VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Born a crime is a story of overcoming…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: Trevor Noah’s memoir, Born a Crime, primarily explores times of racial segregation during pre and post-apartheid.…
Trevor Noah’s memoir, Born a Crime, primarily explores times of racial segregation during pre and post-apartheid. Noah condemns the limiting factors which must be ultimately overcome in order to survive in an unjust society. He demonstrates the extent to which race and gender are limitations that influence the success of an individual. However, ultimately, he champions language as a tool used to overcome limitations.
Initially, Noah criticises the unjust reality of gender, which must be challenged. Noah presents Patricia as an individual who defies traditional societal norms and conformities. As Patricia works to obtain a career as a secretary, which was considered socially inappropriate for a black woman at the time, given that “teaching a black woman how to type was like teaching a blind woman how to drive”, Noah satirically mocks Patricia’s career choice, highlighting the severe abnormality of her decision, ultimately demonstrating her ability to overcome gender as a barrier to her success. Furthermore, Noah presents his childhood as “a world run by women”, championing the ability of his mother, Patricia, and his grandmother to raise him. He highlights the ability of multiple female individuals to overcome socially imposed limitations.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Chronicle of a Death Foretold examines the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: Set within a town founded upon the tenets of catholicism, Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s allegorical novella “Chronicle…
Set within a town founded upon the tenets of catholicism, Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s allegorical novella “Chronicle of a Death Foretold" centralises dogmatic beliefs emanating from 1950s Columbia to examine the reification of ‘honour’. From the outset, Marquez castigates the ways in which the townspeople liken ‘honour’ to that of a spiritual mandate – a law sanctioned by God himself to construct a guise of moral sanctity that masks their collective complacency, becoming mutually reinforcing partners in maintaining social control. Dissecting this premise, Marquez does not merely criticise the performative nature of religious duty, he further highlights the total absence of divine intervention in order to reveal the religious institution as an empty vessel that the townspeople ‘fill’ with their own prophecies of honour and machismo. However, the trompe l’oeil narrative paradoxically also portrays the ecclesiastical values that continue to permeate the conscience of the community, ultimately revealing how the two antithetical notions of honour and religion can co-exist.
At its core, the novella reduces religion to a series of empty and ritualistic performances as the institution itself remains passive and complicit in the face of brutality. This is evident through the religious symbolism of the bishop as he “didn’t get off his boat” to see the banquet the entirety of the town had prepared solely in anticipation of his arrival, and “gave a mechanical blessing without even getting up”. The bishop’s bypassing, opting to perform only a perfunctory and ‘mechanical’ blessing signifies the eclipse of the town from catholic morality into devotion to atavistic codes of honour, as the bishop who is meant to be God’s instrument on Earth himself has metaphorically abandoned the town. This physical detachment becomes emblematic of a more profound spiritual abandonment as the townspeople are left without a moral anchor, and do not seek to reconcile this religious vacuity, rather turning to reify violent codes of honour. This is articulated as the indifference of the bishop acts as permissive of the dismissal of moral conscience, crystallized as the Vicario twins affirm despite committing a murder, they are “innocent before God and men”. This claim is inherently paradoxical as by invoking a divine witness into a moral void, the twins reveal that their God is not an ecclesiastical authority, but a sacronistic system of honour that permits violence. Moreover, they collapse the distinction between the two as “before god and man” is synonymous with ‘before religion, and man-made systems of ‘honour’. This characterises Marquez’s condemnation of tension between religion and honour as a veneer, religion acting as a mere moral mask for the supremacy of an atavistic honour code. Marquez frames this through the inaugural epigraph: “the pursuit of love is like falconry”, a subversion of the biblical commandment to ‘love thy neighbour’. Marquez demonstrates an inversion of love through the symbolism of falconry. Just as a falcon is hooded, the townspeople are blinded; they mistake their rigid ‘honour’ for love, using it as a veneer to cleanse the savagery of their sins. This being the entry point to the narrative proves particularly significant as it effectively allows Marques to immediately position readers outside of the town’s myopia by exposing spiritual vacuity concealed behind the mask of honour – transforming the narrative into a castigation of dogmatic systems of honour and performative religious values.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: using the passage as a focus, discuss the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 85%: Edith Wharton, in her novel ‘The age of Innocence’, endorses freedom from the restrictive social codes of ‘Old New…
Edith Wharton, in her novel ‘The age of Innocence’, endorses freedom from the restrictive social codes of ‘Old New York Society’. Throughout the text, Wharton frames Ellen as being ‘freed’ from the conformist expectations of New York society, yet she is ostracized and subject to the “loneliest kind of freedom”. At the same time, Newland desires to be freed, yet the social codes and expectations are so imprinted on his character that escaping from the society itself is framed as impossible. Wharton uses the concept of freedom to criticise the hypocrisies of the New York social sphere.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: The desire to act with honour mostly leads…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: Set in 1950s Colombia, Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s 1981 novella ‘Chronicle of a Death Foretold’ critiques the…
Set in 1950s Colombia, Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s 1981 novella ‘Chronicle of a Death Foretold’ critiques the downfalls of a society dictated by rigid honour ideals at the peak of a turbulent ‘La Violencia’. Exposing the harsh demands of the community’s honour culture, Marquez pities the misguided extreme lengths some go to in order to appease societal expectations and maintain an image of happiness. However, he foregrounds the severe ramifications that arise as a result, denouncing the desire to act with honour as culprit for the town’s convoluted morals and unhappiness. Consequently, Marquez celebrates the defiance of the honour code which he frames as the path to achieving happiness.
Marquez unveils a society in which warped notions of honour are valued above all else, critiquing the blind desperation to comply with societal structures to achieve happiness. The strictness of such an honour culture is prevalent through the acknowledgement of the Vicario twins’ “horrible duty” which the whole town is aware of, with use of the term “duty” implying the moral obligation imposed upon the twins as a result of their desire to act with honour, almost becoming synonymous with the law. Marquez critiques the extremity of such a culture upheld by the entire town, yet ironically hints that the townspeople themselves remain blissfully oblivious to the detriments of their unforgiving expectations as they blame fate for Santiago’s death. This is evident through the recurring motif of Santiago’s deathly appearance prior to his murder, with characters describing him to have already had “the face of a dead man”, and “looked like a ghost”. Thus, Marquez delineates the blindness of the town as they attribute responsibility for Santiago’s death to fate rather than their complacency, and are temporarily satisfied by their beliefs. Perceived ‘happiness’ is also blatant as Santiago’s murder is championed by others as morally just, with the priest himself claiming the twins are innocent “perhaps before God”. In doing so, Marquez juxtaposes the expected morality of such a religious figure with his corrupt catholic morals in justifying murder, condemning how the excessive desire to act with honour supersedes religious morality, unbeknownst to the characters themselves. Therefore, Marquez is sympathetic yet critical towards a society in which unforgiving honour expectations twist perceptions of morality, leading characters to mistakenly seek comfort with their honour culture.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Refusal to relinquish dreams is at the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: Billy Wilder’s 1950 film noir, Sunset Boulevard is a satirical commentary on the toxic nature of the Hollywood film…
Billy Wilder’s 1950 film noir, Sunset Boulevard is a satirical commentary on the toxic nature of the Hollywood film industry in the early 20th century and criticising the way the industry treats its human talent as disposable commodities. Throughout the film, Wilder endorses how the refusal to let go of a person’s dreams is at the heart of all suffering to a restricted extent, through the illusion of former glory, and attachment to fame. However, Wilder rejects the concept that refusing to let go of aspirations is the centre of all pain through his criticism of Hollywood’s ruthless machinery at the centre of suffering for the characters of his film.
Through Sunset Boulevard, Wilder explores how the refusal to let go of one's past glory can lead to immense pain and suffering. Norma’s characterisation permits Wilder to emphasise how Norma’s refusal to move on from her days of fame have led to her mental insanity, highlighted through Wilder’s inclusion of Norma’s personal cinema, playing only her own work and her dedication to reply to the “mail” she receives from “fans”. Additionally, Wilder’s mise-en-scene throughout the Palazzo, cluttered with “Norma Desmonds” on every surface demonstrate her inability to let her former glory go and her infatuation with her past fame. Similarly, Wilder’s use of chiaroscuro lighting within Norma’s palazzo symbolises the psychological decay of Norma by representing her fractured mind, trapping her in a gothic past and visually separating her delusions from reality. The pairing of this lighting with the cluttered interior of the palazzo, allows Wilder to underscore the way Norma’s home obscures the truth of her lost career. Wilder’s intertextual reference of Ms Havisham from Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, links Norma to the theme of living in the past and the destructive nature unfulfilled dreams can have on a person. This emphasises to the audience that a person’s unwillingness to move on from past dreams or former glory can cause immense pain, which in the case of Sunset Boulevard Norma’s infatuation with her own past leads to her mental state of delusion, believing she is back in the prime of her acting career. In expressing this concept, Wilder explores how Norma’s refusal to move on causes harm to other characters in his film. Through the close up shot of Max playing the organ with Norma and Joe conversing in the background, Wilder emphasises how the pain of Norma’s refusal to admit the truth of her isolation from Hollywood impacts those closest to her. Wilder approves of the concept that a refusal to renounce one’s ambitions is the centre of all hardship for not only the person in denial but those around them too.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: To what extent is revenge a form of…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 97.5%: Stephen Maxwell Johnson’s revisionist frontier-drama High Ground interrogates the violent genesis of modern…
Stephen Maxwell Johnson’s revisionist frontier-drama High Ground interrogates the violent genesis of modern Australia, challenging romanticized myths of settlement. Set against the breathtaking yet unforgiving landscapes of Arnhem Land, the film follows Travis (Simon Baker) and Gutjuk (Junior Nayinggul) as they navigate a region torn apart by institutional brutality. While the title characteristically evokes physical dominance and military control, Johnson systematically subverts this premise. Rather than framing revenge and tactical elevation as true forms of justice, the narrative exposes them as hollow, destructive traps. Ultimately, Johnson argues that true power and moral clarity cannot be achieved through the barrel of a gun or the retaliatory violence of the empire, but must instead be forged through radical truth-telling, deep listening, and the restoration of connection to Country.
Johnson establishes early in the narrative that the pursuit of physical dominance is a corrupting illusion, demonstrating how characters who rely on tactical elevation become trapped in a cycle of state-sanctioned violence. This arrogance is epitomized by Moran, who views the frontier through a myopic lens of absolute control, aggressively asserting that “in THIS country we all abide by the same law” and declaring “I didn’t come here to negotiate.” Early on, even Travis operates under this fatalistic mindset, notoriously claiming that “when you've got the high ground, you control everything.” Director Stephen Maxwell Johnson captures the moral bankruptcy of this perspective through chaotic, bloody massacres underscored by the mournful squawking of black crows, contrasting the spiritual purity of the landscape with human savagery. Characters like Eddy embody the pure sadism of this system, viewing the frontier as a hunting ground where a spotter’s true role is to “confirm the kill” while boasting that “Travis is the nice one.” Johnson uses these elements to expose how the physical "high ground" of military superiority is merely a mask for colonial theft, proving that institutional violence masquerading as justice is actually nothing more than calculated, state-backed revenge.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: destruction of memories leads to a…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: In The Memory Police, Yoko Ogawa depicts a society defined by the systemic erasure of objects and the subsequent…
In The Memory Police, Yoko Ogawa depicts a society defined by the systemic erasure of objects and the subsequent decay of the human spirit. Through the experiences of the unnamed narrator and the inhabitants of the isolated island, Ogawa illustrates that memory is not merely a record of the past, but the primary scaffolding of the self. Without the ability to retain memories, identity is not simply altered; it is fundamentally dismantled. Ogawa posits that the destruction of memory inevitably leads to the destruction of individuality, as memories serve as the emotional anchors that connect individuals to their humanity. Ultimately, the regime’s control—and the citizens’ passive acceptance of it—transforms the heart into a hollow vessel, proving that memory and identity are inextricably linked.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Sunset Boulevard depict and…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 77.5%: How does Sunset Boulevard depict and create illusions? Billy Wilder's iconoclastic 1950s film noir Sunset…
How does Sunset Boulevard depict and create illusions?
Billy Wilder's iconoclastic 1950s film noir Sunset Boulevard aims to uncover and critique Hollywood's facade of opulence and fantasy, hidden behind exploitation and cruelty. Amidst an unsettled and increasingly extravagant American society, disillusioned by Cold War tensions after the traumatic World War, Wilder cautions against the illusions portrayed by Hollywood. Sunset Boulevard demonstrates how illusions underpin dark undertones to the workings of Hollywood and foreshadow destruction. Wilder initially challenges the flamboyant illusion of Hollywood's luxury in the exposition, portraying the media-built perceptions of the industry as false. Additionally, Wilder creates illusions between characters that destroy identity and result in moral decay. Ultimately, in a tragic climax, Wilder posits the destructive nature to illusion, condemning the industry that upholds them and the audience that consumes them.
The meticulously decrepit exposition of Sunset Boulevard cuts down extravagant perceptions of Hollywood, depicting its image as an illusion. The opening scene of the film frames the iconic Hollywood film star's street name, "Sunset Boulevard", in the gutters. Paint peeling and text obscured by dirt and leaf litter, Wilder immediately contradicts the image of the street and its lavish mansions, introducing a theme of decay to the setting. Wilder reinforces this theme through his depiction of Norma's "Hollywood palazzio", a great mansion the audience expects on Sunset Boulevard, defiled by unkempt overgrowth, blackout blinds and shutters, weed-covered gardens, and an abandoned, empty pool. The decrepit state of the house unveils the illusion of opulence hiding in reality of abandonment and decay, mirroring the reality that Hollywood stars undergo an immense pressure mentally and physically. Wilder warns his audience not to be blindly deceived by Hollywood's delusions, foreshadowing the cruel treatment depicted of film stars. In addition, the mise-en-scène of Joe's apartment room, made suffocatingly cramped by a tracking establishing shot through Joe's window revealing scattered papers, empty coffee mugs, and cigarette butts clustered around his pitiful workstation and typewriter. Wilder portrays a much more common and realistic side of Hollywood than the apparent opulent lives of film stars, depicting the struggle of creators like Joe, who can only try to "make a living". Joe's sardonic and cynical lexus presents a perspective seemingly grounded in reality amidst the film's illusions, allowing Wilder to depict Hollywood's image of luxury as illusory and disconnected from the struggling lives of creatives in Hollywood. Wilder ultimately cautions his audience's desire for extravagance, warning of dangerous misconceptions around the image of success they consume.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In The Memory Police, to what extent is…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 100%: The islanders’ erasure is not merely a coercive imposition from the Memory Police, but a systemic abandonment of…
The islanders’ erasure is not merely a coercive imposition from the Memory Police, but a systemic abandonment of identity that stems from their own compliance. Following the disappearance of a single culturally resonant object like ribbons, the community loses a vital link to personal vanity and memory, stripping away the cultural fabric of their lives before the physical toll even manifests. As memories vanish, the islanders' inner landscapes experience a profound structural shift, developing sudden “holes” or settling into a progressive state of being “empty.” This distinction reveals a fracturing identity; while a “hole” marks the sudden, traumatic shock of a fresh loss, the progressive “emptiness” reflects a gradual, eroding numbness as the self hollows out over time, firmly anchoring what the narrator describes as the feeling that her "heart was changing." Ogawa uses this visceral metaphor of internal excavation to transform an abstract psychological loss into a tangible, somatic experience, proving that compliance manifests as a literal hollowing out of the self rather than a passive event. This resignation is primarily driven by the islanders’ desperate, instinctual need to maintain a fragile stability. While such a reaction could be interpreted as an involuntary psychological trauma response rather than a purely willing capitulation, it ultimately functions as a protective choice to prioritize immediate comfort over the burden of the past. This deliberate trade-off is clear when they participate in specific rituals of erasure, such as the river disposal of these very ribbons or the burning of hats, surrendering their items without active
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “I am going to put death in all their food…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 82.5%: Set within the isolated Blackwood estate, Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle explores how the…
Set within the isolated Blackwood estate, Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle explores how the past continually shapes individuals and their relationship with society. Through the villagers’ hostility towards the Blackwood sisters, Jackson reveals how prejudice is transmitted between generations, allowing past resentment to persist in the present. Furthermore, the return of patriarchal authority demonstrates oppressive structures can be revived through the introduction of new figures, preventing individuals from escaping from the influence from previous generations. Ultimately, Jackson exposes how unresolved trauma causes individuals to unrelentingly revisit the past in order to seek security. Through the destruction of the household, Jackson suggests while the past can be physically disrupted, its social and psychological consequences remain difficult to overcome.
Jackson reveals how the past perpetuates itself through generational transmission, as communities inherited and reproduce prejudice towards those perceived as different and threatening. Jackson establishes a setting of restrictive physical isolation through the “great circle” of wire fence surrounding “every inch” of the Blackwood estate. Yet, by portraying the “telephone” and “mail”, vital tools of communication, as “unbearable”, she reveals the sisters’ seclusion is not self-imposed, but are a sinister product from the extreme hatred from the villagers, reaffirmed by Merricat’s superlative proclamation: “the people in the village have always hated us”. Beyond their fortune as the factor that derived the hatred, Jackson reveals society refuses differences and perceives the sister’s unconventional form of living as threatening. Despite being two of the wealthiest families in the town, both the Clarks and the Carringtons, receive “smiles and nods” from the villagers because their wealth and social position fits within the accepted convention. The sisters inherited their family’s fortune without masculine domination, therefore their accumulation of wealth is viewed as threatening, and blatantly disregards the traditions from the eyes of the villagers. Indeed, the Blackwood fortune may be an affront, but to the people in the village, its concentration in the hands of women is the greatest travesty. The cruel villagers aim to persist this hatred by transmitting their acts of hostility in the innocence from the younger generation. Through the Harris boys’ “rhythmic and insistent” chants of “cup of tea… poison me… go to sleep… ten feet deep…”, the nursery rhyme that represents childish innocence is instead weaponised as a pedagogic tool that perpetuates generational hatred. Such corruption of childish innocence mirrors the villagers’ moral decay, where persecution is positioned as justified. When Merricat wonders if “Jim Donell and Dunham and Harris lead regular drills”, the polysyndeton emphasises the knowledge of these prominent male figures being passed onto the children and demonstrates how violence can not only be spontaneous but carefully institutionalised. The villagers’ vitriol is revealed as a ritualised enactment of sanctioned cruelty that transforms the sisters into figures of malevolence.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: "The cycle of violence in High Ground is…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: High Ground, a film directed by Stephen Maxwell Johnson in 2020, is set against the backdrop of colonial Australia.…
High Ground, a film directed by Stephen Maxwell Johnson in 2020, is set against the backdrop of colonial Australia. The film explores Gutjuk rediscovering his past after being caught between his cultural identity and the colonial society in which he was raised. Although the cycle of violence perpetuates conflict by forcing future generations into past conflicts, ultimately any individual can attempt to escape the cycle through their own choices. While the desire for revenge and the persistence of colonial oppression entice violence, in the end individuals who reject retaliation demonstrate that the cycle is not inescapable. Thus Johnson suggests that although the consequences of past historical actions cannot be undone, steps can be taken to forge a new future in which those same mistakes are omitted.
Johnson demonstrates that colonial violence perpetuates conflict intergenerationally, trapping individuals in the consequences of past actions. During the meeting between Moran and Dharrpa, Moran’s badge acts as a motif for conflict. His badge of a “high ranking officer” represents past and continuing colonial violence and oppression, and as such creates a hollow feeling due to the wrongful acclamation of terra nullius on the Aboriginal land. By using this motif Johnson symbolises the military and police of the colonisers as the “opposite” side of the Aboriginal people leading to a common enemy of all the Aboriginal people.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: "Travis has no sense of duty, no sense of…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 87.5%: High Ground Essay Stephen Johnson's 2020 revisionist western film, High Ground, investigates a picturesque Arnhem…
High Ground Essay
Stephen Johnson's 2020 revisionist western film, High Ground, investigates a picturesque Arnhem Land in the 1930s, examining a series of tragedies inflicted upon the local Yolngu clan in that timeframe, as well as its repercussions. Within this, Johnson presents diverse interpretations of loyalty through his characters and their beliefs. The film executes this through scrutinising the colonial officer's extent of allegiance to the force and its law, as well as praising the Yolngu clan's prioritisation of the nature around them and the dedication that they carry themselves with. Lastly, High Ground explores the differing devotions to the connections they share with other people.
Johnson navigates the differing stances of allegiance to the British law and police force through the actions his characters take when forced to. The film begins through introducing the recurring symbol of the police uniform, made complete with a British law badge. The repeated usage of this uniform displays the coloniser's, mainly Moran and Eddy's, commitment to the British law, underlining their loyalty to a cause that they believe in. This unwavering faithfulness is juxtaposed through a birds-eye view shot of Travis removing his police hat, that carried his badge. Through this camera angle, the film can demonstrate to the audience that in this scene, Travis is not willing to abide to the conformities of the British law, but instead choosing to follow his own belief system as the pillaging of the massacre unfolded at the hands of his fellow officers. As the film continues, the officers allegiance to their badge evolves or discontinues, as exhibited through a bonfire scene shared between Travis, Eddy and Moran, where Travis shares to the pair that he would be "better off shooting the two of you right now", as opposed to their idea of hunting down the opening massacre's survivors. This reveals the
varying positions of loyalty to the colonial system between the group, as Travis is willing to act against it to follow his sense of loyalty to the idea of what he believes just, while Moran and Eddy comply to the "rule of law". Overall, Johnson depicts opposing ideas of commitment to the British law of those within the ranks, as some want to have multiple belief systems in morals occurring at once, rather than a full-pledged allegiance to one system.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: ‘The Great Gatsby’ presents a world of…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 87.5%: Following the end of World War 1, 1920s America was characterised by technological advancement, economic…
Following the end of World War 1, 1920s America was characterised by technological advancement, economic prosperity and the hope for a better future. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s’ novel ‘The Great Gatsby’ exposes the moral corruption and social inequality concealed beneath the façade of the American dream. Through the stark contrast between the affluent East and West egg and the poverty-laden Valley of Ashes, alongside the character’s relentless pursuit of wealth and status, Fitzgerald portray how success has become corrupted by greed and desire, which led to devastating consequences. Ultimately, Fitzgerald critiques the legitimacy of the American dream, portraying a society deeply entrenched in class divisions and the illusion that wealth guarantees happiness.
From the outset of the novel, Fitzgerald exposes the deceptive nature of the 1920s Jazz Era, revealing the social inequality and moral decay concealed beneath the mask of prosperity. 1920s American was a period following World War 1 and was a time of technological advancements and economic success, creating the illusion that wealth and status were achievable through hard work. However, Fitzgerald challenges this fantasy through the vivid geographical contrast between East egg’s “white palaces” that “glittered along the water” and west egg, described as being the “less fashionable of the two.” The physical water separating West Egg from East Egg mirrors the unbridgeable social divide between him and Daisy, suggesting that no matter how much West Egg mimics the East egg, it can never buy its way into social acceptance. Fitzgerald further juxtaposes East Egg’s affluence with the valley of ashes, where “ashes grow like wheat” into “ridges and hills and grotesque gardens.” The contrast between “white palaces” and “grotesque” exposes the poverty concealed beneath the promise of prosperity. Revealing how the guarantee of widespread wealth masks a society founded on class divisions, where money remains unattainable to the poor. Furthermore, the billboard depicting the eyes of “Doctor T.J Eckleburg” as “blue and gigantic” symbolises the absence of morality in a society consumed by materialism. The eyes’ presence overlooking the impoverished land suggests an all-knowing observer witnessing the moral corruption hidden under the 1920s glamourous façade. Additionally, Fitzgerald’s repeated imagery of the “ash grey men” who “swarm” dehumanises the workers and conveys that industrialised America views them as needed labourers rather than an individual. The verb “swarm” exposes how industrial wealth depends on theses workers, yet their suffering is obscured from the wealthy. Hence ‘The Great Gatsby’ critiques the validity of the American dream, exposing its promise of social mobility as a fantasy that hides the flaws in America.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: the role of storytelling as an act of…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: The role of storytelling as an act of defiance is integral to the narrative of The Memory Police. Discuss. By…
The role of storytelling as an act of defiance is integral to the narrative of The Memory Police. Discuss.
By constructing a narrative where the act of writing becomes a futile yet vital site of resistance, Yoko Ogawa’s dystopian novel The Memory Police (1994) illustrates that storytelling is not merely a tool for preserving memory, but a deliberate assertion of human existence against the void of the state’s enforced erasure. Ogawa exhibits storytelling as an act of defiance that is integral in the memory police as it is a passive form of endurance that resists erasure and protects individual identity. Furthermore, in a society governed by enforced forgetting, the systematic erasure of memories suppresses individual selfhood and normalises compliance, rendering storytelling as a vital act of defiance and survival against authoritarian control. However, Ogawa depicts storytelling as a futile form of resistance that fails to overthrow the oppressive regime.
Ogawa demonstrates that storytelling as an act of defiance is essential in the memory police as it is a passive form of endurance that resists erasure and protects individual identity. By mirroring the narrator’s own act of writing with the novel’s existence, Ogawa transforms the text into a self-reflexive site of resistance: the novel itself serves as a permanent, tangible archive that defies the regime’s transient, systematic erasure. The assertion that “no one can erase the stories,” is deliberately placed by Ogawa to highlight the vital role of storytelling as they provide a vessel for memory that cannot be erased. This portrays that storytelling is not only important, but is the only way the narrator can retain her humanity. Ultimately, Ogawa employs storytelling to be a fundamental part of The Memory Police as it not only resists the regime’s systematic erasure, but ensures that the characters are not stripped of their humanity.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Sophocles suggests that balance and…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 87.5%: Set against the religious and sociopolitical landscape of fifth-century BCE Athens, where the stability of the…
Set against the religious and sociopolitical landscape of fifth-century BCE Athens, where the stability of the polis was closely connected to reverence for divine authority, Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus the King explores the consequences of humanity’s failure to recognise its limitations. Through the downfall of Oedipus, the king of Thebes, Sophocles demonstrates how excessive pride and an inability to exercise restraint can undermine an individual’s happiness and security. Oedipus’ rejection of prophetic warnings further emphasises the importance of reverence towards the gods and the recognition that human knowledge is inherently limited. However, by portraying Oedipus as a man who attempts to escape his predetermined fate, Sophocles complicates the notion that balance and reverence alone can guarantee a content life. Ultimately, Sophocles warns that human fulfilment requires humility and respect for divine authority, while acknowledging the fragility of happiness in a world governed by forces beyond mortal control.
Sophocles initially highlights the importance of balance in achieving a content life by presenting the destructive consequences of Oedipus’ excessive pride and inability to regulate his emotions. Although Oedipus is initially portrayed as a capable ruler whose intelligence has earned him the gratitude of Thebes, his confidence gradually develops into arrogance, preventing him from responding rationally to challenges against his authority. His determination to uncover the murderer of Laius initially reflects his commitment to protecting his people, yet his investigation becomes increasingly driven by his desire to defend his reputation. This is evident in his confrontation with Tiresias, whom Oedipus accuses of conspiring against him after the prophet reveals the king’s responsibility for Laius’ death. Rather than considering Tiresias’ warnings, Oedipus declares, “You have no power or truth. You are blind, your ears and mind as well as eyes.” Through Oedipus’ dismissive language and personal attack, Sophocles exposes the king’s inability to exercise restraint when his authority is threatened. The irony of Oedipus condemning Tiresias’ blindness is particularly significant, as the audience understands that Oedipus himself remains ignorant of the truth about his identity. His confidence in his own judgement consequently becomes a source of vulnerability, revealing the dangers of allowing pride to overcome reason. Furthermore, Oedipus’ accusations against Creon demonstrate how his suspicion and anger undermine the relationships necessary for stable leadership. Rather than maintaining the measured judgement expected of a king, Oedipus allows his fear of losing power to dictate his actions. Through these confrontations, Sophocles warns his Athenian audience that individuals who lack self-awareness and moderation risk destroying the very security they seek to preserve. Nevertheless, Oedipus’ determination is not entirely condemnable, as his desire to protect Thebes demonstrates genuine responsibility towards his community. Sophocles therefore presents a more complex warning: admirable qualities become destructive when individuals fail to exercise balance in their pursuit of truth and authority.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Sunset Boulevard warns viewers against the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: Wilder’s scathing yet satirical 1950s melodramatic film noir, 'Sunset Boulevard' presents an intimate perspective…
Wilder’s scathing yet satirical 1950s melodramatic film noir, 'Sunset Boulevard' presents an intimate perspective on the post-silent film industry through a non-linear posthumous narration. Unveiling the facade of Hollywood, 'Sunset Boulevard' serves as a cautionary tale to forebode the harm that manifests from prioritising success over moral integrity and from excessive obsession with unchecked and detached fantasies. However, Wilder sheds light on the possibility of success from authentic ambition as achievable in caustic Paramount Studios. While 'Sunset Boulevard' cautions the consequences of obsessive fantasies and moral compromise, Wilder ultimately suggests the pursuit of dreams can be attained with genuine ambition, rather than condemning ambition itself. In doing so, Wilder's 'Sunset Boulevard' entails the dangers that arise from pursuing dreams when obsessive and disconnected from reality.
Through unchecked ambition and selfish incentives, Wilder reveals that ambition can become harmful when victims of Hollywood prioritise success or celebrity over moral integrity. The flawed morality in 'Sunset Boulevard' is prominent as agent Morino suggests Joe become a "Mocambo Romanoff rut," an intertextual allusion by Wilder to purposely associate Joe Gillis with the fictional archetype of a starving artist, as Morino insinuates that, "the finest things in this world were created on an empty stomach." Wilder employs metaphorical imagery to exude the desperation required by one to achieve success; he deploys this connotation in Morino's dialogue to critique Hollywood's flawed system as a microcosm for the harm that can manifest from ambition that lacks moral integrity. Furthermore, Joe's absence of moral integrity is evident in his flawed decision to join the "gravy train," rather than maintaining authentic ambition. The idiom of the "gravy train" by Wilder effectively connotes the abundance of individuals rejected by Hollywood with profound jaded ambition, like Joe Gillis, who have resorted to seeking success at the cost of moral compromise by minimal effort. The flawed morality to achieve success is also prominent in the tyrannical Norma Desmond's desire for celebrity. By Joe's disdained comments on Norma's beauty montage, Wilder deploys a metaphorical hyperbole in his detailing of Norma being, "under terrible strains." Norma's incentive to redeem celebrity over moral integrity by suffering, "under terrible strains," successfully alludes to the harm that comes with moral compromise in which Wilder connotes beauty "strains" to achieve success is grotesque and thus morally flawed. Wilder's noir film suggests that ambition by desire for success can be harmful when it is prioritised over moral authenticity, essentially cautioning viewers against pursuit of ambition with lack of true morality.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Sunset Boulevard warns viewers against the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: Wilders scathing yet satirical 1950s melodramatic film noir, 'Sunset Boulevard' presents an intimate perspective on…
Wilders scathing yet satirical 1950s melodramatic film noir, 'Sunset Boulevard' presents an intimate perspective on the post-silent film industry through a non-linear posthumous narration. Unveiling the facade of Hollywood, 'Sunset Boulevard' serves as a cautionary tale to forebode the harm that manifests from prioritising success over moral integrity and from excessive obsession with unchecked and detached fantasies. However, Wilder sheds light on the possibility of success from authentic ambition as achievable in caustic Paramount Studios. While 'Sunset Boulevard' cautions the consequences of obsessive fantasies and moral compromise, Wilder ultimately suggests the pursuit of dreams can be attained with genuine ambition, rather than condemning ambition itself. In doing so, Wilder's 'Sunset Boulevard' entails the dangers that arise from pursuing dreams when obsessive and disconnected from reality.
Through unchecked ambition and selfish incentives, Wilder reveals that ambition can become harmful when victims of Hollywood prioritise success or celebrity over moral integrity. The flawed morality in 'Sunset Boulevard' is prominent as agent Morino suggests Joe become a "Mocambo Romanoff rut," an intertextual allusion by Wilder to purposely associate Joe Gillis with the fictional archetype of a starving artist, as Morino insinuates that, "the finest things in this world were created on an empty stomach." Wilder employs metaphorical imagery to exude the desperation required by one to achieve success; he deploys this connotation in Morino's dialogue to critique Hollywood's flawed system as a microcosm for the harm that can manifest from ambition that lacks moral integrity. Furthermore, Joe's absence of moral integrity is evident in his flawed decision to join the "gravy train," rather than maintaining authentic ambition. The idiom of the "gravy train" by Wilder effectively connotes the abundance of individuals rejected by Hollywood with profound jaded ambition, like Joe Gillis, who have resorted to seeking success at the cost of moral compromise by minimal effort. The flawed morality to achieve success is also prominent in the tyrannical Norma Desmond's desire for celebrity. By Joe's disdained comments on Norma's beauty montage, Wilder deploys a metaphorical hyperbole in his detailing of Norma being, "under terrible strains." Norma's incentive to redeem celebrity over moral integrity by suffering, "under terrible strains," successfully alludes to the harm that comes with moral compromise in which Wilder connotes beauty "strains" to achieve success is grotesque and thus morally flawed. Wilder's noir film suggests that ambition by desire for success can be harmful when it is prioritised over moral authenticity, essentially cautioning viewers against pursuit of ambition with lack of true morality.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Sunset Boulevard suggest the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: Billy Wilder's 1950 film noir Sunset Boulevard exposes the deceptive nature of Hollywood's glamorous image of…
Billy Wilder's 1950 film noir Sunset Boulevard exposes the deceptive nature of Hollywood's glamorous image of success, revealing the destructive consequences of pursuing fame, wealth and recognition. Through symbolism, mise-en-scène and characterisation, Wilder challenges the assumption that material prosperity and celebrity guarantee fulfilment or lasting security. By exposing the temporary nature of fame, the moral compromises associated with wealth and the distinction between recognition and genuine achievement, Wilder suggests that Hollywood's superficial measures of success ultimately undermine personal integrity and identity.
Wilder exposes the illusory nature of success by revealing how Hollywood constructs an image of permanent fame, despite its admiration being conditional and fleeting. Through Gothic mise-en-scène, Norma's once-glamorous mansion, now suffering from a "creeping paralysis", reflects the deterioration of her former celebrity. Its decaying interiors, outdated furnishings and low-key lighting establish a claustrophobic atmosphere, exposing the emptiness beneath her material prosperity. Furthermore, the numerous photographs leaving the mansion "crowded with Norma Desmonds" symbolise Hollywood's artificial preservation of youth and fame, as Norma remains trapped within her "celluloid self". Her insistence that "I am big. It's the pictures that got small" further reflects her inability to separate past success from present reality. However, Wilder also exposes Hollywood's role in manufacturing this illusion through Norma's return to Paramount, where an artificial spotlight temporarily restores her former celebrity status. The dramatic irony of Paramount's interest in her luxurious car, rather than her acting abilities, reveals the industry's willingness to abandon individuals once their commercial value diminishes. Through this juxtaposition of former glamour and present rejection, Wilder exposes fame as an unstable measure of success, incapable of providing lasting fulfilment or personal worth.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “The High Ground suggests that people…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 77.5%: In The High Ground 2020, director Stephen Johnson explores the enduring consequences of colonial injustice,…
In The High Ground 2020, director Stephen Johnson explores the enduring consequences of colonial injustice, exposing the destructive legacy of a history built upon dispossession, violence and the suppression of truth. Through the fractured relationships between Indigenous Australians and colonial authorities, Johnson challenges the assumption that injustice can be buried beneath the passage of time. While the refusal to acknowledge past atrocities perpetuates cycles of resentment and moral corruption, Johnson suggests that reconciliation remains possible when individuals embrace the responsibilities of cultural understanding and collective accountability. Ultimately, however, the film warns that reconciliation cannot be achieved through superficial gestures of remorse while the foundations of injustice remain unaddressed.
Johnson initially portrays injustice as a destructive force whose consequences gradually erode individuals' moral integrity, demonstrating that attempts to establish authority through violence inevitably undermine the legitimacy of those who exercise it. In the opening sequence, Johnson juxtaposes the tranquillity of the Yolngu community with the sudden brutality of the colonial police, whose intrusion transforms a peaceful gathering into a massacre. Through wide-angle cinematography that establishes the community's intimate connection to Country, Johnson emphasises the existence of a flourishing society long before colonial intervention. The abrupt disruption of this serenity exposes the profound imbalance between the lives being destroyed and the supposed authority of those responsible. Furthermore, the contrast between the community's everyday practices and the police's violent actions challenges colonial assumptions that Indigenous Australians require the intervention of European law and order. Rather than presenting colonial authority as a force for civilisation, Johnson reveals how its claims to moral superiority conceal the very injustice it perpetuates. This corruption is further embodied by Moran, whose determination to preserve colonial authority leads him to suppress the truth about the massacre. His refusal to accept responsibility illustrates how the protection of institutional power becomes dependent upon the concealment of wrongdoing. Consequently, Johnson suggests that although those responsible may temporarily evade accountability, their attempts to preserve authority through deception cannot undo the moral consequences of their actions. The massacre's legacy survives through the grief and resentment of its survivors, demonstrating that historical injustice cannot be confined to the moment in which it occurs.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Sophocles demonstrate that we…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: Hailed by Aristotle as the pinnacle of Greek tragedy, Sophocles' Oedipus Rex explores the inevitability of fate.…
Hailed by Aristotle as the pinnacle of Greek tragedy, Sophocles' Oedipus Rex explores the inevitability of fate. Steeped in dramatic irony, Oedipus attempts to thwart his prophecy, thus leading him closer to enacting his fate. Through the play, Oedipus is unable to best his fate, however he is partially redeemed through is actions as a leader. Although fate does drive consequences for one's actions, they still must bear responsibility for impacts they ensue, where Sophocles ultimately suggests that one's life and actions should be made through reverence to the gods and upholding of sophrosyne.
Initially, the actions portrayed by characters seem futile to the power of divine will. Oedipus, a man who's decisive and intelligent nature bested the Sphinx's riddle, attempts to escape his fate, though he fails. Fleeing Corinth, unaware of his birth parents, Oedipus kills Laius and marries his mother, as foretold by the Oracle of Delphi. Unaware, he searches for the prior king's killer thus discovering that he is "the curse, the corruption of the land." This suggests that though he attempts to avoid it, his fate remains incorrigible, demonstrating to the Athenian audience on the futility of defying fate. Through Oedipus search of his birth parents, Jocasta realises the horrors that she has committed, thus catalysing her self-destruction despite her efforts to avoid it. Jocasta questions "where are you gods now" highlighting how she believes that her son was killed on Mt Cithaeron, therefore is unable to complete the prophecy. Her anagnorisis, realising that her husband is in fact her child, she commits suicide, suggesting to the civic minded Athenian audience of Sophocles suggestion that one should not attempt to meddle with their fate, as the gods see all. Furthermore, the core miasma itself is a result of Laius' actions, where even through methods of preventing it, inherited sin prevails through divine retribution. Breaking the Greek value of xenia, Laius had previously raped his host's son, creating the prophecy as the gods' punishment. The miasma, though clouding Thebes, uncovers the truth where the inherited sin passed on to Oedipus leaves him "cursed in birth", not dying as intended. Unknowingly he fulfills his destiny set out for him. Sophocles suggests that actions to counteract fate are unavailing cautioning the audience to not oppose the gods in order to protect them from the fate they may be enslaved to.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: ‘I shall be forced to invent, to…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: Shirley Jackson’s “We have always Lived in the Castle” presents the isolation of Merricat and Constance Blackwood…
Shirley Jackson’s “We have always Lived in the Castle” presents the isolation of Merricat and Constance Blackwood as retreat they build in response to a hostile community. Drawing on her own experience of small-town New England, Jackson exposes how a village can turn a family tragedy into gossip, folklore, and finally, violence. Through the eerie first-person voice of eighteen-year-old Merricat, Jackson explores how truth is distorted within a manipulative and cruel society, and how victims of distorted truth seek refuge through isolation. Yet truth is not unimportant: it is the one thing the sisters must hide, and their whole way of life depends on keeping it buried.
Jackson first presents the village as a community that persecutes difference, refusing to let the past rest through distributing gossip and rumour, rooted in hatred. Merricat’s blunt statement that “the people of the village have always hated us” frames this hostility as permanent. The absolute ”always” implies that the Blackwoods were outsiders long before the poisoning and that the crime simply gave the village permission to hate openly. This hatred is passed to the nect generation through the chant, “Merricat, said Connie, would you like a cup of tea? Oh no, said Merricat, you’ll poison me”. The sing-song rhythm turns the death of a family into a children’s game, showing how built up hatred influences the production of gossip. Merricat’s sarcastic suspicion that parents are “teaching them with loving care” suggests that cruelty is learned and rehearsed. The cruelty peaks after the fire, when the villagers smash the house while chanting the same rhyme. One villager taunts, “We have fixed things up nice for you girls, just like you always wanted it”. Jackson shows that a crowd releases a violence no individual would admit to. Later, the villagers leave food on the doorstep with notes such as, “He didn’t mean it, please”. The guilty offerings expose the hypocrisy of a community whose kindness arrives only after the damage is done. In this light, the sisters’ withdrawal is a rational defence. Jackson shows that their isolation is first imposed on them, and only then chosen, as protection from a community that continually manipulates their truth.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 'I continued with the task of writing…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: Yoko Ogawa's 1994 dystopian novel 'The Memory Police' explores the nuances of identity, connection and resistance…
Yoko Ogawa's 1994 dystopian novel 'The Memory Police' explores the nuances of identity, connection and resistance in a society defined by brutal authoritarianism and pervasive loss. Ogawa suggests that the characters in the novel are primarily victims to a loss of purpose, but can find some moments of fulfilment through storytelling and relationships. In The Memory Police, individuals are subject to the deterioration of their identities due to memory loss, stripping them of meaning in their lives. However, characters are able to maintain a sense of purpose through storytelling and connection. Ultimately, Ogawa's characters lack the drive to resist against destructive totalitarianism, with no attempt to fulfil a life beyond this path that leads to demise.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Sunset Boulevard: Prompt: 'The poor dope.…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 100%: In Billy Wilder’s 1950 film Sunset Boulevard, the pursuit of value through individual choices exposes the…
In Billy Wilder’s 1950 film Sunset Boulevard, the pursuit of value through individual choices exposes the fragility of identity and autonomy when their consequences are overlooked. Hollywood measures personal worth through wealth, recognition and professional relevance, encouraging individuals to seek approval according to external expectations. As these standards become internalised, protecting a desired identity can take priority over recognising the dangers of one’s decisions. Wilder traces this progression from society’s construction of value to its influence upon identity, ultimately revealing how pursuing recognition can compromise independence. Although the studio system creates powerful pressures, the film holds individuals responsible for choices that deepen dependence, damage relationships and weaken their connection with reality.
Wilder first establishes how society’s external expectations encourage individuals to pursue value without fully considering the consequences. The Hollywood studio system treats people and their work as products, judging them according to their ability to generate profit. Joe’s admission that his screenplays “didn’t sell” reduces creative achievement to commercial success. Delivered through his dry voiceover, this judgement reveals the disappointment beneath his cynical attitude. His unsuccessful meeting with Sheldrake reinforces the imbalance between struggling writers and those controlling employment. Norma’s offer to employ him revising Salome consequently appears attractive, despite requiring him to encourage ambitions he recognises as unrealistic. Norma’s mansion reveals the instability of Hollywood’s rewards. Its elaborate furnishings and numerous portraits preserve her former importance, while its decay suggests that accumulated wealth cannot guarantee continued relevance. This mise en scène presents a life organised around past recognition rather than present possibilities. Betty’s declaration, “I don’t want to be a reader all my life. I want to write!”, initially offers a more hopeful response. Her energetic dialogue expresses ambition through creative work. However, her professional collaboration with Joe becomes entangled with romantic attachment, leaving her hopes vulnerable to his dishonesty and divided loyalties. Hollywood therefore offers no simple escape through youthful ambition. Wilder reveals how seeking professional recognition can expose individuals to relationships whose personal costs they underestimate.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Sunset Boulevard: Prompt: 'The poor dope.…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: In Billy Wilder’s 1950 film Sunset Boulevard, the pursuit of value through individual choices exposes the fragility…
In Billy Wilder’s 1950 film Sunset Boulevard, the pursuit of value through individual choices exposes the fragility of identity and autonomy when their consequences are overlooked. Hollywood measures personal worth through wealth, recognition and professional relevance, encouraging individuals to seek approval according to external expectations. As these standards become internalised, preserving a desired identity can take priority over recognising the dangers of one’s decisions. Wilder traces this progression from society’s construction of value to its influence upon identity, ultimately revealing how pursuing recognition can compromise independence. Although the studio system creates pressures that explain these choices, the film also holds individuals responsible for disregarding their consequences.
Wilder first establishes how society’s external expectations encourage individuals to pursue value without fully considering the consequences. The Hollywood studio system treats people and their work as products, valuing them according to their ability to generate profit. Joe’s admission that his screenplays “didn’t sell” reduces creative achievement to commercial success. Delivered through his dry voiceover, this judgement reveals the disappointment behind his cynical attitude. His unsuccessful meeting with Sheldrake reinforces the power imbalance between struggling writers and those controlling employment. Consequently, Norma’s offer to employ him revising Salome appears attractive, despite requiring him to encourage ambitions he recognises as unrealistic. Norma’s mansion reveals the instability of the rewards Hollywood offers. The elaborate furnishings and numerous portraits within the mise en scène preserve her former importance, while the building’s decay suggests that wealth cannot guarantee continued relevance. Joe’s description of it as “crumbling apart in slow motion” connects its deterioration with her fading career. Nevertheless, she chooses to preserve this world rather than acknowledge its limitations. Betty’s declaration, “I don’t want to be a reader all my life. I want to write!”, provides a contrasting response to professional expectations. Her direct, energetic dialogue expresses ambition through creating something new rather than recovering past glory. Through these different responses, Wilder shows that ambition becomes dangerous when the promise of recognition prevents individuals from questioning the decisions made to obtain it.