VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In Oedipus the King, there is nothing…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: Sophocles 429 BC play Oedipus the king explores the absolute supremacy fate and divine will will over human life.…
Sophocles 429 BC play Oedipus the king explores the absolute supremacy fate and divine will will over human life. Set in Ancient Greece, a time of pristine religious dependence and acknowledgement of fate, as a normal part of life, Sophocles contends that, any attempt to change or alter fate is fundamentally futile and unable to change if not in the will of divine authority. By characterising on the inevitability of fate, the limitation of fate and the illusion of preconceived power Sophocles implies the strive to change one’s fate is fundamentally not in their humane agency.
Sophocles first depicts the inevitability of fate by depicting any attempt to change fate or escape it is inevitably redundant. This is shown in Oedipus persona when he decides to investigate Laius’s murder. When confronted with the prophecy that it is in fact himself, he banishes anyone who dare accuse him. Sophocles characterises the reluctance of acceptance to stem from a fear of accidentally proving the prophecy true. His belief to be able to change. His fate arrives from him not being able to fundamentally understand it. By bowing to curse and exile the murderer from the land, Sophocles utilises juxtaposition to depict the audience knowledge oedipus to be guilty but Oedipus himself being unable to face it and so cursing the murderer of King Laius as if it is not himself this connotes to him trying to remain a good leader and morally conscious despite the fact that he did commit the crime he punishes for as an unsuccessful attempt to escape the blame. Sophocles also utilise the chorus as a third-party alluding to the inevitability of fate through their belief of “time sees all” this implies time as a silent character concurrently progressing as humanity tries to shift blames onto each other so please portrays fate as a superior power out of human control and rather an inescapable fact of life objective mortals based on their behaviours, beliefs and lives.
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. Within Hollywood, wealth, recognition and professional relevance establish external measures of personal worth. As individuals internalise these expectations, the desire to preserve their significance encourages decisions that prioritise immediate reassurance over lasting independence. Wilder traces this progression from society’s construction of value to its influence upon identity, ultimately revealing the destructive compromises made in its pursuit. Although the industry creates pressures that explain these choices, the film warns that disregarding their consequences allows ambition and self-deception to become instruments of entrapment.
Wilder first reveals how society’s external expectations encourage individuals to pursue value without adequately considering the consequences. Hollywood’s commercial priorities emerge through Joe’s admission that his screenplays “didn’t sell”. His blunt retrospective narration reduces creative achievement to marketability, suggesting that financial rejection threatens his professional identity. The unsuccessful meeting with Sheldrake reinforces this imbalance: those controlling employment determine whether artistic aspirations translate into survival. Consequently, accepting Norma’s offer to revise Salome appears attractive, despite requiring him to encourage expectations he recognises as unrealistic. Norma’s mansion exposes the instability of the same external rewards. Described as “crumbling apart in slow motion”, its decaying grandeur becomes a visual metaphor for celebrity sustained beyond its professional relevance. Her decision to invest in a return overlooks the distance between accumulated wealth and continuing demand. Betty’s declaration, “I don’t want to be a reader all my life. I want to write!”, offers a contrasting response to Hollywood’s hierarchy. The emphatic dialogue expresses ambition through creative participation rather than inherited prestige. Nevertheless, her determination also reveals how strongly occupational advancement defines significance. Unlike Norma’s fixation on recovering past glory, Betty’s ambitions suggest that pursuing recognition need not become destructive when individuals remain responsive to present opportunities. These contrasting aspirations establish why recognition is compelling, while exposing the danger of allowing its pursuit to outweigh consideration of the obligations and disappointments it may produce.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Shirly Jackson challenges the rigidity of…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: Shirley Jackson’s 1962 novel, We Have Always Lived in the Castle delineates a reality set upon conflictive gender…
Shirley Jackson’s 1962 novel, We Have Always Lived in the Castle delineates a reality set upon conflictive gender stereotypes. Jackson seemingly agrees with the historical normality of portraying females as inferior to their masculine counterparts, incarcerating Merricat and Constance to the kitchen and household to superficially reject their freedom. Yet the sisters’ disregard of male tokens of power, such as the wealth locked behind the safe, suggests Jackson instead attempts to demonstrate the subversion of typical gender stereotypes with the treatment of such symbols. Vilifying the subjugation of females due to oppressive structures enforced by society, Jackson’s novel ultimately contends that the challenging of gender roles allows for female emancipation.
Through the domesticated physical confines of the Blackwood sisters, We Have Always Lived in the Castle ostensibly exhibits the sisters’ adoption of restrictive feminine societal norms. Juxtaposing the physical situation of Merricat and Constance’s domain to “the back of the house” against the location of their father’s room “in the front of the house”, Jackson introduces the Blackwood daughters as having already assimilated to the patriarchal archetype asserted by the outside civilization. The integration of “neaten[ing] the house” every Monday into the household routine further illustrates the traditionally feminine role embraced by the sisters, yet even then Uncle Julian’s “dislike [of] being disturbed” prevents Merricat from being “allowed in [his] room”, reflecting the sisters’ acceptance of gender roles through their subordination to male authority. Moreover, the addition of Charles into the Blackwood family advertises his position as a potential suitor to Constance, enticing Constance to “come back into the world” and accept the conformist marriage expectations of subservience to Charles. Hence, Jackson highlights how patriarchal society pressures women to conform to expectations of maturity and marriageability. Constance’s submission to traditionalised female gender roles is further demonstrated by her desire to play the harp in Charles’ presence, conforming herself to the expectations of her suitor as a pleasant and acceptable housewife, thus reinforcing the heteronormative ideals established by the outside world.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Change is unwelcome in We Have Always…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 85%: In Shirley Jackson’s 1962 gothic novel, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, the reality of living in a world and…
In Shirley Jackson’s 1962 gothic novel, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, the reality of living in a world and society that is constantly changing is explored, as it is emulated through the lives of her characters. Jackson asserts that resisting change is not only a means of defiance but an open invitation to one’s own self destruction. This is shown through Merricat’s constant eagerness to isolate herself and her family from the world, along with the introduction of Charles who represents change as a Blackwood from the outside world and finally the false perception of safety that Merricat deludes herself into when rejecting the change that has fallen on her.
Merricat’s avoidance of the outside world is shown in her belief of the superstitious as she utilises it to shield her from their supposed harm and her isolation in the Blackwood manor. Throughout the book, Merricat uses her magic to protect the house as she places “magical safeguards” around the house such as “the lock on the front door, and the boards over the windows, and the barricades along the sides of the house”. Her safeguards act as a symbol of Merricat’s desperation to protect herself from the outside world as she relies on the supernatural to enforce the balance she craves. By placing locks on the front door and boards on the windows, she effectively shuts herself away from everyone else. Jackson exhibits the frantic nature of those who deny change as they are willing to attempt anything even what is beyond that of the realms of reality to preserve what they have. This is further pursued through Merricat’s “three magic words… [that] kept [her] safe until they were said out loud”. Having their safety depend on magic words, highlights Merricat’s belief that she can keep everything the same using just her words and her belief of superstitions. The author displays Merricat’s delusions that her ‘magic words’ can protect her from change and maintain her peace. Thus Jackson warns her readers to not avoid change as it tends to delude those who run away from it, instead she accentuates the despair people fall into when they are unable to come to terms with a world that is different from what they are accustomed to.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Human rights
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 75%: Human rights Dear Future Daughter I woke up with a sudden urge for us to talk 2 months ago, I threw away all…
Human rights
Dear Future Daughter
I woke up with a sudden urge for us to talk
2 months ago, I threw away all the representations of objectifying artefacts of womanhood. My pink lace bra, girdle, makeup and strappy heels are all gone. 200 women of all walks of life followed me. We lit the flames and burnt these things to the ground. You may wonder why say a theatrical display, why not democratic discussion, a polite plea, or a meek letter. Well, society has a habit of ignoring women, especially quiet ones. We had to scream to be heard. Are Human rights not up for negotiation. Today is the day we stopped letting our human rights be dismissed as " whiny women’s problems. Dignity, equality, and justice is what we demanded. Much like Aretha Franklin, we performed, except we used the streets as a backdrop. As Aretha famously sang, we demanded ‘’R-E-S-P-E-C-T’’.
The Miss America Beauty pageant was a catalyst for our protest. I watched as a group of glamorous women walked past me. They wore sashes that declared that they were part of the 41st Miss America Beauty pageantry series. As I saw them, pity flooded through my heart. They would have been forced to be on the strictest diet and exercise regimens and had to sit frozen for hours as every flaw on their face was covered with makeup. I use to be a prisoner of that same artifice. It was only when I realised that my girdle and shift dress were the uniform of my oppression that I was able to lead these women out the gates and to the stadium hosting the 41st Mrs America Pageant in protest. What's the big deal in women being celebrated for their beauty, you may wonder? Well, do you see men being celebrated and compared for their beauty? I thought not. As humans, women have the right to dignity and respect for their inner qualities and their contributions to society, not just their appearances. We deserve not to have to worry that we will be discriminated against in career settings if we aren't lucky enough to be born looking like Marilyn Monroe
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Sunset Boulevard: Prompt: 'The poor dope.…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: 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. Within Hollywood, wealth, recognition and professional relevance become measures of personal worth. Joe Gillis and Norma Desmond internalise these expectations, making decisions that satisfy immediate desires while threatening their independence. Although Hollywood’s pressures explain the appeal of their choices, Wilder also emphasises their responsibility for disregarding uncomfortable truths. Through society’s construction of value, its influence upon identity and the sacrifices made to preserve it, Wilder demonstrates how overlooking consequences can transform the pursuit of success into personal destruction.
Wilder first reveals how society’s external measures of value encourage individuals to overlook the risks of choices promising success. Joe’s unsuccessful meeting with Sheldrake exposes his vulnerability within an industry that judges creative work according to its commercial potential. His appeal for financial assistance reveals how professional rejection threatens his ability to survive, making immediate security increasingly attractive. Consequently, Norma’s offer to employ him revising Salome appears to resolve his financial difficulties. However, accepting the arrangement requires Joe to encourage a project whose weaknesses he recognises. By prioritising payment over honesty, he overlooks the obligations created by sustaining Norma’s expectations. Her circumstances expose a parallel danger within Hollywood’s unstable distribution of value. Having achieved fame during the silent era, Norma assumes that previous recognition guarantees continuing relevance. The faded grandeur of her mansion embodies this assumption: its luxury preserves the appearance of success, while its deterioration suggests that the world sustaining her celebrity has disappeared. Nevertheless, she invests in an imagined return rather than reconsidering her relationship with the industry. Through Joe’s insecurity and Norma’s displacement, Wilder establishes how externally defined success makes potentially destructive choices appealing. Both concentrate on recovering recognition or security without adequately confronting what their pursuit might cost.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Acts of violence reveal character more…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: Johnson positions violence as a means to reveal individuals’ moral character, illustrating how past experiences and…
Johnson positions violence as a means to reveal individuals’ moral character, illustrating how past experiences and circumstances contribute to responses to conflict. Additionally, Johnson condemns violence as a solution to existing conflicts. Johnson posits that violence is not a mediator, but rather uncovers the genuine intentions and morality. This is immediately established in the films opening scenes. Johnson presents a patient panoramic sweep, languid editing and the peaceful diegetic soundscape of Arnhem Land’s’ nature to portray a harmonious environment. However the natural order is violently shattered by imminent sound of galloping horses, an invasive auditory disruption that positions the officers as an intrusive force. Violent scenes follow, but not before the hypocrisy of the mission is captured in the symbolic act as Pastor Braddock hides the Bible in his saddlebag. The furtive act, shot close up, serves as a visual metaphor for the true moral character that violence prompts. In the case of Braddock, the seemingly righteous religious leader is fundamentally spiritually corrupt, which frames the colonisers as morally flawed. Their mission is an overall failure and serves to foreshadow the inadequate use of violence to resolve conflict. Due to the “mess” made by Eddy, Travis and Braddock, Moran employs Walter. Walter has “bumped into … Travis, one time” and that “[he is] worried”. Johnson here insinuates that their unresolved history continues to shape Walter’s
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Acts of violence reveal character more…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 92.5%: Johnson positions violence as a means to reveal individuals’ moral character, revealing how past experiences and…
Johnson positions violence as a means to reveal individuals’ moral character, revealing how past experiences and circumstances contribute to responses to conflict. Additionally, Johnson condemns violence as a solution to existing conflicts. Johnson posits that violence is not a mediator, rather uncovers the genuine intentions and moral of individuals. This is immediately established in the films opening scenes. Johnson presents a patient panoramic sweep, languid editing and the peaceful diegetic soundscape of Arnehm Lands nature to portray a harmonious environment. However the natural order is violently shattered by imminent sound of galloping horses, an invasive auditory disruption that positions the officers as an intrusive force. Violent scenes follow, but not before the hypocrisy of the mission is captured in the symbolic act as Pastor Braddock hides the Bible in his saddlebag. The furtive act, shot close up, serves as a visual metaphor for the true moral character that violence prompts. In the case of Braddock, the seemingly righteous religious leader is fundamentally spiritually corrupt, which frames the colonisers as morally flawed. Their mission is an overall failure and serves to foreshadow the inadequate use of violence to resolve conflict. Due to the “mess” made by Eddy, Travis and Braddock, Moran employs Walter. Walter has “bumped into … Travis, one time” and that “[he is] worried”, Johnson here insinuates that their unresolved history continues to shape Walter’s
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “But no one ever complains” In ‘The Memory…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: Throughout history, the greatest tragedies have occurred when a population remains passive under persecution. Yoko…
Throughout history, the greatest tragedies have occurred when a population remains passive under persecution. Yoko Ogawa’s speculative dystopian fiction ‘The memory Police’, set on an enigmatic, unnamed and isolated island, reveals how The Memory Police as a hegemonic force, systematically enforces the disappearances of objects, memories and ultimately people themselves, leaving an increasingly insular society under an atmosphere of fear, silence and resignation. Ogawa exposes how this erasure systematically dismantles both society and the relationships that could have withstood the destruction. Moreover, Ogawa emphasises that connection serves as a vital, albeit fragile, counterforce for finding purpose in a world engineered to sever bonds. However, Ogawa also argues that this private resistance is ultimately a passive resistance and fails to protect society from authoritarian rule. Thus, Ogawa emphasises that passivity through finding relief in relationships ultimately allows regimes to gain full control.
Ogawa demonstrates that authoritarianism is not only catalysed through overt control but through the silent compliance of a society who chooses safety over agency. Ogawa uses the Narrators observation of the increasingly insular society to reveal a chilling numbness, where “no one ever complains” and “nobody said a word about it”, indicating a societal resignation that has allowed the creature of The Memory Police to grow unchecked. The disappearance of the birds, a potent symbol of freedom and life, plunges the Narrator into “the middle of that emptiness, feeling [her]self on the verge of being drawn into its depths”, which Ogawa uses to evoke a psychological abyss that is sustained by a culture of passive compliance. Such imagery is used by Ogawa to reveal how enforced compliance by authoritarian regimes dismantles not only physical realities but also the emotional landscapes of its victims. Ogawa reinforces this through the use of the narrators detached recounting of her “mother… [and] father [dying]”, whose muted tones reveal the emotional numbness created by enforced erasure. Ogawa uses pathetic fallacy, where “winter deepened” and the island became “blanketed in heavy stagnant air” which mirrors the internal stasis of the island’s inhabitants. Ogawa withholds the decree, the motif and the authority throughout, allowing it to go where memory cannot follow. Ogawa exposes how passive submission offers little overt hope in the face of totalitarian domination – and it is this silent compliance, rather than the regimes overt control that Ogawa argues is the first condition society must overcome.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Writing about protest: SOLIDARITY
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 95%: Solidarity (A speech to the Year 12 assembly) Before sunrise at last year’s dawn service, in the cold and the…
Solidarity
(A speech to the Year 12 assembly)
Before sunrise at last year’s dawn service, in the cold and the near-silence, an Aboriginal Elder, Uncle Mark Brown, stepped forward in solidarity to welcome us to his land. The sky was still black, with no hint of the day to come. He had barely begun when the heckling started. The boos cut through the crowd the way a dropped plate cuts through a silent room: not loud so much as unforgivable.
I want to tell you what happened next, because it taught me what protest really is. It isn’t a banner or a megaphone. It begins with a decision**, made in the dark, before anyone can see whether morning is coming.**
He could’ve stopped. He could have waited for someone in charge to step in. Instead, he held his ground, found his voice, and led the crowd in answering those who were being disrespectful. Strangers who had come together to remember unified into a single, steady voice, not a riot, not a shouting match, but a refusal to let disrespect stand over more than sixty thousand years of continuous culture. On a day built on unity, a protest had defended it. It started in solidarity. It started with one voice. It did not stay one for long. Light doesn’t arrive all at once. It begins as a thin line along the horizon, and then it is everywhere. So did the voices.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Jane Eyre explore the boundaries…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: Bronte’s protofeminist novel Jane Eyre explores the complex and suffocating boundaries and constraints of…
Bronte’s protofeminist novel Jane Eyre explores the complex and suffocating boundaries and constraints of womanhood. Bronte contends that those harsh expectations placed on women, especially governesses, attempt to strip women of their autonomy. Bronte navigates these boundaries, through magnifying the economic boundaries, religious constraints, and the suppression of passion that women are forced to endure. Ultimately, Bronte encourages Victorian women to resist these rigid constraints, in order to achieve self-determination in a world that sought to suppress their ambitions.
Through displaying the confining economic boundaries placed on women, Bronte exemplifies the destructive nature of the expectation to be dependent on a mans wealth. When Jane first arrives at Thornfield, Mrs Fairfax’s hyperbolic assertion “Almost all the land…belongs to [Rochester]” immediately establishes Jane as a vulnerable outsider in a male dominated sphere. This imagery serves to illuminate the overwhelming economic and social power that Rochester wields, revealing how Mrs Fairfax cements the ideology that in Victorian England, the man was expected to be wealthy, and the women was expected to be entirely dependent on the man’s wealth. To further demonstrate this expectation, Bessie’s warning “they will have a great deal of money” and “[Jane] will have none” attempts to reproduce the social order and protect the female sphere. Although Bessie offers a rare source of kindness for Jane, her insistence that Jane must be “humble” and “agreeable” attempts to cement the expectation that women must be dependent, as she frames submission as the only viable path to survival. In contrast, Jane’ Romantic individuality drives her to reject this trajectory, as she refuses to accept what she perceives as a “new servitude”, subverting the gender expectation that she must be defined and controlled by Rochester’s wealth. Later, Jane’s direct address and active sentence structure in “Reader, I married him” represents the ultimate subversion of Bessies warning. This moment of economic liberation breaks the cycle of gendered complicity that Bessie upheld, as she enters the marriage with her own inheritance and a unified identity. Thus, Bronte reveals to Victorians that although the economic boundaries inherent in Victorian England attempt to confine women, she reveals the it is possible to transcend these constraints through exercising Romantic Individuality.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: ‘Sunset Boulevard shows that the pursuit…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 87.5%: ntroduction In his 1950 film Sunset Boulevard, Billy Wilder critically examines the darker realities of…
ntroduction
In his 1950 film Sunset Boulevard, Billy Wilder critically examines the darker realities of Hollywood, exposing the tension between its glamorous public image and the harsh realities beneath it. Through his portrayal of individuals shaped by ambition, illusion and the desire for recognition, Wilder challenges audiences to question the values of a society obsessed with fame and appearances. Ultimately the pursuit of fame is presented as perilous as individuals encounter risks throughout their journey as they tackle and attain fame. Wilder critiques the tendency to idealise the past can prevent individuals from accepting reality and moving forward,Wilder exposes Hollywood’s commercial values revealing how the seeking recognition and success, and lastly wilder explores the destructive consequences of unchecked desire suggests fame can distort individuals perception reality and undermine freedom.
Wilder critiques the tendency to idealise the past, suggesting that the pursuit of former fame can prevent individuals from accepting reality and moving forward. This is demonstrated through Norma Desmond, whose isolated mansion symbolises her inability to separate her former stardom from her present circumstances. Although the mansion retains reminders of her previous success, its deteriorating appearance reflects the gap between Norma's imagined importance and her declining relevance within the film industry. This disconnect is further reinforced when Norma declares, “I am big. It's the pictures that got small!” Her defensive dialogue reveals her refusal to acknowledge Hollywood's changing values, as she blames the industry rather than recognising that her career has declined. Furthermore, Norma's fixation on her Salome screenplay demonstrates her continued belief that she can reclaim her former identity through another successful film. Through symbolism, dialogue and characterisation, Wilder exposes how the desire to preserve past glory can distort an individual's understanding of reality. Ultimately, Norma's circumstances reveal that fame becomes an illusion when individuals remain trapped in an idealised version of their past.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Resist and Persist
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 80%: Resist and Persist As we gather here tonight at this press conference, I acknowledge your questions about the…
Resist and Persist
As we gather here tonight at this press conference, I acknowledge your questions about the event that took place at Springville today. Respectfully, I ask you to hold onto those questions.
I have been advised to begin by thanking the emergency services, acknowledging the grief of the Springville community and assuring the American public that their government is doing everything in it’s power to prevent another tragedy.
I have been advised to say that last sentence very carefully.
Because I have said it before.
Fifteen years ago, in the town I grew up, I stood outside another school and listened to another politician promise that our children would be safe.
And now, this morning, nineteen children and six adults have been pronounced dead at Springville Elementary school.
I was given a statement to read tonight.
It is six pages long.
It contains the words unity, healing and unprecedented tragedy eleven times. It does not contain the word failure once.
So forgive me, but I will not be reading it.
Gun violence in this country is not news to any of us. We have watched communities mourn, parents bury their children and politicians stand before cameras promising that this time, things will be different.
In 1791, the Second Amendment established the right of Americans to bear arms. But I continue wondering whether our Founding Fathers imagined a country where our children were tripping over each others cold bodies in the hallways, resisting the need to cry and scream from their hiding spots.
Sandy Hook Elementary School. December 2012.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 'Oedipus the King' suggests that reason…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: In Sophocles' Greek tragedy Oedipus the King, he suggests that one's sense of rationality serves to guide them…
In Sophocles' Greek tragedy Oedipus the King, he suggests that one's sense of rationality serves to guide them through the mortal realm. Through individuals who are bound by fate, reason only serves to delay the inevitable, while those blessed by the gods are rewarded through humility and reason. Ultimately, Sophocles seeks to urge ancient Athenians to realise that one's human life is bound by fate and that all individuals should live in moderation and within reason or suffer.
Sophocles intends to highlight that individuals are all bound by fate and that reason provides little change in one's life. Through characters such as Oedipus, who was inevitably doomed to fulfil his fate, Sophocles explores the notion that reason is limited when the divine will of the gods is employed. Through Sophocles' utilisation of alliteration in "cursed in birth, cursed marriage, cursed in the life I cut down," Sophocles highlights that the prophecies foretold had all come true and that the anaphora of cursed serves to showcase how divine authority rules over the world. Sophocles suggests that once one's fate has been sealed, it is an inevitable path to downfall. In positioning his audience to fear the gods, Sophocles demonstrates that reason, or any mortal act blasphemous to the gods, cannot prevail and that moderation should be sought. Furthermore, when Oedipus laments, "Apollo, friends, Apollo – he ordained my agonies," Sophocles depicts Oedipus as a helpless man in the face of the Greek gods, reinforcing the notion that fate rules over human life while reason plays an insignificant role.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: writing about play
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 77.5%: Exam Creative Draft #2 The box lived under the under-stair cupboard, smelling of stale dust, mothballs and…
Exam Creative Draft #2
The box lived under the under-stair cupboard, smelling of stale dust, mothballs and cedar chips. When you popped its brass latch, the hinges gave a sharp, metallic screech - a doorway opening into whatever world we chose to invent that afternoon
Inside, was a universe of discarded texture: soft, frayed velvet cloaks, oversized plastic heels that clacked like thunder against the wooden floor, and the plastic stethoscope tubing cold against our necks. We slid our small feet into our fathers' scuffed leather work shoes, swaddled ourselves in mothers' silky scarves, and suddenly we were ready to take on the world.
"Doctor! Doctor! quick, he's got a fever!" my sister, would shout, her voice sharp with dramatic panic as she propped her stuffed teddy bear across a pillow, pretending it was an operating bed.
"Stand back!" I'd reply, puffing out my chest and adjusting my oversized plastic glasses. "I need three cups of magic juice, stat!"
We drank imaginary espresso from tiny, chipped plastic cups, smacking our lips at the bitter taste of air.
"Rough day at the office honey?" I'd sigh, leaning against the kitchen counter, that was merely too tall for me to reach, leaning the counter with a hand over my lower back, perfectly mimicking my father's heavy, post work exhaustion.
"Devastating" my sister would answer, shaking her head solemnly as she stirred a pot full of plastic buttons. "The budget is completely ruined with this thing called inflation." She looked up puzzled. Whatever that word meant.
We collapsed into giggles. Back then, adulthood was a glorious costume. We couldn't wait to grow up, so we played it. Time was endless, measured only by the golden light fading through the window mesh and the sizzle of dinner in the kitchen pan.
Then, somewhere along the line, the script changed.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: The Things We Carry (Autumn bench image)
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 80%: The Things We Carry. TERMS AND CONDITIONS Agreement no: 07-214 Parties: [REDACTED] Commencement: 14th February…
The Things We Carry.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Agreement no: 07-214
Parties: [REDACTED]
Commencement: 14th February 2014
Status: Under review.
ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS
Acceptance of this agreement confirms that both parties understand its conditions. No expiry date has been specified. All items carried forward remain the responsibility of their owner, including those never intended to be kept.
ORIGINAL CONDITIONS
The parties agree to save bench seats at lunch, keep secrets, remember birthdays and provide assistance following a fall. In a situation where a red skittle is available, it should be surrendered to the one who dislikes green skittles. Regardless of the others' preferences.
The parties further acknowledge that the conditions were established without negotiation. At an age when a reserved seat constituted sufficient proof of affection, no written confirmation was considered necessary.
STANDARD USE
The parties took turns showering each other with crunchy autumn leaves, shared warm hot chocolate and filled the margins of their journals with scribbles. Forty three minutes could be spent selecting the perfect fall film at a sleepover, only for neither party to watch it. 
These activities were considered amazing at the time. No records were kept of conversations continued past midnight or jokes which were incomprehensible to anyone else. The importance was self-evident. 
It is noted that at that age, sacrifice was difficult to recognise when everything still seemed to be working.
MODIFICATION OF TERMS. 
At approximately 13 years of age the following amendments were made.
Laugh when others laugh.
Do not mention the friendship often
Do not ask the other party for anything
Always respond “nothing” when asked “whats wrong”
No formal request for the amendments were issued, the user made the changes independently in hope for continued acceptance without creating issues.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: COUNTRY IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 80%: Dear India, My beloved mother, how are you? It sure has been a while since I visited. I write to you, sitting…
Dear India,
My beloved mother, how are you? It sure has been a while since I visited. I write to you, sitting across the Yarra River, gazing at the sparkling stream of water as it restlessly dances down Melbourne city. A leaf falls from a nearby tree, onto the river as it travels far away, leaving my sight. It makes me realise that I am very much like that leaf because, I too, left my tree and went far away. I write to you, expressing this great conflict in my mind, it’s like holding a compass that refuses to settle, its needle spinning wildly between the home I left and the life I’m building. As I grow older and settle in Australia, I wonder where in my heart you and Australia sit in unity? Or is it just not possible to acknowledge that I’m both, a child of India and Australia?
I still remember, it was the 4th of December. I had jolted awake from the announcement of our landing by the captain.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please stay seated and fasten your seatbelt as we prepare for landing.”
He went on, mentioning words like ‘Tullamarine’ or ‘humid temperature’, words I couldn’t quite understand back then, as my English was restricted. Something about his announcement gave me the feeling that I would remember it forever. I gazed through the window, the lights of Australia seemed as if one had scattered stars across the deep, dark ocean. India’s lights looked like stars too. Though, they were more scattered and came in various different shapes and colours. The unstable rocking of the plane made me clutch on to ‘Bhaloo’ by my side, even harder. Later, when I entered my uncle’s home, it felt foreign to feel the soft, woolly carpet beneath my feet, whereas back at home, I would feel the freezing cold marble floor. There were no terraces in houses in Australia. I couldn’t go up to the terrace and watch fluorescent green parrots play with one another as I listened to the playfully tuned horns of nearby passing trucks. The unfamiliarity of Australia overwhelmed me. It captured me in a cave of deep conflict. At the age of 4, I had already decided that I would not enjoy living in Australia.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “They think the actors make it up as they…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 95%: Set in the golden age of Hollywood, Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard explores a world in which everyone is, to some…
Set in the golden age of Hollywood, Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard explores a world in which everyone is, to some extent, “playing a part”. The film’s characters conform to roles and expectations established by the Hollywood system, performing carefully constructed versions of themselves to survive, preserve illusions or gain power. Norma Desmond transforms herself into a caricature of the eternal movie star, refusing to acknowledge that the industry has discarded her; Joe Gillis compromises his morality and integrity to navigate Hollywood’s ruthless social terrain, gradually becoming alienated from his authentic self; while Max and Betty also perform roles shaped by loyalty, ambition and idealism. Yet Wilder’s satire is more nuanced than suggesting that all performance is inherently false. Rather, he reveals that in a culture built upon illusion, performance becomes almost unavoidable. Hollywood encourages its participants to construct identities that serve its machinery, until the distinction between acting and authentic living becomes increasingly difficult to sustain.
Through chiaroscuro lighting and symbolic mise-en-scène, Wilder establishes Norma Desmond as the ultimate performer: an ageing silent-film star who clings to her former glory by playing the role of the grand diva trapped within her own illusions. Her speech, costumes and exaggerated mannerisms reveal a woman who has transformed her identity into a performance, refusing to accept the reality of her faded fame. Her declaration, “I am big. It’s the pictures that got small,” encapsulates her refusal to acknowledge that she, rather than the industry, may have changed. Norma reconstructs the past so that she can remain its star, rewriting her own history as a triumphant narrative of betrayal by an unworthy modern Hollywood. Her subsequent attack on the necessity for dialogue “we didn’t need talk. We had faces!” exposes her contempt for the changing conventions of cinema and her desperate attachment to the silent-film era. Significantly, Norma does not merely speak about her former performance; she immediately performs it. Rising from her seat to demonstrate the expressive power of her “face”, she positions herself in front of the projected image of her younger self in Queen Kelly. Wilder cruelly illuminates her face against the screen, contrasting the harshness of the ageing Norma with the soft, glamorous image of her former self. The projection thus becomes a metaphor for her psychological imprisonment: she is simultaneously watching her former self and attempting to become that woman again.
Norma’s performance, however, is sustained not only by herself but by those around her. Her mansion is an extension of her fantasy, an extravagant yet decaying relic of a Hollywood that no longer exists. Its imposing architecture, heavy furnishings and shadow-filled interiors transform the house into a theatrical set in which Norma can continue to perform. Max functions as both servant and stage manager, carefully sustaining her delusions by writing her letters from admiring fans and protecting her from the reality of her abandonment by Hollywood. His loyalty is itself a performance, although one motivated less by personal advancement than by devotion and guilt. His assertion that he is “a servant” to Norma reveals the extent to which he has surrendered his own identity to support hers. Wilder therefore complicates the idea that everyone performs for selfish gain: Max’s role is self-sacrificial, yet it nevertheless helps preserve the artificial world that ultimately destroys Norma and Joe. His behaviour suggests that even genuine affection can become complicit in illusion when the truth is too painful to confront.
While Norma performs the role of the eternal star, Joe Gillis demonstrates how Hollywood’s pressures can transform performance into a means of survival. Initially, Joe presents himself as a cynical, self-aware writer who believes he can remain independent of Hollywood’s corrupting influence. His witty narration and sardonic observations establish him as someone who believes he can see through the industry’s illusions. Yet Joe’s apparent detachment gradually becomes another performance. Desperate to escape repossession and financial failure, he accepts Norma’s offer to become her companion and ghostwriter, effectively exchanging his independence for material comfort. The grotesque symbolism of the dead monkey foreshadows this transformation. After the monkey’s death, Joe effectively becomes Norma’s new plaything, occupying the role of the pampered pet who must remain available to entertain his wealthy owner. His admission that he has become someone who must “dance for pennies” captures his humiliation: he has sacrificed his integrity for the outward appearance of having “made it” in Hollywood.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Title: We cry because we care…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 90%: We Cry Because We Care ESPN News Services - Opinion Andres Molina Feb 26th 2026, 9:02 AM Last week, football…
We Cry Because We Care
ESPN News Services - Opinion
Andres Molina
Feb 26th 2026, 9:02 AM
Last week, football was once again overshadowed by something far uglier than rivalry. During Real Madrid's Champions League playoff game away to SL Benfica, the spotlight was taken off the football and onto the disturbing scenes that unfolded during the aftermath of Vinicius Jr's goal for Real Madrid, which proved to be the only goal in a 1-0 win for Los Blancos.
After his undeniably brilliant goal and a more controversial celebration, Brazilian winger, Vinicius Jr, became the target of racial abuse by Argentine Benfica player, Gianluca Prestianni.
What caught most fans' attention, apparently, was Vinicius' emotional breakdown after temporarily abandoning the game, which he faced profound criticism for.
Football has never been just a game. Politics have long been intertwined with the sport, which has been and remains a platform for expression of social and political views by anyone to a global audience.
Protest in football can garner great attention, face heavy backlash, and help catalyse positive real change in the world.
AS IT UNFOLDED
Vinicius Jr scored what may be one of the greatest goals of his career last week in Portugal, and his celebration brought about controversy when he danced in front of the corner flag with a Benfica logo on it (for which he received a yellow card). Vinicius was then approached by Prestianni.
Prestianni could be seen, with his mouth covered by his shirt, remarking something at Vinicius, prompting a visibly distraught Vini to immediately alert the referee.
Referee Francois Letexier paused the match amid the tense encounter and Vini, in protest, ran off the pitch and sat in the dugout, visibly emotional.
For 15 minutes, the game was abandoned as heated encounters broke out between players of both sides and Vini conversed passionately with Real Madrid coach, Alvaro Arbeloa, and Benfica coach, José Mourinho.
During Vini's passionate act of protest and non-compliance, fans singled out his emotional breakdown into tears, finding humour in the powerful image of a crying Vini fighting against injustice. The hate Vini received after his temporary abandonment of the game just highlights how fans cannot comprehend how Vini's breakdown was proof of investment and love rather than anger or weakness.
The 15 minutes for which the match was abandoned not only brought the game to a necessary halt, but also challenged normalised silence among players of colour that allow such incidents to persist.
PLAYER AND MANAGER REACTIONS
After the game, Real Madrid teammates Kylian Mbappé and Trent Alexander-Arnold, as well as coaches of both sides expressed their views in post-match interviews.
Kylian Mbappé revealed Prestianni called Vini a monkey 5 times. He refused to call Prestianni by name, stating "he doesn't deserve it" and "he doesn't deserve to play [in the] Champions League".
Mbappé also stated, "whatever [Vini] decides, we'll do", revealing the Real Madrid players would have permanently abandoned the game in a display of protest and support.
Alexander-Arnold labelled Prestianni's actions a "disgrace to the sport", reiterating Real Madrid's full backing of Vinícius.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Write about protest: STEPPING UP
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 90%: Stepping Up A speech to the Year 12 assembly Before sunrise at last year’s dawn service, in the cold and the…
Stepping Up
A speech to the Year 12 assembly
Before sunrise at last year’s dawn service, in the cold and the near-silence, an Aboriginal elder stepped forward to welcome us to his land. He had barely begun when the heckling started. The boos swept through the respectfully quiet crowd like a gust across a candle flame, and for a moment the whole morning flickered.
I want to tell you what happened next, because it taught me what protest really is. It isn’t a banner or a megaphone. It begins as a decision.
He could have stopped. He could have waited for someone in charge to step in. Instead he held his ground, found his voice, and led the crowd in answering those who were being disrespectful. Strangers who had come to remember became a single, steady voice, not a riot, not a shouting match, but a refusal to let disrespect stand over more than sixty thousand years of continuous culture. On a day built on unity, a protest had defended it. It started as one voice. It did not stay one for long.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Title: Unbroken Stimulus: 'To fight…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 82.5%: Unbroken An Inquest into the Death of [name] because of Police Arrest Office of the state coroner Case File…
Unbroken
An Inquest into the Death of [name] because of Police Arrest
Office of the state coroner
Case File no.: 12-21-C
Name of deceased: [name]
Age: 21
Place of death: Demonstration site
Date of death: October 21st 2026
Cause of death: Haemorrhage
Manner of death: Homicide
Formal Findings
At approximately 5:17 pm, during a demonstration, the deceased collapsed. Nearby demonstrators gave first aid until medical personnel arrived at the scene.
Many other individuals were injured. Due to lack of stretchers available, a demonstration flag left planted in the ground was pulled free to carry the deceased to the ambulance.
Blood had soaked through the cloth and over the slogans painted in it. Death was pronounced shortly after during the transport to medical facilities.
Even after examining the remnants, the metallic iron still lingers within me, unable to be washed away. Even the red smudges on the slogans written on the fabric – it was a red so striking, yet so harrowing to me.
Autopsy found fragments of a ballistic projectile in the soft tissue surrounding the clavicle region. The projectile ruptured the aorta, causing the fatal haemorrhage. Further fragments lodged in the clavicle itself produced two additional fractures.
Examination of the clothing showed no evident gunpowder residue, indicating the shot was fired from a distance.
Not just [name], but the hundreds of demonstrators all went into the battlefield accepting the risks, understanding the brutality that may arrive because of them. Even with acknowledging it, having them not even reveal their faces to them, denying the courtesy of showing their intentions… even death-row inmates are granted a scene for their execution.
Personal belongings recovered: Worker’s ID, wallet with photos, faded protest leaflet and a receipt for water and bread.
To anyone else, these are just everyday objects. However, each object had significance to the life of [name]. What they think, feel, like and believe. Even the receipt for bread, it meant they planned to eat the bread later… it meant they had planned for a later.
Circumstances Surrounding the Scene
The demonstration began early in the afternoon. A large civilian gathering occupied public spaces near government buildings.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Title: Unbroken Stimulus: 'To fight…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 72.5%: Unbroken An Inquest into the Death of [name] because of Police Arrest Office of the state coroner Case File…
Unbroken
An Inquest into the Death of [name] because of Police Arrest
Office of the state coroner
Case File no.: 12-21-C
Name of deceased: [name]
Age: 21
Place of death: Demonstration site
Date of death: October 21st 2026
Cause of death: Haemorrhage
Manner of death: Homicide
Formal Findings
At approximately 5:17 pm, during a demonstration, the deceased collapsed. Nearby demonstrators gave first aid until medical personnel arrived at the scene.
Many other individuals were injured. Due to lack of stretchers available, a demonstration flag left planted in the found was pulled free to carry the deceased to the ambulance.
Blood had soaked through the cloth and over the slogans painted in it. Death was pronounced shortly after during the transport to medical facilities.
Even after examining the remnants, the metallic iron still lingers within me, unable to be washed away. Even the red smudges on the slogans written on the fabric – it’s a red so striking, yet so harrowing to me.
Autopsy found fragments of a ballistic projectile in the soft tissue surrounding the clavicle region. The projectile ruptured the aorta, causing the fatal haemorrhage. Further fragments lodged in the clavicle itself produced two additional fractures.
Examination of the clothing showed no evident gunpowder residue, indicating the shot was fired from a distance.
Not just [name], but the hundreds of demonstrators all went into the battlefield accepting the risks, understanding the brutality that may arrive because of them. Even with acknowledging it, having them not even reveal their daces to them, denying the courtesy of showing their intentions… even death row inmates are granted a scene for the death.
Personal belongings recovered: Worker’s I.D, wallet with photos, faded protest leaflet and a receipt for water and bread.
To anyone else, these are just everyday objects. However, each object had significance to the life of [name]. What they think, feel, like and believe. Even the receipt for bread, it meant they planned to eat the bread later… it meant they had planned for a later.
Circumstances Surrounding the Scene
The demonstration began early in the afternoon. A large civilian gathering occupied public spaces near government buildings.
Witnesses described banners, signs, placards and a crowd chanting. Video evidence confirms the wave of banners and united chanting. Several witnesses described it as “lively and peaceful” leading up to the incident.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Title: Unbroken Stimulus: 'To fight…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 75%: Unbroken An Inquest into the Death of [name] because of Police Arrest Office of the state coroner Case File…
Unbroken
An Inquest into the Death of [name] because of Police Arrest
Office of the state coroner
Case File no.: 12-21-C
Name of deceased: [name]
Age: 21
Place of death: Demonstration site
Date of death: October 21st 2026
Cause of death: Haemorrhage
Manner of death: Homicide
Formal Findings
At approximately 5:17 pm, during a demonstration, the deceased collapsed. Nearby demonstrators gave first aid until medical personnel arrived at the scene.
Many other individuals were injured. Due to lack of stretchers available, a demonstration flag left planted in the found was pulled free to carry the deceased to the ambulance.
Blood had soaked through the cloth and over the slogans painted in it. Death was pronounced shortly after during the transport to medical facilities.
Even after examining the remnants, the metallic iron still lingers within me, unable to be washed away. Even the red smidges on the slogans written on the fabric – it’s a red so striking, yet so harrowing to me.
Autopsy found fragments of a ballistic projectile in the soft tissue surrounding the clavicle region. The projectile ruptured the aorta, causing the fatal haemorrhage. Further fragments lodged in the clavicle itself produced two additional fractures.
Examination of the clothing showed no evident gunpower residue, indicating the shot was fired from a distance.
Not just [name], but the hundreds of demonstrators all went into the battlefield accepting the risks, understanding the brutality that may arrive because of them. Even with acknowledging it, having them not even reveal their daces to them, denying the courtesy of showing their intentions… even death row inmates are granted a scene for the death.
Personal belongings recovered: Worker’s I.D, wallet with photos, faded protest leaflet and a receipt for water and bread.
To anyone else, these are just everyday objects. However, each object had significance to the life of [name]. What they think, feel, like and believe. Even the receipt for bread, it meant they planned to eat the bread later… it meant they had planned for a later.
Circumstances Surrounding the Scene
The demonstration began early in the afternoon. A large civilian gathering occupied public spaces near government buildings.
Witnesses described banners, signs, placards and a crowd chanting. Video evidence confirms the wave of banners and united chanting. Several witnesses described it as “lively and peaceful” leading up to the incident.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Prompt: Rainbow’s End presents a scathing…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 85%: Systemic power, although known to evidently strip vulnerable groups of their hope and freedom, serves as a driving…
Systemic power, although known to evidently strip vulnerable groups of their hope and freedom, serves as a driving force to push for perseverance and courage. Set in 1950s Australia amid racial systemic segregation and discriminatory government policies, Jane Harrison’s Play Rainbow’s End explores how Aboriginal families, specifically the Dear women, navigate oppression while striving to preserve identity and connection to home. Harrison presents her play contending that the ever-lasting impacts of colonisation can be critiqued as generational damage to indigenous communities, internally and externally, but through adversity, depict a face of hope and resilience.
From the outset of the play, the impacts of colonisation and its activity is pronounced more with the pressure of external sources and the persistent neglect of the government. As an instance, as Gladys, mother of Dolly, and Errol, a while encyclopedia salesman discuss the location of their humpy at the Flats, Gladys’ comment “It should have been where they built us the housing… decided to turn it into the town tip” exposes the government’s neglect towards Aboriginal housing and their preference to allocate them The Flats, prone to flooding and natural disasters quite often. This decision not only worsens housing conditions and marginalisation, but Harrison reveals the disturbing fact that Aboriginal people have been reduced to less deserving than “trash”, as a result of their dependence on the government for rightful claim to land. The pain of colonisation not easily forgotten in the play as Gladys yearns and mourns the lost opportunity of her education as a result of being victim to the Stolen Generations. Her resigned comment to Errol, “Who had time for learning?” illustrates the irreversible damage of colonial oppression done to the Aboriginal communities by white government authority and further exemplifies Glady’s dream in Dolly being able to rightfully receive education and opportunities. To offer multiple perspectives on the impacts of colonisation and its damage, Harrison utilises Errol who is not outwardly discriminating but holds ignorant prejudice towards the Dear women and their way of living at The Flats. Attempting to offer Dolly the pursuit of a “better life”, he urges her “to come away with [him]” where they can “live in a sweet little Flat with a balcony”, Harrison reveals the paternalism embedded in society directed towards Aboriginals as their rights to think and make decisions for themselves has been stripped due to oppression. All in all, Harrison effectively conveys the painful damage of colonisation and its roots embedded deep within society, evident in their interactions with external figures, the resources they’ve been allocated and their limited opportunities.