VCE · Text Response
Text Response: While Ibaraki is deeply flawed, the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: While Ibaraki is deeply flawed, the readers can still empathise with him. To be flawed is to be human , but to…
While Ibaraki is deeply flawed, the readers can still empathise with him.
To be flawed is to be human , but to recognise one's flaws and lack the courage to act upon them is perhaps the deepest moral failure of all. In Christine Piper's 2014 historical fiction novel ‘After Darkness’, the Japanese protagonist Dr. Tomokazu Ibaraki is a man of profound moral complexity compliant in atrocity, emotionally repressed and deeply flawed, yet at the same time vulnerable and guilt-ridden. Set across wartime Tokyo, Broome and the Loveday internment camp in South Australia, the novel is written against the backdrop of Japan's imperial expansion, Unit 731 and Australia's racially motivated internment policies. Piper deliberately employs a non-linear structure to construct Ibaraki not as a villain but as a deeply conflicted figure whose flaws invite empathy rather than condemnation. While readers can empathise with Ibaraki as a victim of institutional conditioning, Piper ultimately refuses to allow his 1989 confession to justify decades of moral cowardice suggesting that genuine repentance requires not just the courage to speak, but the willingness to speak before to do so.
Piper constructs Ibaraki as a victim of institutional conditioning rather than innate moral corruption, inviting readers to empathise with a man whose complicity in atrocity stems from the systematic dismantling of his moral agency. Piper's non-linear structure is central to this construction. By revealing Ibaraki's Tokyo chapters only after establishing his humanity in Broome and Loveday, she ensures readers understand the man before confronting his worst acts, a structural decision designed to generate empathy that a chronological narrative could not achieve. When Major Kimura recruits Ibaraki into the Epidemic Prevention Laboratory, his language is purposefully manipulative, framing the role as demanding ‘issues of duty, loyalty and prudence or what I call discretion.’ Through this, Piper exposes how institutions corrupt not through forceful acts but through making moral compliancy feel like a virtue revealing her broader intention to show that the most dangerous power never announces itself. Historically, Unit 731 scientists were conditioned through a corrupted Bushido ideology that reframed human experimentation as a nationalistic sacrifice. This context is crucial as it positions Ibaraki's complicity as a product of his environment rather than his character, asking readers to understand rather than simply judge. Piper reinforces this through the symbol of the bare deciduous trees, whose "branches were almost bare, scattered with fallen leaves." Rather than describing landscape, Piper uses this image to draw a deeper inference to how Ibaraki is a man stripped bare by a system that demanded everything from him and left nothing behind. The motif of cleansing as his compulsive need to "bathe himself clean" after each shift further revealing his deep psychological disgust at his own actions. This is not the behaviour of a detached man. It is the behaviour of a man haunted by what he cannot undo. Most significantly, when Ibaraki freezes during the infant dissection and Yamamoto steps in without hesitation, Piper uses contrast to locate Ibaraki's humanity precisely in his moment of greatest failure his paralysis is the last evidence of a conscience that conditioning could damage but never fully destroy. On a global level, child soldiers conditioned by the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda and Sierra Leone offer a powerful parallel. Like Ibaraki, these individuals were manipulated into atrocity before they possessed the moral agency to resist. Where modern Australian society values individual moral accountability, the world Piper depicts celebrated institutional obedience as the highest virtue. This clash of values forces readers to ask whether the empathy extended to child soldiers conditioned into violence is one they are equally willing to extend to a Japanese doctor conditioned into silence.
Body Paragraph 2
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: We Have Always Lived in the Castle is…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 67.5%: Situated in a pre- second wave feminism context, Shirley Jackson interrogates the power of female companionship,…
Situated in a pre- second wave feminism context, Shirley Jackson interrogates the power of female companionship, positioning that it may function as a rejection against patriarchal oppression. However, she depicts underlying hostility and envy in some female relationships, underscoring that internalized patriarchy and societal norms can alienate women. Thus, Jackson celebrates female fellowship to a limited extent, presenting that isolated female companionship is the only feasible arrangement for women to achieve autonomy in a limiting patriarchy.
TP1: While female companionship is celebrated on a superficial level, Jackson illuminates that Merricat and Constance’s relationship is heavily rooted in an unhealthy co-dependence. Merricat describes her sister Constance as a “fairy princess” who was the “most precious person in (my) world always”. Although this initially gives the illusions of sisterly love, deeper analysis indicates that Merricat infantilizes her sister, portraying her as fragile and underlining their relationship as possessive rather than an innocent companionship. The setting of the Blackwood house intentionally ostracises the sisters from the village, making their isolation definite. Repeatedly, Merricat pronounces her deluded fantasy to “live on a little house on the moon” with “only Constance and herself”. This motif indicates that the sisters desire to live in complete alienation from other human interaction is not a simple example of female companionship, but a terrifyingly unhealthy attachment to one another. Due to this controlling love, Merricat is immediately threatened upon Charles’ introduction, as she views him as a threat to her sole dependency on Constance. Merricat attempts multiple fantastical rituals in hopes that it will drive him away, believing that if “she altered father’s room, and later the kitchen and the drawing room and the study”. Here, the polysyndeton implies her frantic mental state as Charles has effectively threatened Merricat’s emotional authority over Constance. Jackson further underscores the co- dependence of Merricat and Constances’ relationship through the symbol of the fire. Upon purposefully starting the fire, Merricat aims to use it to purify the house by expelling any remnants of Charles. Here, Merricat mirrors the destructive nature of the fire as she is willing to potentially destroy the house purely to ensure that Constance remains for herself only. Through this, Jackson implies that the sisters’ bond, while appearing loyal, ultimately functions as a destructive dependence that isolates them from reality and prevents genuine human connection.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: ‘In High Ground, good intentions can be as…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: High Ground, directed by Stephen Maxwell Johnson in 2020, is a film that examines the fraught and often violent…
High Ground, directed by Stephen Maxwell Johnson in 2020, is a film that examines the fraught and often violent encounters between Indigenous Australians and European settlers in Arnhem Land during the early 20th century. The film illustrates how actions with seemingly good intentions can be just as destructive as those motivated by malice, particularly when they are rooted in guilt, ignorance, or a lack of understanding of the cultural context. Johnson suggests that regardless of intent, actions can cause devastating destruction to individuals, communities and cultures. However, the film also demonstrates that true understanding, empathy, and an honest reckoning with past wrongs are necessary for meaningful progress.
Stephen Maxwell Johnson criticises the notion that actions driven by guilt or a desire for redemption can lead to positive outcomes, revealing how such actions often cause further harm when they lack a genuine understanding of the context and needs of those affected. Through the character of Travis, a former soldier haunted by his role in the massacre of Gutjuk's family, Johnson examines how misguided attempts to atone for past wrongs can inadvertently perpetuate the very violence they seek to end. Travis agrees to help track down Baywara, believing he can prevent further bloodshed; however, his decision to involve Gutjuk in this mission exposes the young man to further danger and moral conflict. The scene is further intensified by the use of shots through the scope of the rifle, which narrow the viewer's focus and create a sense of tunnel vision, symbolising Travis’s limited perspective and the dangerous path he is leading Gutjuk down. These shots, which show the world through the crosshairs, underscore the lethal consequences of Travis’s actions and his failure to see beyond the immediate need for survival. The director employs wide shots of the terrain to suggest the futility of reconciling two worlds through force, emphasising the disconnect between Travis’s intentions and the outcomes they produce. By juxtaposing Travis’s actions with the recurring sounds of gunfire, Johnson reinforces the idea that guilt-driven intentions, even when meant to protect or redeem, can perpetuate cycles of violence when they fail to consider the perspectives of those most affected. Johnson underscores the need for a deeper understanding and respect for cultural context, suggesting that without this, even the best intentions can cause unintended harm. Therefore, the film demonstrates that actions motivated by guilt, without a genuine understanding of the broader consequences, are ultimately doomed to fail.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Wilder portray the consequences…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: Wilder presents a consequence of the lust for prestige to be the loss of one's sense of reality, through Norma…
Wilder presents a consequence of the lust for prestige to be the loss of one's sense of reality, through Norma Desmond as she is still attached to the remnants of an "audience that left 20 years ago." Early in the film, when Joe first enters Norma’s “great big white elephant of a place,” he describes it in posthumous narration through an intertextual reference to the house “Miss Havisham” would live in from Great Expectations. An establishing shot of Norma's interior encapsulates the mise-en-scene of the house; dominated by Gothic tropes and dark comedic elements, including a coffin and framed portraits of a younger Norma in her prime days ("crowded with Norma Desmond's"). The establishing shot revealing the mise-en-scene dominated by film noir elements, coupled with Gloria Swanson's exaggerated silent film style characterises Norma as a relic of the past, transforming her mansion into a mausoleum of the past. The motif of the framed portraits symbolise how
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Wilder portray the consequences…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: Wilder presents a consequence of the lust for prestige to be the loss of one's sense of reality, through Norma…
Wilder presents a consequence of the lust for prestige to be the loss of one's sense of reality, through Norma Desmond as she is still attached to the remnants of an "audience that left 20 years ago." Early in the film, when Joe first enters Norma’s “great big white elephant of a place,” he describes it in posthumous narration through an intertextual reference to the house “Miss Havisham” would live in from Great Expectations. An establishing shot of Norma' interior encapsulates the mise-en-scene of the house; dominated by Gothic tropes and dark comedic elements, including a coffin and framed portraits of a younger Norma in her prime days ("crowded with Norma Desmond's"). The establishing shot of the mise-en-scene, coupled with Gloria Swanson's exaggerated silent film style characterises Norma as a relic of the past, transforming her mansion into a mausoleum of the past. The motif of the framed portraits symbolise how
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Wilder portray the consequences…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 65%: Wilder presents a consequence of the lust for prestige to be the loss of one's sense of reality, through Norma…
Wilder presents a consequence of the lust for prestige to be the loss of one's sense of reality, through Norma Desmond as she is still attached to the remnants of an "audience that left 20 years ago." Early in the film, when Joe first enters Norma’s “great big white elephant of a place,” he describes it in posthumous narration through an intertextual reference to the house “Miss Havisham” would live in from Great Expectations. An establishing shot of Norma's bedroom encapsulates the mise-en-scene of the house; dominated by Gothic tropes and dark comedic elements, including a coffin and framed portraits of a younger Norma in her prime days ("crowded with Norma Desmond's"). The establishing shot of the mise-en-scene, coupled with Gloria Swanson's exaggerated silent film style characterises Norma as a relic of the past, transforming her mansion into a mausoleum of the past. The motif of the framed
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 'Wilder confronts the audience with…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 60%: Behind the affluence and enchantment that Hollywood promotes, stars carry suffering “in spades.” Despite once being…
Behind the affluence and enchantment that Hollywood promotes, stars carry suffering “in spades.” Despite once being “the greatest star of… all,” Norma Desmond carries a burden larger than most. A long shot reveals the prosperous nature of Norma’s mansion, which was “a great big… elephant of a place,” embellished with a plethora of opulent ornaments. The clutter and disarray symbolise Norma’s entrapment within the relics of her past, confirming her inability to escape her silent film era. However, Wilder diverts the audience’s expectations surrounding fame, by revealing the trauma Norma carries. The film industry left Norma deluded and unstable. She lives in a world entirely of her own, “afraid of the world outside [which would] remind her that time had passed.” Wilder’s use of mirrors emphasises Norma’s loss of touch with reality, as when she stares into them, she sees a different version of herself; a young and beautiful
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 'Wilder confronts the audience with…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 65%: Behind the affluence and enchantment that Hollywood promotes, stars carry suffering “in spades.” Despite once being…
Behind the affluence and enchantment that Hollywood promotes, stars carry suffering “in spades.” Despite once being “the greatest star of… all,” Norma Desmond carries a burden larger than most. A long shot reveals the prosperous nature of Norma’s mansion, which was “a great big… elephant of a place,” embellished with a plethora of opulent ornaments. The clutter and disarray symbolise Norma’s entrappment withing the relics of her past, confirming her inability to escape her silent film era. However, Wilder diverts the audience’s expectations surrounding fame, by revealing the trauma Norma carries. The film industry left Norma deluded and unstable. She lives in a world entirely of her own, “afraid of the world outside [which would] remind her that time had passed.” Wilder’s use of mirrors emphasises Norma’s loss of touch with reality, as when she stares into them, she sees a different version of herself; a young and beautiful
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 'Wilder confronts the audience with…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 60%: Behind the affluence and enchantment that Hollywood promotes, stars carry suffering “in spades.” Despite once being…
Behind the affluence and enchantment that Hollywood promotes, stars carry suffering “in spades.” Despite once being “the greatest star of… all,” Norma Desmond carries a burden larger than most. A long shot reveals the prosperous nature of Norma’s mansion, which was “a great big… elephant of a place,” embellished with a plethora of opulent ornaments. The clutter and disarray position Norma to be entrapped by the relics of her past, symbolising her inability to escape her silent film era. However, Wilder diverts the audience’s expectations surrounding fame, by revealing the trauma Norma carries. The film industry left Norma deluded and unstable. She lives in a world entirely of her own, “afraid of the world outside [which would] remind her that time had passed.” Wilder’s use of mirrors emphasises Norma’s loss of touch with reality, as when she stares into them, she sees a different version of herself; a young and beautiful star.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 'Wilder confronts the audience with…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 65%: Behind the affluence and enchantment that Hollywood promotes, stars carry suffering “in spades.” Despite once being…
Behind the affluence and enchantment that Hollywood promotes, stars carry suffering “in spades.” Despite once being “the greatest star of… all,” Norma Desmond carries a burden larger than most. A long shot reveals the prosperous nature of Norma’s mansion, which was “a great big… elephant of a place,” embellished with a plethora of opulent ornaments. The clutter and disarray position Norma to be entrapped by the relics of her past, symbolising her inability to escape her silent film era. However, Wilder diverts the audience’s expectations surrounding fame, by revealing the trauma Norma carries. The film industry left Norma deluded and unstable. She lives in a world entirely of her own, “afraid of the world outside [which would] remind her that time had passed.” Wilder’s use of mirrors emphasises Norma’s loss of touch with reality, as when she stares into them, she sees a different version of herself; a young and
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 'Wilder confronts the audience with…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 60%: Behind the affluence and enchantment that Hollywood promotes, stars carry suffering “in spades.” Despite once being…
Behind the affluence and enchantment that Hollywood promotes, stars carry suffering “in spades.” Despite once being “the greatest star of… all,” Norma Desmond carries a burden larger than most. A long shot reveals the prosperous nature of Norma’s mansion, which was “a great big… elephant of a place,” embellished with a plethora of opulent ornaments. The clutter and disarray position Norma to be entrapped by the relics of her past, symbolising her inability to escape her silent film era. However, Wilder diverts the audience’s expectations surrounding fame, by revealing the trauma Norma carries. The film industry left Norma deluded and unstable. She lives in a world entirely of her own, “afraid of the world outside [which would] remind her that time had passed.” Wilder’s use of mirrors emphasises Norma’s loss of touch with reality, as when she stares into them, she sees a different version of herself; a young and beautiful star. The use of dim lighting, casts
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 'Wilder confronts the audience with…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 60%: Behind the affluence and enchantment that Hollywood promotes, stars carry suffering “in spades.” Despite once being…
Behind the affluence and enchantment that Hollywood promotes, stars carry suffering “in spades.” Despite once being “the greatest star of… all,” Norma Desmond carries a burden larger than most. A long shot reveals the prosperous nature of Norma’s mansion, which was “a great big… elephant of a place,” embellished with a plethora of opulent ornaments. The clutter and disarray position Norma to be entrapped by the relics of of past, symbolising her inability to escape her silent film era. However, Wilder diverts the audience’s expectations surrounding fame, by revealing the trauma Norma carries. The film industry left Norma deluded and unstable. She lives in a world entirely of her own, “afraid of the world outside [which would] remind her that time had passed.” Wilder’s use of mirrors emphasises Norma’s loss of touch with reality, as when she stares into them, she sees a different version of herself; a young and beautiful star. The use of dim lighting, casts
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 'Wilder confronts the audience with…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 65%: Behind the affluence and enchantment that Hollywood promotes, stars carry suffering “in spades.” Despite once being…
Behind the affluence and enchantment that Hollywood promotes, stars carry suffering “in spades.” Despite once being “the greatest star of… all,” Norma Desmond carries a burden larger than most. A long shot reveals the prosperous nature of Norma’s mansion, which was “a great big… elephant of a place,” embellished with a plethora of opulent ornaments. However, Wilder diverts the audience’s expectations surrounding fame, by revealing the trauma Norma carries. The film industry left Norma deluded and unstable. She lives in a world entirely of her own, “afraid of the world outside [which would] remind her that time had passed.” Wilder’s use of mirrors emphasises Norma’s loss of touch with reality, as when she longingly stares into them, she sees a different version of herself, a young and beautiful star. Although this is far from the truth, as the “woman of 50” is now
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: relationships in sunset boulevard
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: ntroduction In Billy Wilder’s 1950 noir masterpiece Sunset Boulevard, the traditional Hollywood romance is…
ntroduction In Billy Wilder’s 1950 noir masterpiece Sunset Boulevard, the traditional Hollywood romance is subjected to a scathing autopsy. Wilder strips away the "technicolor" glamour of the industry to reveal a predatory ecosystem where genuine human connection is discarded in favor of mercenary transactions and pathological performances. Through the "poisoned" triangle of the cynical "hack" Joe Gillis, the "rotting" silent icon Norma Desmond, and her "high priest" Max von Mayerling, Wilder posits that the industry’s obsession with the "image" has rendered authentic intimacy an impossibility. By utilizing a sophisticated Gothic Noir aesthetic and meta-cinematic irony, Wilder suggests that in a world predicated on "stardom," individuals are reduced to either "commodities" or "ghosts," trapped in a "peculiar prison" where the only "real" bond is the mutual maintenance of a lethal delusion. Ultimately, Wilder critiques a culture that "strangles" the human spirit, proving that on Sunset Boulevard, love is merely a "rope of words" used to bind the victim to the dream.
Body Paragraph 1: Relationships as Transactional Commodities (Joe and Norma) Wilder first establishes the relationship between Joe and Norma as a fundamentally parasitic transaction, where intimacy is a currency used to purchase economic survival. From the moment Joe enters the "shabby-genteel" Desmond estate—which he describes as a "gilded rowboat" (Quote 40) that is "drifting nowhere"—Wilder uses Mise-en-scène to symbolize their stagnant bond. The mansion is cluttered with "Norma Desmonds" (portraits), creating a suffocating environment where Joe is reduced to a "replacement" for her dead chimpanzee. The Sound of the chimpanzee’s funeral—a bizarre, nocturnal ritual—acts as a chilling foreshadowing of Joe’s own fate; he is literally filling a vacancy left by a dead pet. His transition into a "kept man" is marked by the Acting choice of Joe looking increasingly apathetic and "hollowed out" as he is fitted for his "wardrobe of silk shirts" and the "vicuna" coat. When the shop assistant remarks, "Well as long as the lady's paying for it, why not take the vicuna?", Wilder highlights Joe’s total emasculation. He has surrendered his autonomy for "comfort," a transaction cemented by the "gold cigarette case" (Quote 38). Wilder uses Lighting here—often casting Joe in the literal shadows of Norma’s towering presence—to show how he is being "consumed" by her wealth. Joe’s own admission that he is a "stray dog" (Quote 43) strips him of human dignity, positioning Norma as the predatory "master." Wilder’s "big picture" intent is to mirror the way the Studio System treats its talent: as disposable props to be "bought" and "branded." By showing Joe’s gradual surrender of his identity, Wilder suggests that in Hollywood, the only "real" bond is the one found on a balance sheet, proving that financial desperation eventually "rots" the capacity for love.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: To what extent does the anarchy ideology…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 92.5%: Set in a dystopian London governed by systemic oppression, V for Vendetta examines anarchy as simultaneously a…
Set in a dystopian London governed by systemic oppression, V for Vendetta examines anarchy as simultaneously a liberating and destabilising force — one that enlightens the subjugated whilst simultaneously exploiting the very vulnerabilities it claims to heal. McTeigue constructs a world in which compliance has become indistinguishable from survival, positioning anarchy not as nihilistic disorder, but as the only viable reclamation of moral agency when legality no longer aligns with justice. Yet the film refuses to romanticise this reclamation uncritically: through V's morally compromised methods, McTeigue reveals that dismantling ideological control demands operating within its own manipulative logic. Ultimately, V for Vendetta contends that the ethical cost of anarchy — coercion, spectacle, psychological exploitation — is inseparable from its liberating potential, and that this inseparability is not a flaw in the revolution, but its defining and most unsettling truth.
Sutler's London establishes a landscape in which fear has been so thoroughly institutionalised that liberty itself becomes unthinkable, rendering anarchy not an act of aggression but of restoration. The opening confrontation between Evey and the fingermen is filmed through disorienting, handheld camerawork and oppressive low-key lighting that visually encloses both character and viewer, replicating the psychological entrapment of a surveillance state in which the body is never truly private. Into this suffocating environment, V's entrance operates as deliberate cinematic rupture: the wide blocking that places him at spatial centre-frame, the theatrical rhetorical cadence of his introduction, and the choreographed precision of his violence collectively construct anarchy not as recklessness but as intention — a controlled counter-force to a regime that has weaponised chaos against its own citizens. Yet McTeigue's most powerful articulation of anarchy as restoration comes later, in Evey's emergence from imprisonment. The high-angle shot that frames her outstretched figure in the rain does not merely diminish the physical world around her — it dissolves the architecture of the state's control entirely, reducing Sutler's regime to irrelevance against the scale of a single reclaimed self. The sparse orchestration that isolates diegetic rainfall renders the moment liturgical, positioning Evey's relinquishment of fear not as personal triumph but as ideological annihilation: the state's primary instrument of control, rendered inoperative. In this sense, McTeigue argues that authentic selfhood is not merely a byproduct of anarchy — it is its most radical political act.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: All the characters in " we have always…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 62.5%: Sentence 1 – General philosophical statement In societies shaped by fear and rigid expectations, individuals…
Sentence 1 – General philosophical statement
In societies shaped by fear and rigid expectations, individuals often become trapped by forces beyond their control.
Sentence 2 – Introduce text + clear contention
In We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson largely presents all characters as trapped, though their confinement takes different forms, with some characters choosing isolation as a means of control while others remain powerless.
Sentence 3 – Argument 1 signpost (double-verb)
Jackson explores psychological entrapment through Merricat, revealing how trauma and fear confine her while simultaneously motivating her rejection of society.
Sentence 4 – Argument 2 signpost (double-verb)
Jackson illustrates social entrapment through Constance, demonstrating how guilt and public judgement imprison her despite her legal innocence.
Sentence 5 – Argument 3 signpost (double-verb)
Jackson extends the idea of entrapment to other characters, exposing how trauma, greed, and conformity restrict both individuals and the wider community.
Sentence 6 – Ultimately (author message)
Ultimately, Jackson suggests that in a hostile society, entrapment is unavoidable, but the extent of one’s confinement depends on whether it is resisted or internalised.
Body Paragraph – Psychological Entrapment (Merricat)
T – Topic sentence (double verb, in text)
Shirley Jackson explores psychological entrapment through Merricat, revealing how trauma confines her while reinforcing the idea that isolation becomes a form of self-protection.
E – Explain (out of text, unpacking the “why”)
Although Merricat appears to control her environment, her behaviour is driven by fear and past violence, suggesting that her isolation is not freedom but a response to trauma and social hostility.
E – Evidence 1
Merricat describes her defensive rituals, burying objects and repeating charms to keep outsiders away, insisting that “everyone else in the world was dead.”
A – Analysis 1 (in-text + out-of-text)
Jackson constructs Merricat’s obsessive rituals to suggest that her mind is trapped in a state of fear and magical thinking.
Through this, Jackson critiques a society that fails to protect vulnerable individuals, implying that trauma forces people to retreat inward to survive.
E – Evidence 2
Merricat expresses violent fantasies toward the villagers, imagining their destruction and celebrating the idea of being completely cut off from them.
A – Analysis 2 (in-text + out-of-text)
Jackson depicts Merricat’s hostility to demonstrate how prolonged isolation distorts morality and empathy.
In doing so, Jackson condemns social cruelty and collective punishment, suggesting that exclusion breeds paranoia rather than justice.
E – Evidence 3
After the house burns, Merricat embraces a new life of seclusion, viewing the ruined home as a safe boundary between herself and the outside world.
A – Analysis 3 (in-text + out-of-text)
Jackson symbolises the destroyed house as both a prison and a sanctuary, reinforcing Merricat’s permanent entrapment.
Ultimately, Jackson warns that when society responds to difference with fear and violence, individuals may choose confinement over participation.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Sunset Boulevard explore a…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 60%: Behind its contreversial, film-noir surface, ‘Sunset Boulevard’, produced in 1950, presents a devestating critique…
Behind its contreversial, film-noir surface, ‘Sunset Boulevard’, produced in 1950, presents a devestating critique on Hollywood, amplifying how their obsession with image ultamitely destroys anyone who chases it. Billy Wilder exposes society’s self obsession with image in ‘Sunset Boulevard’, by conveying how the strive for youth, beauty, and success, leads to personal decay. Moreover, Wilder condemns Hollywood for influencing society to meet their unrealistic, harsh expectations, only for them to be utilized for profit and abandoned, revealing the true dark undertones of the film industry during the 1950’s.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: To what extent are the lives of the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 82.5%: Oftentimes, those who do not abide by social standards experience great adversity - both from the society that…
Oftentimes, those who do not abide by social standards experience great adversity - both from the society that condemns them, but also in their personal lives. This notion is examined in Shirley Jackson’s novel, ‘We Have Always Lived in the Castle,’ in which she depicts the struggles of her characters who are exposed to the external pressures of adhering to the social expectations of 1960’s American society. Through the narrative perspective of Merricat, Jackson explores these characters and their conflicts, and suggests that individuals will often be faced with the dilemma of staying loyal to themselves and those close to them, or heeding to the intrinsic human desire to conform. However, regardless of the expectations set against them, Jackson maintains that people are not bound to upholding these norms, and may still flourish by subverting them.
The capitalist-centric society of 1960’s America more often than not tempts individuals to a futile pursuit of excessive materialism; Jackson embodies the notion of such through Charles. To begin, early in the novel, Jackson establishes the “greed” that “rots” the village, through Merricat’s descriptions of both the “pale greedy” villagers with their “grey evil faces”, but also of the village itself, which is similarly “unchangingly grey.” Through repetition, Jackson metaphorically represents how the village as a whole is “colorless,” suggesting that its residents lack individuality, and their obsession with “money” is a medium by which they conform. The lexical choice of “unchangingly ” also implies that this avarice is systemic; in this, Jackson conveys that the village itself is a reflection of wider society’s values surrounding materialism. Consequently, when Charles is introduced, his seemingly excessive regard for “money” causes intense distrust between him and Merricat, who associates him with the “greedy” villagers. Throughout the novel, his continued comments on “value” and “worth” of objects are initially disregarded by Constance, who believes he genuinely cares for the family and “is a good man;” his attempts to join the family succeed at first. However, during the fire, rather than prioritising the wellbeing of the Blackwoods, he repeatedly calls upon the villagers to “get the safe.” Through this symbol, Jackson reveals Charles’ obsessive behaviours surrounding money take precedence over his own family, and through Merricat, condemns him for this behaviour, as he is made to leave the Blackwood house. As such, Jackson also symbolically illustrates the issues with a society so deeply-rooted in capitalism: that individuals often fall victim to a fruitless infatuation with materialistic gain, as this need may supersede and ultimately prevent them from truly caring about those closest to them.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: i) “I made her a star. I cannot let her be…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 62.5%: Enhancing a false ideology someone is living in is equally corrupt as the obsessor pursuing the fantasy. In Billy…
Enhancing a false ideology someone is living in is equally corrupt as the obsessor pursuing the fantasy. In Billy Wilder’s 1950 dramatic noir, ‘Sunset Boulevard’, the previous silent film star Norma Desmond is a psychotic example of femme fatale as her intense need for greatness controls the lives of her acquaintances. Narcissistic actions by Norma intensify her struggles, as well as people manipulating her for personal gain or contentment.
Benefiting off someone’s fragility and delusions is the root of moral decay. Identifying the flaws in Norma’s mindset, Joe abandons all of his personal principles in hope of gaining financial stability. Schemingly denying Norma’s choice to allow him to edit Salome, Joe deceitfully claims “I’m pretty expensive, I get $500 a week”, aiming to be profitable off an inferior script. Lying about his wealth portrays Joe’s contumelious intentions to exploit Norma. Living with Norma increases Joe’s quality of life significantly, as depicted by a panning camera shot of Joe hopping out of her pool. Implementing this subtle scene exposes Wilder’s intention of underlining the amelioration of Joe’s life derived from manipulating Norma into being dependent on him. Realising that he is continuously amplifying both Norma and his dystopian situation, Joe searches for invalidation of his actions. Attempting to persuade Max that they are intensifying Norma’s suffering, Joe admits “We’re not helping her, feeding her lies”, suggesting that he feels accountable for her fractured beliefs. Striving to escape the fallacy Norma and Joe live in through appealing to Max highlights that he may feel a sense of guilt, as he understands that Norma will inevitably have a catastrophic fate once the truth is revealed. Establishing a system where Joe has advantages from Norma’s deep-rooted problems creates an everlasting cycle of harm.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 'there are no heroes in High Ground'.…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 77.5%: Firstly, Johnson argues that individuals are not completely good or bad, but rather complex and morally ambiguous…
Firstly, Johnson argues that individuals are not completely good or bad, but rather complex and morally ambiguous beings. In High Ground, this is demonstrated through the portrayal of Travis, an important character, as someone who cannot be seen as a traditional hero. During the outset of the film, Travis is placed on top of a hill with his sniper while the other officers enter the Yolngu community's land. Despite not actively being in the battlefield, Eddy informs his troops that "nobody shoots [Travis]". Through the layering of Eddy's declaration and Travis being placed on high ground, Johnson presents the idea that even individuals exhibiting traits of having a moral superiority to others, are often still contributers, or even instigators, of ethically corrupt behaviours and events. This also presents Travis as a character who believes that he is a morally elevated individual, which is then reinforced through him telling the officers to "put [their] bloody [guns] away", despite being just set up alongside a sniper. Through this, Johnson questions the limits to
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 'there are no heroes in High Ground'.…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: Firstly, Johnson argues that individuals are not completely good or bad, but rather complex and morally ambiguous…
Firstly, Johnson argues that individuals are not completely good or bad, but rather complex and morally ambiguous beings. In High Ground, this is demonstrated through the portrayal of Travis, an important character, as someone who cannot be seen as a traditional hero. During the outset of the film, Travis is placed on top of a hill with his sniper while the other officers enter the Yolngu community's land. Despite not actively being in the battlefield, Eddy informs his troops that "nobody shoots [Travis]". The layering of Eddy's declaration and Travis being placed on high ground, Johnson presents the idea that even individuals exhibiting traits of having a moral superiority to others, are often still contributers, or even instigators, of ethically corrupt behaviours and events. This also presents Travis as a character who believes that he is a morally elevated individual, which is then reinforced through him telling the officers to "put [their] bloody [guns] away", despite being just set up alongside a sniper. Through this, Johnson questions the limits to the
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: High Ground highlights the hardships…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 77.5%: Similarly, Johnson examines the restrictions on women's autonomy and limitations in their choices affected by…
Similarly, Johnson examines the restrictions on women's autonomy and limitations in their choices affected by cultural expectations or the interference of authority. In High Ground this is demonstrated through Claire's inability to provide support to those around her by standing up for marginalised groups. At the start of the negotiation meeting between Moran and Dharpa, Claire offers to translate for [Dharpa], but is then met with rejection as Dharpa exclaims that "[Gutjuk] can speak for [him]." Consequently, Johnson adopts the use of a mid-shot to show Claire as she glumly returns to her seat with a slightly lowered head angle. Through the interplay of Claire's passed on offer and leaning head, which is a common symbol of respect, Johnson displays the limited agency of women in political manners as well as the expectation to hold and conduct themselves in a certain manner. The juxtaposition of Claire's grim facial
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: how does Johnson explore the different…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 82.5%: Johnson presents power in the form of the unchecked brutal authority of colonial institutions. In High Ground,…
Johnson presents power in the form of the unchecked brutal authority of colonial institutions. In High Ground, this is demonstrated through the barbaric behaviour of the white officers at the massacre at the Billabong. Before the massacre begins, Johnson employs the use of a point of view shot, displaying an unarmed woman and child as the target of Travis' sniper. Through the use of this POV shot, Johnson confronts the ruthless nature of colonial behaviour by using a common symbol of innocence, the mother and child, as the prey of the colonial institution. Johnson forces viewers to witness the vulnerability of the victims from the perspective of the colonisers, highlighting the disturbing normalisation of violence within the colonial system. The juxtaposition between the purity of the woman and child and the lethal power of the rifle emphasises the extreme imbalance of power, suggesting that colonial authority is maintained through the dehumanisation
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: It is a section A film analysis on the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: Wilder divulges²⁰ the exploitation of a misogynistic²¹ industry and the restrictive stereotypes imposed upon women,…
Wilder divulges²⁰ the exploitation of a misogynistic²¹ industry and the restrictive stereotypes imposed upon women, highlighting that Norma is a casualty of the male-centric Hollywood.
He exemplifies its unrealistic beauty standards through montages of Norma undergoing a "...a merciless²² series of treatments" to prepare for her "return" and be "ready for those cameras that would never turn".
Utilising extreme close-up shots of Norma's eyes through the lens of a magnifying glass, he shows viewers how every pore and wrinkle are examined and every impurity.
By delineating the rigid expectations of the abstract cinematic eye and its intolerance towards any imperfections, Wilder sympathetically unveils²³ how the women of Hollywood are simply a pedestal for the world to admire and criticise.