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, demonstrating through Vicki that moving forward can also be achieved by fleeing the past. Certainly understanding your past is important as Vicki's sister never understood her past that’s why she can't let go of her past trauma. 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.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Laveau-Harvie suggests that individuals…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: 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, it's not necessary to move forward, this is shown with Vicki who moves forward with her life by fleeing her past. Certainly understanding your past is important as Vicki's sister never understood her past that’s why she can't let go of her past trauma. 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.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Laveau-Harvie suggests that individuals…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: 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, it's not necessary to move forward, this is shown with Vicki who moves forward with her life by fleeing her past. Certainly understanding your past is important as Vicki's sister never understood her past that’s why she can't let go of her past trauma. 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.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: "There's nothing tragic about being 50…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: Set in the end of the silent era of Hollywood, Billy Wilder’s 1950 film Sunset Boulevard exposes the darker side…
Set in the end of the silent era of Hollywood, Billy Wilder’s 1950 film Sunset Boulevard exposes the darker side of Hollywood’s dream factory, where youth and beauty are worshipped and discarded in equal measure. Using the conventions of film noir; voice-over narration, stark chiaroscuro lighting, and fatalistic structure - Wilder critiques a culture that prizes youth over authenticity, through the use of delusional figures who prize vanity and superficiality above all else. Through the use of delusional figures, Wilder explores how the refusal to age will inevitably end in tragedy using the silent era’s stars as a prime example. However, the director also complicates this notion by suggesting that the film industry, not just the individual’s infatuation with youth, will lead to tragedy. Ultimately, Wilder portrays Hollywood’s obsession with youth as both a societal sickness and an individual tragedy, demonstrating that the refusal to age never works out.
Through the use of narcissistic character’s who value superficialty above all, viewing outside vanity above character, Wilder portray’s how tragedy emerges not from age but from the desperate attempt to deny it. Once a silent film superstar, Norma is now a relic of a bygone era, unable to accept that her fame has faded. Her declaration, “I am big, it’s the pictures that got small,” encapsulates her refusal to confront reality, she blames the changing world rather than accepting her own ageing. Wilder uses the flickering light of the projector as a symbolic reminder of Norma’s delusion and old age. In the scene where she watches her old films, her face is illuminated by the glow of her youthful self, a haunting contrast that underscores her obsession with the past. The noir lighting and claustrophobic setting of her decaying mansion further enlarge the fall from grace, once beloved now forgotten. Thus, Wilder portrays Norma’s tragedy as a direct consequence of her futile attempt to cling to youth, showing that the refusal to accept time’s passage leads to madness and isolation.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: It’s difficult for audiences to accept the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: Love is depicted in William Shakespeare's “Twelfth Night” as an irrational emotion that presents itself…
Love is depicted in William Shakespeare's “Twelfth Night” as an irrational emotion that presents itself unexpectedly and without reason. In this way, Shakespeare challenges traditional interpretations of love, ultimately insinuating that love is a mysterious force that motivates change on both a personal and societal level. While the play’s declarations of love are, on the surface, difficult to accept because they come about so rapidly, occur in face of cross-gender disguises and bloom between lovers from differing social strata, Shakespeare ultimately endorses love’s irrational tendencies and its power to transform lives.
One of the reasons that “Twelfth Night” audiences struggle with the play’s depiction of love is because of the seeming speed with which its characters fall for one another. This is made particularly clear with Olivia’s abrupt infatuation with Cesario upon their first meeting. While Orsino’s off-putting Petrarchan idolisation provides some explanation of Olivia’s preference of Viola’s alter ego, it can still be difficult for viewers to accept the rapidity and intensity of Olivia’s emotions. Olivia’s comparison between love and the plague after her first meeting of Cesario, however, provides some insight into Shakespeare’s attitude about love and its mysterious tendencies; and w hen modern audiences consider the Elizabethans’ ignorance of a germ theory of disease, this comparison takes on even greater significance. Astonished by her sudden romantic attraction, Olivia rhetorically asks “How now? Even so quickly may one catch the plague?”. With this, Shakespeare strongly insinuates that love is not an emotional state that one enters rationally and advisedly. Rather, Shakespeare depicts love as a phenomenon that materialises inexplicably, one that people contract against their will. This notion is reinforced when Olivia personifies her emotions for Cesario despite knowing little about him, commenting that her feelings “creep in at mine eyes”. This intruder imagery characterises love as a sort of stealthy prowler that has the power to infiltrate one’s heart despite one’s best defences. In this way, Shakespeare addresses the legitimacy of love as an irrational sudden force that people are powerless to resist, ultimately suggesting that Olivia’s declarations of love, while rapid, are authentic.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Johnson use the motif of…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 62.5%: High Ground is a revisionist western directed by Stephen Maxwell Johnson. The entire film is set in Arnhem land…
High Ground is a revisionist western directed by Stephen Maxwell Johnson. The entire film is set in Arnhem land located in the Northern Territory of Australia. 1919 is the starting point for the film and a time of great violence towards First Nations people know as the Frontier Wars. The opening scene reflects this racial violence with a massacre draws strong parallels with the Gan Gan massacre. The film then time jumps 12 years into its predominant time setting where the protagonist Gutjuk, a young Yolngu boy is navigating his life after his family was massacred, and he was forced to grow up in the colonialist in the East Alligator River Mission, causing cultural conflict within Gutjuk. During this process Gutjuk is along side two very distinct mentor figures that represent both the Indigenous and British culture. Both play a part in aiding the Protagonist form his own identity and sense of morality.
The first case of mentorship that Johnson includes in the film is between Baywara and Gutjuk, which serves as a base for Gutjuk’s knowledge of his own cultural identity. In the opening scene of the film Johnson crafts an intimate scene between Gutjuk and his mentor when he was a young boy. Baywara teaches Gutjuk about the cultural significance of “[his] name… [meaning] hawk” and “[his] totem [being] the crocodile” and how these traditions are sacred parts of the First Nations identity that are based down through generations. Johnson includes this in his opening scene to first expose the audience to some of the tradition customs of the First Nations people while providing context on the protagonist. Within the same scene Baywara teaches Gutjuk the customary dance that accompanies his totem and the meaning of his name through a close up shot that Johnson employs to show the audience the intricacy of such a cultural dance and the emotion that goes into its performance. The relationship between these two First Nation males provides an environment for Gutjuk to learn about his heritage and the customs of his people, the Yolngu people which acts as mode for Gutjuk to form his connection to his culture and identity.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “In Sunset Boulevard, Wilder suggests that…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: In Billy Wilders 1950 film noir Sunset Boulevard, Wilder presents a world where illusion has taken over reality,…
In Billy Wilders 1950 film noir Sunset Boulevard, Wilder presents a world where illusion has taken over reality, particularly through Norma Desmond's desperate denial of her fading fame and Joe's decaying mental state, exposing just how Hollywood destroys truth to create a spectacle. Wilder invites the audience into a dark, fantasy world, but throughout the film, slowly exposes us, the audience to how this inner world within the walls of Hollywood is not a fantasy world, but the truth. He uses Norma Desmond, an aging, has-been silent movie star to represent her actor, Gloria Swanson, someone thrown away by Hollywood, but unable to accept this, and stuck living in her fantasy world. Wilder contrasts this through the character of Joe Gillis, and his desent into illusion, through his acceptance of what is required to be a part of the reality manufactured by Hollywood.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Revenge and hatred are driving forces in…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 60%: Revenge and hatred are driving forces in this text. Discuss. Stephen Maxwell Johnson's 2020 film 'High Ground' set…
Revenge and hatred are driving forces in this text. Discuss.
Stephen Maxwell Johnson's 2020 film 'High Ground' set in 1930's Arnhem Land explores the devastating consequences of British colonisation on Indigenous Australians' sense of identity and their actions. They are faced with numerous unresolved historical injustices arising from the brutal conflict between the two communities during the frontier wars. The film is centred around the protagonist, Gutjuk, a young Yolngu man who witnesses the massacre of his family by the European settlers and is assimilated into their white culture. Johnson demonstrates how individuals' actions are motivated by the desire for revenge and an intense hatred towards an opposing community. However, the film suggests that individuals with a strong moral code are able to transcend the feelings of resentment or the need for revenge and enable meaningful progression in society with an absence of violence.
Johnson reveals how an obsession for revenge drives individuals to act violently and ultimately leads to their demise. Johnson characterises Baywarra as an angry and aggressive Aboriginal man as he forms a "mob" who's sole purpose is to harm the Britishers and get revenge for the initial massacre of an entire Yolngu family. Depicting the influence of a desire for revenge, Johnson reveals Baywarra and his mob "hitting stations" and damaging the white settlements in colonial Australia. Implementing a low angle shot of Baywarra atop a hill with a spear in his hand and surrounded by flames, Johnson highlights the power Baywarra had gained. his position also implies that he is gratified by his actions and will continue to cause harm to the settlers in an effort to avenge his family who the settlers brutally murdered. The spear itself becomes a recurring symbol of violence and anger as its sharpness cuts through moral restraint, leaving only a sense of revenge in place. The low angle shot positions Baywarra on the "high ground", symbolising superiority.
and a position of power which ultimately becomes a false position of power as Johnson highlights violence arised even from revenge elevates nobody and eventually only perpetuates suffering. Later in 'High Ground', Johnson uses Baywarra's death to represent the idea that sacrificing moral mentality in order to obtain revenge leads to an individual's downfall. Furthermore, as revenge drives majority of Baywarra's actions, his own father, Dharrpa is ultimately against him as Baywarra values the Indigenous Australian values of peace and non-violence which Baywarra has rejected. Baywarra tells Gutjuk that Baywarra has brought this on himself, emphasising how he does not condone his actions which are driven by a need for revenge, ultimately leaving Baywarra disconnected from his father too. Johnson indicates that revenge is a false driving force in 'High Ground' which can often lead to the one's demise.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Tradition is inescapable. To what extent…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: In Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez, tradition is something that controls everyone and…
In Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez, tradition is something that controls everyone and everything in the story. The town is full of people who just do what they think they have to do because it’s always been that way. Nobody really questions why they do things, and because of that, Santiago Nasar ends up dead. García Márquez shows that tradition is something that’s really hard, maybe even impossible, to escape from.
The murder of Santiago Nasar happens because of the old idea of honour. When Angela Vicario is returned to her family by Bayardo San Román, her brothers feel that they have to kill Santiago to get back their family’s honour. They don’t even seem to want to do it, but they say they “had the moral obligation to kill him.” This shows that they are just following what society expects from them. Everyone in town knows the twins are planning to kill Santiago, but nobody does anything about it. They all think that “someone else would stop them,” which shows that everyone is part of the same tradition and they’re too scared or lazy to go against it.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Tradition is inescapable. To what extent…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: In Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel García Márquez portrays a society trapped within the rigid expectations…
In Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel García Márquez portrays a society trapped within the rigid expectations of honour, religion, and gender. Every character acts according to what tradition demands, even when those traditions cause harm or conflict with personal morality. Through the death of Santiago Nasar and the community’s collective inaction, García Márquez shows that tradition shapes the town’s identity so completely that it becomes impossible to escape. However, through moments of quiet resistance, he also suggests that awareness of these destructive customs may be the first step toward change.
The Vicario brothers’ decision to kill Santiago Nasar demonstrates how deeply the town is controlled by traditional codes of honour. When Angela Vicario is returned to her family after her husband discovers she is not a virgin, her brothers immediately feel “the moral obligation to kill him.” They are driven not by hatred but by the expectation that “a man must stand up for his sister’s honour.” García Márquez presents honour as a public performance, where reputation is valued more than human life. The twins repeatedly announce their plan in the hope that “someone would stop them,” but the community’s shared belief in the honour code prevents intervention. The narrator later reflects that “no one even wondered whether Santiago Nasar was guilty,” exposing how the force of tradition overrides truth and justice. In this way, García Márquez reveals honour as an inescapable cultural demand — one that traps both the killers and the victims within a destructive cycle of obedience.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Rainbow’s End is about the experience and…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: Set amidst the oppressive environment of a 1950’s Australia, Rainbow’s End reveals the harsh experiences and…
Set amidst the oppressive environment of a 1950’s Australia, Rainbow’s End reveals the harsh experiences and conflicts that arise from living between cultures. Through her characters and their maltreatment, Harrison highlights the cultural conflict that First Nations peoples endure in the face of systemic racism. Additionally, divides in generational perspectives reveal the differing experiences that individuals have when living between cultures. Despite the conflict and harsh experiences that propagate from cultural conflicts, Harrison highlights its necessity in bringing cultures together. Thus, Rainbow’s End tells a story rife with the experience and conflict of a life amongst separated cultures.
The oppression that characters are subjugated to reveal the cultural conflicts that Aboriginal people have had to endure within a white society. These cultural strifes arise as a result of systemic racism and alienation; a core theme in the play that is exemplified through its characters. Gladys is forced to disregard Dolly’s chance to work a “cash register” in Trevaks as she is faced with the realisation that “her address stop[s] her” from attaining “a good job”. Thus, their Aboriginal home and background is eluded to be a sole reason for Dolly being unable to adjust to Western culture. This systemic racism is additionally highlighted through the Bank manager’s unjustified worry of Dolly “fit[ting] in” at the job that Gladys is applying her for. He continues his attempt at denying Dolly a job, and it is only through Gladys’ constant outlining of Dolly as a “hard worker” that’s “top of her class”. This fictitious scenario, that grounds itself in the reality of 1950’s Australia, showcases the hardships that Aboriginal peoples have to suffer through to sustain themselves in white Australia. Harrison thus reveals the systemic racism forced upon First Nations peoples which forces them to navigate between their indigenous heritage - pre-colonialism - and the imposed values of white society.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: ‘Isolation plays a significant role in…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: ‘Isolation plays a significant role in shaping a character’s identity.’ Discuss. Written in 1962, Shirley Jackson’s…
‘Isolation plays a significant role in shaping a character’s identity.’ Discuss.
Written in 1962, Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle is set in mid-twentieth-century America, plagued by the McCarthyism era and explores the limitations placed upon the aristocratic Blackwoods as a result of the patriarchal society they live in.
Narrated by the psychologically damaged mind of Merricat, Jackson explores in protofeminist tones how unrelenting gender roles and rigid social norms lead to a bleak society in which the identities of individuals are suppressed. Ultimately, Jackson works to not only condemn the harsh patriarchal norms that societies are based upon, but also demonstrates that liberation and freedom can be achieved through a rejection of these conventional societal values.
From the opening line, “My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood”, Jackson immediately situates Merricat’s identity within an isolated framework. Jackson’s narration traps the readers in Merricat's claustrophobic identity. The declarative statement of name and age reads like a ritual incantation rather than a simple introduction. Merricat’s world is small, bound by the walls of the Blackwood estate and by her routines of superstition and control. Her isolation from the villagers has intensified her inward gaze, turning her identity into something solipsistic and defensive. The villagers’ cruelty, mocking rhymes, stares, and the lingering accusation of murder have driven her to create a personal mythology in which her family’s ostracism becomes sacred. Merricat’s fantasies of the villagers “all dying” or the world “ending except for Constance and me” illustrate how isolation feeds her desire for absolute autonomy. She sees herself not as part of a community but as a guardian of a private realm. In this sense, Jackson shows that isolation can generate a warped form of empowerment: Merricat’s identity depends on her exclusion, and she fiercely defends it.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does High Ground challenge the concept…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 67.5%: High Ground - Prompt 1 Stephen Johnson's 2020 film High Ground explores the impact of European Colonisation on…
High Ground - Prompt 1
Stephen Johnson's 2020 film High Ground explores the impact of European Colonisation on Aboriginal Australians through the life of Gutjuk - a young Aboriginal man who lost his family and was assimilated. The film grapples with Gutjuk's conflicting sense of morality and justice, living between the worlds of the colonisers and his remaining family. Johnson critiques and challenges the notion of British justice, highlighting that it is an unfair system that is a cover for colonial violence. Johnson demonstrates that the true justice for Aboriginal Australians is maintaining their connection to culture and country.
Johnson depicts that British justice is a concept that remains unfair to Aboriginal Australians, erasing their experience as victims of oppression. Despite being subject to colonisation, it is made evident in High Ground that Aboriginal Australians are denied of their justice from the colonial perspective as it is that their experiences as victims have no true voice. Johnson constructs the film through a cyclic nature, presenting series of recurring violence each time started by the colonisers then followed with the retaliation of the Aboriginal Australians. Through this Johnson makes it evident that throughout history, colonisers have continued to inflict violence on Aboriginal Australians, resulting in violence back as an attempt to gain their own justice. This is further solidified through the exposition of the film, which depicted the massacre of the Yolngu people. A gruesome scene implemented by Johnson, who based it off of real life massacres of Aboriginal Australians. The exposition of the film served as a microcosm of the continued violence colonisers put Aboriginal Australians through. In setting this as the foundation of the film, Johnson serves to present that the cyclic repetition of violence evident throughout is a result of colonisation "didn't start with [Baywara]", but rather started with [colonisers]" unlike what the soldiers tried pushing as Moran pushed for "justice", arguing that Baywara "crossed the line" as he "killed a white woman", chosen that while Baywara's violence was in response to the murder of his entire family, him killing a singular white woman is what truly demands justice in the eyes of the British. Johnson critiques this narrative through highlighting that the pretense of violence against Aboriginal Australians is what truly requires justice - however, it is made clear that British justice actively ignores the need to "give Aboriginal Australians their justice", rather only choosing "to honour fellow colonisers." This is further highlighted through Gulgub's character arc. Johnson constructs Gulgub's timeline to make it evident that though he pursues justice for himself, he never once kills anyone. However, in the climax of his arc, he is actively being hunted by Eddy, who believes "he is a murderer". The blatant lie used to justify the attempt at killing Gulgub is used by Johnson as a representation of coloniser's use of lies to justify their system of justice - further exacerbating the unfairness of British justice. As "officers of the law", their blatant disregard for justice for Indigenous Australians, through a lack of acknowledgement for the violence they suffered, is indicative of a broader sense of unfairness in the British means of justice. Through this, Johnson illustrates that to Aboriginal Australians, the British system of justice is unfair, thus critiquing it.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Requiem for a Beast explore the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 65%: Matt Ottley’s non-linear, multi-modal graphic novella Requiem for a beast (2007) explores the impact of…
Matt Ottley’s non-linear, multi-modal graphic novella Requiem for a beast (2007) explores the impact of generational trauma through symbols and relationships. Ottley suggests a lasting impact of racism and trauma exist, employing mythological symbols and visuals to do so.
Ottley suggests that trauma is passed down and creates ones identity. The father utilises his authority over the Boy to manipulate his identity, as the father’s trauma influences him to prevent the Boy having the same experience. When the Boy is young, he hears his father participating in racist conversation bout Indigenous Australians, likening Indigenous peoples to animals, “the blackfellas out there were a bunch of monkeys”, positioning them as less-than-human. The impact of hearing such on the Boy’s identity is seen when the Boy questions his father on it, which the father dismisses, “don’t worry about that mate”, in an attempt to prevent the Boy from inheriting trauma from casual racism. The father takes further action by attempting to prevent the Boy from working on the station, insisting the Boy is “too smart” for such work and masculine community, due to the father’s trauma stemming from his time on the station. However, the father redirects harm that still falls upon the Boy as he has now inherited fragile masculinity as trauma from his father. This impact on the Boy’s identity is supported when on the station he compares himself to Johnno’s wife and separating himself from his fellow masculine stockmen, questioning his ability to “fit in” in such a “place” and community. Ottley reinforces this idea with the visual of the stockmen lined up during their profiles, in which the Boy is riding a white horse while the rest are riding darker horses. Thus, generational trauma impacts one’s identity by illustrating the direct relationship of it’s influence on paternal decisions to ones self-image.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In Oedipus the king, all who deserve it…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: In Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus the King, justice is not straightforward. While Oedipus, Jocasta, and others suffer…
In Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus the King, justice is not straightforward. While Oedipus, Jocasta, and others suffer terribly, their suffering is not always the result of deliberate wrongdoing. Instead, Sophocles shows that fate and divine will play a far greater role in shaping human lives than personal choice. The play challenges the idea that punishment always fits the crime and highlights the limits of human control. Through Oedipus’ downfall, Jocasta’s death, and the dominance of fate, Sophocles presents a tragic vision where suffering is often undeserved and inevitable.
Oedipus suffers terribly, even though he tries to do the right thing. Before he is born, the oracle predicts he will “kill his father and lie with his mother.” To avoid this, Oedipus flees Corinth, but unknowingly kills his real father, Laius, in self-defence and marries his mother, Jocasta. None of this is intentional, yet his punishment is extreme,he blinds himself, loses his throne, and lives in exile.Oedipus’ good qualities make his suffering seem even more unfair. He cares deeply for Thebes, saying, “I would be blind to misery not to pity my people.” He also seeks the truth to save the city, but his determination leads to his destruction. Oedipus himself blames the gods,expressing, “It was Apollo, friends. It was Apollo. He brought on these troubles, the awful things I suffer.” His tragedy shows that fate, not guilt, drives much of his suffering.
Jocasta also suffers despite acting with good intentions. She abandons her baby to avoid
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does High Ground depict the lasting…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: In Highground, directed by Stephen Maxwell Johnson, colonial violence starts and ends the film in post-war Arnhem…
In Highground, directed by Stephen Maxwell Johnson, colonial violence starts and ends the film in post-war Arnhem Land, displaying the long-lasting impact of colonial violence. Johnson contends that colonial violence has a long-lasting impact, leaving trauma, fueling revenge from indigenous tribes and constant cycles of violence, with rare chances to gain peace due to the need for colonial dominance. Johnson constructs this with a cyclical narrative structure and several film techniques and devices.The opening massacre comes back 12 years later with Baywarra avenging his family. The struggle for trust and peace between the indigenous and colonial settlers is a result of the colonial violence at the start of the film. The ending pictures the cycle of violence as the past repeats itself and another massacre occurs.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does high ground reveal that thr line…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 62.5%: Saaya How does High Ground reveal that the line between justice and revenge is not always clear? Stephen…
Saaya
How does High Ground reveal that the line between justice and revenge is not always clear?
Stephen Johnson's 2020 film 'High Ground' explores the impact of western colonisation on Indigenous Australians through the story of Gutjuk, a young Yolngu man who lost his family at a young age and was assimilated. Living between the conflicting worlds of the colonisers and his remaining family, he grapples with the conflict of justice and his morality. The film is set in Arnhem Land, during the 1930's, examining themes of colonial violence, cultural connection and Aboriginal dispossession. Johnson conveys that often in the pursuit of justice, many follow a path of revenge instead. However, he highlights that in times where justice is absent, individuals are forced to rely on revenge as a form of personal revenge.
Through High Ground, it is made evident that the journey of justice often unfolds into one of revenge. He highlights the uncertainty of the two concepts when attempts at justice ultimately results in revenge. The lack of clarity of the boundary between revenge and justice is made evident through the change in pathway of character and the conflict of their morality and their actions. This is primarily depicted through the climax of the film where Gutjuk is seen to lead a path of revenge rather than justice. The climax presents Gutjuk actively fighting the soldiers, relying on guns and bullets. Guns and bullets, being a weapon mostly used by colonisers against Aboriginal Australians is used by Johnson as a symbol of colonial violence. The climax being comprised of Gutjuk relying on this weapon is indicative of him turning to a system and a way of life that actively goes against him and his people. Despite starting off his journey saying that he wants justice, Johnson presents that in the climax lets his anger take control, disregarding Dharrpa's words of needing to "protect himself" and to "listen to mother Earth". Instead of adopting such attitudes of justice, he chose to succumb to his anger and thus means of revenge. The diversion of Gutjuk's journey of what he himself said to be "justice", to one that served as personal revenge as highlighted in the climax, Johnson demonstrates that ambiguity between justice and revenge is prevalent in how individuals are easily able to leave a path of one for the other. The lack of clarity between the two is further explored through the symbolic use of fire. During the scene where Baywara burns the station, a different angle shot of Baywara standing on a rock is implemented, with flame present in the foreground and background of the image. Baywara does this in retaliation of the massacre of his family years ago, using fire to gain justice by combating colonial power using Aboriginal weapon of fire. However, the vagueness in distinction of justice and revenge is often seen, as uncontrolled and erratic like flames. In the shot as the flames consume all in its path, Johnson symbolises that revenge fuelled by anger consumes Baywara, as "he let the anger consume him". The placement of the flames all around him in the shot, while still maintaining a low angle showing power and authority, is utilised by Johnson to portray the ambivalent nature of the distinction between justice and revenge. In depicting the interchangeability of forms of justice and revenge, and the ambiguity of the distinction between the two is used by Johnson to demonstrate how the line is not always clear.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Jackson’s novel examine the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: Orchestrated in the mist of the early 1900s in 1962, Shirley Jackson's gothic novel We Have Always lived in the…
Orchestrated in the mist of the early 1900s in 1962, Shirley Jackson's gothic novel We Have Always lived in the castle clearly emphasised gender imbalance as a notion to power being distributed unevenly. Showcasing a range of difficulties that the stereotypical women face due to the set of status in society, Jackson amplifies this through the living conditions amongst male dominance and the consequences colliding with an uneven power imbalance.
Jackson challenges fairytale allusions when illustrating difficulties of living in a world where power is distributed unevenly through gendered roles and generic perspectives. In reflection to rapunzuel, Jackson positions constance to be a helpless princess in desperation of saving while charles is the knight to her fantasies, crafting a gendered perspective to her readers. Although constance was living contently in the blackwood estate with her sister Merricat, Jackson sprouted the notion of saviour for constance against Merricat. Deploying charles as a character who feels the obligation to "save constance". This fairytale allusion instantly distributes higher authority to males, however is challenged via the gothic genre of Merricat being resistent to feminine norms. with a character like Merricat, Jackson challenges this typical fairytale notion, conflicting it with charles masculine dominance. While charles tries to save constance, Merricat tries to protect constance, showcasing a colliding perspective of feminine roles of being protected and the masuline sterotype to protect.
Analogously, Jackson examines the difficulties of living amongst a world of uneven power distribution. Contrasting masulinity to black magic, Jackson expresses the gothic genre of we have always lived in the castle in illustration to her two characters, charles and Merricat. Positioning the angelic nature of constance
Orchestrated in the mist of the early 1900s in 1962, Shirley Jackson's gothic novel We Have Always lived in the castle clearly emphasised gender imbalance as a notion to power being distributed unevenly. showcasing a range of difficulties that the stereotypical women face due to the set of status in society, Jackson emplifies this through the living conditions amongst male dominance and the consequences colliding with an uneven power imbalance.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “Better a witty fool than a foolish wit”…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 85%: William Shakespeare’s 1601 play Twelfth Night, written at the height of his dramatic maturity, is a Renaissance…
William Shakespeare’s 1601 play Twelfth Night, written at the height of his dramatic maturity, is a Renaissance comedy set within the fictional land of Illyria. The comedic aspects of the play interrogate the archetypal societal expectations of wisdom among different classes in Elizabethan society. To a considerable extent, Shakespeare suggests that folly and intelligence can be linked. However, it is one’s understanding of others that reflects true wisdom. This is introduced through the witty use of foolishness, highlighting its necessity for individuals to satisfy their desires, reinforcing the notion that it is better to be a “witty fool”. In contrast, some individuals can embrace both folly and wisdom as distinct qualities. Moreover, Shakespeare reveals folly as a means to critiquing predetermined assumptions of wisdom, affirming the notion that wisdom is based solely on an individual’s ability to connect with others.
Shakespeare introduces the acceptance of folly as an indication of wisdom, being used as a tool of influence. Foolishness is primarily portrayed through the fool Feste, who aims to be a “witty fool” rather than a “foolish wit”, and reveals through paradox that true wisdom resides in one’s ability to know oneself. It is through Feste’s self-awareness in he can portray the archetypal Shakespearean Fool, a character who provides comedic relief whilst giving commentary on the morals and actions of other characters. With his intelligence residing in his ability to make insightful connections between characters and their actions, Feste can be a “corruptor of words”. By masking himself as a fool, he transcends his societal role and speaks freely, influencing others under a humorous guise. Through presenting a fool as highly perceptive, Shakespeare reveals that wisdom is not linked to intelligence, but rather one’s ability to unite folly and wit to influence those around them. Additionally, the acceptance of foolishness is developed further through Sir Toby, through his calculated manipulations. Sir Toby’s character is grounded in buffoonery, as he is defined through his excessive drinking and absurdity, underpinning his actions throughout the play. To fuel his alcoholism, Sir Toby utilises his wisdom to manipulate Sir Andrew and Cesario into a duel. Fuelled by his own desire for entertainment and a drinking partner, Sir Toby initiates this duel by falsely labelling Sir Andrew as “a devil in private brawl”, eliciting fear within Cesario. Through Sir Toby’s actions, Shakespeare demonstrates that indulgent folly can intertwine with intelligence when it can influence those around them. Ultimately, Shakespeare constructs wisdom as a quality that is built on one’s ability to accept folly and utilise it to control those around them.
Shakespeare suggests that folly and wisdom can coexist, working separately within an individual to steer others’ judgements. Folly is a nuanced theme within Twelfth Night and is portrayed through disguise and deception. In particular, Viola’s disguise acts as a comedic outlet in the play; however, Viola’s main intention is not one of petty foolishness. Her disguise becomes the “form of [her] intent” as she employs cross-dressing to grant herself mobility within
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: "this is my law. it comes from the soil.…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 65%: High Ground is a Northern Revisionist film directed by Stephen Johnson, which explores the colonisation of post…
High Ground is a Northern Revisionist film directed by Stephen Johnson, which explores the colonisation of post World War 1 Australia. Johnson suggests that British justice system results in violence and forced assimilation, and instead emphasises the importance of connection to culture as a form of justice. Johnson explores the violent effects of the power and control of the British Justice system, and reveals how forced assimilation can be a byproduct of the British Justice system. However, Johnson offers Indigenous people's connection to culture as a superior form of justice.
Johnson explores the violent effects of power and control of the British system. In the beginning of the film, Gutjuk's family is attacked by white British men who are seeking justice for a cow that was stolen. The soldier's uniforms contrast the Indigenous' clothing and traditional paint, emphasising their connection to the British empire. As digetic gunshots ring through the forest, the camera constantly cuts to different people to emphasise the panic of the situation. During the aftermath, Johnson shows a close up of Dhappra, holding his dead daughter's head in his hands, crying out in agony "My beautiful daughter", his voice shaking. Here, Johnson aims to demonstrate to the audience that all this pain and suffering is a result of the British seeking justice. In a later scene, Gulwirri and Gutjuk are seated around a fire in a cave. The fire crackles, gently illuminating the otherwise dark faces of Gutjuk and Gulwirri. Gulwirri shares with Gutjuk a personal story of when she was abused by white men as a young child, claiming "Bossman thought he owned us". Her solemn expression and serious tone, paired with the darkness of the room and occasional cuts to a midshot of Gutjuk's shocked reaction highlights the travesty and seriousness of the situation. Here, Johnson attempts to position the audience to see the harm caused by misuse of power within the British system. Johnson explores the abuse of colonial power and underlines the violent consequences of British Justice.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “How can over 50,000 yrs mean nothing?”…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: Green and Kinsella’s False Claims of Colonial Thieves dismantles the sanitised myths of Australian history,…
Green and Kinsella’s False Claims of Colonial Thieves dismantles the sanitised myths of Australian history, forcing readers to reconsider a forgotten past of mistreatment towards centuries of First Nations people on Australian soil.
Green, a descendant of First Nations people, along with Kinsella, a passionate ally, condemns colonisation, the breakdown of Indigenous culture, and exploitative tourism, as the unethical yet ignored aspects of white Australia’s actions against Indigenous people’s history.
The poets condemn colonisation of white settlers as the root initiator of violence towards the centuries-withstanding Indigenous race. Green utilizes “Always Thieves” to question the audience regarding white Australia’s truly bloodied history, rewinding to a time where “massacres” were “strategic for any interference”. The pun embedded in interference highlights the critique of colonised euphemism, where genocidal acts are reframed as responses to minor resistance.
Kinsella follows to critique white settler violence through challenging the vicious degradation of sacred Indigenous land by miners. He strips land-exploiters of their human values by suggesting the “king brown” doesn’t die “from its own poison” “within its body”, analogising uranium (the miner’s gold) as being a king brown snake, being potentially lethal yet harmless if it is left there “intact”. Green and Kinsella unveil the torture that colonisation has brought upon Indigenous people and land, who deserve nothing less than justice after 50,000 years of existing before colonisation.
Green and Kinsella seek to find solace in a recognition of Indigenous culture that was spiritually and physically squashed by white Australian culture.
Green critiques white Australia’s satisfaction of enjoying a picturesque vacation on a historical graveyard, labelling Rottnest Island as a “prison memory of
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: wilders film condems the illusion of fame.…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: Introduction Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard (1950) is a bleak and unflinching portrayal of Hollywood’s dream…
Introduction
Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard (1950) is a bleak and unflinching portrayal of Hollywood’s dream factory, exposing how the pursuit of fame corrupts identity, morality, and truth itself. Framed through film-noir conventions—voice-over narration, chiaroscuro lighting, and fatalistic structure—Wilder dismantles the myth that celebrity equals happiness. Through the intertwined downfalls of Norma Desmond and Joe Gillis, he condemns the illusion of fame as a seductive lie that promises transcendence but delivers decay. Wilder’s critique extends beyond individual tragedy; it reflects a system that feeds on ambition and discards its own creations once their shine fades.
Body Paragraph 1 – Illusion and Isolation
Wilder begins by revealing the fragility behind Hollywood’s glittering surface. Norma Desmond, a forgotten silent-film star, lives entombed in a mansion that resembles both a museum and a tomb. The once-grand house—curtains drawn, dust thick on forgotten trophies—embodies the rot beneath cinematic glamour. Wilder’s low-key lighting and tight framing trap Norma within darkness, mirroring her mental confinement. Her famous line, “I am big. It’s the pictures that got small,” encapsulates her delusion: she refuses to see that fame has abandoned her. The camera’s obsessive close-ups parody the adoring lenses that once idolised her, turning worship into ridicule. By surrounding Norma with relics of her former glory—projectors, photographs, silent reels—Wilder visualises how fame fossilises the human spirit. His portrayal condemns not only Norma’s blindness but the culture that created her, one that confuses attention with love and visibility with worth.
Body Paragraph 2 – Ambition and Moral Collapse
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: wilders film condems the illusion of fame.…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 62.5%: Introduction In Sunset Boulevard, director Billy Wilder explores the dark side of Hollywood and the false…
Introduction
In Sunset Boulevard, director Billy Wilder explores the dark side of Hollywood and the false promises of fame. He shows that the dream of success and recognition often leads to loneliness and despair. Through characters like Norma Desmond and Joe Gillis, Wilder condemns the illusion of fame as something that destroys those who believe in it.
Body Paragraph 1
Wilder shows that fame in Hollywood is not as perfect as it seems, but instead a trap that destroys those who chase it. Norma Desmond’s mansion, filled with old photos and silent movie relics, symbolises how fame quickly fades and leaves people stuck in the past. She lives in darkness and isolation, pretending she is still loved by the world. When she says, “I am big. It’s the pictures that got small,” Wilder shows how fame has made her blind to reality. The use of low lighting and close-up shots make her look unstable and trapped in her fantasy. Through Norma’s downfall, Wilder warns viewers that fame is an illusion that promises happiness but delivers emptiness and madness instead.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Jackson’s novel examine the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 60%: Orchestrated in the mist of the early 1900s in 1962, Shirley Jackson's gothic novel We Have Always lived in the…
Orchestrated in the mist of the early 1900s in 1962, Shirley Jackson's gothic novel We Have Always lived in the castle clearly emphasised gender imbalance as a notion to power being distributed unevenly. Showcasing a range of difficulties that the stereotypical women face due to the set of status in society, Jackson amplifies this through the living conditions amongst male dominance and the consequences colliding with an uneven power imbalance.
Jackson challenges fairytale allusions when illustrating difficulties of living in a world where power is distributed unevenly through gendered roles and generic perspectives. In reflection to rapunzuel, Jackson positions constance to be a helpless princess in desperation of saving while charles is the knight to her fantasies, crafting a gendered perspective to her readers. Although constance was living contently in the blackwood estate with her sister Merricat, Jackson sprouted the notion of saviour for constance against Merricat. Deploying charles as a character who feels the obligation to "save constance". This fairytale allusion instantly distributes higher authority to males, however is challenged via the gothic genre of Merricat being resistent to feminine norms. with a character like Merricat, Jackson challenges this typical fairytale notion, conflicting it with charles masculine dominance. While charles tries to save constance, Merricat tries to protect constance, showcasing a colliding perspective of feminine roles of being protected and the masuline sterotype to protect.
Analogously, Jackson examines the difficulties of living amongst a world of uneven power distribution. Contrasting masulinity to black magic, Jackson expresses the gothic genre of we have always lived in the castle in illustration to her two characters, charles and Merricat. Positioning the angelic nature of constance
Orchestrated in the mist of the early 1900s in 1962, Shirley Jackson's gothic novel We Have Always lived in the castle clearly emphasised gender imbalance as a notion to power being distributed unevenly. showcasing a range of difficulties that the stereotypical women face due to the set of status in society, Jackson emplifies this through the living conditions amongst male dominance and the consequences colliding with an uneven power imbalance.