common anti-refugee slogan. Yet, he is still responsible for the harm these thoughts cause, even if holding it without vehement hatred. Thus, the astute portrayal of Michael’s initial adherence to xenophobic values, illustrates how personal enlightenment emerges only when individuals acknowledge the humanity of the other side.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: how does high ground depict the lasting…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: The 2020 film *High Ground*, directed by Stephen Maxwell Johnson, powerfully interrogates the lingering…
The 2020 film *High Ground*, directed by Stephen Maxwell Johnson, powerfully interrogates the lingering consequences of colonial violence in Australia. Rather than presenting history as a closed chapter, the film illustrates how the trauma of dispossession, massacre, and cultural erasure continues to shape both Indigenous and European-descended communities. *High Ground* ultimately explores the lasting impact of colonial violence by illustrating how trauma is inherited and endured through new generations. Johnson illustrates how colonial violence fuels enduring cycles of vengeance and mistrust, embeds trauma within the Australian landscape, and disrupts cultural continuity by severing spiritual and communal ties.
Johnson reveals how colonial violence becomes embedded within the landscape itself, turning the Australian environment into a silent witness of historical trauma. The film opens with Gutjuk painting himself in white ochre, his body blending with Country as soft, natural lighting and tight close-ups capture the sacred intimacy of his ritual. This peaceful tone is shattered by the non-diegetic silence that follows the gunfire in the massacre, leaving the land to “speak” through smoke and wind, as if it too absorbs the violence. Johnson’s mise-en-scène reinforces the imbalance of power in Moran’s photograph, where Travis stands tall while First Nations people are told to “get down,” visually encoding colonial hierarchy within the frame. The rifle placed at the centre of the composition acts as a symbol of Western domination, dividing the image and metaphorically severing connection between people and land. Even the soundscape, horses galloping, birds scattering, becomes a diegetic reminder of disruption and fear spreading through Country. The sweeping aerial shots over Nimbuwah Rock, accompanied by non-diegetic First Nations music, establish the landscape as pristine and sacred, yet scarred by what has occurred. By repeating this image in the closing sequence, Johnson presents the rock as both witness and survivor, underscoring how the trauma of invasion is etched permanently into the earth. Through this, High Ground frames the land not as backdrop but as a living archive of violence, one that continues to hold the memory of injustice across generations.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: ‘Just a movie writer with a couple of B…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 87.5%: Billy Wilder’s 1950 film noir, Sunset Boulevard begins with a corpse narrating his own death, a macabre inversion…
Billy Wilder’s 1950 film noir, Sunset Boulevard begins with a corpse narrating his own death, a macabre inversion of the Hollywood dream. From the outset, the film’s voice over narration becomes the filter through which the audience perceives glamour, ambition and decay. Joe Gillis’ self-mocking introduction, calling himself “[j]ust a movie writer with a couple of B pictures to his credit”, encapsulates the film’s tone of bitter irony. Through this sardonic voice, Wilder constructs a narrative that dismantles the mythology of success and exposes the corruption beneath cinematic illusion. The narration is not a neutral recount but a performance: a tool that manipulates how the audience interprets character, morality and truth. By combining noir fatalism with confessional wit, Wilder utilises Joe’s voice to invite the audience to be both participants in and critics of Hollywood’s self-destruction.
Wilder immediately positions Joe as both storyteller and spectacle, granting him narrative power even as he floats lifeless in a pool. His cynical humour invites the audience to see him as self-aware yet already doomed. This irony dismantles the glamour traditionally attached to ambition: Joe’s death is not heroic but predictable, the inevitable consequence of moral erosion. The retrospective narration turns the film into an investigation rather than a confession — an autopsy of lost integrity. Even the cinematography mirrors the narration’s reflective quality: the camera peers upward through water as if through memory, reminding viewers that every image, like every story, is mediated. Wilder thus conditions the audience to approach the film with scepticism rather than awe, perceiving Hollywood not as a dream factory but a mausoleum of broken ideals.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “In Sunset Boulevard, Wilder exposes the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard (1950) exposes the corrosive façade of Hollywood, where ambition and illusion…
Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard (1950) exposes the corrosive façade of Hollywood, where ambition and illusion consume identity and morality. Through its non-linear structure, chiaroscuro lighting, and Waxman’s haunting score, the film critiques the destructive pursuit of fame and power. Wilder presents a world where characters sacrifice integrity for illusion, revealing Hollywood not as a dream factory, but a graveyard of broken souls.
The pursuit of success often disguises decay, as ambition transforms into a performance of illusion rather than authenticity. The film’s haunting opening, framed by Franz Waxman’s eerie non-diegetic score and a pan along the “Sunset Boulevard” billboard, foreshadows the moral corruption beneath Hollywood’s glamour. The narrator’s sardonic line, “Before those Hollywood columnists get on it,” immediately exposes the obsession with image and reputation. The high-angle shot of Joe’s corpse floating lifelessly in a pool transforms success into tragedy, his ambition literally submerging him beneath the illusion he chased. Joe’s reflection that “the price turned out to be a little high” suggests that the pursuit of wealth and recognition demands the surrender of one’s soul. The slow pan across his cluttered desk and unpaid bills highlights his decay beneath surface charm, while his voice-over narration mirrors Hollywood’s artificial storytelling — Joe scripts his own demise as though it were another film pitch. Through these techniques, Wilder constructs a morally bankrupt world where appearance replaces truth and ambition becomes a form of self-destruction.
Illusion not only distorts truth but also erodes identity, consuming those who depend on validation to feel seen. The low-key lighting as Joe enters Norma’s “big white elephant of a place” transitions from daylight into shadow, symbolising his descent into emotional captivity. Norma’s insistence that “they’re dead, they’re finished” when speaking of modern studios reflects her refusal to accept change, aligning her with Hollywood’s obsession with youth and control. The close-up of her face illuminated by her old
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “In Sunset Boulevard, Wilder shows that…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard (1950) exposes the corrosive façade of Hollywood, where ambition and illusion…
Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard (1950) exposes the corrosive façade of Hollywood, where ambition and illusion consume identity and morality. Through its non-linear structure, chiaroscuro lighting, and Waxman’s haunting score, the film critiques the destructive pursuit of fame and power. Wilder presents a world where characters sacrifice integrity for illusion, revealing Hollywood not as a dream factory, but a graveyard of broken souls.
Wilder opens the film with Franz Waxman’s eerie non-diegetic score and a camera pan along the “Sunset Boulevard” billboard, foreshadowing the moral corruption beneath Hollywood’s glamour. The narrator’s sardonic line, “Before those Hollywood columnists get on it,” immediately exposes the obsession with image and reputation. The high-angle shot of Joe’s corpse floating lifelessly in a pool transforms success into tragedy, his ambition literally submerging him beneath the illusion he chased. Through Joe’s reflection that “the price turned out to be a little high,” Wilder suggests that the pursuit of wealth and recognition demands the surrender of one’s soul. Inside the apartment, a slow pan across Joe’s cluttered desk and unpaid bills highlights his decay beneath the surface charm. Wilder’s use of voice-over narration mirrors the artificial control of Hollywood storytelling—Joe scripts his own demise as though it were another film pitch. Collectively, these techniques depict a morally bankrupt world where image overrides authenticity and where Hollywood’s seductive façade conceals despair.
Through Norma Desmond, Wilder explores how fame warps both gender and identity. The low-key lighting as Joe enters her “big white elephant of a place” transitions from daylight into shadow, symbolising his descent into moral and emotional captivity. Norma’s insistence that “they’re dead, they’re finished” when referring to modern studios reflects her inability to accept the evolving world, aligning her with Hollywood’s own obsession with youth and control. The close-up of her face illuminated by the glow
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In order to succeed in Hollywood the only…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: Through “Sunset Boulevard” , Wilder aims to expose Hollywood as an industry that disregards the ambition of its…
Through “Sunset Boulevard” , Wilder aims to expose Hollywood as an industry that disregards the ambition of its stars once they are no longer profitable, showcasing the idea that what Hollywood really values is profit rather than ambition. Wilder portrays this idea by utilising characters such as Norma Desmond, who was a successful silent film actor who was cast out of the industry once she reached the point where she no longer fit the feminine identity of a female star in 1950’s Hollywood, which was someone who was young, beautiful, and passive, as these are the elements of a profitable star. Despite this, Norma is still obsessed with the fame she once had, completely consumed by the idea that she still belongs in an industry that abandoned her. This is showcased by the author through Norma’s mansion, a place that Joe described to be “out of beat with reality”, where the curtains are drawn and there are pictures of Norma during her glory days all over the
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “There is nothing tragic about being 50,…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard dissects Hollywood’s infatuation with youth — an obsessive, almost foolish love…
Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard dissects Hollywood’s infatuation with youth — an obsessive, almost foolish love that blinds both individuals and the industry itself. Through meticulous cinematography, expressionist lighting, and the self-destructive performance of Norma Desmond, Wilder exposes how Hollywood’s worship of youthful beauty becomes a pathological refusal to accept time. The film suggests that there is indeed nothing tragic about being fifty; the tragedy arises only when one tries to remain twenty-five in a world sustained by illusion.
From its opening sequence, Wilder constructs the moral and visual decay that results from this infatuation. The overhead shot of Joe Gillis’s corpse floating face-down in a swimming pool, framed from below through the rippling water, literally distorts reality. The camera’s placement beneath the surface makes death appear glamorous, reflecting the industry’s capacity to aestheticise ruin. Gillis’s detached narration — “Yes, this is Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. It’s about five o’clock in the morning” — strips the moment of tragedy and replaces it with irony, establishing the cynical tone of a world where appearance outweighs substance. Wilder’s low-key lighting and static framing of Norma’s mansion further visualise the stagnation that follows Hollywood’s obsession with youth. The once-lavish home is shot through lattices of shadow, the dust-laden chandeliers flickering like dying stars. Within this mausoleum of mirrors and memories, Norma Desmond clings to an image of herself that no longer exists. When she insists, “I am big. It’s the pictures that got small,” Wilder’s tight mid-shot traps her between two mirrors, literalising the ego’s imprisonment within reflected beauty.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: sunset boulevard - "in sunset boulevard,…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 77.5%: Sunset Boulevard is a film noir melodrama of 1950; Billy Wilder critiques the film industry of Hollywood,…
Sunset Boulevard is a film noir melodrama of 1950; Billy Wilder critiques the film industry of Hollywood, exploring how illusion and denial shape the human experience. Wilder uses characters such as Norma Desmond, Joe Gillis, and Max Von Mayerling, to expose this idea, outlining how their delusions and refusal to the truth and reality deepen their psychological and moral consequences. The film suggests, adopting to defiance and escaping from reality consumes individuals only leading to unfulfillment, tradegy and unhappiness or temporary comfort.
Wilder suggests that denial and the inability to confront reality traps individuals in the past, resulting in self-destruction. Norma Desmond is a once famous silent-film actress whom refuses to accept that Hollywood has moved on, remaining forgotten and irrelevant in the film industry. She declares, "I am big, its the pictures that got smaller", illustrating her refusal to confront the decline of her fame and relevancy, dwelling her deeper into delusion. Her mansion, used by Wilder as a metaphor for denial, the mis-en-scene - withering gardens, gloomy lighting, looming architecture and high walls—conceptualizes her psychological state, once grand, now rotting and sealed away. Norma surrounds herself with old silent films and old photographs of her dearest self to remain back in a time where she was adored and youthful, immersing herself in memories rather than reality. Max, her servant, feeds her delusion by writing fake 'fan letters' reinforcing her denial enabling her descent into madness. This is evident as Max directs her 'final scene', which is truly her final breakdown, capturing her 'close up' - Norma announces "Alright Mr DeMille, i'm ready for my close up", illustrating her disconnection from reality. Wilder critiques the idea of living in illusion, demonstrating denial isolates and leads to psychological sufferring.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Sunset Boulevard explore the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: Set against the backdrop of the deception and vanity of 1950s Hollywood, Sunset Boulevard, a film noir by auteur…
Set against the backdrop of the deception and vanity of 1950s Hollywood, Sunset Boulevard, a film noir by auteur Billy Wilder, was released as stars from the silent film era were being pushed out of the public eye. Wilder investigates how multiple people in the industry are in danger because they prefer living in their own illusions rather than reality. Throughout the film, Wilder shows how the fallen stars are dangerously coping with their loss of fame, as well as those who are falling in love with poor, immoral foundations that can lead to dangerous consequences. Furthermore, Wilder shows how the rise of illusion in the Hollywood atmosphere enables the industry to thrive and exploit its audiences for its own benefit. As a foreign director, Wilder critiques the dangers of Hollywood's lack of realism for those involved and for American audiences.
Throughout the film, Wilder focuses on how the fallen stars of Hollywood place themselves in an unrecoverable state of illusion, which ultimately leads them to a dangerous outcome. Focusing on a group of former silent film actors, Wilder opens with a wide, high-angle shot depicting the “waxworks” playing bridge with Norma. The shot encapsulates their “dim figure” appearance recognised by Gillis, which is then contradicted by the characters' costuming, where they are seated in fancy chairs, either wearing expensive dresses and suits. Wilder suggests that fallen film stars after their period of fame are shunned by society, drawing on the isolating connotations of “dim”. Wilder compounds this notion with the title of “Waxworks”, further implying how these fallen film stars are simply comparable to figures of wax. Wilder establishes this notion to juxtapose the costumes they wear, which are their personal expressions that represent them as valuable and deserving of respect. This juxtaposition amplifies the idea that the fallen film stars are in their own light of delusion, believing they are of value, when in reality they were shunned, stars rejected from the public eye. Wilder utilises his third-person perspective as a foreign director to demonstrate further that the Hollywood film industry is a toxic environment for actors, who are easily replaceable. This notion is to address the present issue of the 1950s, where film stars who failed to transition to the golden era are left in a state of self-illusion and despair, which negatively affects their mental health. Furthermore, Wilder emphasises the self-delusion fallen stars face through the character establishment of Norma Desmond. Through several tracking shots of the grand interior of Desmond’s mansion, Wilder utilises mise-en-scene to create a suffocating environment, with a high density of pictures displayed across the rooms. Wilder accompanies this notion with a rhetorical dialogue in which the house is described as “crowded with Norma Desmonds, more Norma Desmonds and even more Norma Desmonds.” The setting exposes the abnormality and lack of realism in Norma's life through the exaggerated obsession with herself from the silent film era. This signifies the dangerous consequences of losing fame, resulting in an unhealthy addiction to their past rather than an ability to live in the prese2nt. Wilder frames this unhealthy addiction as a danger of living in illusion. As Wilder depicts a visually claustrophobic environment, he critiques the harsh, long-lasting consequences of production companies replacing stars without support. The visual of Desmond’s obsession with herself insinuates how there is a need for a change in the relationship between stars and their production companies, from replaceable to respected.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: There is more hope than despair for people…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: Jane Harrison’s play, Rainbow’s End, set in rural Victoria in the 1950s, reflects the difficulties faced by…
Jane Harrison’s play, Rainbow’s End, set in rural Victoria in the 1950s, reflects the difficulties faced by Aboriginal Australians through their segregation from society. The colonisation of Australia in the 1700s built numerous challenges to overcome for all Aboriginal Australians as their homes and families were taken away from them. For the residents of the Flats outside of Shepperton, it is shown in Rainbow’s End that hopes cannot overcome the despair faced by the Aboriginal Australians. Harrison’s own connection to culture as an Aboriginal Australian women is utilised to reflect the physical segregation faced by residents of the Flats. Furthermore, the play also analyses the social prejudice faced by three generations of Aboriginal women, Nan Dear, Gladys and Dolly. Finally, these residents have limited opportunities available to them in the play.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: honour and morality in society
VCE Text Response essay scoring 82.5%: In “Chronicle of a Death Foretold,” a 1981 magical realist novella, Gabriel Garcia Marquez constructs a…
In “Chronicle of a Death Foretold,” a 1981 magical realist novella, Gabriel Garcia Marquez constructs a Latin-American microcosm governed by the dogma of honour, religion and gender. Within this insular Columbian milieu, personal agency is subjugated to the rigid binaries of machismo and marianismo, exposing a society entrapped by its own sanctified moral codes. Through harsh traditions and cyclical narration, Marquez illuminates the moral hypocrisy and collective complicity that culminate in Santiago’s ritualised execution- a sacrificial act through which the town seeks to restore its illusory sense of divine order.
In Chronicle of a Death Foretold, honour functions as a catalyst for violence, compelling individuals to act against their own moral conscience. This is epitomised through the Vicario twins, Pedro and Pablo, whose actions are governed by the dogmatic codes of their society.
The brothers’ decision to kill Santiago is fuelled by the belief that he has besmirched the Vicario family name, transforming their sense of duty into an act of sanctioned brutality. Their fatalistic assertion “there’s no way out of this… it’s a matter of honour” encapsulates collective fatalism and illustrates how social determinism suppresses individual agency. Márquez employs this declaration to expose the illusory morality underpinning the town’s honour system, whereby the same society that condemns sexual transgression simultaneously legitimises murder as a means of moral restoration. The declarative tone of “it’s a matter of honour” thus reinforces the irony of a culture that conflates violence with virtue, suggesting that the true corruption lies not in Santiago’s alleged act but in the community’s obsession with preserving its reputation. Furthermore, the contrast between the brothers magnifies the psychological burden of conformity: Pedro, described as the “more dominant and masculine” twin, embodies the expectations of machismo, whereas Pablo, the “hesitant follower,” personifies the internal conflict between morality and obligation. Despite his reluctance, Pablo’s ultimate compliance reveals how patriarchal orthodoxy coerces even the unwilling into complicity, forcing individuals to perpetuate a cycle of ritualised violence in defence of familial dignity. Through the recurrent invocation of “defending honour,” Márquez critiques the performative morality that governs this Latin American microcosm- a morality that demands cruelty in the pursuit of purity and subjugates ethical reasoning beneath the weight of social expectation.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: "In High Ground, it is impossible for…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: Stephen Maxwell Johnson’s western film “High Ground,” explores the pasts and the influence over their present…
Stephen Maxwell Johnson’s western film “High Ground,” explores the pasts and the influence over their present persona. Throughout their time in Arnhem Land, individuals find it impossible to break away from their past. Travis is depicted as an individual still attached to war and its connotations, unable to move past his actions. On the other hand, Gutjuk is stuck in the personality of his Yolngu culture past, as well as Baywara and Gulwirri, who continue to live in a state of anger and vengeance.
Travis is an individual who is constantly seeking redemption following his war involvement and attachment to the massacre. At the beginning of the film, Johnson introduces Travis through a point of view shot through the scope of a rifle, instantly representing his past involvement to war as a sniper. His introduction 12 years later, after the massacre, is identical, also through the eye of a rifle. This exhibits his recurring connection to war and resistance to change from his past. Travis’s journey throughout the film is one of redemption, attempting to rectify his mistakes, particularly following the massacre. Furthermore, Travis saves Gutjuk as a child at the conclusion of the massacre, which guides his personality throughout the film – as he feels that saving Gutjuk is the one positive thing he has done in life. Johnson immediately illustrates this through a deliberate use of mis-en-scene to position Gutjuk on Travis’s horse, rather than the other soldiers, highlighting his desire to become a morally better individual, and forget his past. Johnson further enhances his depiction of Travis as an individual searching for redemption and reaping from guilt through his relationship with Eddy. As Eddy and Moran look to kill Baywara, Travis opposes this, questioning, “and shooting him does that, ya reckon?” regarding solving the conflict. Travis’s emotional connection to Gutjuk and moral code is evident here, as he understands the importance of Baywara to Gutjuk. His continual search to break his past actions is portrayed when he tells Eddy, “I won’t make the same mistake twice,” regarding following Eddy’s orders rather than Gutjuk’s. Travis is evidently unable to escape his past war involvement, instead “car[ing] more about [Gutjuk] than he does himself.” While Travis feels his actions to save Gutjuk are morally correct, it is visible that his past is inescapable, and these actions are simply to improve his emotional wellbeing. Travis’s involvement in war and the massacre dwells as an internal conflict that proves impossible for him to escape the past.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: "How terrible- to see the truth when the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 87.5%: Sophocles' rendition of the Ancient Greek myth, 'Oedipus the King' (OTK) asserts the notion that although…
Sophocles' rendition of the Ancient Greek myth, 'Oedipus the King' (OTK) asserts the notion that although ignorance of taking responsibility and acknowledging the truth is painful, in some cases it is less painful than knowing the whole truth. Sophocles' play was developed in 429 BCE, shown at the Dionysia festival, in order to re-calibrate society's reliance on divine will during the conflicting Sophist movement. Initially, Sophocles' demonstrates that others feel pain attempting to keep the truth from those responsible, then the tragic torment of discovering the truth and being forced to take responsibility. Ultimately, Sophocles' asserts ignorance of taking responsibility for the truth is less painful than knowing the full truth.
From the prologue, Sophocles' demonstrates that hiding the truth from those responsible brings agony to society. Initially, as Oedipus is unaware he is the "corruption of the land," the city of Thebes is "dying". Sophocles' utilises strong linguistic language of "corruption" to showcase the impending doom that Oedipus' existence holds over the city of Thebes, thereby personifying Thebes as an entity to enunciate the extent that every living creature within Thebes is suffering from the plague. Sophocles' careful lexical choices were constructed to generate a sense of sorrow from contemporary audiences for the "dying" city, whilst encouraging them to place themselves, due to dramatic irony, in the position of one who knows that Oedipus is the cause of the plague, but feels too sorry to tell him. Moreover, to urge contemporary audiences both to feel pity for those carrying truthful burdens, and to re-establish a dependency on divine will for Ancient Greek society, Sophocles' utilises Tiresias as an instrument. To do so, Sophocles constructs Tiresias begging Oedipus to "bear [his own] burdens," whilst Tiresias will "bear his," to underline the unwanted burden of knowing the full truth that comes with being a prophet, and the pain from carrying that burden and hiding it from those responsible, such as Oedipus. Sophocles' utilises "burden" in this way to elicit imagery of the truth heavily and undesirably weighing on Tiresias' shoulders, to remind audiences that keeping truth from those responsible brings agony. Overall, OTK demonstrates that it is painful for those who hide the truth from perpetrators.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “Sunset boulevard shows that the pursuit…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: 2025 Prac (SAMPLE) exam / 3 hours PART A Sunset boulevard, a noir, melodrama film directed by Billy wilder…
2025 Prac (SAMPLE) exam / 3 hours PART A
Sunset boulevard, a noir, melodrama film directed by Billy wilder discusses the hunt for fame in the hollywood 1950's industry. wilder forshadows all characters with undying want to be in the spotlight. Shown most in forgotten silent film star Norma Desmond. The films title included, with the major street 'sunset boulevard' running through the centre of the town. wilder portrays topics such as greed, fame, delusion and selfishness in each individuals strive to be successful.
wilder shows In the opening scenes, we can see failed screen writer Joe Gillis, deseaced in a pool. The camera shot, being a high angle, broadcasting Joes vulnerability during this time. This important scene forshadows Joes future as he falls victim to the delusion of hollywood. "The poor dope, he always wanted a pool". wilder includes this line, narrated by Joe Gillis to almost explain to the audience Joes passion for success, with wants for his short-lived life.
Wilder uses Joes death to make the audience infer how pursuing fame in this dark age of hollywood can put your whole life at risk to chase fame. "you dont yell at a sleepwalker, he may fall and break his neck. Thats me. I was that person, drifting along towards the big dream". Joe admits that he has been blind to chasing the hollywood dream, thats what ends up destroying him. Norma Desmond aids Joe in falling into the trap of hollywood. As Joe, mistakenly enters her home, he inturups Normas funeral for her beloved chimpanzee. This scene forshadows Joe's fate in Normas home as she now uses Joe to fill her chimp shaped hole in her home. This scene also plays a part in Norma's delusion towards hollywood. As she sends Joe on his way, the camera shot
of her at the top of the stairs and Joe at the bottom casts norma as having power over Joe, which ultimatly ends her journey to fame.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: The play presents truth as more…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: "The play presents truth as more destructive than ignorance." To what extent do you agree? Sophocles' Oedipus the…
"The play presents truth as more destructive than ignorance."
To what extent do you agree?
Sophocles' Oedipus the King is a retelling of well-known tragedy to Athenian audiences, following Oedipus as he learns the truth of his birth. Throughout the play, Sophocles presents truth as a force that brings destruction. However, truth is also necessary for achieving morality and self-awareness. While initially shielding Oedipus from misery, constant ignorance of the truth due to the illusion of free will, hubris and limits of human understanding leads to his downfall. While truth destroys Oedipus' worldly identity, his constant ignorance to it is what causes destruction.
From the onset of the play, Sophocles explores the relationship between ones truth, their fate, and their persistent ignorance to it, believing they have free will. Oedipus is positioned as a character who is ignorant to his own fate, despite it being the truth he is trying to "bring to light". As the audience is aware of Oedipus' tragic end, Sophocles utilises foreshadowing here to communicate to the audience from the beginning, the ignorance to truth is what makes enlightenment to the truth so destructive. By criticising Oedipus' belief that he has free will, Sophocles further communicates to the audience that the truth would not have been as tragic if Oedipus did not ignore his prophecy. Here, the audience's belief that prophecy is inevitable is enforces, demonstrating that Oedipus' truth, was that he "was born for pain". By utilising catharsis, the release of pity in the audience, Sophocles further demonstrates that the constant ignorance to the truth, Oedipus' fate, eventually leads to his designed life of pain. Next, as Oedipus continues to "search and learn [his] birth", Sophocles uses anagnorisis, highlighting the moment that Oedipus learns his constant ignorance and avoidance of the truth, still lead to its fulfillment. By endorsing the idea that fate is absolute, Sophocles further highlights to the audience, who criticises Oedipus' belief that he has free will, that consistent ignorance worsened the destruction caused, compares to if he accepted his truth of life. As Sophocles suggests that the illusion of free will against fate leads to ignorance to the truth and destruction, he further explores this through hubris.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Rainbow’s End is an exploration of ‘the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: The ‘other’ is a term employed to describe groups of people who have faced prejudice, with their characteristics…
The ‘other’ is a term employed to describe groups of people who have faced prejudice, with their characteristics marking them as separate from accepted social norms as defined by the dominant groups within a society. ‘Othering’ is a process which enables institutions such as patriarchy and white-centric social hierarchies to flourish, thus creating the conditions for women and ethnic minorities to be deemed inferior. In Jane Harrison’s Rainbow’s End, the Indigenous characters fall victim to racial stereotyping, with the female characters also being subject to misogyny, but the potential for empowerment is also optimistically expressed throughout the play.
The ’othering’ of Indigenous individuals is evident through the prevalence of racist discrimination faced by the characters in Rainbow’s End. Racial prejudice creates assumptions that the ‘otherness’ of the Indigenous population makes them inferior, with Harrison examining these deep-rooted notions through the bank manager demonstrating bias towards Dolly in a racially-motivated line of questioning. By asking whether Dolly will “fit in”, the bank manager brings her Indigeneity to the forefront, reducing her from a whole individual to merely an Aboriginal person and thus epitomising how Indigenous people are conceived of as ‘others’ rather than fully included within society. Additionally, through questioning Dolly’s capacity for “reliability” and “arriv[ing] on time”, the bank manager endorses the racial stereotype of Indigenous laziness, reinforcing the link between discrimination and ‘othering’. Moreover, Harrison makes mention of the railway line that separates the Aboriginal community from the white residential areas, crafting it as a tangible symbol of racial segregation and division whereby Indigenous people are excluded from mainstream society. This is reinforced by the Aboriginal settlement being on a floodplain next to the tip, epitomising the inequity faced by Indigenous people due to the racist assumption that they are not on the same level of importance as the white population. Starting the play in the midst of the plot, with the family coping with a flood, immediately makes clear the unequal position of Indigenous people within society; they are literally made ‘other’ by being pushed into peripheral settlements, and figuratively ‘othered’ by experiencing racist marginalisation at the hands of white authorities.
Exclusion and bullying are key processes used to perpetuate the ‘otherness’ of Indigenous people and women. Nancy Woolthorpe is characterised as a bully by Harrison to represent how white society uses belittlement to reinforce the ‘othered’ status of the Indigenous population. Nancy humiliates Dolly by announcing that her gown was made from her family’s discarded curtains, showcasing the effectiveness of bullying in marginalising minorities; in this case, Nancy
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Harrison suggests that hope, not hardship,…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 62.5%: Jane Harrison's play Rainbow's End presents the lives of three Aboriginal women-Nan Dear, Gladys, and Dolly-who…
Jane Harrison's play Rainbow's End presents the lives of three Aboriginal women-Nan Dear, Gladys, and Dolly-who endure relentless racism and social exclusion in 1950s rural Victoria. Yet, rather than being defined by their suffering, Harrison portrays them as sustained by hope, love, and intergenerational strength. Through moments of humour, ambition, and connection, Harrison suggests that hope becomes both a survival mechanism and a quiet act of resistance against the hardship imposed by colonial Australia.
From the outset, Harrison contrasts the physical poverty of the Dears' home with their emotional richness and pride. Living in a "humpy down by the river," the women face the daily indignity of being marginalised by the white community of Shepparton. However, Nan Dear's insistence that "we keep things neat and tidy" conveys a hopeful assertion of dignity in the face of prejudice. Nan's humour and storytelling nurture her family's morale, showing that hope can exist even amid deprivation. Her laughter, often at the expense of those who look down on her, becomes a weapon against despair. Through Nan, Harrison reveals that Aboriginal women's strength and optimism are acts of defiance against a society that seeks to diminish them.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: The longing to act honourably may lead to…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 82.5%: Sophocles develops the idea that the longing to act honourably may lead to mental and physical anguish. In…
Sophocles develops the idea that the longing to act honourably may lead to mental and physical anguish. In Jocasta and King Laius' attempt to escape the prophecy, "fated to [his] father and marry his mother," believing they took the noble act in preventing this disastrous occurrence from happening to their family.. Sophocles suggests through this that in one's attempt to escape divine will the already assured outcome will lead to an enhanced suffering, as seen in Jocasta hanging herself and Oedipus gouging out his eyes. This serves as a reminder to the Athenian audience that acts that underestimate the divine control will will result in mental and physical anguish. Attempts to discover the truth in an act of serving and saving the city of Thebes lead to a more meaningful and harsh confrontation with reality. Oedipus' hubristic endeavour to take control of
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: "The thought of a ring around my finger…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: 'We Have Always Lived In The Castle' Essay 1 Published in 1962, Shirley Jackson's gothic novel, 'We Have Always…
'We Have Always Lived In The Castle' Essay 1
Published in 1962, Shirley Jackson's gothic novel, 'We Have Always Lived In The Castle,' follows the Blackwood sisters, Mary Katherine (Merricat) and Constance who reject the gendered expectations society pins them to. Through the novel, Jackson suggests women are trapped by societal standards. She shows the idea of confinement from society by the descent into a freeing insanity when rejecting the societal expectations. she undermines this through desperation bordering madness. however this insanity creates another way in which women are trapped.
In the novel, Jackson suggests that Societal expectations trap women. The harmfulness of societal expectations is seen through the ostracisation of women from civilisation. Constance as a young adolescent was forced into an adult role of domestic activities such as cooking and cleaning. "She should not have been doing the cooking," Said by Mrs Wright
during her visit. Mrs' Wrights disaproval of Constance taking on the maternal role of the home homely tasks had on her, and the family, meaning it is unjust to subject Constance to a role not yet fit for her age. Jackson uses Constance's domestic role to elude to the idea that the expectations placed upon her were proved harmful, as they ultimately made the killing of the Blackwood family attainable.
After being accused of the Blackwood murders, Constance extracts herself from the world, "I never go anywhere". By stating she does not go anywhere, it highlights the scrutiny and rejection Constance experienced from the villagers that influenced her unconsensual descent into isolation. It is seen Constance is willing to integrate into society again through her talk with Helen Clarke, yet feels she cannot by the judgement of the town's people. Jackson uses Constance's agoraphobia to exhibit the Societies reluctancess to accept women who deviate from social norms. As a result, the reader sees how societal expectations set to trap women within the Patriarchy to be harmful.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Sophocles frames the pursuit of truth as a…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: In Sophocles’ Greek tragedy ‘Oedipus the King’, the pursuit of truth is presented as a complex and perilous…
In Sophocles’ Greek tragedy ‘Oedipus the King’, the pursuit of truth is presented as a complex and perilous journey. While it is Oedipus’s relentless quest for knowledge that unravels his identity and brings about his ruin and the inevitable costs of truth, the play ultimately suggests that this self-destructive path is a necessary component of restoring divine order and moral justice. The pursuit of truth, therefore, is not merely a flaw that brings about ruin, but a paradoxical force, leading to downfall when driven by hubris, yet becoming redemptive when it aligns with cosmic harmony and self-accountability.
Central to the text, Sophocles presents the pursuit of truth as a path to destruction when driven by arrogance, suggesting that a hubristic search to uncover reality ultimately leads to downfall. Enforced through Oedipus’s conceited proclamation that he personally “must bring what is dark to light.”, Sophocles employs declarative tone and self-aggrandising diction to highlight his ego-driven sense of identity. Sophocles portrays his pursuit of truth as constructed on self-assurance and confidence in his own importance over humility or moral duty. By foreshadowing how this pursuit will eventually dismantle Oedipus's constructed identity, Sophocles positions his downfall as the direct result of unchecked pride. For an Athenian audience, Oedipus becomes a cautionary figure whose desire for knowledge is not inherently noble, and is instead corrupted by hubris, thus forming a imperative warning to hold true to their values of human reason and achievement. This critique is extended through Tiresias’s metaphorical remark, which ironically indicts Oedipus for being “blind to the corruption of [his] life” despite his “precious eyes,” showing how his physical sight ironically masks his metaphorical blindness to the truth. While Tiresias embodies divine truth, Oedipus rejects prophetic authority in favour of his own false reasoning, contradicting an Athenian audience’s awareness of the almighty prophecy, thus reinforcing the dramatic irony that frames his relentless pursuit of truth as tragically misguided. Through this, Sophocles explores the tensions between sacred knowledge and mortal arrogance, from which he presents the pursuit of truth as destructive when it challenges divine order, seeking to warn his audience against prideful curiosity untethered from reverence.
Continuing, even when eventually uncovered, Sophocles presents a pursuit of the truth’s emotional and psychological consequences as devastating, reinforcing the tragic cost of awareness. The inherent suffering in knowledge is captured in Tiresias's desperate plea that it is 'only pain' for those who 'see the truth', expressing the inherent suffering in knowledge through universal language and paradox. Through this, truth is portrayed as a burden that overwhelms those who discover it. Sophocles thus frames
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Discuss how Rainbow's End explores the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: A loss to one's culture and identity can take a toll on who you are, but it can transform you for the better. This…
A loss to one's culture and identity can take a toll on who you are, but it can transform you for the better. This is illustrated in Jane Harrison's play, "Rainbow's End", following the lives of three generations of Koori women as they navigate love, hardships, and the disappointments that can follow, in 1950s white Australia, a period characterised by oppression and white hegemony. Harrison sympathises that a loss of identity and Aboriginal culture can indeed damage you as a person, but she expresses that this loss can transform you into something even better, empowering you as you go.
Transformation is illustrated in Harrison's characterisation of Gladys. Gladys is written to be a dreamer, hopeful for the future that awaits her community, and especially Dolly, whom she wishes to complete her education and get a job, "My girl...a graduate..." a dream that may seem bleak in 1950s white Australia. From this, Gladys is also an admirer of the Royal family, "She pulls Gladys into an informal hug", as demonstrated through Harrison's usage of theatrical conventions called "dream sequences", a convention symbolising the disattachment from reality but the enjoyment it brings to those who do dream, such as Gladys. However, this transformation to Gladys being a dreamer to a realist, is seen through her speech in which Harrison's stage direction, "She marches up to the podium", illustrates a physical shift in Gladys' character but a transformation of her identity as she takes a defiant step, and speaks with pride, "We demand for the right to control our destiny", both her identity and her culture. Harrison's deliberate use of dialogue and stage directions signals to audiences that Gladys is undergoing a transformation in both herself and her culture.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Sophocles shape the audience's…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 62.5%: Sophocles' Oedipus The King, written in 420 BCE, is a play depicting a story of tragedy and prophecy. He explores…
Sophocles' Oedipus The King, written in 420 BCE, is a play depicting a story of tragedy and prophecy. He explores tragic events that occur to Oedipus, hence shaping the audience's sympathy for him throughout the play. He does so through use of dramatic irony regarding Oedipus' lack of awareness of his dreadful reality. He develops sympathy for him by also conveying his tragic experience despite his heroism. Finally, Sophocles inflicts pity for Oedipus as a victim of over consuming hubris.
Sophocles installs sympathy for Oedipus by using dramatic irony. His horrific prophecies being fulfilled "many years" before the play even commences, implies potential for Oedipus to be simply unaware of certain details of his reality. However Oedipus has a strong will to uncover truths about, such as the murder of Laius, and wants to "fight for him as if he was [his] father", unknowing that Laius was in fact his biological father. He also classifies himself "a stranger to the story," even though ironically, he was the very opposite of a "stranger", but rather the primary perpetrator of the events that occurred at the crossroads. Sophocles uses this dramatic irony to extract pity from the audience, for Oedipus, due to his extent of unknowingness to his horrific truth, which however is known by the audience. He does so to more strongly inflict a deeper relationship between Oedipus and the audience, who feel sorry for him, and hence would have more engagement and connection to the play. This hence blends into the play's tragic characteristics, by having the protagonist, Oedipus, so dramatically unaware of the dreadful truth he will eventually figure out, but doesn't ever know for majority of the play. Through this, Sophocles shapes the audience's sympathy for him, ultimately using him as a message of warning, not to be overly naive.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In Oedipus the King, all who deserve it…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: Sophocles' Oedipus The King raises complex questions about just punishment in world governed by fate. The play…
Sophocles' Oedipus The King raises complex questions about just punishment in world governed by fate. The play emphasises repercussions against Oedipus, regardless of the basis of premeditation or righteous search. However, the plague placed upon the Theban society as a collective raises the ambiguity of just punishment within the play. Despite this, Sophocles simultaneously establishes Oedipus' punishment as a source of moral insight. Punishment is not always just in the standards of human morals, though it is the price for wisdom and clarity in the play. Indeed, Sophocles presents a viewing where just punishment is not always rightly deserved, though regardless, it accounts for growth even if it is painful.
Sophocles depicts Oedipus' punishment as deservingly just in the weight of their crimes - highlighting accountability through his flaws. Despite doing so unknowingly, Oedipus fulfils his prophecy of "coupling with [his] mother" and "killing [his] father". The severity of such crimes contributes to Oedipus' debilitating discovery of his circumstances. Through this, Sophocles places emphasis on the notion of moral responsibility, where ignorance does not absolve one from guilt. His fall from kingship through self-discovery is ultimately a result of his hamartia - his excessive pride through his hubris. Indeed, Oedipus' solving of the Sphinx's riddle made him "the first of men" to Thebans, declaring himself as someone who could "grant [their] prayers" instead of the gods. Hence, Oedipus' rooted pride is emphasised to the point where he challenges the authority of the gods. Such praise only inflates the responsibility of Oedipus in saving Thebes from the plague, pushing him to defy Tiresias' warning that he himself is the "corruption of the land" and to continue his search. Sophocles highlights how arrogance can indeed push one closer towards their own downfall, suggesting that Oedipus' punishment is the price of his own hubris. The declaration that he "must hear" from the messenger, depicts this very notion, as he willingly seeks out his own birth, and thus his very own downfall. By this point, Oedipus already possesses an understanding as he is at the "edge of hearing horrors", though chooses to confront his fate as a result of his arrogant search for knowledge. Hence, Sophocles magnifies how an individual's own hubris can lead to one's downfall.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Laveau-Harvie suggests that individuals…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 77.5%: Set in the backdrop of rural Canada, 'The Erratics' reflects the emotional isolation and hidden dysfunction…
Set in the backdrop of rural Canada, 'The Erratics' reflects the emotional isolation and hidden dysfunction concealed within family of that era. Vicki Laveau-Harvie's nonlinear memoir suggests that while understanding your past helps you reconcile with your past and others in order to move forward with their lives. However, Laveau-Harvie complicates this notion by demonstrating that progress can also be achieved by fleeing the past, a path Vicki takes in stark contrast to her sister, who remains trapped by a history she cannot comprehend. Additionally this is contrasted with Vicki who understood her past and is able to move forward with her past. However Vicki doesn’t fully reconcile her past but she moves forward by fleeing her past. Ultimately this distancing both physically and mentally is what allows her to understand her past.
Vicki's sister is unable to move past with her life as she still holds a grudge from her childhood, which she can't understand. Vicki's sister is shaped by the 'bear trap' of her childhood trauma and is unable to 'extricate herself no matter how hard she pull'. The metaphor presents trauma as hard to escape and contrasts how both sisters reconcile with their pasts. By choosing this violent metaphor she expresses the effect of childhood trauma on adults. Indeed, the sister holds a shows anger from resentment from their childhood as interacting with the mother results in Vicki's sister shaking 'violently after every confrontation with our mother'. This physical response demonstrates how trauma becomes embodied, revealing the extent of the lasting emotional scars and the mother's ongoing power which prevents the sister with moving forward from her past childhood trauma. As a result of her complicated past she is burdened with suppressed emotions, where it's manifested as a 'geyser of rage' which threatens 'plumes up into the sky, black and viscous, coating everything as it falls to earth'. This metaphor describes the effects of the pent-up emotions as being harmful. These suppressed emotions impact her behavior, compelling her to seek closure through fraught attempts at connection, which are ultimately unsuccessful as she is 'beaten back when she has tried'. Consequently this means of connection stems from her inability to come to terms with her trauma, and tries to seek closure through other means.