VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Please make this BP1 of Sunset Boulevard…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: In his acerbic gothic noir, Wilder orchestrates Norma Desmond’s psychological disintegration through a haunting…
In his acerbic gothic noir, Wilder orchestrates Norma Desmond’s psychological disintegration through a haunting interplay of sound and mise-en-scène, exposing the brutal gulf between Hollywood’s celebration of youth and its erasure of obsolescence. Each principal character is aurally represented through a distinct leitmotif: Joe’s jazzy saxophone theme reflects his brash modernity, embodying postwar Hollywood’s cynicism, while Norma’s fragile flute spirals into dissonance, mirroring her shattered stardom. Wilder uses this musical dichotomy to illustrate the chasm between youth and obsolescence, action and inaction, vitality and isolation. This is further emphasized through John F. Seitz's choreography on archways and doorways that establish the claustrophobic mise en scene and low-key lighting to create an impression of Joe entering the world of the uncanny, as he moves between the high-key reality of 1950s Hollywood and the gothic monstrosity of Norma’s delusions. In doing so, Wilder
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 'Shakespeare presents marriage as…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: 2 Ahmed
2 Ahmed
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: What is love? ’Tis not hereafter. Present…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night provides opportunity for the ways of love, and their constancy, to be explored.…
William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night provides opportunity for the ways of love, and their constancy, to be explored. While Shakespeare's Twelfth Night presents several occasions where love is seen as short-lived, and having the potential for an unexpected "dying fall", it also explores the enduring nature of genuine love. Through characters of nobility, Shakespeare satires idealistic concepts of courtly love, highlighting on their temporary nature. He also delves into the fleeting essence of love which is pursued with a motive of personal gain or self-satisfaction. Contrastingly, Shakespeare advocates that true love is steady and enduring.
From the outset of the play, Shakespeare mocks idealised notions of courtly love, emphasising their temporary nature. The play commences with the presentation of Orsino, a desperate Petrarchan lover, whose love for Olivia is immediately presented as fickle, when he describes "music" to be "the food of love" and then asking the musicians to "play on", metaphorically describing love as a craving to be satisfied, rather than something that is enduring. He continues to express his desire for the music to keep playing, hoping that "the appetite may sicken and so die". This reinforces the idea that Orsino's love is more like a craving than genuine affection, highlighting the fleeting and inconsistent nature of love during his pursuit for Olivia. Moreover, Shakespeare presents Orsino's love as capricious through the voice of the allowed fool, Feste, who provides insightful views to characters' true natures. In Act 2, Feste critiques Orsino's mind, suggesting that it changes like an "opal". By describing Orsino's mind as one that is constantly changing, Feste raises awareness Orsino's inconstant character, allowing the audience to question whether his love for Olivia is fleeting, or if it is in fact constant. Additionally, it is at the end of the play when it becomes clear that Orsino's courtly love was visibly temporary when he calls Viola to be his "mistress", rapidly switching from giving his love to Olivia, to then Viola. While portrayed as someone who was trapped in a deep, tormented love for Olivia in the commencement of the play, his reference to the "golden times" which shall commence with this marriage at the end of the play underscores his ability to readily transfer his feelings from one woman to another, thus ultimately sharing his changeable nature and inconstant love. Through this, Shakespeare criticises knightly love in the Elizabethan era, suggesting it has a fleeting, uncertain essence.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Personal journey - The greatest…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 85%: Sunlight filtered through the windows. Curtains fluttered along with the breeze as shadows danced across the…
Sunlight filtered through the windows. Curtains fluttered along with the breeze as shadows danced across the room. Dust swirled around, settling on the blanketed furniture. I uncover the antique mirror, drapes pooling around my feet as I stare at it in silence. My whole life, I lived as a mosaic. Parts of others’ unachieved dreams and aspirations moulded me into someone else. A stranger. I reach out towards my reflection as memories flood into my mind.
Voices speak in hushed tones outside the door as I stare up at the ceiling, trying to mute them out. The room was dreary, harsh fluorescent lights seeping through the covers around the propped-up bed. Other than the muffled voices on the other side, only the iv drip and beeps from the monitor interrupted the silence. Exhaustion had once again creeped its way into my body, leading me to the brink of collapse. I reach out for the remote, and flick on the overhanging tv. The grand prix pops on, showcasing a figure skater currently competing. I watch in awe at the graceful moves he executes, each leaving an unfamiliar feeling in my chest. Why was I feeling like this? What was this desire overflowing throughout my body? I suddenly envision myself twirling along the ice, lunging into the air with elegance. My mind is brought out of my imagination as my family steps into the room. “How are you feeling honey? Do you think you are able to resume archery soon?” My mother asks, as she walks to my bedside, tucking me in further with the blankets. It felt suffocating. “Dear, we already decided that he will be concentrating on painting. I still have his drawings from when he was younger. It’s such a beauty to have in the house! Right, Levfin?” My dad’s eyes search for my agreement. “No, Levfin, you are an only child. I am growing older by the day and my one and only wish is to see you succeed in life kid. I can rest easy knowing my sweet, capable child can take care of everything for me” My grandpa utters.
I feel myself
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: "The island will soon be nothing but…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 82.5%: In the novel "The Memory Police," Ogawa explores the profound impact of memory on life's significance, showing…
In the novel "The Memory Police," Ogawa explores the profound impact of memory on life's significance, showing that while memories can provide meaning, it is not the sole provider of life's purpose. Set on an island where memories are slowly erasing, Ogawa depicts how crucial memory is to intertwine individuals, as it allows them to form meaningful connections. The novel emphasizes how pivotal memories are for maintaining a sense of identity and direction. However, even characters like R, who retain their memories, struggle with a loss of purpose due to the isolation that comes from not complying with the society around them. Ultimately, Ogawa suggests that while memories are essential for living a rewarding life, they cannot alone provide a sense of fulfilment. Those who remember are not immune to emptiness as external pressures can undermine one's ability to find meaning in existence.
Ogawa illustrates that remembering past events allow us to form deep emotional bonds with one another. In a world where 'disappeared' things vanish, the narrator recalls how her mother secretly preserved small remnants of a single rose petal, a delicate ribbon and a perfume bottle in the draws of their home. Though these objects were meant to be forgotten, her mother's hidden defiance created a shared understanding between them. As the narrator reflects on this moment, she realises that while she can remember her mother’s “expression, the sound of her voice” and even “the smell of the basement air,” the objects themselves have become “vague, as though those memories, have dissolved. "This contrast between acknowledging her mother’s expression but not the small details, emphasizes how memory is not just tied to physical objects but to the emotional connections they represent. The act of remembering even if the memory is imperfect, keeps the narrator’s bond with her mother alive even after she has passed. This deep connection persists through memory, reinforcing how recalling past events sustains human relationships. Similarly, the old man and the narrator’s act of hiding R strengthens their bond through their collective effort to preserve not just a person, but the act of recollection and resistance. The narrator acknowledges this by reflecting on how “The old man did much to help us, and R did his best to adjust quickly to the secret room.” This hidden room becomes more than just a physical refuge, it transforms into a symbol of remembrance and a place where their shared history is safeguarded against the forces of The Memory Police. By working together to protect R, the old man and the narrator deepen their relationship through the shared memories they are attempting to conserve. Even as the world surrounding them demands forgetting, their bond persists through memory.
VCE · Language Analysis
Language Analysis: Analyse the language in Daylight…
VCE Language Analysis essay scoring 72.5%: Daylight Saving In response to daylight savings, where clocks move forward one hour in October and then an…
Daylight Saving
In response to daylight savings, where clocks move forward one hour in October and then an hour back in March, a suburban newspaper has written an editorial entitled 'Daylight saving?' targeted at Victorians. The writer has assertively contended that daylight savings is outdated, impractical and damaging therefore should be abolished in Victoria and other Australian States. The piece is accompanied with two images; a photograph of a clock with misplaced number and a cartoon with a caption.
From the outset the author employs a mainly logical argument to demonstrate to socially engaged readers that daylight savings is not for the modern times. Through the historical context provided by the author outlining the need of daylight savings in the wartime they have posed a rhetorical question "Why day light savings never stopped after the first implementation." This encourages Victorians to be aware that day light savings has no long traditions and does not fulfil it's function as outlined prior thus making the readers more likely to be receptive of the author's following arguments, due to their doubts in the practice. Following this, though the author appeals to Victorian's sense of logic by stating that "changing our clocks doesn't conserve electricity" as any offset in the evening just adds to the morning. This has the authorial intent of convincing readers with common sense that allowing readers to reach a conclusion themselves that daylight savings has no benefit at all and therefore is just a pure hindrance as "it's not even succeeding at its main job". Furthermore, the writer appeals to the readers sense of keeping up with modern times by referencing how daylighting savings was originally designed to "conserve fuel and limit energy use" in the war time. This is designed to have Victorians feel that in the present day the practice of day light savings has no use and as “it wasn’t permanently adopted anywhere” readers are guided to view daylight savings as a old technique for conserving energy and thus has no place in the modern world. Overall, The Gawley Gazette aimed to challenge the Victorians traditional beliefs on daylight savings so that they are more acknowledging of later arguments.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Framework "play"
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 87.5%: Growing up, soccer was never just a game in my family. From my earliest memories, the pitch was a playground…
Growing up, soccer was never just a game in my family. From my earliest memories, the pitch was a playground that tested me, every kick, every tackle, every missed goal, it seemed to accumulate into something bigger, following me, valuing my worth. On Saturday mornings, while other parents clapped and cheered for their kids, mine would voice their disappointment, “run faster, shoot quicker, don’t you lose”. Encouragement was rare, and praise was even more foreign, in the world they had created for me. Victory was expected, not celebrated.
I grew up being taught that fun and failure were incompatible, this game was serious, a loss on the pitch was a loss on myself. And so, by the time I reached my teenage years, I wore every defeat like a bruise, internalising the sense that my worth depended on the final whistle.
The turning point for me came around in the grandfinals last season, we were up against a team we had no business losing to. Yet, by halftime we were trialing behind, heads were down, the atmosphere was heavy, it was like we had already accepted our fate. Frustration twisted inside me, as i stared at my teammates defeated face. As the whistle blew signalling the start of the next half, something snapped, I decided then and there, that if noone else was willing to fight, I would, I would fight, and I would win the match myself.
From that moment the ball became my burden to hold, I chased it with desperation, clung to it as though losing it meant surrender. The ball felt hard, pumped up with pressure, I dribbled past teammates, took reckless shots, ignored calls. Something that was once a symbol of connection, now felt heavy in my possession, swollen by the pressure I carried. My lungs burned, my legs ached, but I pressed on convincing myself that sheer determination alone could rewrite the score.
It didnt. By the end the scoreboard still showed the same merciless truth, the whistle that I dreaded still sung the same empty song. We had been beaten, but as I trudged off the field my teammates could hardley bare to look at me as if I were the one to blame.Me. My parents lecture that night barely registered, for the first time, their disappointment was drowned out by something louder, my own hollowed exhaustion. Something about my teammates faces stung me like a bee.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Sunset Boulevard reveal the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: Sunset Bulevard is a film noir directed by Billy Wilder, he uses many features such as camera shots and angles,…
Sunset Bulevard is a film noir directed by Billy Wilder, he uses many features such as camera shots and angles, sound, lighting and mise en scene to highlight the hidden cost of fame. These elements compliment the characters and their journeys towards reaching higher within the Hollywood hierachey. Sunset boulevard reveals the hidden cost through shot types and angles that highlight the loneliness or distance between characters. The movie also uses characters to portray different points of view on the cost that it takes to reach fame. Finally Wilder uses symbolism to deepen the meaning of hidden cost.
Sunset boulevard uses a multitude of clever camera angles and shot types to exaggerate important moments or to reflect a hidden meaning revealing the cost of stardom that can only be recognised when looking deeper. The opening scene we see the sunset boulevard sign and it's over a gutter. The placement of the sign and the birds eye view angle reveals the power difference of how older Hollywood stars are treated. The audience looks down upon the sign and it foreshaddows the fact that Hollywood discards the people that are not needed anymore. They are walked over and treated like nothing important. Just like a gutter on the side of the road. At Norma's new year's eve party there is another birds eye view shot taken to draw the audience's attention to the loneliness that Joe and Norma now have. Joe and Norma take up a very small portion of the screen leaving a lot of frame to show the emptiness of the dance floor, emphasising the solidarity of the two in Norma's house away from the world. Another scene in which shot type is used to emphasise a relationship dynamic is when Betty comes to visit Joe for the first and last time. A mid shot shows only their shoulder and up. Joe is close to the camera while Betty is further away. The angle of the shot with the shot type shows not only their physical distance but a distance within their relationship when Betty realises Joe's secret life that he's been living.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: born a crime is a story of overcoming…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 82.5%: Trevor Noah’s memoir Born a Crime is both a personal narrative and a social critique, presenting life under…
Trevor Noah’s memoir Born a Crime is both a personal narrative and a social critique, presenting life under apartheid and its aftermath in South Africa. The text highlights the countless limitations placed on individuals by race, poverty, and systemic inequality. Yet Noah demonstrates that these restrictions can be endured and, at times, transcended through language, humour, and relationships. While the memoir champions resilience in the face of oppression, it also acknowledges that no amount of individual resourcefulness can entirely escape the deep scars of an unjust system.
Noah champions language as a powerful tool for resisting boundaries and overcoming the limitations imposed by race. Growing up mixed-race, he was denied a clear place within apartheid’s rigid categories. Yet by code-switching across multiple South African languages, he was able to manipulate perception and carve out a measure of belonging. He recalls, “I became a chameleon. My colour didn’t change, but I could change your perception of my colour,” a metaphor that illustrates how language became a shield and a passport, allowing him to access spaces that would otherwise exclude him. At the same time, Noah reflects that speaking many languages meant he could “fit in everywhere and belong nowhere.” This paradox reveals both the strength and the limits of language: while it empowered him to resist exclusion, it could not fully erase the deep divisions of apartheid society.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 1. “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me:…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 87.5%: Set amidst the religious and class austerity of 19th century Victorian England, Charlotte Brontë’s proto-feminist…
Set amidst the religious and class austerity of 19th century Victorian England, Charlotte Brontë’s proto-feminist Bildungsroman Jane Eyre emphatically asserts the right of women to autonomy despite imposed limitations regarding gender and social standing. Tracking the growth of its heroin, Jane Eyre foregrounds the significance of ‘sisterhood’ and one’s peer group in catalysing female independence, where subsequent individualism limits the influence of conventionality. Principally, Jane Eyre advocates for the co-existence of tradition with autonomous females, crystallised in its ultimate marriage of equals.
Jane Eyre emphasises the necessity of ‘sisterhood’ in enabling an environment where women can choose autonomy over conventionality. Brontë’s characterisation of Mr Brocklehurst as a “black pillar! Equally harsh and prim” personifies the rigid orthodoxy of Calvinistic institutions. Here, the descriptive vocabulary of “harsh and prim” mirrors both Lowood’s school environment and broader patriarchal repression over female pupils. It is only through the comradery of Helen Burns and Miss Temple, that Jane can model self-restraint and temperance, highlighting the need for female companionship to limit conventionality of Victorian insitutions. Helens ideological contrast to Jane, evident in her new-testament perspective “I can so clearly distinguish…I can so sincerely forgive” enables a model for Janes self-control and growth. (Rassalas?). Here, the mirrored syntax of “I can so” foregrounds the ability for female autonomy as accessible from within, as it is Helen’s forgiving ideology that defies the harsh conventionality present in both Mr Brocklehurst and Miss Scatcherd. Brontë’s setting of Miss Temples office – isolated from Brocklehurst and Scatcherd – described as “dimly lit” and “warm” takes this need for female companionship further, as Miss Temples “almond cake” is symbolic of the nourishment of ‘sisterhood’. Through this intimate setting, Brontë identifies shared female experience as catalysing autonomy, championing female relationships as both enabling autonomy and thus limiting gender conformity.
Jane Eyre identifies individualism and moral integrity as critical to ensuring female autonomy despite patriarchal boundaries. By granting narrative control to a female character, Brontë elevates female voices with Jane’s recount of her story dictated on her own terms. Indeed, the stern declaration to Rochester that “I am not an angel, I will be myself” defies conventionality for women to
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “I’ve got a million dollars.” How does…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: In a competitive industry where aspiring stars, faded icons, and predatory producers vie for a chance in the…
In a competitive industry where aspiring stars, faded icons, and predatory producers vie for a
chance in the alluring spotlight, it becomes evident that Hollywood as an industry is
underpinned by evolving and unequal power dynamics. Billy Wilder’s 1950 gothic film noir,
Sunset Boulevard, scrutinises such power dynamics, arguing that there exists an intrinsic
imbalance between the power held by the industry’s participants in their relationships with
each other, as well as a broader control exercised by the industry over its participants.
Wilder highlights how predatory relationships can emerge out of necessity and vulnerability,
eroding the character and moral fibre of those trapped within. Broadening the scope of his
deconstruction of the notion of power, Wilder castigates the soft power held by Hollywood
over its female talent, pressuring them to conform to unrealistic beauty standards in order to
become marketable in the industry. Furthermore, Wilder underscores the implicit power held
by Hollywood as it relates to an individual’s experience of fame and attention, outlining that
Hollywood maintains a careful and coercive grasp on whether individuals receive the fame
and recognition they so desperately chase.
Wilder regretfully portrays how predatory relationships can arise as a result of the
exploitation of its vulnerable participants, corroding the character and sense of self of those
who submit to such uneven power dynamics. It is only out of an acute financial turmoil that
Joe reluctantly enters the “long term contract with no options” that characterises his
relationship with Norma. Effaced of agency and a power to exert influence over his own life,
Joe’s dream of “a chimp dancing for pennies” bleakly portends his own eventual role in
Norma’s life - a voiceless being defined by his ability to provide entertainment and relief for
Norma. This notion is accentuated through Wilder’s high-angle shot of the chimpanzee being
buried in Norma’s backyard - through the film’s cyclical structure, his audience is reminded of
Wilder’s establishing high-angle shot that similarly highlights Joe’s dead body in Norma’s
pool. Indeed, Norma’s power over Joe derives its legitimacy from Joe’s vulnerability - he is
rendered reliant on Norma to liberate him from his financial difficulties. Her pledge to “fill the
pool…open [her] house in Malibu” and her bragging claim that she “has a million dollars”
demonstrates an acute awareness of her financial power over Joe - it is clear to Norma that
these propositions carry a certain allure to someone she knows “owe[s] three months’ rent”.
It is this vulnerability that Norma capitalises on as she extorts Joe and gradually effaces him
of his sense of character. Her predatory control over Joe is implicitly paralleled in her
costume design, replete with animalistic feathered boas and leopard patterned turbans that
aim to attach a sense of primal predatism to Norma. Indeed, Joe’s costuming additionally
becomes more formal (formal clothes are restrictive) as the film progresses - he is urged
to purchase “the vicuna” if “the lady is paying”, serving as poignant evidence of Joe’s gradual
degradation of character as he submits to Norma’s whims and preferences. His utterance to
Norma that “[she] smoke[s] too much” carries a renewed significance considered he
proclaims to feel like “a cigarette in the prongs of that contraption on [Norma’s] finger” - a
subtle push against the disequilibrium of power that reduces his agency and personality.
Though Joe may resist, albeit futilely, the inequitable power dynamic he enters through his
relationship with Norma, what prevails is Wilder’s deconstruction of how predatory
relationships can form based on vulnerability, ultimately to the detriment of those unfortunate
enough to be the prey.
Advancing towards a critique of Hollywood as a prevailing industry, Wilder scrutinises the
power that Hollywood holds over its female talent, who feel obliged to pursue unrealistic
beauty standards to be marketable in the industry. In a bid to prepare herself for “those
cameras that would never turn”, Norma embarks on a “merciless series” of beauty
treatments, an unforgiving regimen of beauty routines that bring acute stress and suffering to
Norma. The militaristic connotations of an “army” of beauticians “invad[ing]” her home
evinces a sense of reluctant capitulation to Hollywood’s demands, divorcing the innocent
and pure notions of beauty and
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: TITLE: Deeds not words Stimulus 1.…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 87.5%: Mr. Beckheld never raised his voice. That’s the first thing I noticed. His actions were always restrained, as…
Mr. Beckheld never raised his voice. That’s the first thing I noticed. His actions were always restrained, as if waiting for release. I was only young when we met. Broken, cold, hungry and waiting on his welcome mat beneath exposed brick. He took me in without question, fed me without words, gave me a place to rest without judgement. A mentor. His eyes told more than his mouth could. They told me familiarity, they told me understanding.
Like a father, he gave me parts of the world that were strangers to me: a home, a parent, love. Warmth he made abundant for me, he struggled to allow himself to feel. Until Elise.
Soft-spoken, gentle, kind — those are fractions of how I would describe Elise.
They met at the brink of night that tiptoed into sunset, in an array of waves and sand. Things moved quickly from there, but not rushed. Their relationship grew fast with intention. Before I knew it, Elise was living amongst us, from a stranger to family in a blink. I’d never seen Mr. Beckheld so fulfilled, so free.
He struggled, but he learned what it meant to be loved.
Elise cooked dinner most nights, as Mr. Beckheld always worked late. Under a bright candle flame, we would talk about nothing in particular — school, art, music, aspirations. Elise shone brightly, like a beam of pure light. A considerate one that knew its brightness and dimmed for others’ comfort. The candle flame danced free while she hummed and stirred a pot that coated the room with sweet aroma.
Mr. Beckheld arrived home, hung his jacket on a hook and took off his shoes upon the creaking floorboards. His actions were louder than usual; they felt tired and aggressive to my ears through the hallway. Elise’s stirring slowed as he entered the kitchen and she became more mindful of any sounds she made. Her body stiffened, movements hesitant — I’d never noticed how she shrank when he came home on edge.
I started to take notice more after that. How her pants never went above her ankles. How her sleeves were never short. How quickly she laughed at my mentor's jokes. How her eyes stayed locked on her plate at dinners.
I convinced myself she was shy, but shyness doesn’t shrink a person so completely.
A little while after, I became an adult. Living in my own home now, I still made time to visit daily.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Personal Journeys
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 90%: - When people ask me where I’m from, I need a moment to think. Do I tell them my parents are from Hong Kong, or…
- When people ask me where I’m from, I need a moment to think. Do I tell them my parents are from Hong Kong, or do I tell them I was born here in Australia? Which comes first. Not long ago, the answer would have been clear as day.
- My parents migrated from Hong Kong to Australia in 2005. Every year, we go back to Hong Kong in January. Its school holidays for me and my brother, so it’s easiest to arrange. Every year, it’s a mad rush to the airport because dad thinks time is a myth, and mum’s last minute luggage inspections are agonising.
- When we arrive in Hong Kong, we take the same bus every time to my grandma’s apartment in Sheung Shui. Its small and modest, because she lives alone.
- We ring the doorbell. My mum, my brother and I wait awkwardly. Eventually, she opens the door. “Hi PoPo,” my brother and I say. No smile, no nothing. Just a comment on how skinny I am. She scolds my mum for this.
- Walking in, there is a peculiar scent that I can only describe as incense and cleaning chemical. There’s no living room, just a black leather couch and a circular dining table, one of those that can be pulled out in case of emergency family gatherings. A pillar of Cantonese homes.
- Sprawled beneath the TV are framed photos of Popo’s grandchildren, and a bowl of apples still wrapped individually in their Styrofoam sleeves.
- Besides them, stands a tall orchid in a porcelain vase, inscribed with Chinese characters I can’t read. Each petal is an abstract dotted pink, which fades into a soft white towards the edges. It bears the weight of unwanted attention, which seems to intrude the humble space of Popo’s home.
The afternoon goes by quickly. Unpacking the suitcase feels routine, like retracing steps I’ve taken before—shirts folded neatly into Popo’s drawers, toiletries lined up in the bathroom.
- But as dark clouds begin to smother the sky, like cotton pads dressing a wound, the anticipation of evening ceases, and in its place, comes the ritual of dinner.
- The Yum Cha restaurant should feel familiar, but I feel nothing but dread.
- The elevator doors open onto the fourth floor, and I brace myself for the press of voices that will rush at me like a toccata- impossible to keep up with unless you already know the notes. Inside, the interior is deceptively spacious- at least 50 tables packed like mosaic. It takes practise to walk to your table without knocking an auntie’s purse or an uncle’s walking stick. The trick is to turn your hips and shuffle sideways, although easier said than done. We’ve booked 2 tables, 24 seats in total. I choose the one with the most direct line of sight to the TV.
- The rest of the seats are filled by people I don’t recognise. It’s awkward sitting with strangers, though Mum claims we know them.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 'There's nothing tragic about being 50,…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 82.5%: In Sunset Boulevard, Billy Wilder exposes Hollywood’s relentless infatuation with youth, condemning a culture…
In Sunset Boulevard, Billy Wilder exposes Hollywood’s relentless infatuation with youth, condemning a culture that equates aging with irrelevance. Through his characterization of Norma Desmond, a once-revered silent film star clinging to her former glory, Wilder highlights the emotional toll of an industry that discards those who no longer fit its image of desirability. The use of film noir elements reinforces a bleak and fatalistic world where illusions of youth become inescapable within a culture obsessed with image. Ultimately, Wilder condemns a system that commodifies youth and marginalises women who no longer embody it.
Wilder personifies the emotional psychological damage inflicted by Hollywood’s refusal to embrace ageing through Norma Desmond. Depicted to be clinging to her former glory, Norma Desmond has been rendered obsolete by a system that favours youthful glamour rather than experience, and her descent into delusion reflects the tragic consequences of internalising Hollywood’s values. During her opening scene, she declares to Joe that, “[she is] big. It’s the pictures that got small,” illustrating not only her refusal to accept that the industry has moved on without her, but also highlighting how she clings to a distorted perception of her relevance, one shaped by a system that elevated her image but never her personhood. This powerful assertion by Norma reveals the tragedy of still trying to reclaim youth within a society that devalues anything else. Furthermore, Wilder has Swanson deliberately exaggerate Norma’s mannerisms and costume, presenting her in heavy makeup, outdated fashions, and exaggerated facial expressions and hand gestures to symbolise her inability to adapt to the sound era and modern Hollywood notions of stardom. Wilder’s use of chiaroscuro lighting and soft-focus mimics silent film cinematography, visually preserving her in the fantasy of her prime while underscoring how artifice has replaced authenticity in her life. Her physical and emotional isolation; confined to her decaying mansion which serves as a physical representation of her deluded mental state and her faded stardom, surrounded by portraits of her youthful self, becomes a metaphor for Hollywood’s treatment of women, valuable only when desirable, and discarded once they age. In constructing Norma as both grotesque and “tragic,” Wilder reveals the inhumanity of an industry that not only discards aging women but teaches them to view that rejection as a personal failure. Thus, Norma’s decline is not simply the result of the time, but of an industry that has conditioned her to believe that being is 50 is tragic as one longer exists beyond 25.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: ‘Sunset Boulevard reveals the destructive…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 87.5%: Sunset Boulevard, directed by Billy Wilder, is a 1950s noir melodrama that investigates how the popularity of the…
Sunset Boulevard, directed by Billy Wilder, is a 1950s noir melodrama that
investigates how the popularity of the Hollywood film industry encouraged a
social fixation on the glory of celebrity. Throughout the film, Wilder explores
the nuances of success and fame, sometimes pitting the two qualities against
each other. Sunset Boulevard demonstrates that striving for career success
can have both positive and negative outcomes; however, it suggests that
those who are swept up in Hollywood’s preoccupation with fame will almost
always experience negative consequences. Furthermore, the film interrogates
the role of the audience in this destruction, insinuating that audiences
perpetuate Hollywood’s obsession with fame through an intense fascination
with gossip and scandal, in a way that conceals its true costs.
Wilder uses the character of Joe Gillis to warn the audience about the
harmful effects of self-interest and an obsession with success. At the
beginning of the film, Joe, a struggling screenwriter, devises ‘a little plot’,
lying that Norma’s ‘silly hodgepodge’ script is ‘fascinating’ so she will
hire him as an editor. This suggests that Joe’s self-interest has destructive
implications, as he is willing to indulge Norma’s self-delusion in order to
gain money and eventual success, even though the relationship he establishes
with Norma is founded on dishonesty. Wilder also uses the ‘dead monkey
upstairs’ as a symbol of Joe’s impending doom. When Joe refers to the
monkey as Norma’s ‘only child’ and ponders the emptiness of Norma’s life, he
acknowledges that the monkey was a wild animal that had been kept locked
in the house as a pet – a plaything for Norma. As Joe watches over ‘the last
rites for that hairy old chimp’, the close-up shot of Joe’s face, framed by the
blinds and the bars of the window frame, implies a sense of confinement,
signalling to the audience that it is now Joe who is trapped in the house.
Wilder’s implicit comparison between Joe and the monkey can be seen as
a warning to the audience that Joe’s desire to get ahead could lead to him
sharing the monkey’s fate. The characterisation of Joe, and his character arc,
demonstrate that ambition and selfishness can be disastrous for an individual
and their relationships.
However, the film does not always show ambition and a desire for success
to be wholly negative. In particular, it juxtaposes Joe’s self-interest with the
characterisation of Betty Schaefer, an aspiring writer who has ‘not once’
wished for fame, and who ultimately views success as writing ‘true’ and
‘moving’ screenplays. Betty’s emphasis on creating work that holds its value
contrasts with Joe’s choice to work on Norma’s ‘idiotic script’ for short-term
gain; Betty’s ambition is presented as being more admirable than Joe’s. Near
the end of the film, Joe recognises the potential in Betty’s ambition and Analytical
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Jackson’s novel suggests women must choose…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: From the outset, Jackson exposes conformity as a coercive force, suggesting that women are denied genuine choice…
From the outset, Jackson exposes conformity as a coercive force, suggesting that women are denied genuine choice and instead are pushed towards submission or madness. Merricat immediately establishes the families profound isolation, noting that “the people of the village have always hated” the Blackwoods, exposing the mutual rejection between both groups. Furthermore, Merricat's reduction of the villagers to just ordinary ‘people’ holds negative connotations, as it strips them of their identity and individuality, highlighting her complete and utter rejection of reintegration with society. This rejection of the villagers illustrates a defiance of the patriarchal, collective behaviour thrust upon her. Through this, Jackson condemns how this mob mentality, demonstrated by the villagers and individuals in 1960s Vermont, is a degrading force which drives women to succumb to conformity. Moreover, upon visiting the town for necessities, Merricat recalls hearing a “horrified little laugh” behind her. Jackson highlights both the villagers' amusement
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In my brilliant career characters have…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 85%: Written during a time of nation building, patriarchal dominance and emerging feminism, Miles Franklin’s “truly…
Written during a time of nation building, patriarchal dominance and emerging feminism, Miles Franklin’s “truly Australian” novel, MBC explores the tensions between individual desires and social constraints. Written against the backdrop of a drought-stricken Australia, Franklin highlights the lack of control those in poverty have over their circumstances, critiquing the emergence of a class division in a changing Australia. Challenging the dominant patriarchal society of the period which oppresses and limits women's self-expression and agency, Franklin advocates for a society which enables women the right to choose their own destiny. In doing so, she defies social conventions which demand women marry and forfeit their independence. However, through the stubborn refusal of her protagonist Sybylla to submit to convention the “yarn” itself is a testament to the capacity of an individual to choose their own destiny, even if she is “only a- woman!”
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In “Oedipus the King.” Sophocles warns…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 77.5%: Sophocles’s Greek Tragedy play, Oedipus the King, was written and performed around 429 BCE, in the “Golden Age”…
Sophocles’s Greek Tragedy play, Oedipus the King, was written and performed around 429 BCE, in the “Golden Age” of Athens, a time of democracy and intellectual development. Sophocles explores the central themes of fate versus freewill, truth and knowledge and the consequences of human flaws. Throughout the play, the audience is warned about the dangers of our flaws. Sophocles’ exposure of personal flaws in “Oedipus the King” determines that hubris, ignorance and anger can be detrimental, however can also imply positive qualities in individuals. The play navigates the development of these flaws, the shortcomings they bring upon characters and the impacts of these flaws on relationships in the play. Therefore, serving as a warning to audiences about the dangers of our personal flaws.
Sophocles critically exposes how pride, anger and ignorance are not only flaws but also inherently dangerous qualities. At the beginning of the play, Oedipus’ pride is immediately communicated to the audience as he presents himself by the “world know[ing] [his] fame” before declaring himself to be “Oedipus.” He believes that his reputation precedes him, not requiring him to even say his name, demonstrating his hamartia of overconfidence and his inflated sense of authority. Oedipus considers himself to be one with the Gods, telling the commonfolk to “let me grant your prayers.” His pride and self-belief cause him to be relentless till he finds the “murderers of Laius,”, demonstrating his loyalty to the people of Thebes, even if it leads him to his own downfall. Oedipus’ pride interrelates with his anger and ignorance, as he is unable to accept Tiresias’ riddles and that he “is the man [he] hunts.” Instead of understanding Tiresias, Oedipus’ anger rears him to curse Tiresias as a “scum of the earth,” which fuels’ Oedipus’ ignorance and inability to listen to Tiresias because of his pride. Tiresias deems that Oedipus’ “precious eyes” are “blind to the corruption of [his] life. Sophocles juxtaposes Oedipus's "precious eyes" which can physically see with his “blindness” to the “corruption,” in his life. Oedipus’ ignorance causes him to be unaware to the visible truth, unlike a blind Teiresias who is blind who "sees" Oedipus's future, further foreshadowing his future of physically self-inflicted literal blindness. Sophocles’ sharp contrast between Oedipus’ human ignorance and Teiresia’s divine wisdom reinforces Greek culture which has weighted emphasis on the divine and prophetic following which humans like Oedipus often rejected. Through Oedipus’ pride, anger and ignorance, Sophocles exhibits the dangers of these flaws in ultimately shaping fates and being profoundly detrimental to the futures of individuals.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Sunset boulevard demonstrates that fame…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 85%: Billy Wilders Sunset Boulevard provides a scathing critique of Hollwood’s deceptive promises of fame, exposing the…
Billy Wilders Sunset Boulevard provides a scathing critique of Hollwood’s deceptive promises of fame, exposing the excessive physical and moral sacrifice required to obtain fame, Created in the aftermath of WW2 and influenced by German expressionism and film noir Wilder presents fame as a seductive trap that traps, exploits and destroys individuals that pursue it. Through character arcs such as Joe Gillis’s moral collapse and eventual demise to Norma Desmond’s psychotic breakdown and Mox Von Mayerling’s obsessive loyalty Wilder depicts Hollwood’s promise of fame leading to success and validation as an intoxicating force that strips individuals of their autonomy and identity. Sunset Boulevard serves not only a critique of fames illusionary promises but as cautionary tale for all who seek external validation at the cost of ones moral integrity.
Wilder constructs Hollywood as a decaying dreamscape where success is not born of artistic integrity but extracted through the sacrifice of morality and individuality. Hollywood is positioned as a relentless machine commodifying people into consumable images exploiting them while profitable and then ruthlessly discarding them. Joe Gillis’s rejection by Sheldrake who sneers that “that’s last year’s story” epitomises the industry’s obsession with novelty and disposability stripping away the façade of Hollywood as a site of originality. In this moment Wilder dismantles the illusion of meritocracy exposing instead a system driven by profit that punishes those who refuse to compromise. Joe’s furious claim that “audiences don’t know that someone sits down and writes a picture” foregrounds Hollywood’s disdain for artistry while implicating audiences themselves as complicit in sustaining its superficial culture. Through cumulative listing and appeals to injustice Wilder emphasises the systemic nature of this corruption. Symbolism reinforces the critique as Joe’s car functions as a recurring motif of his autonomy and identity with his desperate line “if I lose my car it’s like having my legs cut off” equating material possession with survival in a world that erodes individuality. The repossession of the car visually marks the beginning of Joe’s downfall and foreshadows his entrapment. Norma’s mansion similarly operates as a grotesque metaphor for Hollywood’s materialism. When Norma proclaims “I am big it’s the pictures that got small” Wilder amplifies her delusion through a low angle shot drenched in chiaroscuro lighting an unmistakable borrowing from German Expressionism which visually exaggerates her grandeur while simultaneously exposing her fragility. The mise en scene of the mansion cluttered with grotesque luxury and oppressive shadows resembles an expressionist prison a distorted dreamscape that mirrors Norma’s warped psyche. This reflects the wider post war context where the decline of silent film stars like Gloria Swanson and the rise of consumer culture left many actors commodified and abandoned by a rapidly modernising industry. Wilder harnesses film noir fatalism and expressionist distortion to frame Hollywood not as a site of aspiration but as a cultural machine that seduces with glamour yet entombs those who enter.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Green and Kinsella only describe modern…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: In 'False Claims of Colonial Thieves', Yamatji woman Charmaine Papertalk Green and non-indigenous Australian John…
In 'False Claims of Colonial Thieves', Yamatji woman Charmaine Papertalk Green and non-indigenous Australian John Kinsella engage in a narrative discourse that discusses and past and present implications of colonialism. Often referring to modern Australia, the poets share a scornful outlook on the ongoing destruction of land through mining practices and underscores a need to hold contempt on the process. Although the collection frequently voices condemnation on modern Australia, both poets underscore a need to appreciate beauty even from two very different perspectives.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Oedipus the King shows that knowledge can…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: Sophocles’ tragedy “Oedipus the King” endures not just for its shocking revelations, but for its profound…
Sophocles’ tragedy “Oedipus the King” endures not just for its shocking revelations, but for its profound exploration of fate, blindness and human identity. Set against the backdrop of a society deeply shaped by the will of the gods, the play traces the downfall of Oedipus, a ruler whose relentless search for truth ultimately leads him to destroy the very identity he seeks to understand. Through the use of dramatic irony, anagnorisis and paradox, Sophocles positions wisdom as both in favour and jinx, inclining the audience to view knowledge as both heroic and a fatal flaw
Sophocles initially frames Oedipus’ intelligence as a heroic force through the use of mythic allusion and choral praise. The play recalls Oedipus’ defeat of the Sphinx, whose “riddle of death” had “brought the city to its knees.” By solving the riddle, Oedipus not only liberates Thebes but also elevates himself to a near-divine status, as the chorus hails him as the man who “lifted up our lives” and “first of men.” This choral exaltation underscores his civic role as saviour. Yet Sophocles complicates this moment through irony: Oedipus’ triumph is rewarded with marriage to Jocasta and the throne of Thebes, honours that unknowingly bind him to the very crime he seeks to expiate. Oedipus himself revels in this glory, declaring in a prologue of hubristic pride, “Here I am myself, you all know me, the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus.” Sophocles thus deploys Oedipus’ self-aggrandising tone and the dramatic irony of his ignorance to foreshadow that the very knowledge that elevates him will also undo him.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: ‘On the moon we have everything…’…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: In the novella We have always lived in a castle, Shirely Jackson explores the complex relationship between fantasy…
In the novella We have always lived in a castle, Shirely Jackson explores the complex relationship between fantasy and reality, illustrating how fantasy serves as a coping mechanism in confronting harsh truths. Through the evolving characters, especially through the unreliable narrator Merricat and recurring motifs, Jackson contends that fantasy can become not only preferable, but sometimes necessary to protect oneself from a painful reality. The novel ultimately reveals how the boundaries between fantasy and reality can blur, with fantasy providing true liberation for some.
At first glance, reality appears to be the preferable and rational choice, defined as the state of things that actually exist. However, Jackson embodies reality through the cruel, invasive and often dismissive villagers who live outside the Blackwood estate. Merricat recalls how the townspeople constantly lampooned the Blackwoods by singing ‘Would you like a cup of tea? Oh no,… you’ll poison me”. This nursery style chant reinforces the sister’s outsider status and embeds the idea that Constance poisoned the Blackwood family. Their deliberate seclusion is symbolised by the positioning of their house with them primarily living at the back of their house far away from the village, ‘where no one else ever came’. This displays the physical and psychological isolation of the Blackwood sisters from the outside world. The house becomes a sense of protection against the villagers’ hostility, suggesting that the reality outside the Blackwood estate only offers cruelty and fear for Constance and Merricat. Hence, withdrawing into fantasy offers the sisters safety, where they can also retain some of their dignity.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 1. In what ways does the apartheid result…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: Set against the backdrop of the Apartheid and its aftermath, Trevor Noah’s memoir, “Born a Crime (BAC)”, reveals…
Set against the backdrop of the Apartheid and its aftermath, Trevor Noah’s memoir, “Born a Crime (BAC)”, reveals the extensive and often institutionalised suffering of non-white individuals during this time period. As both the author and protagonist, Noah documents how the apartheid and post apartheid periods in South Africa inflicted extensive suffering through physical hardship and systemic inequality, yet depicts that resilience and strength could be cultivated by those who endured it. This adversity included extreme violence, emotional abuse and barriers to finding a sense of self and belonging.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “You can trust me. I’m ready to help…” ‘In…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 87.5%: Performed in 429 BCE, during Athens’ Golden Age yet under the shadow of plague and political instability,…
Performed in 429 BCE, during Athens’ Golden Age yet under the shadow of plague and political instability, Sophocles’ Oedipus the King explores the paradox of honourable leadership. The tragedy dramatises how noble intentions, when distorted by pride and blindness, can unleash devastating suffering upon both the individual and the polis. Oedipus’ determination to “bring what is dark to light” initially signals integrity and responsibility, yet Sophocles uses dramatic irony and the chorus’ shifting responses to reveal how such honour is fatally compromised by hubris. The play ultimately warns an Athenian audience that honour alone is not destructive, but when sought with rash and arrogance, it collapses into tragedy.