VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Flamewoine. willy about protest •…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 90%: The city has gone quiet. Only the echoes of our chants linger in the streets- a pulse fading into the darkness.…
The city has gone quiet. Only the echoes of our chants linger in the streets- a pulse fading into the darkness. The air still tastes of smoke and rain. Somewhere, a siren wails once, then dies.
I should be asleep. My voice is torn. My feet ache, soles crusted from the dust and blistered from the march. Yet my mind refuses the mercy of rest. Protest never really ends- it just changes shape. In daylight it roars through megaphones. At night it whispers in the questions you cannot silence.
Today we filled the streets again- thousands of us. Bound by anger and hope. Our breath fogging in the cold, cardboard signs beating against the wind. For a heartbeat, it felt as if the world would shift beneath our feet. Then came the jeers, the smirks, the headlines asking why we bother. They call it noise. I call it proof that we are still alive.
No one warns you that protest is not only defiance- its devotion. It is loving something enough to be hated for it, it is carrying the flame that warms and burns in the same breath. Every step forward costs a piece of yourself; your ease, your safety, your silence. Yet still we persist. Because to stop is to accept a world that refuses to change.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: this is an expository essay
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 77.5%: Protest - expository Many people see protests as frustrating or disruptive, getting in the way of everyday…
Protest - expository
Many people see protests as frustrating or disruptive, getting in the way of everyday life. However, these acts of courage are often what drive progress in society. As Martin Niemöller once said, “They came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out… Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out.” His words show the danger of staying silent in the face of injustice. If we allow those in power to take away the rights of one group at a time, eventually no one will be safe. True change happens only when people unite to stand up for what is right, even if their views differ. When institutions fail to protect justice, or even cause harm themselves, it is the courage of ordinary people that exposes corruption and sparks reform. Protests become successful when they lead to genuine change in how people think and how societies work.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Wilder’s sunset boulevard unveils that…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 77.5%: Exposing the fallacy of the wicked, foolish dreams which have seized their hearts. Billy Wilders Quintessentially…
Exposing the fallacy of the wicked, foolish dreams which have seized their hearts. Billy Wilders Quintessentially American film Sunset Boulevard poignantly unveils that personal pursuits galvanized by Hollywood are perpetuated by manipulation. With the overlaying of gothic film. Wilders film noir delineates that Individuals manipulate others to achieve their Hollywood dreams, Additionally Wilder’s Intelligent blend of meta- cinema and fiction creates a powerful expose of how Hollywood itself manipulates it’s subjects for personal gain, However akin to the muddled nature of Hollywood wilder elucidates when personal endeavours are not deeply engarined in the ideals of Hollywood, manupilation is no longer the foundation to success.
Wilder uses the relationship between Norma Desmond and Joe Gillis to illustrate how individuals manipulate each other to maintain their Hollywood dreams. Norma, desperate to reclaim her silent-era stardom, ensnares Joe in her fantasy, using her wealth and influence to bind him to her physically, emotionally, and creatively. Her mansion, shrouded in darkness and decay, becomes a metaphorical prison—trapping Joe in her delusion. Wilder uses high-angle shots looking down on Joe in Norma’s mansion to visually reinforce his loss of power and autonomy. Costuming, too, plays a crucial role: Norma’s heavy makeup and dramatic gowns reflect her refusal to accept her age and her descent into madness. Yet, Joe is not merely a victim—he too manipulates Norma for his own gain. Broke and without direction, he allows himself to be kept by her, trading independence for comfort. He cynically rationalises the relationship, remarking that “you don’t yell at a sleepwalker—he may fall and break his neck,” a line that captures both his complicity and detachment. The low-key lighting and claustrophobic interior shots create an oppressive atmosphere, suggesting that both characters are trapped by their own desires and deceit. Wilder’s use of voice-over narration—spoken by Joe from beyond the grave—adds an additional layer of irony, as Joe reflects on how manipulation, rather than talent or integrity, defined his Hollywood journey. In this co-dependent relationship, both characters exploit each other to survive in a world that no longer values them, epitomising the film’s central thesis: that in Hollywood, survival often depends on who you can use.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does The Memory Police reveal the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 67.5%: Throughout the novel, Ogawa purposefully associated the remembrance of memories with a semantic field of “warmth”…
Throughout the novel, Ogawa purposefully associated the remembrance of memories with a semantic field of “warmth” which individuals are “sinking into”. The word choice of ‘sinking’ suggests immersion and comfort, positioning memory as a refuge that envelops and protects the self. Those who do not forget experience another layer of emotion that those who forget may be “jealous” of. Thus this makes the erasure ever so tragic as the narrator desperately holds onto her memories to feel a sense of completeness. Ogawa's description of experiences in the heart being “tantalisingly transparent” suggests that memories hold a depth of life and vitality that connects to the humanity present within residents, where those who remember are full of warmth and feel complete. Immediately after, Ogawa juxtaposes this notion through the alliterative imagery of a “hollow heart full of holes” where she serves to emphasise the destructive impact of one’s sense of humanity as memories are removed. She strategically creates this paradox where forgetting is not passive but transformative and the heart does not merely lose memories but fundamentally changes its shape, suggesting identity itself is restructured and eroded, not simply diminished. Ogawa further amplifies this erasure of individuality through her sparse characterisation. The absence of personal names such as “the narrator” or “the old man” symbolise the dissolution of self that accompanies forgetting. This anonymity mirrors the regime’s dehumanising power, as citizens are stripped not only of memories but of the linguistic markers that define identity. By withholding names, Ogawa universalises their plight, suggesting that under totalitarian control, individuality becomes indistinguishable and replaceable.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Truth has the power to both cleanse and…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: Throughout Tessa Hadley's anthology of stories, Bad Dreams and Other Stories, the characters undergo a cyclical…
Throughout Tessa Hadley's anthology of stories, Bad Dreams and Other Stories, the characters undergo a cyclical experience around revelation, highlighting how truth has the power to both cleanse and destroy. In several stories such as 'An Abduction', 'The Stain' and' Her Share of Sorrow ', Hadley's protagonists all experience major revelations which shape their perception of reality.
Hadley showcases how a withholding of truth can create tension among characters. In the story, 'The Stain', its protagonist, Marina, takes care of an old man from South Africa, who holds onto a dark past which is kept a secret from Marina, as foreshadowed by the "old man [tapping] his head and saying 'better keep it here where its safe'" Through this moment, Hadley immediately demonstrates how a withdrawal of truth can result in a diminishing of relationships if revealed. This is exemplified by Hadley later in the story, as when Marina inevitably finds out the truth following the old man's passing, her reaction is melancholic, with her being unable to "forgive herself for being so naive". Highlighting the emotional toll on Marina, exacerbated by truth withheld overtime, Hadley demonstrates how withholding truth has the power to destroy a relationship. This is also shown through the mother in the titular story, Bad Dreams, who doesn't tell her husband her feelings on him, but rather decides to keep a "new insight" on him instead, demonstrating her fears of truth creating tensions that may disrupt her relationships. Overall, in the anthology, Hadley critiques how truth can be used as a tool to destroy, when it is withheld, as once it's revealed, the emotional toll can create profound reactions that can alter one's perception of a relationship, as such with Marina and the mother.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Sunset Boulevard critiques the American…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 67.5%: Billy Wilder’s *Sunset Boulevard* (1950) is a scathing indictment of the American Dream and the illusory promises…
Billy Wilder’s *Sunset Boulevard* (1950) is a scathing indictment of the American Dream and the illusory promises it offers. Set in post-war Hollywood, the film explores a society intoxicated by fame, wealth, and reinvention. Through the tragic trajectories of Joe Gillis, Norma Desmond, and other secondary characters, Wilder critiques the pursuit of success at all costs, exposing how the Dream becomes a nightmare for those who fail to achieve—or maintain—it. The film ultimately suggests that the American Dream is not only unattainable for many, but also destructive, particularly in a Hollywood system that devours its own.
Joe Gillis embodies the everyman striving for the American Dream but failing to grasp its shifting foundations. A struggling screenwriter drowning in debt, Joe is caught between survival and artistic integrity. His descent into moral compromise—living off Norma Desmond in exchange for comfort—reflects the desperation many face when the dream eludes them. Wilder presents Joe as disillusioned, bitter, and resigned, narrating his own story from beyond the grave as a symbol of failure. The Dream, for Joe, is hollow; success in Hollywood is not a reward for talent but for manipulation, luck, and submission to power. His death in Norma’s pool—ironically the Hollywood symbol of success—underscores the ultimate price of chasing a dream that no longer serves the dreamers.
VCE · Language Analysis
Language Analysis: Housing crisis
VCE Language Analysis essay scoring 80%: Australia’s recent housing crisis has sparked the concern of citizens. In her podcast ‘Unconventional Ursula’,…
Australia’s recent housing crisis has sparked the concern of citizens. In her podcast ‘Unconventional Ursula’, Ursula Browning contends to her adult listeners that the housing crisis is becoming a severe issue, proposing solutions to reallocate used land for housing instead. Supplementing her arguments, Browning inserts a sketch depicting blueprints for a space-efficient structure in hopes to address the housing crisis.
Browning begins her argument by characterising the housing crisis as severe, supporting her need for an urgent solution. Browning’s title, “How can we fix the housing crisis?” utilises inclusive pronoun “we”, suggesting that the housing crisis is a collective issue. By positioning the audience to be responsible of the collective issue, Brown primes them to accept her subsequent solutions. Brown's questioning of a “fix” directly asks listeners to personally reflect on a solution as they are confronted by the issue. By assuming listeners have already “seen the news [about] the housing shortage”, Browning emphasises the vastness of the issue. Her use of anaphora repetition “what if there was a solution” and “what if the very idea of a housing crisis would be a thing of the past” elicits hope from the audience and sets up Browning to explain her solutions. Reinforcing the vastness of the issue, Browning employs statistics of Australia’s growing population “predicted to grow to nine million in 2041” from today’s “seven million.” Additionally she highlights that rent costs have “increased by more than 14.6%” within a year. The utilisation of confronting statistics legitimises the housing crisis with concrete evidence and confronts listeners about the reality of the issue. Her use of categorical statements conveys certainty with definitive assertions of “a solution is required, and fast”. This shakes readers complacency as she highlights the urgency to resolve the housing crisis.
VCE · Language Analysis
Language Analysis: Housing Crisis
VCE Language Analysis essay scoring 60%: Australia’s recent housing crisis has sparked the concern of citizens. In her podcast ‘Unconventional Ursula’,…
Australia’s recent housing crisis has sparked the concern of citizens. In her podcast ‘Unconventional Ursula’, Ursula Browning contends to her adult listeners about the housing crisis and proposes solutions of reallocating used land for housing. Supplementing her arguments, Browning inserts a sketch depicting blueprints for a space-efficient structure in hopes to address the housing crisis.
Browning begins her argument by characterising the housing crisis as severe, supporting her need for an urgent solution. Browning’s title, “How can we fix the housing crisis?” utilises inclusive pronoun “we”, which suggests the housing crisis is a collective issue. The questioning of a “fix” invites listeners to personally reflect on the issue. By assuming listeners have already “seen the news [about] the housing shortage”, Browning emphasises the vastness of the issue. Her use of anaphora repetition “what if there was a solution” and “what if the very idea of a housing crisis would be a thing of the past” elicits hope from the audience and sets up Browning to explain her solutions. Reinforcing the vastness of the issue, Browning employs statistics of Australia’s growing population “predicted to grow to nine million in 2041” from today’s “seven million.” Additionally she highlights that rent costs have “increased by more than 14.6%” within a year. The utilisation of confronting statistics legitimises the housing crisis with concrete evidence and confronts listeners about the reality of the issue. Her use of categorical statements conveys certainty with definitive assertions of “a solution is required, and fast”. This shakes readers complacency as she highlights the urgency to resolve the housing crisis.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: At what cost?
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 70%: TITLE: AT WHAT COST? Ayubowan, Vannakum, Assalamu Alaikum. I stand here today not as a politician, but as a…
TITLE: AT WHAT COST?
Ayubowan, Vannakum, Assalamu Alaikum.
I stand here today not as a politician, but as a farmer. My name is Ranil, and I am a man who wakes up before the sun, digs through dry soil, and works until his hands split open. But this year, everything changed. Crops that once fed my village now rot in the fields. My children go to bed hungry. My neighbours have nothing left. All because of another reckless decision made by the Rajapaksa government, who want to fill their pockets, rather than protect ours. I look at the faces before me, tired, angry, unbroken, and I see parts of myself in all of you. I see the part that hates the corruption, greed, and leaders who have drained this land until nothing, but dust remains. I see the part of us that yearns for a new government, and I believe that we should let it speak for us today.
Because if the Rajapaksas tear apart our homes, our villages, and our families, then I ask you, at what cost will we stay silent?
My brothers and sisters,
Last month, the Rajapaksa government banned chemical fertilisers overnight, without a plan, without care. I, and many farmers around the country, were left with dying crops, and no food to eat. You would think such a government would sacrifice some of their funding to help us survive. No, they didn’t. Instead, they live in comfort while we scrape the dirt for what’s left. And this cruelty doesn’t end at our farms. It reaches every hospital and every home. Take a walk through any pharmacy and you’ll see it, shelves bare, mothers crying over their children suffering in beds because there’s no insulin, no antibiotics, not even cheap painkillers. All while these so-called leaders borrow recklessly from other countries, waste our tax money and place us in a massive debt of over eighty-six billion dollars. Every child born in this country will have to inherit this struggle, given to them without choice.
And still, they tell us to wait. To trust them. To be patient. But we’ve been patient long enough.
This fight isn’t new to us, and our ancestors have shown past
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: the world created by jackson is one of…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: in her 1962 gothic novella 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle', author Shirley Jackson presents a world of…
in her 1962 gothic novella 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle', author Shirley Jackson presents a world of unrelenting cruelty to a reasonable extent. Through fostering a cruel society, Jackson explores how it is unforgiving in most situations. However, she manifests a bond between the sisters Merricat and Constance, that is built on love and family rather than cruelty. ultimately, Jackson presents that reality is not possible without some form of cruelty and its justification; however, it is not unrelenting, and is on occasions, forgiving.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: This is mine
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 85%: To Woodside Energy, Please adhere to my cries. My farm is located in rural Australia, where kangaroos hop…
To Woodside Energy,
Please adhere to my cries.
My farm is located in rural Australia, where kangaroos hop freely, trees sway in the wind, and the beautiful red sand glistens in the sunlight.
The environment is perfect, it's majestic, it's everything you’d want Australia to be…
Except now the ecosystem is at risk of destruction; in fact, the entire environment is.
Those kangaroos which once hopped freely have begun to drop, the trees which would gush stand still and wilt like roses, whilst the red sand has become grey with despair.
With the destruction of my land, I would even go as far as to say I envy those in war…
Not because the destruction is worse or that death is better than a destroyed land, but it’s because they can fight for their country.
They say the pen is mightier than the sword, yet your company is an industry giant, one that funds government because of the substantial profits it generates, one that is immune to us common folk. So, this letter strives to enact a change from within, to persuade your corrupted minds to put Australia first.
Your recent campaign, “Oil's big future in the rural” has brought nothing but death and destruction.
Your big oil drills, which not only pollute the air but also the quiet atmosphere, have been detrimental to my land's ability to thrive, bringing nothing but hardships to me and farmers alike.
These drills spread dust and smoke, killing our trees, and mutilating our animals from the inside out. But the sand… the foundation of our land is being harmed the most.
The symbol of rural Australia is the bright red sand, a symbol so iconic that almost all paintings of Australia have an interpretation of this sand.
But if you looked down from your big corporation tower and really peered into the lives of us common folk, then you would see the disparity that these drills have brought to Australia’s iconic sand.
These drills leak oil over the sand, and the smoke and gas seep into the sand, giving it a dark and ghastly aura.
The sand, which once glistened, is now in its late stages of death… those days of stardom in the Australian limelight are over, its stardom now being nothing but nostalgic.
My Australia, which is my identity, is beginning to fade into obscurity… My own identity of belonging and who I am is lost as the land on which I’ve grown up is destroyed.
So why should my land be ruined? Why should my animals die?
Well, this is all because of greed and corporate profits.
Your recent financial reports have revealed you profited “4.8 million” in the past month, with
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Title: The truth Stimuli 1 - ‘Freedom…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 82.5%: As news broke out that the government’s new social media ban was being implemented. This was a “where were…
As news broke out that the government’s new social media ban was being implemented. This was a “where were you when this happened” moment. I reach home, open the gates, and hear my brother crying. Crying because he isn’t able to watch YouTube Kids anymore. Like how does a 10-year-old watching his YouTube Kids videos affect the government? I don’t get it. Those cries were like an alarm for me, like something had awoken inside me to go out and fight for my country back. My beloved Nepal. This ban was the tipping point, it was time for the truth to come out, for the outside world to learn about the hidden corruption of the Nepalese government.
Within a matter of hours, a protest was established for the 8th of September. They labelled this “The Gen Z protest”. In 2 days’, time, we will fight for what we’ve been yearning for and what the people of this nation of previous generations have been yearning for but didn’t get. A future of opportunity.
It’s the night before the protest. I’m about to doze off ahead of the day I have tomorrow, and suddenly certain footsteps I recognise immediately start making their way down the stairs. It was my grandma, the person who has witnessed this country fall back in a steeper decline from since she was my age. She knew this protest was the one chance we had at change and the last chance she had to able to see her country rise.
My Grandma leans across the table and whimpers to me “freedom lies in being bold”.
I can tell how much she is relying on the movement tomorrow, and how much she wants me to be present in the revolution, despite my Mum worrying for my life asking me to stay home tomorrow, but I know that if we don’t capitalise on tomorrow, we will forever lose our chance to rid us of this corrupt government.
As the sun comes up, I head out, but by the time I get to the city centre, hundreds of people already speaking up. They want this change as much as I do. As much as my grandma does. Seeing the nepo children of the politicians of this country breaks all of our hearts for the people who work tirelessly each day just to not be able to eat at night because their wages aren’t high enough. Why can’t we live like them? What have they done to deserve all those western world luxuries? The search for the answers to these questions led to where we are today.
VCE · Language Analysis
Language Analysis: We, the Art and Media Club members…
VCE Language Analysis essay scoring 77.5%: Recently, the relocation of the Bankswood local library to a new building has left the old building empty and…
Recently, the relocation of the Bankswood local library to a new building has left the old building empty and in need of repurposing. In an open letter written to the Bankswood council by Arts and Media club members from the local university, the students enthusiastically express their desires for the old building to be turned into an arts centre instead of offices. Accompanying the letter are 2 images, one of students smiling in a library, and another comparing the proposed offices and art centre potential designs.
Initially, the students gratefully endorse the new library building that has been built for them. The students claim that they are “comfortably resting on a [library couch] revealing how they have already used the new library multiple times, and express gratitude to the council for building this new building. This encourages the council to view the students as humble individuals who value what the council is doing to benefit the Bankswood community, and urges them to be more open to the students upcoming proposal. The image accompanying this shows the students smiling in the new library, revealing how they are using and are enjoying the new library's facilities. This implies that the council's decision to relocate the library was a good one, flattering council members and positioning them to view the students as grateful individuals. The students then juxtapose the old library with the new one, labelling the old library as “dark and gloomy” in stark contrast to the “state of the art” nature of the new library, implying that the transition to the new library was a necessary change, which empowers local council members and urges them to feel as though their decisions are making a positive impact on the lives of the local community members, evoking a feeling of satisfaction from council members.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Title - Right to rebel Stimulus- Image…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 65%: Luke sat anxiously in the hall, waiting for the Principal to take to the lectern. There was clearly an anxious…
Luke sat anxiously in the hall, waiting for the Principal to take to the lectern. There was clearly an anxious vibe in the hall, and the nervous whispers and tense atmosphere around the room reflected that. Despite the students having exercised their right to rebel last week by attending a climate change protest in the city, clearly the school hadn’t appreciated it, and as a result the whole year 12 cohort sat waiting for what the Principal had to say. The lighting was dark and minimal around the room, and Luke could see many students nervously twiddling their thumbs and tapping their feet on the hard wooden floor. The whispers gradually died down as the Principal took the stage. He had a commanding presence, standing at over six feet tall. He wore a neat suit, and wisps of grey hair adorned his head like a crown. There was near silence in the room as he began speaking.
“Good morning students. I was most disappointed to see so many of you march out of here last Friday to attend a climate change protest in the city. Whilst I do understand that climate change is an important issue for many of you, you do not have the right to act the way you did last week. So let me begin by saying that if any such behaviour occurs again, it will be met with harsh punishment from the school board.”
Luke anxiously squirmed in his uncomfortable school chair. He looked around the room, and saw nothing but statues. Students robotically stared at the Principal, as if something would happen to them if they looked away. Surely this would now spell an end to the students second planned protest in a weeks time. Would anyone be willing to rebel now that the Principal has spoken? Luke felt uncomfortable sitting there and doing nothing, but how could he risk the punishment for standing up. He felt as if other students shared in his discomfort, but how could the cohort show that to the Principal. The Principal’s words cut back through Luke’s thoughts, evicting them back to the corners of his mind.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “We Have Always Lived in the Castle offers…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: Superstition is often dismissed as harmless ritual, but in We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson…
Superstition is often dismissed as harmless ritual, but in We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson presents it as a powerful and corrosive force that shapes both individual lives and entire communities. Through Merricat’s obsessive rituals and the villagers’ fear-fuelled cruelty, Jackson exposes how superstition can both shield individuals from pain and imprison them within fear, delusion and hostility. While the novel ultimately warns against the dangers of superstition, it also acknowledges its appeal as a coping mechanism for people navigating trauma and alienation. Jackson’s critique is not simplistic; it reveals superstition as a complex human response to fear and uncertainty.
Merricat’s reliance on rituals, spells and omens reflects her deep psychological need for control in a world that has traumatised her. She buries objects “to keep us safe” and mutters “three powerful words” for “strong protection,” constructing an invisible wall against the outside world. For Merricat, superstition offers security: it gives shape and order to her fears. Jackson presents this through the novel’s lyrical first-person narration, immersing readers in Merricat’s belief system. However, the same rituals that protect her also entrap her. She refuses to confront reality, declaring “we are on the moon now” after the fire — an imaginative retreat that marks her complete psychological withdrawal. Through this duality, Jackson reveals superstition as both a coping mechanism and a barrier to healing. It allows Merricat to survive, but at the cost of truth, growth, and meaningful human connection.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In Rainbow's End there is a tension…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: "Rainbows End," a compelling indigenous play, written by Maruworn women; Jane Harrison, displays a tension three…
"Rainbows End," a compelling indigenous play, written by Maruworn women; Jane Harrison, displays a tension three women face between accepting the way things are and attempting to make things better. This tension can be shown by every one of three women from Dolly, accepting the institutional racism embedded in her environment and the limits that come with it then also sticking up for herself, Gladys, heartbrokenly knowing her dream of getting education stripped but still continued with her determination and lastly, Nan being very stoic in accepting the conditions but being a strong provider and care taker for her family. However she does sometimes shows discouraging and unattempling behaviour to make things better due to previous trauma and experiences.
Dolly accepts how she may face a lack of oppurtunities due to how society was shaped in the 1950's, along with knowing white people will treat her. However despite knowing, she sticks up for her self in attempt for better treatment. "I will not be spoken to like that," this shows how, although Dolly is aware how society will treat her, she does not allow that to be the end of
her. She is determined to make things better and sticks up for herself. Another example of how Dolly is torn between society's expectations and her own desires is illustrated through her and Errol. She does want to go to the ball with Errol and continue things but is restricted by knowing that aboriginal and white relationships were taboo at the time and how she will face judgement and embarrassment. "You're white and I'm black, or haven't you noticed," conveys the taboo of aboriginal and white relationships, along with the tension Dolly faces between societal expectations and her own desires.
Gladdys faces the harsh reality of her dreams being crushed and sorrowly accepts these circumstances. her ambition outweighs this submission. This can be seen through her continous effort for making Dolly get a job and education, she couldn't, she still had that hope for her child and continously attempted to make things better. Another example that demonstrates this tension is she accepted her unfortunate circumstance of not being able to read or write or get an education. However, with her deep ambition
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: creative writing on personal journeys…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 67.5%: There is a Pakistani proverb – "What the elders see sitting, the young can't see standing." I trailed behind…
There is a Pakistani proverb – "What the elders see sitting, the young can't see standing."
I trailed behind my father as he walked through the familiar streets of our neighbourhood, the evening air thick with the scent of jasmine and distant laughter from families gathered in their backyards. My hands were buried in my hoodie pockets, my footsteps slow and reluctant. As a fifteen-year-old growing up, I had little interest in these routine evening walks with my father. There were a dozen other places I’d rather be—at the mall with my friends, watching movies, or simply scrolling through my phone in peace. these outings, once avoidable, had now become a requirement.
I never truly valued my father’s presence.
He was a man of few words, someone who expressed love through gestures rather than speech. He worked tirelessly, ensuring that we never lacked anything, yet I resented how out of touch he seemed with my world. While my friends had parents who gave them freedom, mine clung to traditions I found restrictive. Family dinners were mandatory, my weekends were monitored, and the importance of respecting elders was drilled into me more times than I cared to count. I felt suffocated by the weight of these expectations, longing instead for the easy company of my friends who understood me better than my own family ever could.
I still remember the moment my frustration turned into indifference.
One evening, as we sat at the dinner table, my father tried to ask about my day. Distracted by a group chat buzzing on my phone, I barely looked up as I muttered a half-hearted response. When he pressed the question further, I sighed, exasperated. "Why do you even care? You don’t understand my life anyway." The room fell silent. My mother exchanged a glance with him, and for a
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: To what extent do the characters find…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: In Shirley Jackson’s gothic novel We Have Always Lived In The Castle, the idea of power is portrayed through…
In Shirley Jackson’s gothic novel We Have Always Lived In The Castle, the idea of power is portrayed through selected characters and explores how these individuals can reclaim power in a world that seeks to marginalize and destroy them. Jackson portrays power not as social dominance, but phycological and domestic autonomy. This is discussed through the ideas of having phycological power through isolation, power through ritual and gothic fantasy, and even domestic power and feminine agency. However, these individual’s power remains fragile and limited, sustained through separation and illusion, revealing that true empowerment in a hostile world is limited and self-destructive.
Phycological power can be seen as an increment to the idea of power in Jacksons novel which is shown through the theme of Isolation. Jackson shows this as Merricat expresses, “I cant help it when people are frightened, I always want to frighten them more”. This quote resonates to the idea of emotional isolation which asserts power for Merricat and her sister towards the villagers whom are projected as scapegoats in this novel as they try to kick the sisters out of the village. This shows the extent to which the sisters display power on the world who fights to make them powerless. Jackson also shows this as Merricat says “Our house was like a castle, turreted and open to the sky”, this quote expresses the control over the environment they have as Merricat defines the house to be a “castle” showing a structure that defends and confines them as it is ‘turreted’ making it a symbol of resistance against societal intrusion. This isolation gives them control over their environment and routines, creating a world that operates own their own terms but limitating this power is that it depends on being detached to reality and the world as they prefer to live in their own utopia which Jackson expresses it as “The moon”.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: ‘Who was it, Max? What is it?’ ‘Nothing…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 77.5%: In Billy Wilder's 1950 film noir Sunset Boulevard, Wilder exposes the lies and manipulation that are so prominent…
In Billy Wilder's 1950 film noir Sunset Boulevard, Wilder exposes the lies and manipulation that are so prominent in a cut throat industry like Hollywood, but contends that sometimes the truth can be more dangerous than a lie. In the film, Wilder exposes the lies and manipulation that run deep within the industry, whilst revealing the consequences that arise from avoiding the truth. Despite this, Wilder asserts that sometimes it can be easier to lie than reveal the truth.
Initially, Wilder exposes the deep rooted manipulation ingrained within Hollywood. From the film's opening shot, the Sunset Boulevard sign is seen lying in a gutter, which is accompanied by a non diegetic flourish of horns, a common trope of film noirs. This establishes an early atmosphere of suspense and eerieness, which subverts initial audience expectations who would have pictured the Hollywood industry as a place of opportunity and wealth. Through this, Wilder aims to portray Hollywood as a more sinister industry than what many imagined it to be in the 1950’s during the Golden age of Hollywood. In doing this, many audience members will view Hollywood not as a place of fortune, but one where manipulation is prominent. Alongside this, Wilder utilizes dramatic irony to clearly portray the lying nature of people in Hollywood, who manipulate others to get ahead. When Joe first meets Norma, he asserts that he “makes 500 a week” and is “due on another [script],” despite the audience knowing full well that Joe is broke and owes “3 months rent” on his apartment. Joe’s two-faced nature exposes how others will avoid telling the truth in Hollywood in order to be able to get what they want from others. Through this, Wilder highlights how telling the truth is disadvantageous in Hollywood, as lies are more powerful for getting what you desire for others, underscoring how manipulation has become so ingrained in Hollywood.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: personal journey, skeleton piece
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 65%: Dear 13-year-old me, 28/10/25 We both know you feel out of place right now. It’s like you walk into school…
Dear 13-year-old me, 28/10/25
We both know you feel out of place right now. It’s like you walk into school after months and still feel like it’s a cold place, a foreign land, an unyielding world . Every day walking under the gloomy sky, you miss the warmth of the Indian sun shining bright on your face lighting up the whole terrain. You miss the tranquil smell coming from raindrops touching the rich land. You miss the lively atmosphere created by the diverse practices. Every day you feel like you're living a life that doesn’t belong to you — like you don't belong to it. And so, you know deep down that you don’t belong in this country.
As many other immigrants your age can relate to, going to a new school in a new country is always terrifying. The hallways filled with unfamiliar faces and unspoken rules; like there’s no end to the misery.Quickly, you realised it wasn’t like the Disney movies we watched as a child. You would never have bright blue eyes, the color of the summer sky. You would never have bright blonde hair, the colour of the morning sun.
You would never have your “happily ever after”.
I still remember the day when we first started school in Australia. You were timid and frightful, terrified of every new thing that was happening around you. You sat down next to unknown faces, trying to listen to the words that felt so familiar yet were unknown to you. You tried to replicate their accent as closely as you could. Conscious of every syllable that would come out of your mouth.
“Hi!”
“Hey.”
“How are you?”
“Good.”
The small talk was nothing but awkward. The disinterest on their faces was so blatantly apparent, it made you want to shut down. You assumed you were the only one who struggled. You never thought that other people could also feel as friendless and isolated. All you could think about was your yearning to fit in, your desire to be understood, and your fear of not belonging.
Months later, you learned their way. You made “friends”. You waved back at them in the morning. You sat next to them in class. You listened as they gossiped with each other during lunch. You waved goodbye as you started your long walk back home.
In reality, for months, their wave disguised their inability and unwillingness to learn our name. You sat with them in class in fear of being alone. You had lunch in silence, while comparing your untamed lion’s mane with their silk like golden hair . Your final wave hid your sigh of relief; grateful that the clock had hit 3:06pm.
Every day walking home you thought: maybe you were undeserving of the friendly affection you craved? Maybe it was time to give up and accept your fate? Maybe you weren’t worthy enough to build a connection. Unable to fit in. Unable to belong.
The thoughts of why you didn’t fit in haunted you. Every day. Every hour. Every minute, you spent trying to make sense of why this happens to people like you. Was it your personality? Was it your race? Or was it purely, you?
You convinced yourself you would never be anything but Indian.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: At what cost?
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 65%: TITLE: AT WHAT COST? Ayubowan, Vannakum, Assalamu Alaikum. Today, we stand not just in front of the…
TITLE: AT WHAT COST?
Ayubowan, Vannakum, Assalamu Alaikum.
Today, we stand not just in front of the Presidential House, but at the heart of our nation’s democracy. We are gathered in this Aragalaya protest to continue the struggle that Sri Lankans have fought over generations. We are protesting government corruption, economic mismanagement, and policies that have pushed us into poverty. Because, if the decisions of the Rajapaksa government continue to harm every home, village, and community, at what cost are we willing to remain silent?
My brothers and sisters, my name is Ranil, and I am seventeen. I am not a politician, a propagandist or a puppet. I am the son of hardworking middle-class parents, preparing for my final year twelve exams. Yet how can I focus on my studies while my mother cries quietly, terrified of hunger, and my exhausted father stands for hours queuing for fuel? How can I concentrate when blackouts sweep our home into darkness robbing it of warmth and safety?
I cannot. And nor should you.
This darkness in my home is a shadow of a larger, man-made crisis engulfing our nation, beginning with the very soil we stand on. Last month, the Rajapaksa government made the reckless decision to ban chemical fertilisers overnight. While they feasted, entire villages could not grow crops, leaving many impoverished villagers starving.
This pain stretches far beyond our villages to every corner of our nation. The government’s improper funding has left hospitals across Sri Lanka without access to essential medicines: antibiotics, insulin and even painkillers. Poor children perish to fevers, their small bodies failing as pharmacies stand barren, devoid of life-saving medicine. The suffering is ours; the deaths are ours. Yet the power to solve these problems is not. This year, Sri Lanka’s debt has swollen to eighty-six billion dollars, and decades of corruption and reckless borrowing by the Rajapaksa government have left our economy in ruins. We have seen the rupee’s depreciation, soaring prices, and leaders feasting while hospitals, schools, and households starve. This is a struggle that every child born in this country will inherit, a cost imposed upon them without their consent.
Such struggles are not new to Sri Lanka, and generations before us have fought the government, paying the price of comfort to remind those in power that silence is not agreement. In the 1953 Hartal protests, the
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Title - The truth Stimulus - “Having a…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 72.5%: HELP ME! HELP ME! A cry for help can break out like a dam – raw, urgent and impossible to ignore. Yet at…
HELP ME! HELP ME! A cry for help can break out like a dam – raw, urgent and impossible to ignore. Yet at times it never comes. Many who suffer remain silent, paralysed not by weakness but by the weight of fear, shame and despair. The truth is that silence is not always chosen, sometimes it is forced upon us by a world that refuses to listen. Though I was not among those silenced, I have stood close enough to see how injustice renders speech almost impossible, and how protest becomes the only means of restoring voice and truth.
As I speak before you sociologists – experts in the forces that bind us as a society – I do so not to recount on my own oppression, but to reflect on a truth that I have witnessed in others, and on how protest transforms individuals and societies.
VCE · Language Analysis
Language Analysis: “Creon is not your downfall, no, you…
VCE Language Analysis essay scoring 87.5%: Initially, Sophocles presents mortals as victims of fate’s merciless will. At the mercy of omnipotent,…
Initially, Sophocles presents mortals as victims of fate’s merciless will. At the mercy of omnipotent, supreme Gods, the destiny of the titular character was preordained and therefore mostly out of his hands. From the outset of the prologue, Sophocles postulates the unavoidable nature of fate. Stage directions describe Oedipus’ entry onto the stage “majestic but for a tell-tale limp”, reminding the audience of Laius and Jocasta’s attempt to kill their young boy who was “fated to couple with your mother…kill your father”, seeking to avoid the inevitable. Through this dramatic irony, Sophocles establishes the eponymous name of Oedipus which literally means “swollen feet”. The titular protagonist’s physical impairment from his wound emblemise how his personal decisions are confined within the unchanging boundaries of fate. Thus, the tragedian foreshadows the futility of his succeeding attempts to outrun prophecy, confined by the unchanging boundaries of fate. Hence, it is exemplified from the start of the tragedy that Oedipus is a helpless puppet whose trajectory is determined by divine will. Further reinforcing this sentiment through the priests’ worship of Oedipus, Sophocles simultaneously exposes the moral corruption that festers within Thebes. Stage directions encapsulate priests “[carrying] branches wound in wool”, raising their petitions to Oedipus whom they praise as “first of men” and their “saviour” to save them from the plague, the gods’
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “My desires, like fell and cruel hounds,…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: Love is a powerful force that can cause people to be suppressed or flourish. Shakespeare’s 1602 comedy, Twelfth…
Love is a powerful force that can cause people to be suppressed or flourish. Shakespeare’s 1602 comedy, Twelfth Night, revolves around how love can come in different forms and how these forms impact individuals, which in turn challenges heteronormative standards. The play presents love as “desires, like fell and cruel hounds” that can serve as a source of liberation and a cause of suffering for those who experience it. From the outset of the play, Shakespeare presents the struggles of those who have an excessive amount of love. Moreover, self-love can make people temporarily liberated, but it makes them vulnerable to manipulation and can lead to their own demise. Ultimately, heteronormative love that stays within class boundaries is rewarded and allows happiness for those that have conformed to societal expectations.
Shakespeare establishes how excess love can lead to suffering and emotional confinement. In Orsino’s opening monologue, he metaphorically describes that “if music be the food of love” he wants it to “play on”. This semantic field of excess implies that he wants to overindulge in the experience of love, which in relation to it being compared to “food”, he is consumed by his desire for it wants so badly of it that he feels sick and for it to end. Moreover, he later conveys that his pursuit for Olivia’s heart feels as though this love is hunting him “like fell and cruel hounds”, which is a painful situation for him. His unrequited love for Olivia is causing him great hardship and makes him feel trapped within this bestial chase. Similarly, Olivia has an abundance of love for her late brother and father and says she will grieve for seven years, which is causing her to suffer. For this reason, she is characterised as a “cloistress”, a nun secluded from the rest of the world, because her love for her family is unable to be reciprocated by them and she therefore doesn’t have much freedom. In comparison, excess love doesn’t always have to be a confining experience, which is illustrated in Viola’s “make me a willow cabin at your gate” monologue where she depicts her love for Orsino. She displays it in a simple and less performative fashion, in which she isn’t overindulge and consequently, her connection is more authentic and isn’t based on lust, like Orsino’s love for Olivia. Although it is still painful for her to have this yearning love, it doesn’t cause her to shut down like Orsino or Olivia, but rather lights her up and makes her passion genuine. Shakespeare uses the experience of love to demonstrate how it is a sufferable feeling when it is unreciprocated, but it doesn’t necessarily have to trap people.