VCE · Text Response
Text Response: "Hardships shape the lives of the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: Trevor Noah's memoir 'Born A Crime' is a reflection on his life as a mixed race child against apartheid, both post…
Trevor Noah's memoir 'Born A Crime' is a reflection on his life as a mixed race child against apartheid, both post & during, within South Africa. In the memoir, adversity is a significant factor in shaping one's life. It is ultimately defiance, relationships and empowerment that are the key influences. Hardships impose restrictive barriers that arrogate one's ability to thrive in life and can significantly detriment one's life. However, resisting inequalities through empowerment can allow one to transcend restrictions. In contrast, hardships provide opportunities for one to shape their own lives and succeed against predicaments.
Hardships impose diverse despondancies that halt one's ability to thrive in society and create their own future. In the memoir, apartheid's 'architects' recognised that all leaders who preached an anti-apartheid movement all learnt from Bantu schools, and subsequently were 'shut down' as a result to halt any form of resistance for black South Africans. This underscores education as a tool of empowerment as it is deemed a vital resource to withstand institutionalised racism by enabling the opportunity to cause a revolution against apartheid, like Nelson Mandela. In doing so, Bantu Schools being closed highlights how black South Africans are restricted the power to 'think' and escape the intergenerational poverty cycle that apartheid has caused black South Africans to take up stereotypical jobs such as being a 'maid' or a 'factory worker'. This illustrates how institutional racism oppression limits one's ability to escape their situation and holds them to a burden onto them, resulting in them not being able to decide their own future. Furthermore, apartheid's 'police state' led to 'everyone' thinking that 'everyone else was the police', and due to this fear, this kept Trevor away from his friends and going out at an early age, leading to him being 'alone', as well as alienated for an overwhelming majority of his life. This underscores the societal inequalities placed upon Trevor's families as a restrictive force that restricts one from equality in apartheid, as a result, leading to face long-term issues such as an identity crisis and a lack of belonging. This emphasises hardships as a dominating factor that cultivates one to face challenges and restrict them to directing their own life, despite one's will. Conclusively, adversity limits one's will to achieve what they want and can be a restrictive force.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: "for no one else of humankind is fit to…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 82.5%: Oedipus the King, the Greek tragedy written by Sophocles set in 5th century CE, elucidates the tragedy of Thebes…
Oedipus the King, the Greek tragedy written by Sophocles set in 5th century CE, elucidates the tragedy of Thebes is simply a response, to certain human action. In demonstrating despite the grave sins that are foreshadowed, the inevitable power of fate overcomes all, underscoring the fatality of placing blame of humanity on a singular man. The play operates with dual functionality - as a warning of hubris and impiety and to provide moral education, in order for the polis to prosper. Sophocles aims to encapsulate the meaning of tragedy and whether it is a product and the burden of one or all.
Sophocles explores tragedy as a consequence to human flaw, its tool unknowing of who merited it. After the Peloponnesian War and the loss accounted for by overconfidence of battle, Sophocles' rendition of Oedipus functioned as a warning. Poor decisions of leadership resulted in many deaths of Athenian soldiers. In a similar manner, Thebes also experienced adjacent suffering. Sophocles' ability to contextualise the myth in 5th century CE allows the playwright to sympathise with Athenians and insinuate tragedy is the product of an accumulation of sins. From the outset, Oedipus adopts a 'proxy god' role, encouraging the embodiment of an Athenian audience to let him grant their prayers. This hubristic nature is simply the beginning of the exposing of his hamartia. This is framed through the Aristotelian model of a tragedy, which intensifies catharsis. Exemplified through impiety, Jocasta mimics these sins in denying the god's omnipotence that "prophecies are hollow". Her selective faith and lack of autonomy during peripeteia propels Oedipus along his journey. The chorus also demonstrates blind loyalty to Oedipus, promising to "never convict their(my) king". Sophocles highlights through the multitude of errors suffering is for all humankind to bear, being a result of several actions.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Title - The Truth Stimulus - Freedom…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 90%: The Truth "The winner of the 107th Academy Awards for actor in leading role is..." My palms filled with water,…
The Truth
"The winner of the 107th Academy Awards for actor in leading role is..."
My palms filled with water, as I rose above those screaming waves. I couldn't see the difference between my thoughts and my truth.
Was my mind playing tricks on me?
As I walked through the onslaught of flailing hands, I recalled those final words from my manager.
"You must say this, in this order, do as the card says and nothing else."
Was that the truth? Maybe for others, but it wasn't mine.
My feet followed the lights. As if I was walking alone, like I had so frequently before. I was alone, but freedom lies in being bold. If it wasn't me, who?
I stood on the alter. The waves of adrenaline washed over me as I looked out across the enchanting hallowed hall. I noticed a young actor in the seats below. Full of youth. I thought of myself at that age.
He would have no idea. No idea of the truth. The truth behind our world. Not its creation, nor its development, but its civil battles. The internal battles of speaking up, or being passengers. The battle of courage. The battle of courage.
I refocused my vision. The words continued to stumble through the gaps in my lips. I smelt that draining, worthless smell of wealth. That smell of superficial. That smell of obnoxiousness, if that's even a word. That smell of passivity. It always made me curious how they got to where they are. They didn't fight. They stayed silent. They didn't need courage in their hundreds of millions dollar houses.
I needed to fight.
I needed to speak up.
I needed to have courage.
I was a minority.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Sunset Boulevard encourage the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: In Billy Wilder's 1950 film, Sunset Boulevard, he explores themes of breaking taboos as the audience follows Joe…
In Billy Wilder's 1950 film, Sunset Boulevard, he explores themes of breaking taboos as the audience follows Joe Gillis, a down-on-his-luck screenwriter, and how his life is entangled with Norma Desmond, a silent film star who was cast away by the film industry, and Hollywood, the root of everyones issues with their high expectations and disposal of people as if they were tools.
Wilder is able to achieve this by using many camera angles, intertextual connections, and other film techniques to strengthen his message to the audience on how people and characters break taboos for just reasons.
Initially, Wilder establishes the first taboo early in the film when Joe meets Norma for the first time.
This scene is shot in two different camera angles to show how the two of them see each other, Norma being observed by Joe from a low angle, whereas Joe is being viewed by Norma from a high angle.
Wilder uses this interaction to describe their relationship moving forward, as Joe is constantly viewed as a gigolo or Norma's trophy husband, as she pays for him and houses him.
This dynamic is further explored as Wilder attempts to position the audience into empathising with them as characters such as Cecil DeMille, a director most known for working with Norma in the past, constantly push her down the film industries hierarchy due to her age, even having her group with the other waxworks, a group of silent stars turned failed talkies, such as Buster Keaton.
Wilder uses Norma’s status as a silent film star who failed the transition into becoming a talkie star to affect how the audience sees Norma and why she keeps Joe around, and that is for the company of a young man with ‘Hollywood connections’ to make her feel less lonely as an unwanted and aging actress with cash to burn.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Rainbows End demonstrates a large amount…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 65%: In her contemporary Indigenous play Rainbow’s End, Jane Harrison reflects the oppressive historical realities for…
In her contemporary Indigenous play Rainbow’s End, Jane Harrison reflects the oppressive historical realities for Yorta Yorta people in 1950s Victoria, following the Cummergunja Walk Off in 1938, and during the period where Aboriginal protection and assimilation were government priorities. Through the experiences of the Dear women, Harrison highlights the entrenched exclusion of Aboriginal Australians through systemic government policy, societal attitudes, and personal dislocation, yet ultimately portrays the resilience and dignity of Indigenous identity as a form of quiet resistance against imposed marginalisation. The Australian government’s oppressive policies and institutional control serve as mechanisms of exclusion. Assimilationist policies in Rainbow’s End offer Aboriginal characters a false choice, and ultimately, despite enduring systemic exclusion and hardship, the Aboriginal characters in Rainbow’s End draw strength from cultural identity and family, prompting admiration for their resilience rather than pity for their suffering.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Discuss how your attitudes influence your…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: Controversy in texts often challenges audiences to confront uncomfortable truths about society, identity, and…
Controversy in texts often challenges audiences to confront uncomfortable truths about society, identity, and justice. Ivan Sen’s 2013 neo-Western film Mystery Road (MR) engages deeply with enduring social concerns in contemporary Australia, following an Indigenous detective Jay Swan as he navigates crime, culture and identity. “Racism is Destroying the Australian Dream” (RDAD) is a speech presented at the IQR debate in 2015 by Indigenous journalist, Stan Grant in which he urges the nation to reflect on ongoing racism in Australia in response to the shameful treatment of Indigenous footballer, Adam Goodes. As a white Australian woman, my personal attitudes shaped by multicultural values, ethical representation in media, and belief in structural reform have been influenced by witnessing the mistreatment of Indigenous Australians throughout my life. These values strongly inform and reinforce how I respond to the representation of controversy in Ivan Sen’s Mystery Road and Stan Grant’s speech. Both texts interrogate systemic issues facing Indigenous Australians, and my values lead me to interpret these portrayals not only as critiques but as urgent calls for recognition, empathy, and change.
The tension surrounding cultural identity and belonging is explored in both texts in a number of illuminating ways, provoking me to ruminate on the racial divide still prevalent in modern day Australia. Jay embodies a liminal identity that challenges rigid cultural binaries, too ‘Indigenous’ for law enforcement, too ‘assimilated’ for Indigenous community. This is evident throughout the film by the repeated motif of long shots of Jay alone amongst the vast Australian outback, visually symbolising the extent of isolation faced by Jay due to cultural positioning. Jay is accused of being a “coconut”, a slur suggesting that he is black on the outside, white on the inside, alluding that Jay has assimilated into a dominant white culture and lost touch with his roots. Similarly, Stan Grant reflects on his own cultural dislocation, stating, “I come from the people west of the Blue Mountains… where in the 1820s the soldiers and settlers waged a war of extermination against my people.” His emotive language and historical references evoke the trauma of being caught between two worlds and illustrating how despite deliberate efforts to silence Indigenous history in colonial times he still proudly resonates with his ancestry. Furthermore, Grant references the Australian national anthem, “those rugged mountain ranges, my people, women and children were herded over those ranges to their deaths”. Through intertextual referencing and short syntax accompanied by the comparison of Aboriginal people to cattle the era of exploitative and dehumanising policies against Indigenous Australians are underscored. The systemic segregation and dispossession embedded in Australia’s colonial legacy are thus reinforced, highlighting the indifference of Indigenous people’s national identity to that of white Australians. My background knowledge of racist attitudes in Australia dating back generations to modern derogatory language as well as having witnessed people navigating cultural spaces, influences me to reflect on contemporary Australia and empathise more deeply with the emotional complexity Indigenous people face.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: "You pray to the gods? Let me grant your…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: Sophocles' didactic play "Oedipus the King" serves to reflect morality and the consequences of wrongdoing.…
Sophocles' didactic play "Oedipus the King" serves to reflect morality and the consequences of wrongdoing. Initially performed around 430 BCE, whilst arrogance is displayed as a cause of downfall, Sophocles aims to portray to the traditional Athenian audience that the tragedy which unfolds is ultimately brought by attempts to escape the will of the gods. Arrogance underscores the relentless pursuit of knowledge and hubris exhibited throughout the play, and whilst exploring the punishment faced from this, Sophocles emphasises the influence of being ignorant towards the gods.
Sophocles highlights how relentlessly pursuing knowledge as driven by arrogance leads to devastation. Oedipus is presented as arrogant through his refusal to let go of finding the truth despite the advice of others. Though Jocasta "beg[s]" him to "call off the search", Oedipus claims that he "must hear" of the potential horrors awaiting him. This demonstrates his overbearing self-importance as he places his best interests above other people, which contradicts the democratic values present in Ancient Greek society, thus being unfavourable to the play's traditional Athenian audience. This is reflected when the chorus, who are used as a representation of the common person, tell him to "give way" upon his interrogation of Creon, suggesting to the traditional audience that Oedipus is flawed by his relentlessness. Contrastingly, Creon acts as the sophrosyne by portraying the opposing qualities of humility and acceptance of being wrong. When unsure of something, Creon "keep[s] quiet", unlike Oedipus who continuously pushes for answers. Sophocles rewards this as Oedipus is brought to turn to Creon
"[his] king" whilst Oedipus himself is "drive[n] out Thebes". This reversal of fortune signifies how being humble and asking for guidance can bring power, whilst constantly pursuing knowledge is met with consequences. This depicts the role of arrogance in the tragedy which unfolds throughout the play.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Personal journeys framework titled…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 87.5%: The Same But Different καφές (coffee): A girl sits in her room, staring at her blank wall with fresh white…
The Same But Different
καφές (coffee):
A girl sits in her room, staring at her blank wall with fresh white paint masking the light pink from her past.
She reflects on her childhood, and how she had always known she was unique. Whilst her cousins and older siblings chose the noise and bustle of the outdoors, she would always return to her favourite spot on the harsh, worn rug besides the heater. To her right was a dark wooden cabinet carrying toys and books, everything she held. To her left, a coffee table adorned with a white lace table cloth, always set ready for guests.
"Who wants a coffee?" The girl's mother, who said she saw herself in the girl, yet unlike her, never had a problem gaining the attention of a room. The girl was quiet and didn't like to bring people's eyes to her. She was different to her mother.
"I teach you to make". Her Yiayia, in broken English, gestured to the girl, removing her from the warmth of the heater and sitting her on top of the cold stone countertop, too tall for her to reach ground. She watched as her Yiayia precisely measured out three tablespoons of the rich coffee, scent looming in the air, and they counted together:
"ένα δύο τρία..."
Though she didn't share her wisdom, the girl beamed with pride as she felt herself placed in the caretaking role of her Yiayia. As she watched everyone sipping their coffees, and hoped she could sense a newfound closeness to the women in her family.
γυναίκες (women):
The girl, now tall enough to peer over the countertop, continued to return to her position by the heater.
She listened as her aunt and mother laughed, reminiscing on their youth. They recalled her aunt's trip to Europe, only intended to be 6 weeks, which extended into 6 long years and saw her returning with a husband and a child. To the girl's left was an empty seat where her own sister would usually be sitting had she not been in Europe herself. The girl was different to her sister. Her life hadn't begun yet, and she was not sure if it ever would.
Though she knew she was unique, she saw herself in her mother who described being silenced by the noise of her older sister's life during her childhood. She knew her mother was a high achiever in school, and similarly valued education. She overheard her mother expressing that she spent a lot of time alone when she was younger, causing the girl to think about her own quiet pastimes, and how she only ever kept a few friends close.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: If you fell down yesterday, stand up…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 87.5%: [Mary steps out onto the stage. The lights soften to a muted glow as she approaches the microphone. A long…
[Mary steps out onto the stage. The lights soften to a muted glow as she approaches the microphone. A long exhale escapes her lips; the crowd falls silent. Her voice trembles at first — fragile, yet fierce.]
MARY: To those denied the right to speak — silenced by the walls of prejudice and buried beneath the crushing weight of injustice — I hear you. I feel you. I feel the times we’ve gone unheard. The moments when the world looks at us but never sees us. When the weight of systemic oppression chips away at our spirit until we are told we are nothing.
It began in 1619 — the year we were stolen, chained, and sold like objects. The year slavery began.
But it was never just about labour; it was about breaking us, stripping away our voices so we could no longer stand tall.
We must resist this oppression.
We are all human- beings
All flesh and bone.
Yet, too often, we are treated as less — as wild things to be tamed.
Every time I step outside, I feel it: the tightness in my chest, the eyes that follow, the words that sting. The ride home isn’t a journey — it’s a reminder. “Go back to the field, negro.” “You’re just a black coon.” Their voices cling to me like cobwebs, but I refuse to be caught in
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “What a balm to the tempest-tossed soul is…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: “What a balm to the tempest-tossed soul is a little love. Though it may be fleeting and fickle". Despite her…
“What a balm to the tempest-tossed soul is a little love. Though it may be fleeting and fickle". Despite her observations of the world around her and her intelligence, Sybylla's real issue is that she does not understand the nature of love. Do you agree?
In My Brilliant Career (1901) Miles Franklin crafts a semi-autobiographical bildungsroman that captures both the frustration and vitality of a young girl growing up in rural New South Wales at the turn of the twentieth century. While Sybylla’s observations are shaped by harsh gender roles and class struggles, and her intelligence often sharpens her critiques, Franklin ultimately suggests that it is not Sybylla who fails to understand love, but rather society that distorts and confines it.
Rather a force distorted by social and economic pressures, love is shaped by observations of ones surroundings. Society’s conformity to gender roles and upholding of class hierarchies convince characters like Sybylla that love is not romantic but rather a transactional relationship. Sybylla remarks bitterly that her grandmother “ believed that a girl's only proper sphere in life was marriage”, revealing how marriage functions as an economic arrangement rather than an authentic connection. Similarly, her declaration that “men, in this world, are the dog on top” reflects her awareness of patriarchal structures, where affection and autonomy are halted by male dominance. Even class imposes barriers, with Sybylla’s recognition that “Had [she] been the daughter of a rich man”, instead of ” poverty-stricken”, she “might have been considered a suitable match”, underscoring how wealth and status shape who is considered a worthy match. It is through these observations, Franklin portrays love as filtered through the harsh stereotypes of gender and class, which prevent it from flourishing as a free and genuine emotion, offering a false image of love.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: What role does love play in David Malouf’s…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: Personal emotion connects human beings altogether, even though they are divided physically or mentally before.…
Personal emotion connects human beings altogether, even though they are divided physically or mentally before. David Malouf’s novella Ransom explores human connection in the face of personal loss and the nature of people’s love. This novella is based on Malouf’s personal historical context where the cruelty of the World War II intimidated young Malouf and lliad created by Homer inspired him to comprehend the concept of violence that human beings have ever experienced before. By depicting the fatherhood between enemies or classes, Malouf explores love as a connection that expresses the purest emotion in the world. Nevertheless, love can also be exploited as a tool to evoke empathy for reconciliation. These functions of love as a bridge furthers through love within friendship in which individuals get access to exposure of the outward world. As such, the novella appreciates, while simultaneously challenging, traditional concept of interpersonal relationships within the bridge of love.
Centering the theme of
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: To what extent are the lives of the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: Written in 1962, Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle explores the limitations placed upon the…
Written in 1962, Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle explores the
limitations placed upon the aristocratic Blackwoods as a result of the patriarchal and formal
society they live in. Narrated by the psychologically damaged mind of Merricat, Jackson
explores how unrelenting gender roles and rigid social norms lead to a bleak society in
which the identity of individuals is suppressed. Ultimately, Jackson works to not only
condemn the harsh patriarchal norms societies are based upon, but also demonstrate that
liberation and freedom can be achieved through a rejection of these conventional societal
values.
Jackson depicts both the women of the village and the Blackwood family as being
restricted by expectations of conformity through their formal and rigid interactions with the
world. During Mrs. Wright and Helen Clark’s ‘dutiful’ visit to the Blackwood house, Merricat
notices Mrs. Wright’s ‘trembling’ hands and her ‘hesitat[ion] over the plate’ offered by
Constance. The visibly fraught state of Mrs Wright highlights the social obligations she
must fulfil, despite any legitimate concerns for her personal safety, for the sake of social
formalities. Jackson expands on this in their mother’s portrait, which was ‘looking down’ on
Constance, symbolising both the social duties she has inherited from her mother, despite
her agoraphobia, while also highlighting the spirit that now lives on in Constance’s body,
forcing her to embody her mother’s spirit. However, Jackson also explores the limitations
of social duties through Mrs. Wright’s ‘timid’ demeanour when she is given the chance to
take a ‘glance’ at the Blackwoods’ infamous dining room. Her morbid curiosity, only
surfacing in the confines of the house, serves to emphasise the identity Mrs. Wright must
hide in the face of general society, her meek demeanour highlighting her awareness of the
fact the actions are deemed unacceptable to greater society. Therefore, through Mrs.
Wright’s and Constance’s prevailing social duties, Jackson underscores the oppressive
nature of social etiquette created by rigid societal norms.
As well as having a limited sense of individuality and identity, Jackson depicts the
Blackwood women as being historically reduced to domestic roles through Charles’
imposed visit, furthering the limitations placed on them by gender norms in patriarchal
societies. As his stay progresses, the dynamic of the household can be seen shifting to
imitate a traditional American nuclear family, with ‘little cousin Mary’ being reduced to a
petulant child and Constance to a dutiful wife. Charles’ assertive nature in taking over
Merricat’s ‘job’ restricts her from straying from the childish role he has imposed onto her,
and highlights the domestic roles forced onto Constance by this traditional family dynamic.
This is furthered by
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: The Actions of the People in the Village…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 77.5%: In Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Jackson presents the emotion of fear of the Blackwoods…
In Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Jackson presents the emotion of
fear of the Blackwoods as something that remains constant throughout the novel for
individuals that adhere to society’s norms. This fear manifests in multiple forms but it is
ultimately the driving force behind the actions of these conformist characters. The villagers
as a whole begin with a fear for personal safety, choosing to antagonise Merricat whilst in
large groups so they can feel comfortable in their harassment. Financially prosperous
individuals in the Blackwood’s tight social circle such as Helen Clarke and Cousin Charles
are motivated by their fear of female autonomy and what the Blackwood sisters may
represent. By the end of the novel, a reversal occurs within the villager’s disposition toward
the sisters, now acting in accordance with their fear of reprisal. With this, Jackson delivers
her commentary on the fear one can generate by being outside the established order and
how the actions of the Blackwood sisters defy the preconceived notions of the time.
Fear first manifests as a hatred for the Blackwood sisters, always with a large group of
supporters. From the outset of the novel and even in events prior “the people of the village
have always hated” the Blackwood family. This is evident in the scene where Merricat goes
shopping for supplies and children methodically join “together to stand in a line by the fence”
and “call the lady names”. The children are bolstered by the approval the village gives them
to ostracise anyone different to them. It can be seen that when they are very lightly
reprimanded by their mother the boys listen “soberly”, however once given approval in the
form of their mother standing “on the porch and laugh[ing]”, the boys “shrieked and shouted”
their abuse. As such, the sense of safety that being in a group brings allows for the boys to
regurgitate what “their parents taught them”, highlighting the deep sense of hatred for the
Blackwoods that exists in the village. Jackson further illustrates how much the villagers fear
for their personal safety around Merricat in the scene where she goes shopping and Mrs
Elbert pulls a child “back so roughly that she screamed” when a girl came close to touching
Merricat. In this way, Jackson communicates to readers how deeply rooted and visceral the
fear within the villagers is toward the Blackwoods as only something so terrible could
produce a reaction as extreme as Mrs Elberts.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “Listen to the wind, to Father Sky, to…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: Unfolding against the backdrop of the frontier massacres, Stephen Johnson’s ‘High Ground’ delves into the intricate…
Unfolding against the backdrop of the frontier massacres, Stephen Johnson’s ‘High Ground’ delves into the intricate relationship between an individual and nature, scrutinising its corollaries in constructing morality. Castigating the entrenched beliefs of the colonial system, Johnson promulgates that their severance from nature leads to violence that ensues. Conversely, the director delineates how virtuosity can be achieved through upholding personal values and confronting dogmatic systems. Essentially, Johnson explicates that true morality can only be achieved through an appreciation and connection to land.
Scathingly castigating the entrenched colonial systems in the text, Johnson posits how the imperialists' violence stems from their alienation from nature. From the outset of the text, the audience is plunged into a seemingly idyllic setting characterised by the diegetic noises of an Aboriginal community, untamed by natural forces. However, this connection is abruptly severed through the introduction of the Native Police officers, clad in starched uniforms that starkly contrast the ochre hues of Arnhem Land, rendering them visually anomalous within the landscape. Emblematic of their acculturation in betraying their ancestral connection to Country, they forfeit their moral compass, becoming mere enforcers of colonialist brutality. Additionally, colonial tools like the rifle, fetishised as instruments of “order,” become extensions of this alienation. Travis’s sniper scope, filmed in disorienting close-ups, literalises the eurocentric gaze, reducing Indigenous custodians to dehumanized “targets” in a crosshair. This mechanistic perspective of relying on a man-made construct to perform justice, thus enables atrocities like the massacre. Further, through his doctrine of building a hierarchical society of “bad men doing bad things”, Johnson propagates the sentiment that Aboriginal people similar to the flora and fauna of Australia are objects to be subjugated and subdued. This perversion of the natural order, is ultimately disparaged in the denouement of the film, where the smouldering ruins of the church serves as a symbol for the collapse of visionary values. Johnson, weaving this symbolism of fire, a natural Indigenous cleanser, to consume the invaders’ false morality, visualises the inevitable disintegration of moral systems predicated on coercion rather than balance ingrained in nature. As such, the director excoriates the colonial system for perverting religious doctrine into a tool of passive compliance, underscoring how abiding to fabricated systems which facilitate and neglect disenfranchisement, lead to moral bankruptcy. By juxtaposing this fate with Nimbuwa Rock’s enduring presence, Johnson asserts that true morality lies not in subjugation but in listening to “Father Sky”, and its undying values of markarrata.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “In Oedipus the King, Sophocles explores…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 67.5%: In Oedipus the King, Sophocles presents a tragic exploration of fate and free will, revealing how both forces…
In Oedipus the King, Sophocles presents a tragic exploration of fate and free will, revealing how both forces shape the life of Oedipus, the doomed king of Thebes. While fate appears to control Oedipus’s ultimate downfall, Sophocles also shows how Oedipus’s own choices contribute to his tragic end. The tension between these two forces forms the core of the play’s tragedy, raising questions about human responsibility and the limits of personal freedom in the face of destiny.
From the beginning of the play, fate is shown to have a powerful influence over Oedipus’s life. Before he was even born, it was prophesied that he would kill his father and marry his mother. Despite the efforts of his parents, Laius and Jocasta, to avoid this outcome by abandoning him as a baby, the prophecy still comes true. This suggests that fate is unavoidable and predetermined, and that humans are powerless to escape it. Sophocles uses this to show the power of the gods and the inevitability of divine will.
However, Sophocles also highlights Oedipus’s free will and personal responsibility. Oedipus makes several key decisions throughout the play that lead him closer to his downfall. When he hears the prophecy about his future, he chooses to flee Corinth in an attempt to avoid killing his supposed father, Polybus. Ironically, this decision brings him closer to fulfilling the prophecy. Later, when he meets a man on the road who challenges him,
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: ‘Oedipus the King shows that free will is…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: From classical civilisations to our modern world, writers have used their works to explore what it is to be human.…
From classical civilisations to our modern world, writers have used their works to explore what it is to be human. Equally uncomfortable as it is profound, Sophocles’ classical Greek tragedy, Oedipus the King, shares a didactic message with its audience about the limitations of mortals and the existential crises that all humans seem destined to suffer. While it warns its audience that our fate has already been written in the stars, it also explores how we might use what little agency we have to change our circumstances for better or worse.
Through the lens of a traditional, tragic interpretation of the text, Sophocles is largely concerned with sharing a moral message about adhering to the will of the gods. In Episode 3, Sophocles contemptuously characterises both Oedipus and Jocasta negatively as they hubristically debate the power of the prophecies to shape their fate and the role of the gods in their lives. Jocasta’s scorn for the oracles leads her to lament the impact that the ‘awful prophecies’ have had on her husband’s life suggesting his every step has been dictated by his predetermined destiny. However, as they deploy the Socratic method to logically question the validity of the prophecies, Jocasta derides the Oracle’s prophecies as having come to nothing because ‘Polybus [is] dead’. Like Jocasta, Oedipus’ attention shifts to mockery of the prophecies and their ‘fires of the future’. Jocasta and Oedipus’ arrogant dismissal of the will of gods as mere ‘chance’ that prevails and ‘rules our lives’ and his exaltation at the ‘wonderful news’ of his father’s death make him less sympathetic to the audience as his application of pure logic show him to be hubristic and cold as he does not feel the ‘sorrow’ and grief of his father’s passing. Both characters’ conceited mockery of the will of the gods and the power of their oracles as they rejoice that their quest to defy fate has seemingly been successful thrusts them ever closer to their peripetia as Sophocles warns his classical Athenian audience of the power of the divine and the need to respect and honour them above all else. However, later as Jocasta recognises her belief in Oedipus and her own ability to defy the prophesies is folly, she attempts to earn a reprieve from Apollo. Employing situational irony in Episode 4, Socrates uses stage directions to have the actor portraying Jocasta enter ‘from the palace, carrying a suppliant’s branch wound in wool’. Having failed to convince Oedipus to halt his obsessive pursuit of truth and thus discovering the origins of his birth that have now become apparent to her, Jocasta now shamelessly turns to the gods she previously scorned to beg for her husband-son’s salvation bemoaning he is “racked with anguish, no longer a man of sense”. This depiction of the start of Jocasta’s peripetia reveals her to be as much a victim of fate as her husband as the religious symbolism of her carrying an eiresione, a branch of olive tree bound with wool and hung with various fruits and delicacies, is an offering to Apollo that is too little, too late. Thus, as his contemporary Athenian audience were at their most desperate, two years into the Peloponnesian War with Sparta and the siege of Athens induced a plague that had killed up to 25% of its people, Sophocles warns his audience that no one can bypass the divine strength of the gods and turning to them only when they want something is extreme hubris that demands swift retribution. Concerned about Athenians turning away from their gods and seeking answers from sophists, philosophers or populist politicians, Sophocles warns his audience that the only way to find safe passage and lasting salvation is by adhering to the will of the gods.
Although the will of the gods is depicted as sealing individuals’ fate, Sophocles also suggests that character flaws often dictate destiny. By employing assertive lexical verbs in the Prologos, Sophocles characterises Oedipus as an impetuous and hubristic ruler despite his motivations being noble. When talking with the Priest,
Oedipus promises that he has and will continue to take action to solve the mystery of the miasma that plagues Thebes. Oedipus’ word choices, to 'know’ and ‘search’ reflects that his leadership style is proactive and decisive. However, promising to solve a plague before he has the Oracle at Delphi’s guidance relayed by Creon can be interpreted as both hubristic and impetuous, offering an early insight into Oedipus’ hamartia. Oedipus’ rashness
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Flames - Arnott suggests that the human…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 77.5%: In Flames, the human tendency to control and gain power over others, specifically nature, is explored through the…
In Flames, the human tendency to control and gain power over others, specifically nature, is explored through the dark depiction of colonisation in Tasmania. In accordance with this idea, Robbie Arnott utilises a polyphonic structure and constructs a setting with elements of magical realism in which characters who exploit and control nature for personal desires are condemned to isolation and cannot move on from grief. Conversely, Arnott also represents those who respect and honour nature’s resonance to experience profound connection and freedom, allowing them to overcome loss through transformation. Because Arnott celebrates characters who don’t attempt to control nature, and criticises characters who do control nature, Arnott suggests that the human tendency to control is misguided. However, the destruction of nature in Flames is unresolved; as Arnot questions humanity’s desire to control others.
Initiating the human tendency to control all, Arnott portrays humanity’s darkest desires to have absolute power over nature in order to better suit mankind; which is specifically shown through the colonisation of Tasmania. However, Arnott advocates that those who are arrogant towards nature are not only isolated physically and emotionally, but they are unable to move on from personal grief. Karl, who is generally seen to be interconnected with nature through his “sharp and sudden” connection with his seal, reveals his true desires of greed and money. Together, they hunted the One Blood tuna, getting rich for each kill. But his allure of greed and power in humanity didn’t stop there as they averaged “six fat, fierce, fighting Oneblood tuna” every year and “occasionally as many as ten”. Arnott’s use of alliteration exaggerates the power and connection that Karl and his seal have to take down these mythical creatures, as Karl exploits the seal's ability to get wealthy. Moreso, a man of “monastic contemplation,” Mr Hough, captures the Esk god - a magical being that lived for thousands of years and kills it through an industrialised iron trap and takes its “glorious water rat pelt”. By undermining Mr Hough’s living style as being “monastic,” Arnott outlines Mr. Hough to be physically isolated, an “unpleasant person and a poor citizen”, suggesting that the desire to control nature is misguided. The motif of the Esk god’s pelt is emblematic as it represents human’s desire for greed and power. In addition, Levi aims to control her sister Charlotte's fate as he wants to bury her “whole and still and cold” after the loss of their mother. The repetition of the word “and” signifies the importance and dedication of Levi to limit the chance of Charlotte reincarnating in a horrifying manner. Dedicated to controlling others and suppressing his own grief, Levi is seen to be “emaciated,” indicating that those who aim to control others and nature are not only isolated but they are unable to move on from grief.
VCE · Language Analysis
Language Analysis: Oral Speech
VCE Language Analysis essay scoring 85%: The Cost Of Minimising South Asian Tragedies Ayesha Noman Greetings, everyone. Let me start with an image for…
The Cost Of Minimising South Asian Tragedies
Ayesha Noman
Greetings, everyone.
Let me start with an image for you all.
Remember when tragedy struck the Air India flight in June 2025? Picture the children waiting at the airport gate, holding letters and signs saying “Welcome Home Dad!” An innocent girl’s beady eyes scan the crowd, waiting for her father's familiar face. But her father never walks through those glass doors. Instead, there is a headline: Air India plane crash. Hundreds of lives were lost, one person survived, and families around the world were shattered. Yet instead of global solidarity, social media mocked the dead. Instead of empathy, grief was reduced to a punchline. And whilst the country grieved, the world just kept moving forward.
So here I am, arguing a poignant cry of the minimised tragedies in South Asia; mocking the, erasing them, or dismissing them. It is not harmless. It is racism dressed up as humour. It is silence and praise, disguised as neutrality. And it has to stop.
When the tragic crash took more than 300 lives, media headlines documented heartbreak, but online? Mockery. Sarcastic memes about Indians, cheap shots at accents, whole communities dismissed as if their deaths meant nothing. Worthless. The digital world responded with cruelty. Instead of mourning or sympathy, comment threads were filled with racism. Articles in Indian Link described it as “grieving, while being trolled.” Stripping victims of their dignity and merit before they even touch the soil of the ground. I ask you: if this crash had been in Sydney or New York, would the victims have been laughed at? Would the grief be reduced to a meme on TikTok? This is not humour. This is cruelty. It is a society saying, your hurt matters less than ours.
But these jokes are not accidental; they’re rooted in stereotypes. The online slurs, the tired, old one-liners about food hygiene or accents, memes reducing entire communities into modern ideological graffiti. Pakistanis reduced to caricatures, Bangladeshis dismissed as “cheap labour”, Indians referred to as “tech scammers.” We’ve all seen it and unknowingly contribute. Evidence of rising anti-Indian sentiment and hateful tropes has been documented across media and community reporting; A 2025 OneIndia report highlighted the persistence of online slurs portraying South Asians as unclean or scammers. This is where “humour” becomes dangerous. Every time we laugh at those stereotypes, we dehumanise an entire community. And when you dehumanise people and target vulnerable communities, it becomes far too easy to dismiss their suffering when disaster strikes. Powerful rhetorical tools, sarcasm, irony, and parody are twisted to punch downwards. Tools that should be used to expose corruption, yet they’re used to ridicule the powerless.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Social conventions are the real cause of…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: In The Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Garcia Marquez presents the murder of Santiago Nasar as a tragic…
In The Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Garcia Marquez presents the murder of
Santiago Nasar as a tragic event that seemed predetermined. Social conventions refer to
the accepted way of doing things in a community, such as beliefs, behaviour, honour, and
reputation, which shape the decisions of characters, influencing their actions. Although
individuals like the Vicario brothers physically carry out the act, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
ultimately suggests that rigid social conventions are largely responsible for Santiago
Nasar’s death. The death can be seen as inevitable by the townspeople, and the
community's belief in fate can lead to inaction and moral failure. Honour and reputation
also drive choices that lead to the violent demise, and collective corruption and
incompetence influence behaviours that allow the death to occur.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: To what extent are the characters lives…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: In Gabriel Marquez ‘Chronicle of a death foretold interrogates how fate and free will in a society is governed by…
In Gabriel Marquez ‘Chronicle of a death foretold interrogates how fate and free will in a society is governed by tradition and culture. Although the murder of the protagonist Santiago Nasar, appears to be predetermined, foretold by dreams, omens and ‘foretold’ itself. Marquez ultimately reveals that human inaction and cultural values make the tragedy inevitable. Through the circular non-linear structure, foreshadowing of the murder from the first sentence of the novella reveals the collective moral of the townspeople, therefore the novella suggests that “fate” is not a force but is the outcome of choices from decisions made by individuals such as characters illustrated by Marquez. These characters lives are shaped by destiny than by the inevitability of their own passivity.
Marquez constructs an atmosphere steeped in fatalism, where foretelling of Santiago Nasar’s death seems inevitable from the outset. The novella opens the line with “on the day they were going to kill him, Santiago Nasar got up five thirty in the morning,” immediately foreshadowing that his death is about to occur later on in the novel suggesting that destiny has already been written for him. Santiago recurring dream of “going through grove and timber trees where a gentle drizzle was falling” further reinforces foreshadowing of his death, yet no one in the town prevents it. This exposes how people interpret such tragedy as coincidence and a sign of fate. The townspeople’s fixation on the omens, such as the “birds” that disturb Placinda Linero’s sleep, reflects a culture that values their catholic tradition and rituals. The “foretold” also reinforces the illusion of predestination to the readers, as they are told from the beginning that the murder will happen. Yet Marquez point in ironic, of how fate appears powerful only because people interpret it that way. The community’s obsession with following immutable daily routines and being ignorance bystanders, becomes as a form of their own passivity. Thus, Marquez presents fate not as force but as a story that the townspeople tell themselves to rationalise moral inaction.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “The truth will come to light without my…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: The paradigmatic Greek tragedy ‘Oedipus Rex’ crafted(conceptualises) by Sophocles, during the turbulent period of…
The paradigmatic Greek tragedy ‘Oedipus Rex’ crafted(conceptualises) by Sophocles, during the turbulent period of ancient Greece. He delves into the limitations of humanity against the gods, exploring the inevitable and inescapable nature of fate. Sophocles deems that the pursuit of one’s truth is the fate of their enlightenment. He honours the power of the gods in deciding fate, alluding to the idea that one’s truth is unavoidable no matter whether you chose to be ignorant. Through careful construction, the play acts as a cautionary tale that highlights the defiance of gods, utilising the characterises Oedipus as a tragic hero, being blinded by his hamartia, leading to his unfortunate outcomes. However, ultimately one’s fate cannot be changed or replaced as divine justice will always outweigh the efforts of free will.
The pursuit of Oedipus’s truth ultimately leads him to his peripeteia, which uncovers the truth of his downfall and the idea that fate is unavoidable. Sophocles uses Oedipus’s character as a vehicle to convey the message that “[he was] fated,” since birth as Oedipus’ ankles that ‘tell the story’, resembling a ‘dreadful mark’ and serving as a physical manifestation of attempts to evade fate. As Oedipus is inevitably the victim of his own peripeteia as his avoidance of the prophecy has led him to the outcome that “destiny [will] guide [him] always,” no matter what he does to avoid it. The exploration of these ideas draws upon how Oedipus is a depiction on the privileging of human intellect over divine wisdom, his story reflects humanity’s desire for control but ultimately fate will always have dominance over society as humans may not have complete control over their lives. To further reinstate the idea of unavoidable fate, the use of foreshadowing draws on Oedipus, despite his intelligence, is powerless against destiny, showing that human beings have limited control over their lives. From the beginning, the audience is already presented with the knowledge that Oedipus is fated to kill his father and marry his mother, a prophecy that he desperately tries to escape. Ironically, his very efforts to avoid his fate lead him
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Title to be used: Resist and Persist…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 85%: Resist and Persist, when others don’t. Ria Antony 7th October Protest has always been humanity’s biggest answer…
Resist and Persist, when others don’t.
Ria Antony
7th October
Protest has always been humanity’s biggest answer to silence. It spreads like wildfire, from the protests surrounding the humanitarian crisis in Gaza to MLK’s speech about what he dreamed of.
It has always been spreading like wildfire.
And we know complacency and silence are why protest exists. So why are we seeing more silence? Why are we seeing more complacency from others?
Growing up in a multi-facted environment, both offline and in person, I have been exposed to the cultural differences in politics. Both generation-wise and culturally. From sitting with my family as we watched another riot break out in our hometown in India, only protected by the bliss of being a child.
To now being protected behind a screen as another Palestinian mother begs for people to save her and her child, as others quickly scroll past.
Crazy, isn’t it?
By being exposed to this vast political atmosphere, and hearing others of my age say:
“I’m not really into politics.”
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 'This is my law. it comes From the soil.…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 67.5%: Contextualised from the Gan Gan massacre that lead to many deaths of Yolongu people, Stephan Johnson, 2020…
Contextualised from the Gan Gan massacre that lead to many deaths of Yolongu people, Stephan Johnson, 2020 western Film 'High Ground' reveal the truth behind Australian History, and the ongoing systemic cycles of violence & conflict between the white settlers and the Yolongu People. Johnson utilises the culture and how the illusion of control & power dynamic between the Yolongu people and the British settlers, Johnson incorporates different Film technique to display how British justice is reflected through Arnhem Land, as well as purposely developing meaning throughout the film.
In essence, Johnson conveys how despite the illusion of control and power the British may believe they have through following the British hierachy, The yolongu people will always obtain more power due to their strong cultural connection with Arnhem Land, Rejecting the norms of British justice.
Johnsen divides the Yolgnu people and the Western settlers through Costume, Traditional British Clothing doesn't belong on Arnhem Land. At the beginning of the Film, Johnsen displays Indigenous Australian culture, which is represented through their traditional war paint, and is repeatedly seen on Crutguk and Baywarra. Despite stripping Crutguk from his cultural root, he finds a way back to his original identity & culture reuniting with the paint. Through addressing the impacts British colonisation had on the Yolngu people, Johnsen demonstrates the strength of Indigenous culture in discovering ones identity. Johnsen emphasises Costume throughout entirety of the film, particularly the negotiation scene where Moran is seen wearing his traditional white soldier gear, with badges and a hat, which is seen as almost comical and a laughable notion when seen in parallel to the Yolngu people. Moran believes that British justice from the hierarchy he follows in England should be implemented on Arnhem Land 'on this country', as well as following the Law of the king', which gives him the illusion of
VCE · Language Analysis
Language Analysis: personal journeys - change
VCE Language Analysis essay scoring 62.5%: Firsty the writer argues that cutting off social media will have a more negitive impact on students and can…
Firsty the writer argues that cutting off social media will have a more negitive impact on students and can lead to haumful pathways. By using the save the lann chilavens youth advisor Dante casanova, who argues it would rip away lifelines, it makes an emotional but harsh appeal and positions readers to rethink the Severity of the situation. It also is impactful as using experts such as casanova stregnthens the argoment and adds a sense of credability. Stating that the proposed ban is like putting a bandaid on or gunshot wound adresses he sarcasm, as its implying that the ban is a temporary fix on a major problem. It calls on government to undestand the bigger impacts this could have on such young children.