VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Discuss how your attitudes influence your…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: Controversy in texts often challenges audiences to confront uncomfortable truths about society, identity, and…
Controversy in texts often challenges audiences to confront uncomfortable truths about society, identity, and justice. Ivan Sen’s 2013 neo-Western film Mystery Road (MR) engages deeply with enduring social concerns in contemporary Australia, following an Indigenous detective Jay Swan as he navigates crime, culture and identity. “Racism is Destroying the Australian Dream” (RDAD) is a speech presented at the IQR debate in 2015 by Indigenous journalist, Stan Grant in which he urges the nation to reflect on ongoing racism in Australia in response to the shameful treatment of Indigenous footballer, Adam Goodes. As a white Australian woman, my personal attitudes shaped by multicultural values, ethical representation in media, and belief in structural reform have been influenced by witnessing the mistreatment of Indigenous Australians throughout my life. These values strongly inform and reinforce how I respond to the representation of controversy in Ivan Sen’s Mystery Road and Stan Grant’s speech. Both texts interrogate systemic issues facing Indigenous Australians, and my values lead me to interpret these portrayals not only as critiques but as urgent calls for recognition, empathy, and change.
The tension surrounding cultural identity and belonging is explored in both texts in a number of illuminating ways, provoking me to ruminate on the racial divide still prevalent in modern day Australia. Jay embodies a liminal identity that challenges rigid cultural binaries, too ‘Indigenous’ for law enforcement, too ‘assimilated’ for Indigenous community. This is evident throughout the film by the repeated motif of long shots of Jay alone amongst the vast Australian outback, visually symbolising the extent of isolation faced by Jay due to cultural positioning. Jay is accused of being a “coconut”, a slur suggesting that he is black on the outside, white on the inside, alluding that Jay has assimilated into a dominant white culture and lost touch with his roots. Similarly, Stan Grant reflects on his own cultural dislocation, stating, “I come from the people west of the Blue Mountains… where in the 1820s the soldiers and settlers waged a war of extermination against my people.” His emotive language and historical references evoke the trauma of being caught between two worlds and illustrating how despite deliberate efforts to silence Indigenous history in colonial times he still proudly resonates with his ancestry. Furthermore, Grant references the Australian national anthem, “those rugged mountain ranges, my people, women and children were herded over those ranges to their deaths”. Through intertextual referencing and short syntax accompanied by the comparison of Aboriginal people to cattle the era of exploitative and dehumanising policies against Indigenous Australians are underscored. The systemic segregation and dispossession embedded in Australia’s colonial legacy are thus reinforced, highlighting the indifference of Indigenous people’s national identity to that of white Australians. My background knowledge of racist attitudes in Australia dating back generations to modern derogatory language as well as having witnessed people navigating cultural spaces, influences me to reflect on contemporary Australia and empathise more deeply with the emotional complexity Indigenous people face.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: "You pray to the gods? Let me grant your…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: Sophocles' didactic play "Oedipus the King" serves to reflect morality and the consequences of wrongdoing.…
Sophocles' didactic play "Oedipus the King" serves to reflect morality and the consequences of wrongdoing. Initially performed around 430 BCE, whilst arrogance is displayed as a cause of downfall, Sophocles aims to portray to the traditional Athenian audience that the tragedy which unfolds is ultimately brought by attempts to escape the will of the gods. Arrogance underscores the relentless pursuit of knowledge and hubris exhibited throughout the play, and whilst exploring the punishment faced from this, Sophocles emphasises the influence of being ignorant towards the gods.
Sophocles highlights how relentlessly pursuing knowledge as driven by arrogance leads to devastation. Oedipus is presented as arrogant through his refusal to let go of finding the truth despite the advice of others. Though Jocasta "beg[s]" him to "call off the search", Oedipus claims that he "must hear" of the potential horrors awaiting him. This demonstrates his overbearing self-importance as he places his best interests above other people, which contradicts the democratic values present in Ancient Greek society, thus being unfavourable to the play's traditional Athenian audience. This is reflected when the chorus, who are used as a representation of the common person, tell him to "give way" upon his interrogation of Creon, suggesting to the traditional audience that Oedipus is flawed by his relentlessness. Contrastingly, Creon acts as the sophrosyne by portraying the opposing qualities of humility and acceptance of being wrong. When unsure of something, Creon "keep[s] quiet", unlike Oedipus who continuously pushes for answers. Sophocles rewards this as Oedipus is brought to turn to Creon
"[his] king" whilst Oedipus himself is "drive[n] out Thebes". This reversal of fortune signifies how being humble and asking for guidance can bring power, whilst constantly pursuing knowledge is met with consequences. This depicts the role of arrogance in the tragedy which unfolds throughout the play.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “What a balm to the tempest-tossed soul is…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: “What a balm to the tempest-tossed soul is a little love. Though it may be fleeting and fickle". Despite her…
“What a balm to the tempest-tossed soul is a little love. Though it may be fleeting and fickle". Despite her observations of the world around her and her intelligence, Sybylla's real issue is that she does not understand the nature of love. Do you agree?
In My Brilliant Career (1901) Miles Franklin crafts a semi-autobiographical bildungsroman that captures both the frustration and vitality of a young girl growing up in rural New South Wales at the turn of the twentieth century. While Sybylla’s observations are shaped by harsh gender roles and class struggles, and her intelligence often sharpens her critiques, Franklin ultimately suggests that it is not Sybylla who fails to understand love, but rather society that distorts and confines it.
Rather a force distorted by social and economic pressures, love is shaped by observations of ones surroundings. Society’s conformity to gender roles and upholding of class hierarchies convince characters like Sybylla that love is not romantic but rather a transactional relationship. Sybylla remarks bitterly that her grandmother “ believed that a girl's only proper sphere in life was marriage”, revealing how marriage functions as an economic arrangement rather than an authentic connection. Similarly, her declaration that “men, in this world, are the dog on top” reflects her awareness of patriarchal structures, where affection and autonomy are halted by male dominance. Even class imposes barriers, with Sybylla’s recognition that “Had [she] been the daughter of a rich man”, instead of ” poverty-stricken”, she “might have been considered a suitable match”, underscoring how wealth and status shape who is considered a worthy match. It is through these observations, Franklin portrays love as filtered through the harsh stereotypes of gender and class, which prevent it from flourishing as a free and genuine emotion, offering a false image of love.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: What role does love play in David Malouf’s…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: Personal emotion connects human beings altogether, even though they are divided physically or mentally before.…
Personal emotion connects human beings altogether, even though they are divided physically or mentally before. David Malouf’s novella Ransom explores human connection in the face of personal loss and the nature of people’s love. This novella is based on Malouf’s personal historical context where the cruelty of the World War II intimidated young Malouf and lliad created by Homer inspired him to comprehend the concept of violence that human beings have ever experienced before. By depicting the fatherhood between enemies or classes, Malouf explores love as a connection that expresses the purest emotion in the world. Nevertheless, love can also be exploited as a tool to evoke empathy for reconciliation. These functions of love as a bridge furthers through love within friendship in which individuals get access to exposure of the outward world. As such, the novella appreciates, while simultaneously challenging, traditional concept of interpersonal relationships within the bridge of love.
Centering the theme of
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: To what extent are the lives of the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: Written in 1962, Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle explores the limitations placed upon the…
Written in 1962, Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle explores the
limitations placed upon the aristocratic Blackwoods as a result of the patriarchal and formal
society they live in. Narrated by the psychologically damaged mind of Merricat, Jackson
explores how unrelenting gender roles and rigid social norms lead to a bleak society in
which the identity of individuals is suppressed. Ultimately, Jackson works to not only
condemn the harsh patriarchal norms societies are based upon, but also demonstrate that
liberation and freedom can be achieved through a rejection of these conventional societal
values.
Jackson depicts both the women of the village and the Blackwood family as being
restricted by expectations of conformity through their formal and rigid interactions with the
world. During Mrs. Wright and Helen Clark’s ‘dutiful’ visit to the Blackwood house, Merricat
notices Mrs. Wright’s ‘trembling’ hands and her ‘hesitat[ion] over the plate’ offered by
Constance. The visibly fraught state of Mrs Wright highlights the social obligations she
must fulfil, despite any legitimate concerns for her personal safety, for the sake of social
formalities. Jackson expands on this in their mother’s portrait, which was ‘looking down’ on
Constance, symbolising both the social duties she has inherited from her mother, despite
her agoraphobia, while also highlighting the spirit that now lives on in Constance’s body,
forcing her to embody her mother’s spirit. However, Jackson also explores the limitations
of social duties through Mrs. Wright’s ‘timid’ demeanour when she is given the chance to
take a ‘glance’ at the Blackwoods’ infamous dining room. Her morbid curiosity, only
surfacing in the confines of the house, serves to emphasise the identity Mrs. Wright must
hide in the face of general society, her meek demeanour highlighting her awareness of the
fact the actions are deemed unacceptable to greater society. Therefore, through Mrs.
Wright’s and Constance’s prevailing social duties, Jackson underscores the oppressive
nature of social etiquette created by rigid societal norms.
As well as having a limited sense of individuality and identity, Jackson depicts the
Blackwood women as being historically reduced to domestic roles through Charles’
imposed visit, furthering the limitations placed on them by gender norms in patriarchal
societies. As his stay progresses, the dynamic of the household can be seen shifting to
imitate a traditional American nuclear family, with ‘little cousin Mary’ being reduced to a
petulant child and Constance to a dutiful wife. Charles’ assertive nature in taking over
Merricat’s ‘job’ restricts her from straying from the childish role he has imposed onto her,
and highlights the domestic roles forced onto Constance by this traditional family dynamic.
This is furthered by
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: The Actions of the People in the Village…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 77.5%: In Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Jackson presents the emotion of fear of the Blackwoods…
In Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Jackson presents the emotion of
fear of the Blackwoods as something that remains constant throughout the novel for
individuals that adhere to society’s norms. This fear manifests in multiple forms but it is
ultimately the driving force behind the actions of these conformist characters. The villagers
as a whole begin with a fear for personal safety, choosing to antagonise Merricat whilst in
large groups so they can feel comfortable in their harassment. Financially prosperous
individuals in the Blackwood’s tight social circle such as Helen Clarke and Cousin Charles
are motivated by their fear of female autonomy and what the Blackwood sisters may
represent. By the end of the novel, a reversal occurs within the villager’s disposition toward
the sisters, now acting in accordance with their fear of reprisal. With this, Jackson delivers
her commentary on the fear one can generate by being outside the established order and
how the actions of the Blackwood sisters defy the preconceived notions of the time.
Fear first manifests as a hatred for the Blackwood sisters, always with a large group of
supporters. From the outset of the novel and even in events prior “the people of the village
have always hated” the Blackwood family. This is evident in the scene where Merricat goes
shopping for supplies and children methodically join “together to stand in a line by the fence”
and “call the lady names”. The children are bolstered by the approval the village gives them
to ostracise anyone different to them. It can be seen that when they are very lightly
reprimanded by their mother the boys listen “soberly”, however once given approval in the
form of their mother standing “on the porch and laugh[ing]”, the boys “shrieked and shouted”
their abuse. As such, the sense of safety that being in a group brings allows for the boys to
regurgitate what “their parents taught them”, highlighting the deep sense of hatred for the
Blackwoods that exists in the village. Jackson further illustrates how much the villagers fear
for their personal safety around Merricat in the scene where she goes shopping and Mrs
Elbert pulls a child “back so roughly that she screamed” when a girl came close to touching
Merricat. In this way, Jackson communicates to readers how deeply rooted and visceral the
fear within the villagers is toward the Blackwoods as only something so terrible could
produce a reaction as extreme as Mrs Elberts.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “Listen to the wind, to Father Sky, to…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: Unfolding against the backdrop of the frontier massacres, Stephen Johnson’s ‘High Ground’ delves into the intricate…
Unfolding against the backdrop of the frontier massacres, Stephen Johnson’s ‘High Ground’ delves into the intricate relationship between an individual and nature, scrutinising its corollaries in constructing morality. Castigating the entrenched beliefs of the colonial system, Johnson promulgates that their severance from nature leads to violence that ensues. Conversely, the director delineates how virtuosity can be achieved through upholding personal values and confronting dogmatic systems. Essentially, Johnson explicates that true morality can only be achieved through an appreciation and connection to land.
Scathingly castigating the entrenched colonial systems in the text, Johnson posits how the imperialists' violence stems from their alienation from nature. From the outset of the text, the audience is plunged into a seemingly idyllic setting characterised by the diegetic noises of an Aboriginal community, untamed by natural forces. However, this connection is abruptly severed through the introduction of the Native Police officers, clad in starched uniforms that starkly contrast the ochre hues of Arnhem Land, rendering them visually anomalous within the landscape. Emblematic of their acculturation in betraying their ancestral connection to Country, they forfeit their moral compass, becoming mere enforcers of colonialist brutality. Additionally, colonial tools like the rifle, fetishised as instruments of “order,” become extensions of this alienation. Travis’s sniper scope, filmed in disorienting close-ups, literalises the eurocentric gaze, reducing Indigenous custodians to dehumanized “targets” in a crosshair. This mechanistic perspective of relying on a man-made construct to perform justice, thus enables atrocities like the massacre. Further, through his doctrine of building a hierarchical society of “bad men doing bad things”, Johnson propagates the sentiment that Aboriginal people similar to the flora and fauna of Australia are objects to be subjugated and subdued. This perversion of the natural order, is ultimately disparaged in the denouement of the film, where the smouldering ruins of the church serves as a symbol for the collapse of visionary values. Johnson, weaving this symbolism of fire, a natural Indigenous cleanser, to consume the invaders’ false morality, visualises the inevitable disintegration of moral systems predicated on coercion rather than balance ingrained in nature. As such, the director excoriates the colonial system for perverting religious doctrine into a tool of passive compliance, underscoring how abiding to fabricated systems which facilitate and neglect disenfranchisement, lead to moral bankruptcy. By juxtaposing this fate with Nimbuwa Rock’s enduring presence, Johnson asserts that true morality lies not in subjugation but in listening to “Father Sky”, and its undying values of markarrata.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “In Oedipus the King, Sophocles explores…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 67.5%: In Oedipus the King, Sophocles presents a tragic exploration of fate and free will, revealing how both forces…
In Oedipus the King, Sophocles presents a tragic exploration of fate and free will, revealing how both forces shape the life of Oedipus, the doomed king of Thebes. While fate appears to control Oedipus’s ultimate downfall, Sophocles also shows how Oedipus’s own choices contribute to his tragic end. The tension between these two forces forms the core of the play’s tragedy, raising questions about human responsibility and the limits of personal freedom in the face of destiny.
From the beginning of the play, fate is shown to have a powerful influence over Oedipus’s life. Before he was even born, it was prophesied that he would kill his father and marry his mother. Despite the efforts of his parents, Laius and Jocasta, to avoid this outcome by abandoning him as a baby, the prophecy still comes true. This suggests that fate is unavoidable and predetermined, and that humans are powerless to escape it. Sophocles uses this to show the power of the gods and the inevitability of divine will.
However, Sophocles also highlights Oedipus’s free will and personal responsibility. Oedipus makes several key decisions throughout the play that lead him closer to his downfall. When he hears the prophecy about his future, he chooses to flee Corinth in an attempt to avoid killing his supposed father, Polybus. Ironically, this decision brings him closer to fulfilling the prophecy. Later, when he meets a man on the road who challenges him,
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: ‘Oedipus the King shows that free will is…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: From classical civilisations to our modern world, writers have used their works to explore what it is to be human.…
From classical civilisations to our modern world, writers have used their works to explore what it is to be human. Equally uncomfortable as it is profound, Sophocles’ classical Greek tragedy, Oedipus the King, shares a didactic message with its audience about the limitations of mortals and the existential crises that all humans seem destined to suffer. While it warns its audience that our fate has already been written in the stars, it also explores how we might use what little agency we have to change our circumstances for better or worse.
Through the lens of a traditional, tragic interpretation of the text, Sophocles is largely concerned with sharing a moral message about adhering to the will of the gods. In Episode 3, Sophocles contemptuously characterises both Oedipus and Jocasta negatively as they hubristically debate the power of the prophecies to shape their fate and the role of the gods in their lives. Jocasta’s scorn for the oracles leads her to lament the impact that the ‘awful prophecies’ have had on her husband’s life suggesting his every step has been dictated by his predetermined destiny. However, as they deploy the Socratic method to logically question the validity of the prophecies, Jocasta derides the Oracle’s prophecies as having come to nothing because ‘Polybus [is] dead’. Like Jocasta, Oedipus’ attention shifts to mockery of the prophecies and their ‘fires of the future’. Jocasta and Oedipus’ arrogant dismissal of the will of gods as mere ‘chance’ that prevails and ‘rules our lives’ and his exaltation at the ‘wonderful news’ of his father’s death make him less sympathetic to the audience as his application of pure logic show him to be hubristic and cold as he does not feel the ‘sorrow’ and grief of his father’s passing. Both characters’ conceited mockery of the will of the gods and the power of their oracles as they rejoice that their quest to defy fate has seemingly been successful thrusts them ever closer to their peripetia as Sophocles warns his classical Athenian audience of the power of the divine and the need to respect and honour them above all else. However, later as Jocasta recognises her belief in Oedipus and her own ability to defy the prophesies is folly, she attempts to earn a reprieve from Apollo. Employing situational irony in Episode 4, Socrates uses stage directions to have the actor portraying Jocasta enter ‘from the palace, carrying a suppliant’s branch wound in wool’. Having failed to convince Oedipus to halt his obsessive pursuit of truth and thus discovering the origins of his birth that have now become apparent to her, Jocasta now shamelessly turns to the gods she previously scorned to beg for her husband-son’s salvation bemoaning he is “racked with anguish, no longer a man of sense”. This depiction of the start of Jocasta’s peripetia reveals her to be as much a victim of fate as her husband as the religious symbolism of her carrying an eiresione, a branch of olive tree bound with wool and hung with various fruits and delicacies, is an offering to Apollo that is too little, too late. Thus, as his contemporary Athenian audience were at their most desperate, two years into the Peloponnesian War with Sparta and the siege of Athens induced a plague that had killed up to 25% of its people, Sophocles warns his audience that no one can bypass the divine strength of the gods and turning to them only when they want something is extreme hubris that demands swift retribution. Concerned about Athenians turning away from their gods and seeking answers from sophists, philosophers or populist politicians, Sophocles warns his audience that the only way to find safe passage and lasting salvation is by adhering to the will of the gods.
Although the will of the gods is depicted as sealing individuals’ fate, Sophocles also suggests that character flaws often dictate destiny. By employing assertive lexical verbs in the Prologos, Sophocles characterises Oedipus as an impetuous and hubristic ruler despite his motivations being noble. When talking with the Priest,
Oedipus promises that he has and will continue to take action to solve the mystery of the miasma that plagues Thebes. Oedipus’ word choices, to 'know’ and ‘search’ reflects that his leadership style is proactive and decisive. However, promising to solve a plague before he has the Oracle at Delphi’s guidance relayed by Creon can be interpreted as both hubristic and impetuous, offering an early insight into Oedipus’ hamartia. Oedipus’ rashness
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Flames - Arnott suggests that the human…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 77.5%: In Flames, the human tendency to control and gain power over others, specifically nature, is explored through the…
In Flames, the human tendency to control and gain power over others, specifically nature, is explored through the dark depiction of colonisation in Tasmania. In accordance with this idea, Robbie Arnott utilises a polyphonic structure and constructs a setting with elements of magical realism in which characters who exploit and control nature for personal desires are condemned to isolation and cannot move on from grief. Conversely, Arnott also represents those who respect and honour nature’s resonance to experience profound connection and freedom, allowing them to overcome loss through transformation. Because Arnott celebrates characters who don’t attempt to control nature, and criticises characters who do control nature, Arnott suggests that the human tendency to control is misguided. However, the destruction of nature in Flames is unresolved; as Arnot questions humanity’s desire to control others.
Initiating the human tendency to control all, Arnott portrays humanity’s darkest desires to have absolute power over nature in order to better suit mankind; which is specifically shown through the colonisation of Tasmania. However, Arnott advocates that those who are arrogant towards nature are not only isolated physically and emotionally, but they are unable to move on from personal grief. Karl, who is generally seen to be interconnected with nature through his “sharp and sudden” connection with his seal, reveals his true desires of greed and money. Together, they hunted the One Blood tuna, getting rich for each kill. But his allure of greed and power in humanity didn’t stop there as they averaged “six fat, fierce, fighting Oneblood tuna” every year and “occasionally as many as ten”. Arnott’s use of alliteration exaggerates the power and connection that Karl and his seal have to take down these mythical creatures, as Karl exploits the seal's ability to get wealthy. Moreso, a man of “monastic contemplation,” Mr Hough, captures the Esk god - a magical being that lived for thousands of years and kills it through an industrialised iron trap and takes its “glorious water rat pelt”. By undermining Mr Hough’s living style as being “monastic,” Arnott outlines Mr. Hough to be physically isolated, an “unpleasant person and a poor citizen”, suggesting that the desire to control nature is misguided. The motif of the Esk god’s pelt is emblematic as it represents human’s desire for greed and power. In addition, Levi aims to control her sister Charlotte's fate as he wants to bury her “whole and still and cold” after the loss of their mother. The repetition of the word “and” signifies the importance and dedication of Levi to limit the chance of Charlotte reincarnating in a horrifying manner. Dedicated to controlling others and suppressing his own grief, Levi is seen to be “emaciated,” indicating that those who aim to control others and nature are not only isolated but they are unable to move on from grief.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Social conventions are the real cause of…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: In The Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Garcia Marquez presents the murder of Santiago Nasar as a tragic…
In The Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Garcia Marquez presents the murder of
Santiago Nasar as a tragic event that seemed predetermined. Social conventions refer to
the accepted way of doing things in a community, such as beliefs, behaviour, honour, and
reputation, which shape the decisions of characters, influencing their actions. Although
individuals like the Vicario brothers physically carry out the act, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
ultimately suggests that rigid social conventions are largely responsible for Santiago
Nasar’s death. The death can be seen as inevitable by the townspeople, and the
community's belief in fate can lead to inaction and moral failure. Honour and reputation
also drive choices that lead to the violent demise, and collective corruption and
incompetence influence behaviours that allow the death to occur.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: To what extent are the characters lives…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: In Gabriel Marquez ‘Chronicle of a death foretold interrogates how fate and free will in a society is governed by…
In Gabriel Marquez ‘Chronicle of a death foretold interrogates how fate and free will in a society is governed by tradition and culture. Although the murder of the protagonist Santiago Nasar, appears to be predetermined, foretold by dreams, omens and ‘foretold’ itself. Marquez ultimately reveals that human inaction and cultural values make the tragedy inevitable. Through the circular non-linear structure, foreshadowing of the murder from the first sentence of the novella reveals the collective moral of the townspeople, therefore the novella suggests that “fate” is not a force but is the outcome of choices from decisions made by individuals such as characters illustrated by Marquez. These characters lives are shaped by destiny than by the inevitability of their own passivity.
Marquez constructs an atmosphere steeped in fatalism, where foretelling of Santiago Nasar’s death seems inevitable from the outset. The novella opens the line with “on the day they were going to kill him, Santiago Nasar got up five thirty in the morning,” immediately foreshadowing that his death is about to occur later on in the novel suggesting that destiny has already been written for him. Santiago recurring dream of “going through grove and timber trees where a gentle drizzle was falling” further reinforces foreshadowing of his death, yet no one in the town prevents it. This exposes how people interpret such tragedy as coincidence and a sign of fate. The townspeople’s fixation on the omens, such as the “birds” that disturb Placinda Linero’s sleep, reflects a culture that values their catholic tradition and rituals. The “foretold” also reinforces the illusion of predestination to the readers, as they are told from the beginning that the murder will happen. Yet Marquez point in ironic, of how fate appears powerful only because people interpret it that way. The community’s obsession with following immutable daily routines and being ignorance bystanders, becomes as a form of their own passivity. Thus, Marquez presents fate not as force but as a story that the townspeople tell themselves to rationalise moral inaction.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “The truth will come to light without my…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: The paradigmatic Greek tragedy ‘Oedipus Rex’ crafted(conceptualises) by Sophocles, during the turbulent period of…
The paradigmatic Greek tragedy ‘Oedipus Rex’ crafted(conceptualises) by Sophocles, during the turbulent period of ancient Greece. He delves into the limitations of humanity against the gods, exploring the inevitable and inescapable nature of fate. Sophocles deems that the pursuit of one’s truth is the fate of their enlightenment. He honours the power of the gods in deciding fate, alluding to the idea that one’s truth is unavoidable no matter whether you chose to be ignorant. Through careful construction, the play acts as a cautionary tale that highlights the defiance of gods, utilising the characterises Oedipus as a tragic hero, being blinded by his hamartia, leading to his unfortunate outcomes. However, ultimately one’s fate cannot be changed or replaced as divine justice will always outweigh the efforts of free will.
The pursuit of Oedipus’s truth ultimately leads him to his peripeteia, which uncovers the truth of his downfall and the idea that fate is unavoidable. Sophocles uses Oedipus’s character as a vehicle to convey the message that “[he was] fated,” since birth as Oedipus’ ankles that ‘tell the story’, resembling a ‘dreadful mark’ and serving as a physical manifestation of attempts to evade fate. As Oedipus is inevitably the victim of his own peripeteia as his avoidance of the prophecy has led him to the outcome that “destiny [will] guide [him] always,” no matter what he does to avoid it. The exploration of these ideas draws upon how Oedipus is a depiction on the privileging of human intellect over divine wisdom, his story reflects humanity’s desire for control but ultimately fate will always have dominance over society as humans may not have complete control over their lives. To further reinstate the idea of unavoidable fate, the use of foreshadowing draws on Oedipus, despite his intelligence, is powerless against destiny, showing that human beings have limited control over their lives. From the beginning, the audience is already presented with the knowledge that Oedipus is fated to kill his father and marry his mother, a prophecy that he desperately tries to escape. Ironically, his very efforts to avoid his fate lead him
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 'This is my law. it comes From the soil.…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 67.5%: Contextualised from the Gan Gan massacre that lead to many deaths of Yolongu people, Stephan Johnson, 2020…
Contextualised from the Gan Gan massacre that lead to many deaths of Yolongu people, Stephan Johnson, 2020 western Film 'High Ground' reveal the truth behind Australian History, and the ongoing systemic cycles of violence & conflict between the white settlers and the Yolongu People. Johnson utilises the culture and how the illusion of control & power dynamic between the Yolongu people and the British settlers, Johnson incorporates different Film technique to display how British justice is reflected through Arnhem Land, as well as purposely developing meaning throughout the film.
In essence, Johnson conveys how despite the illusion of control and power the British may believe they have through following the British hierachy, The yolongu people will always obtain more power due to their strong cultural connection with Arnhem Land, Rejecting the norms of British justice.
Johnsen divides the Yolgnu people and the Western settlers through Costume, Traditional British Clothing doesn't belong on Arnhem Land. At the beginning of the Film, Johnsen displays Indigenous Australian culture, which is represented through their traditional war paint, and is repeatedly seen on Crutguk and Baywarra. Despite stripping Crutguk from his cultural root, he finds a way back to his original identity & culture reuniting with the paint. Through addressing the impacts British colonisation had on the Yolngu people, Johnsen demonstrates the strength of Indigenous culture in discovering ones identity. Johnsen emphasises Costume throughout entirety of the film, particularly the negotiation scene where Moran is seen wearing his traditional white soldier gear, with badges and a hat, which is seen as almost comical and a laughable notion when seen in parallel to the Yolngu people. Moran believes that British justice from the hierarchy he follows in England should be implemented on Arnhem Land 'on this country', as well as following the Law of the king', which gives him the illusion of
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “ Jane Eyre is more about personal…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 77.5%: Published in 1847 under the pseudonym Currer Bell, Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Bronte, is a seminal work of…
Published in 1847 under the pseudonym Currer Bell, Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Bronte, is a seminal work of Victorian literature that challenged the zeitgeist of 19th-century norms surrounding gender, class, and morality.
While Jane Eyre primarily explores womanhood and aspirations for growth in the cruel conditions of the Victorian era, Bronte also encapsulates the ability of love to prevail over injustice and oppression.
Bronte examines the ability of the rigid and oppressive state of social expectations to confine individuals of their deprived identities. Bronte highlights the power of defying the engrained social expectations within the Victorian epoch to provide characters with a sense of self. Although Bronte illustrates that personal integrity is essential to discovering one’s identity, she emulates that this identity can be found through genuine romantic relationships.
Ultimately, Bronte portrays growth and maturity as central to human flourishing and integrity, while also presenting love as an essential force that sustains and enriches true independence.
Bronte explores the authoritarian climate of the Victorian era to hinder individuals ability to explore notions of independence and authority within their own life. Bronte illustrates the cruel nature of the Victorian era through Jane's self-reflection that she was staring into the” forlorn regions of dreary space” of Gateshead's backyard. Here, Bronte transfigures the depicted landscape into a metaphysical realm that mirrors Jane's interiority. The accompaniment of the lexical words conjure a vast, cosmic like desolation, rendering the terrain as an externalization for Jane's sense of self, adrift in an interminable landscape that yearns for emotional connection and fulfillment within her own identity. Such imagery crystallizes Jane's existential dislocation from discovering her own identity and belonging. In crafting this alignment between Jane's spiritual emptiness and physical desolation,Brontë critiques the corrosive expectations placed on children to remain docile and conform to Victorian norms, thereby detaching them from the possibility of ever discovering their true selves.
To further reinforce the ability of the controlling nature of the Victorian era to stifle individuals ability to explore their own lives, Bronte describes Jane's internal attitude as yearning for “liberty; for liberty I gasped; for liberty I uttered a prayer”. Bronte utilizes the anaphoric repetition of liberty to magnify Jane’s unrelenting desire for authority and autonomy within a society that demands docility and conformity from women. By elevating liberty into a near personified and spiritual necessity, Bronte positions independence as central to Jane's very being, suggesting that without control within her own life, she cannot live and flourish authentically. Thus, Bronte’s proto-feminist grandeur exposes the desire for women's independence within the rigid patriarchal nature of the Victorian era, thus sparking wider calls for social reform, such as those expressed in Chartist movements.
Finally, Bronte seeks to further solidify the strict climate of the Victorian era through the Calvinistic description of Mr.Brocklhurst as “ take[ing] away” Jane's “heart of stone”, and “give[ing] you a heart of flesh”. Through this, Bronte symbolically expresses Jane's inherent emotions to be compared to that of an insentient object. Therefore, by illustrating Jane as incapable of feelings and understanding emotions, Bronte highlights the sense of alienation that Jane faces due to disobeying the cruel nature of the Reed household’s beliefs towards docility and submissiveness within children and women-alike. Furthermore, the biblical allusion of this phrase alludes to the Book of Ezekiel, which thus illustrates that Mr.Brocklehurst, whilst often presenting himself as pious and humble, compares his status to an omnipresent and god-like figure in order to forcefully spark Jane's repentance and moral awakening. Therefore, by alluding Mr.Brocklehurst as having all dominion over Jane, Bronte expresses the calvinist approaches to Christianity as a denying force to discover one’s identity. LINKING SENTENCE
Bronte emulates the ability of transcending over the rigid social expectations within the Victorian era to allow for individuals to flourish and discover their independence.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does High Ground depict the lasting…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: Stephen Johnson’s film High Ground powerfully explores how the legacy of colonial violence continues to shape…
Stephen Johnson’s film High Ground powerfully explores how the legacy of colonial violence continues to shape lives, landscapes, and identities in Australia. Set in the aftermath of a brutal massacre, the film delves into the long-term emotional and moral consequences of colonisation for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous characters. Through its depiction of intergenerational trauma, moral conflict, and the struggle for justice, High Ground reveals that the wounds of colonial violence persist across generations and remain embedded in the Australian landscape.
High Ground portrays the intergenerational trauma of colonial violence through Gutjuk’s fractured identity and the haunting legacy of the massacre that defines his life. As a child survivor of the opening massacre, Gutjuk grows up disconnected from his culture, raised by missionaries yet unable to escape the violence that destroyed his family. His position between two worlds symbolises how colonisation severs ties to land, family, and identity. The film uses fragmented flashbacks and long silences to visualise Gutjuk’s recurring memories of the event, showing how trauma cannot be contained to the past. Through these techniques, the director conveys that colonial violence does not end with death; it echoes through generations, shaping how survivors perceive themselves and their world. In this way, Gutjuk’s story becomes a broader reflection of the enduring emotional and cultural scars left by colonisation on Indigenous communities.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “On the moon we have everything” Jackson’s…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 67.5%: In Shirley Jacksons gothic novel We Have Always Lived the Castle when Merricatt states 'On the moon we have…
In Shirley Jacksons gothic novel We Have Always Lived the Castle when Merricatt states 'On the moon we have everything' emphasizing that fantasies are extremely present in the novel. Jackson presents the idea that fantasies are preferable most of the time in the book as the constant fear of reality and desires of a perfect life. However fantasy is seen as unsustainable emphasizing that although majority of fantasies are preferable reality is still preferable for some. Jackson presents a world of desires being built of fear and greediness, those who aren't held to these desires emphasize the danger. Throughout the novel fear is a constant driver to escape the reality of the real world, from male dominance and patriarchal normalities. Merricat presents the desires as she is fearful of a life of societal normalities. When Charles enters into the household it instantly puts fear into Merricats head and causes her to act accordingly. When Charles arrives Merricat emphasizes he is 'bigger and bigger' as he 'comes closer' and Constance is quick to state 'he looks like father' as Merricat is fearful of Male power this causes her to prefer a life away from reality on the moon. Considering Merricat murdered her family and attempted to kill Rhoda with the fire (gold, yellow and orange) it demonstrates significance of her actions as they are out of fear. The burning of Charles room which was in the past the fathers room highlights the lengths Merricat will go to live in a fantasy as she is unable to live normally.
only present in the minds of the Blackwoods but also are instilled within the villagers, they desire a life without the Blackwoods as they are fearful of their powers giving the girls "Bacon, fruit" as a fearful act of not causing them to hate them apart from destroying the house. When Merricat goes to the village the villagers all come out and talk about the sugar used to kill the Blackwoods, they also desire the departure of the girls and fantasise about it due to being fearful that they are witches and they live outside of the normalities they are used to. The constant fear evident in We Have Always Lived in the Castle highlights the desires of reality are unpreferable.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Desire is the most dangerous force in…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: Set in post-war America, Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard explores the dangerous intersection between desire and…
Set in post-war America, Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard explores the dangerous intersection between desire and delusion within Hollywood, a world where ambition promises glamour but delivers decay. While the film foregrounds desire as a strong force, whether for wealth, relevance or recognition. Wilder ultimately argues that desire itself is not the true danger. Rather, it becomes destructive only when corrupted by denial, exploitation and moral compromise. Through Joe Gillis descent into material dependence, Hollywood’s systemic manipulation of longing, and Norma Desmond’s spiral into madness, Wilder demonstrates that it is not desire but delusion, obsession and self-deception that prove fatal.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “The representation of human experiences…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 87.5%: George Orwell’s 1949 Swiftian satire Nineteen Eighty-Four invites us to appreciate the intricate nature of…
George Orwell’s 1949 Swiftian satire Nineteen Eighty-Four invites us to appreciate the intricate nature of humanity by representing how the abuse of power by totalitarian governments degrades our individual and collective experiences. Orwell explores how oppressive authorities suppress the intricate societal pillars of culture, expression and freedom to maintain power. He then reveals how this suppression brutalises individual human behaviour and motivations because it undermines emotion and intricate thought. Ultimately, he argues that we must resist the political apathy that enables oppressive governments to maintain power and crush human intricacy. Therefore, his representation of human experiences not only challenges us to consider the intricate nature of humanity, but exhorts us to greater political vigilance so we can preserve it.
Orwell makes us aware of the intricate nature of humanity by representing how totalitarian authorities suppress intricate collective experiences of culture, expression and freedom in order to assert control. His bleak vision was informed by Stalin’s USSR: a regime built upon the fabrication of history in Stalin’s ‘cult of personality’, and ruthlessly enforced by the NKVD. The symbolic colourlessness and propaganda-poster motif he uses to describe London reflects the loss of human intricacy and culture under such leadership: “there seemed to be no colour in anything, except the posters that were plastered everywhere.” Orwell uses the telescreens, dramatically capitalised “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” posters and allusions to Stalin in Big Brother’s “black-moustachio’d face” as metonymy for how governmental surveillance dominates both physical and cultural collective experiences. Winston’s metatextual construction of the fictitious “Comrade Ogilvy” serves as a symbol for the vast, worthless masses of information produced by totalitarian governments to undermine the intricacy of real human history: “Comrade Ogilvy, who had never existed…would exist just as authentically, and upon the same evidence, as Charlemagne or Julius Caesar.” Similarly, Orwell’s satirical representation of Newspeak ignites the idea that political slovenliness causes self-expression to degrade, which in turn destroys our capacity for intricate thought and resistance: “we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it.” The political bitterness that marks Nineteen Eighty-Four as a Swiftian satire ultimately culminates in O’Brien’s monologue, where Orwell juxtaposes the politicised verb “abolish” to symbols of human intricacy, “we shall abolish the orgasm…there will be no art, no literature, no science…when we are omnipotent”, to express how totalitarian rulers suppress collective experiences to gain metaphoric omnipotence. Thus, Orwell makes us aware of the intricate nature of humanity by representing a future in which totalitarian governments suppress it.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Oedipus the King argues that true wisdom…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: The dichotomy between fate and free will has long been debated over the course of history, they can have the same…
The dichotomy between fate and free will has long been debated over the course of history, they can have the same results. Oedipus the King, Sophocles' dark and timeless play, explores how true wisdom can only be discovered through suffering. While he suggests that characters before they suffer are unaware of their true wisdom, he also advocates how characters can discover their true selves without suffering.
Sophocles depicts how people have a lack of self-knowledge prior to suffering forming a false perception of themself. During the prologos, Sophocles utilises an imperative sentence to show Apollo's authority over morals. Sophocles illustrates Oedipus's personality as Oedipus arrogantly declares himself 'Thebes avenger' and the 'champion of Apollo' . Through using 'champion of Apollo', it rushes straight past confidence into arrogance incorporating a theme of justice to be served to the murderer of King Lains. The vast number of 'I' statements and the repetition such as 'I'll start again', 'I'll bring it all to light' and I am the land's avenger is used to boastfully declare himself a saviour. As he is yet to realise he is the murderor, this created a false sense of power based on false beliefs feeding into the moral that true wisdom only comes from suffering. Characterising Oedipus as unaware of his actions, paired with the audience already knowing the outcome, Sophocles emphasis the ironic harm that not suffering can cause placing Oedipus into a false sense of security with his power. Furthermore, Sophocles expresses the harm it can cause through the actions Oedipus is willing to take to seek justice. Over the course of the play, Sophocles charts Oedipus's tyrannous behaviour as constantly getting worse and worse. This portrays how Oedipus's behaviour is getting the better of him, which is evident as Oedipus states that 'I plot and pay him back. Through using this, it highlights his impetuousness as a result of his hubristic personality. This causes a continuing in Oedipus's boastful promises to save Thebes as he believes he is rightfully serving justice on King Laius's murderer. This causes his initial good intentions to begin to shape his personality also causing an increase in tyrannical behaviour. Positioning Oedipus as hubristic and impetuous, Sophocles expresses Oedipus as a warning for the Athenian audience about the dangers of populist leaders and how Oedipus, unaware of his actions and future suffering has developed a different approach to decisions without the help of true knowledge as Oedipus is yet to realise who he truly is. By highlighting the lack of knowledge a populist leader has, Sophocles cautions how without suffering and with free will, characters can still make the wrong decisions.
Sophocles justifies how even though suffering is a leading factor to one developing true wisdom, there are also people who know who they truly are without suffering. Utilising irony during episode 4, Oedipus' emotions after blinding himself are strong acting as a contrast to when he expresses how "nothing I could see could bring me joy. " By using "nothing I could see", it is ironic as Oedipus has just blinded himself but now realises how he is truly
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In Oedipus the King, all who deserve it…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: Sophocles' Greek tragedy Oedipus the King, set in 5th century CE, follows the story of Oedipus, whose tragic…
Sophocles' Greek tragedy Oedipus the King, set in 5th century CE, follows the story of Oedipus, whose tragic downfall was a result of his actions. The play worked to mimic pain Athenians felt during this era in history and through using mirrored ideas, Sophocles suggests the importance of fealty to the gods, the need for moral education and understanding of fate as inevitable. By defining punishment and exploring the causes of suffering, Sophcles rendition of this myth reveals human nature and the world's need for balance.
Sophocles underscores the meaning of punishment that is a tragic framework that Oedipus the King is built on. After the loss of the Peloponnesian War, Greece faced death and pain. Mirrored in the play, Sophocles calls his Athenian male audience to sympathise with characters that endure suffering by acknowledging tragedy is not a foreign concept. Proving to be a factor of relatability, Sophocles characterises punishment most painfully in Oedipus. The combined effect of dramatic irony to increase suspense and the following of the Aristotelian model of a tragedy functions to amplify the eventual catharsis felt in Oedipus' punishment. While not sentenced to death, Oedipus' emotional pain is transformed into physical pain when he gouges his eyes out, "bringing night down upon them". The symbolism of light versus darkness of Oedipus' blinding illuminates connections between morality and their respective consequences. However, the "man of agony" is not the only one who is punished. Jocasta's realisation that the pilot of the vessel has gone to pieces propels her fate due to anagnorisis. Sophocles portrays Jocasta as a victim of her own ignorance, and her lack of autonomy to instigate change in moments of peripeteia results in suicide. Death also permeates Lauis' story, in which the patricide he is subjected to is conveyed as just due to his violation of sacred laws of hospitality. Sophocles utilises tragedy to define punishment, which manifests as pain, exile and even death.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Oedipus the King demonstrates that there…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: Many writers of ancient or modern times write to warn audiences about their behaviour and asks if they are morally…
Many writers of ancient or modern times write to warn audiences about their behaviour and asks if they are morally correct in society. Sophocles’ dark tragedy Oedipus the King explores how defying the gods decreed fate leads to loss of status. While committing sins against those of high-power leads to endless suffering.
Sophocles’ illustrates that broken oracles led to devastation, no matter who is involved. Utilising visceral imagery in the Prologos, Sophocles’ illustrates Thebes as a city laden with “merciless wails” for the dead and that the “city is dying” and is a “cortege”. Here the lexeme “cortege” depicts Thebes as a perpetual funeral procession and that the plague will continue to make the innocent suffer. By characterising Thebes as overrun by death, Sophocles appeals to the Athenian audience who are also victims of a plague for empathy. Employing dramatic irony, Sophocles portrays Oedipus as a “saviour” who can “grant” the citizens “prayers”. The priest also praises Oedipus as the “best of men”. Here, the phrase the “best of men” is ironic because the audience know that Oedipus is the cause of the plague, but this praise suggests he is a revered leader that already saved Thebes in the past. However, Sophocles exposes Oedipus’ arrogance by implying that he can “grant […] prayers”, which reinforces his thought that he has the power to become a saviour once again, but he is a mere man. Furthermore, by declaring that he is the “champion of Apollo” Oedipus shows that he is inwardly impetuous, while in contrast Creon is a man of respect and rationality, who holds respect for the gods. Establishing Oedipus as a relentless man of authority, Sophocles questions whether a man who compares himself to a divine power is really a true leader.
Sophocles also condemns those who plan to defy the decree of the gods. Employing imagery in episode 3, Sophocles depicts Jocasta as a scornful queen, who plans to destroy these “awful prophecies” are immoral. Through this Jocasta actively attempts to swoon in and stop the revelation of the truth, protecting her incestuous relationship with Oedipus. In her plans to commit sins against the gods, Sophocles contrasts it with her pleas to the Chorus to protect a “man of agony”, this illustrates that as the truth slowly starts
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Framework for Section A Exam
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: Jane Harrison’s play Rainbow’s End examines the daily negotiations of an Aboriginal family as they confront the…
Jane Harrison’s play Rainbow’s End examines the daily negotiations of an Aboriginal family as they confront the twin pressures of colonial power and their own desire for dignity. Harrison suggests that racism damages material conditions and belonging, but that agency forged in family, memory and a claim to country reasserts identity. Through authoritative stagecraft, pointed dialogue and public rhetoric, the play presents a nuanced view: oppression constrains, but culture and collective action contest and reclaim agency.
Harrison establishes the play’s moral axis through intimate domestic scenes that quietly register the stakes of colonial policy. The stage directions where Papa Dear appears in Gladys’s memory the hat, the dance and Gladys’s smile collapse past and present (Stage Direction), making private memory an act of cultural persistence. This memory foregrounds the play’s argument, personal belonging is a form of resistance. The juxtaposition of warm family ritual with later bureaucratic indignities intensifies the emotional cost of displacement.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: "We killed him openly," Pedro Vicario…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 77.5%: Through the rigid gender hierarchies of the town, Márquez dismantles the moral boundary between guilt and…
Through the rigid gender hierarchies of the town, Márquez dismantles the moral boundary between guilt and innocence. Santiago Nasar’s “saintly” name contrasts sharply with his predatory behaviour toward women such as Divina Flor, whom he seizes “by the pussy.” In a society defined by machismo, such domination is excused as masculine entitlement rather than moral failure. Similarly, the Vicario brothers’ claim that their act of murder was a “matter of honour” transforms violence into duty. Within these gendered codes, morality is displaced by social obligation — guilt becomes virtue, and innocence is measured not by conscience but by conformity. Through this distortion, Márquez exposes how patriarchal ideology erases moral accountability and renders both victim and perpetrator complicit in sustaining collective delusion.