VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Orbital shows that nature always has more…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 85%: In Samantha Harvey’s novel Orbital, nature exerts a power far greater than that of humanity, primarily through its…
In Samantha Harvey’s novel Orbital, nature exerts a power far greater than that of humanity, primarily through its reminder of mortal fragility and space’s absolute control over time. While nature is portrayed as authoritative and all-encompassing, Harvey complicates this view by suggesting that humans, despite their perceived insignificance, still exert a grave and lasting impact on the planet. Ultimately, the novel illustrates that although humanity is dwarfed by the vastness of the natural world, our collective actions remain consequential and deeply destructive.
Harvey displays the power of the natural world to remind humans of their mortality. While the astronauts orbit the Earth to observe the existence of life, they bear witness to the catastrophic formation of a typhoon. Harvey uses this storm as a symbol to illustrate the immense scale of nature. Throughout each orbit, the astronauts face a constant reminder of the typhoon’s “destructive” capacity; though it is described as beautiful, it is also cataclysmic. They are forced to observe the damage, unable to do anything but watch as the “typhoon will roll out of sight and their vigil will end.” The idea that the storm will simply “roll out of sight” reiterates that humans cannot prevent the repercussions that threaten the planet. By admitting that “their vigil will end,” the astronauts acknowledge that they remain inferior to nature's power. This inability to intervene underscores their helplessness, proving that the storm's consequences are entirely beyond their control. Amidst this journey, Nell observes the storm with the detached precision of a scientist, yet her conversation with Pietro shifts the moment away from pure analysis. When Pietro recalls his time in the Philippines, noting, “I made friends with a fisherman, my wife and I had dinner with his family,” he transforms the storm from a meteorological event into something deeply personal. Their discussion of diving and marine life contrasts the destructive force of the typhoon with the delicate beauty of the ocean below, reflecting how climate disasters disproportionately affect the vulnerable. Through this, Harvey demonstrates that humans remain fragile against the scale and unpredictability of the natural world.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: THE RULES OF THE GAME STIMULUS: We…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 80%: THE RULES OF THE GAME STIMULUS: We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old when we stop playing.…
THE RULES OF THE GAME
STIMULUS: We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old when we stop playing.
THE AGE: Teen Takeover - A glimpse into the toxic sports culture plaguing sport, and forcing kids outside the lines on the game they love.
When I was eight, I realised that the people around me cared more about the results that I was producing than they did for me as an actual person. That’s when I realised, sport was no longer about fun, it was about who could kick the furthest, run the fastest, win the most. A missed shot or a kick out of bounds was met with anger, and followed by silence on the way home. While a win was met with a slight smile, but not before the endless critiques. I had learnt, before I had even hit double digits, that my worth on the field had become entangled with my worth off it. The rules of sport had become simple, pressure and winning were everything.
WE DON’T STOP PLAYING BECAUSE WE GROW OLD, WE STOP WHEN PLAYING NO LONGER BELONGS TO US
Allianz Australia’s recent research into junior sports in Australia found that one in three teens have pleaded with their parents to quit sport before the age of 15. When you ask them why, you won’t hear that they stopped loving the game or injury forced them into this position. You will hear one word. Pressure. These children are constantly demanded to give more than they have, car road homes are turned into lectures and incessant disappointment. Children leaving sports unhappy isn’t unlucky, it is simply symptomatic of a culture that values the scoreboard more than the kids standing in front of it. Kids do not leave the sport because they stopped loving it, but they felt as if it was no longer theirs, the logic of sport was now to perform for other people.
Realistically, it is very easy to write this off as a parenting issue. However, as much as people would like to think, this isn’t something that parents have written up and executed off of their own back. They didn’t invent these rules. They inherited them.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: THE RULES OF THE GAME STIMULUS: We…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 80%: THE RULES OF THE GAME STIMULUS: We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old when we stop playing.…
THE RULES OF THE GAME
STIMULUS: We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old when we stop playing.
THE AGE: Teen Takeover - A glimpse into the toxic sports culture plaguing sport, and forcing kids outside the lines on the game they love.
When I was eight, I realised that the people around me cared more about the results that I was producing than they did for me as an actual person. That’s when I realised, sport was no longer about fun, it was about who could kick the furthest, run the fastest, win the most. A missed shot or a kick out of bounds was met with anger, and followed by silence on the way home. While a win was met with a slight smile, but not before the endless critiques. I had learnt, before I had even hit double digits, that my worth on the field had become entangled with my worth off it. The rules of sport had become simple, pressure and winning were everything.
WE DON’T STOP PLAYING BECAUSE WE GROW OLD, WE STOP WHEN PLAYING NO LONGER BELONGS TO US
Allianz Australia’s recent research into junior sports in Australia found that one in three teens have pleaded with their parents to quit sport before the age of 15. When you ask them why, you won’t hear that they stopped loving the game or injury forced them into this position. You will hear one word. Pressure. These children are constantly demanded to give more than they have, car road homes are turned into lectures and incessant disappointment. Children leaving sports unhappy isn’t unlucky, it is simply symptomatic of a culture that values the scoreboard more than the kids standing in front of it. Kids do not leave the sport because they stopped loving it, but they felt as if it was no longer theirs, the logic of sport was now to perform for other people.
Realistically, it is very easy to write this off as a parenting issue. However, as much as people would like to think, this isn’t something that parents have written up and executed off of their own back. They didn’t invent these rules. They inherited them.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: THE RULES OF THE GAME STIMULUS: We…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 85%: THE RULES OF THE GAME THE AGE: Teen Takeover - A glimpse into the toxic sports culture plaguing sport, and…
THE RULES OF THE GAME
THE AGE: Teen Takeover - A glimpse into the toxic sports culture plaguing sport, and forcing kids outside the lines on the game they love.
When I was eight, I realised that the people around me cared more about the results that I was producing than they did for me as an actual person. That’s was I realised, sport was no longer about fun, it was about who could kick the furthest, run the fastest, win the most. A missed shot or a kick out of bounds was met with anger, and followed by silence on the way home. While a win was met with a slight smile, but not before the endless critiques. I had learnt, before I had even hit double digits, that my worth on the field had become entangled with my worth off it. The rules of sport had become simple, pressure and winning were everything.
WE DONT STOP PLAYING BECAUSE WE GROW OLD, WE STOP WHEN PLAYING NO LONGER BELONGS TO US
Allianz Australia’s recent research into junior sports in Australia found that one in three teens have pleaded with their parents to quit sport before the age of 15. When you ask them why, you won’t hear that they stopped loving the game or injury forced them into this position. You will hear one word. Pressure. These children are constantly demanded to give more than they have, car road homes are turned into lectures and incessant disappointment. Children leaving sports unhappy isn’t unlucky, it is simply symptomatic of a culture that values the scoreboard more than the kids standing in front of it. Kids do not leave the sport because they stopped loving it, but they felt as if it was no longer theirs, the logic of sport was now to perform for other people.
Realistically, it was very easy to write this off as a parenting issue. However, as much as people would like to think, this isn’t something that parents have written up and executed off of their own back. They didn’t invent these rules. They inherited them.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: The most common way people give up…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 60%: Voices Unheard To my silenced brothers and sisters joining me today as a part of the Southern Christian…
Voices Unheard
To my silenced brothers and sisters joining me today as a part of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). For 200 years we have been censored. For 200 years we have been treated as subhuman. For 200 years we have been stripped of our voice. But for no longer, as the unity we've found in each other is what strengthens us to overcome the governing body structured to lawfully outcast the black minority under their reign. Relinquishing the previous ideas about radical protest in stunning scenes only weakens our united movement. Therefore, we must refine our position within the sociopolitical scene in a peaceful protest to sustain our congruent position in society.
Join me in taking the tape off each other's mouths, as it is instrumental as black people, that we do not succumb to neutrality, in giving up our own power we unknowingly rob our neighbour of theirs. As a part of the SCLC we all will make our voices heard and our faces seen in the eyes of the government and make real change… finally seen as equals… equals in the innate human dignity every single one of us is born with the right to.
The public censoring of our people disempowers those who bear witness to the disgusting abuse of power inflicted upon poor individuals who were brave enough to break their silence.
The ingrained social construct of a hierarchy built on race solely to create a false sense of power for our oppressors, drastically undermines the innate rights black people are born with.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In his novella, the characters’ inaction…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s crime fiction novella “chronicle of a death foretold” pivots on the brutal murder of…
Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s crime fiction novella “chronicle of a death foretold” pivots on the brutal murder of Santiago Nasar, raising questions around collective responsibility and moral inaction. The author emphasises that the lack of moral action taken by the villagers was tied to the belief that the death was bound to happen. However, the author complicates this idea by also suggesting that the moral inaction was linked to the protagonist’s outsider status and the need for women to protect their honour.
Marquez highlights that the lack of moral choices made by the townspeople was due to the perception that the death was inevitable. Through the use of symbolism, Marquez demonstrates that the villagers moral inaction was tied to this belief. For instance, pura vicario, had a “good reputation” of interpreting dreams. However, her misinterpretation of her son’s dream of being a “good sign of health” and ignoring the “drizzle of rain” and the “grove of timber trees’ creates an illusion that his death was bound to happen. Marquez uses the misinterpretation to highlight the dramatic irony as the protagonist’s own mother failed to understand his dream and it foreshadowed the circumstances surrounding Santiago's death as “many agreed” that there was a “drizzle” of rain at the time of the misfortune. Through this, Marquez suggests that the missed warning created an illusion of the inevitable nature of the tragedy. Marquez ties this missed warning to the town’s belief that “no one could understand such fatal coincidences” to highlight the way villagers excused themselves from taking accountability and moral action by justifying that the tragedy was “assigned to us by fate.” Through this, Marquez illustrates the way the townspeople used “fate” as an excuse to avoid responsibility although they had many opportunities to intervene. Marquez leaves readers questioning whether the death was actually inevitable as he highlights the way the town believed it was “Fate” that led to the tragedy but also questions their lack of attempts to prevent the crime. Thus, marquez reinforces the notion that the characters’ inaction was tied to the belief the tragedy was bound to happen.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Title: ‘The choice’ Stimulus 1 ‘No two…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 87.5%: The choice The house on Miller Street was a container for a ghost life I once believed was permanent. For…
The choice
The house on Miller Street was a container for a ghost life I once believed was permanent. For years, Julian had been the constant; he had trailed behind like a loyal shadow, his footsteps matching mine with a rhythmic predictability that felt as essential as breathing. We were children of the same sun-drenched afternoons, unaware that our orbits were slowly drifting apart, pulled by forces we were too young to understand. Back then, the future seemed like a singular path, a paved road stretching forward with clear signposts. We had drawn our lives in crayon on the pavement: the same school, the same street, the same small promises that seemed too ordinary to ever break.
There was comfort in that certainty. We mistook proximity for permanence, believing that because we had always walked beside one another, we would continue to do so. But the landscape has a way of shifting beneath your feet, rearranging the horizon when you are least prepared. As the years bled into one another, the silence between us began to thicken. Time was a quiet tide, gradually pulling us towards different shores. It did not happen in a single, cinematic moment of betrayal or shouting, but in the gradual erosion of shared language. We were speaking the same words, but the definitions had drifted, anchored in different realities. Julian still spoke about the future we had once sketched together as though it were waiting patiently at the end of the road. I listened. Sometimes, I even smiled. That was the cruelest part: I could still remember why I had loved the life we had imagined.
I stand now at the threshold of my own departure — the physical manifestation of a choice I have been making in increments for a decade. The suitcase sits by the door, a solid, heavy symbol of finality. Outside, the sky is bruised with violet, the last light bleeding slowly across the horizon as though the day itself is reluctant to disappear. Rain gathers against the windows, each droplet sliding downward in uncertain paths. I watch them merge and separate, and wonder whether our lives have done the same. Is there truly a moment where we choose our direction, or do we simply wake one day to discover that the road beneath our feet is no longer the one we intended to take?
I look in the mirror, searching for the person who walked with Julian on those summer days, but the reflection seems fractured by the dim light. The lines around my eyes hold the geography of lessons learned in isolation. I remember the wreckage of last winter — the way the world seemed to splinter beneath the weight of expectations I could no longer carry. I had spent so long trying to fit myself into a future designed by other people that I had begun to disappear inside it, like ink dissolving in water. There had been a voice then, faint but persistent, urging me to find some direction amidst all the change and the storm I had weathered.
I ignored it.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Sunset Boulevard explore the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 97.5%: Set amidst the Golden Age of Hollywood and the studio system, Billy Wilder’s film noir Sunset Boulevard (1950)…
Set amidst the Golden Age of Hollywood and the studio system, Billy Wilder’s film noir Sunset Boulevard (1950) exposes the deep underbelly of Tinseltown, where the promise of success conceals a culture built upon exploitation and obsolescence. Wilder presents decline and decay as both personal and institutional, revealing how Hollywood’s relentless pursuit of success corrupts individuals, conceals profound emptiness beneath glamour, and ultimately discards those who lose their commercial value. Through Joe Gillis’s moral deterioration, Norma Desmond’s delusional attachment to her former fame, and Hollywood’s abandonment of its ageing stars, Wilder demonstrates that decline is not merely an inevitable consequence of time, but is intensified by an industry that commodifies identity and replaces people when they cease to be profitable. Ultimately, Wilder warns that when ambition, appearance and commercial value become measures of human worth, the pursuit of success becomes inherently destructive, transforming the very people who seek recognition into casualties of the industry that promises to elevate them.
From the outset, Wilder explores decline as a consequence of individuals becoming consumed by the pursuit of Hollywood success, as ambition gradually erodes morality, relationships and independence. This is demonstrated through Gillis’s retrospective first-person narration, “I was always a writer” which establishes Joe’s original artistic identity before contrasting it with the compromises that follow. His aspiration to become a writer initially represents independence and creative integrity; however, his financial desperation makes him susceptible to Hollywood’s promise of material security. This deterioration is visualised through mise-en-scene as Joe exchanges his “lousy apartment” for Norma’s extravagant mansion, with the decadent tuxedo and luxurious interiors symbolising his increasing dependence upon her wealth. Crucially, Joe’s physical movement from modest independence into Norma’s opulence mirrors his moral movement towards complicity. Although he initially recognises Norma’s delusions, he willingly accepts her money, clothing and lifestyle because they offer the success he cannot achieve independently. Wilder therefore establishes a paradox at the heart of Hollywood ambition: the pursuit of success that promises freedom instead produces dependence. Joe’s retrospective narration further intensifies this irony, as his cynical posthumous narration transforms his pursuit of material security into a bitter reflection on his own downfall, allowing the audience to view his compromises through the fatal knowledge of their consequences. Thus, personal decline emerges not simply from failure, but from the compromises individuals make when success becomes more valuable than integrity.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: creative piece- personal journeys
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 90%: Nobody noticed when the white swan disappeared. The black swan did not look like an enemy when I first met her.…
Nobody noticed when the white swan disappeared.
The black swan did not look like an enemy when I first met her. She did not arrive violently or announce herself as something to fear. She simply appeared, quietly, in the spaces between my thoughts. At first, she sounded almost indistinguishable from me. She spoke in the language of ambition, discipline and self-improvement, offering small suggestions that felt more like opportunities than warnings. You could be better. I believed her. Why wouldn’t I? The white swan had always wanted to be better.
She was there when I looked in the mirror and found something to correct. She was there when food became something to think about long after the plate had been cleared. She was there in the strange satisfaction of denying myself something I wanted, and in the guilt that followed when I did not. She made my body feel like a problem with a solution I had not yet found. Yet none of this seemed frightening. The black swan had a way of making fear sound like discipline.
What I did not understand was that she did not need to force the white one away. She only needed to make her doubt herself. Little by little, certainty became hesitation. Satisfaction became inadequacy. Thoughts that once passed through my mind began circling it, returning again and again until they felt less like thoughts and more like facts. The white swan was still visible to everyone else. She still laughed, studied, talked and sat at the dinner table. But inside, something had shifted. I was becoming quieter in places no one could see.
The black swan was patient. She understood that control is most convincing when it disguises itself as choice. She turned ordinary moments into tests I felt I had to pass, until decisions that once required no thought became negotiations I could not escape. I became increasingly conscious of what I ate, how I looked, what I believed I should have done differently. There was always another standard waiting for me, another way I could have been more disciplined, more deserving, more in control. Every time I reached it, she quietly moved the finish line.
And the cruelest part was that I thought I was choosing her.
The black swan had made secrecy feel like safety. The less other people knew, the less they could interfere; the less they could interfere, the more control I believed I had. I became skilled at making something enormous look insignificant. A thought could consume an entire day and still be dismissed with a shrug. A fear could sit beside me at dinner and remain invisible to everyone else. I could laugh, answer questions and carry on as though nothing had changed.
Nobody saw a black swan.
They saw me.
That was exactly how she wanted it.
The black swan knew she would never be trusted if she arrived looking like an enemy. So she borrowed the white swan’s face. She spoke in the same voice, carried the same ambitions and wore the same confidence. She did not ask me to become someone unrecognisable. Instead, she took the things I valued most and quietly changed what they meant.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 'while I lay on the rocks, reaching into…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 67.5%: Analytical response: Shade the box of the question that you are responding to: 1. How does Mary Oliver define…
Analytical response:
Shade the box of the question that you are responding to:
1. How does Mary Oliver define what it means to live a meaningful life?
OR
2. 'while I lay on the rocks, reaching into the darkness, learning little by little to love our only world.'
In New and Selected Poems, the struggle of living is overcome with inner strength. To what extent do you agree?
Mary Oliver's "New and Selected Poems: Volume 1" is an exposition of nature's comforts, life's hardships, and internal determination. While her poetry dissects the struggles of life, and the inner strength needed to endure them, Oliver suggests that it is not only ourselves but also the natural world that supports and comforts us through tribulations. Alongside this, Oliver further expands that hardship is not an obstacle to be overcome, but rather a lesson to be lived through.
Oliver exposes that internal fortitude is necessary in order to endure struggle. In 'The Journey', the speaker tells the reader that when they leave the voices of
Analytical response:
Shade the box of the question that you are responding to:
1. How does Mary Oliver define what it means to live a meaningful life?
OR
2. 'while I lay on the rocks, reaching into the darkness, learning little by little to love our only world.'
In New and Selected Poems, the struggle of living is overcome with inner strength. To what extent do you agree?
Mary Oliver's "New and Selected Poems: volume 1" is an exposition of nature's comforts, life's hardships, and internal determination. While her poetry dissects the struggles of life, and the inner strength needed to endure them, Oliver suggests that it is not only ourselves but also the natural world that supports and comforts us through tribulations. Alongside this, Oliver further expands that hardship is not an obstacle to be overcome, but rather a lesson to be lived through.
Oliver exposes that internal fortitude is necessary in order to endure struggle. In 'The Journey', the speaker tells the reader that when they leave the voices of
society behind, there will be a voice which they recognise "as [their] own" to guide them. This is supported by imagery of the 'stars [burning] through the sheets of clouds', indicating a spiritual and heavenly presence. This alludes to religious ideas of some greater power providing strength and guidance through periods of challenge, however, Oliver instead frames by this voice as the reader's own. This positions the reader to understand that the greatest strength to endure hardship will come from within oneself. This value is furthered through the anaphoric "you knew what you had to do". Oliver's specific use of second person throughout this poem causes the reader to understand that only they know what they must do. In the context of the hardships Oliver's speaker outlines, the reader is able to comprehend that in order to look past struggle, they must turn inward, as only they know what they must do. This concept is supported in 'Dogfish' where the speaker reflects that the little fish must dash "themselves"
away from the difficult situation they are in. The particular use of "themselves" indicates that only the fish can take action and find strength to swim away. The overall motif throughout this poem of the fish as humanity and the dogfish as difficulties of life supports this, suggesting that Oliver is asking the reader to look within "themselves" for strength in times of struggle. The reader is able to conclude that they must look for internal fortitude in order to live through inevitable struggles. Oliver thus portrays that inner strength is used to overcome life's hardships.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: The characters in Rainbow’s End are driven…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 67.5%: Indigenous Australians have witnessed the devastating ramifications of colonial dominance that disrupted…
Indigenous Australians have witnessed the devastating ramifications of colonial dominance that disrupted families, opportunity and rendered their vast inequalities. Depriving First Nations people of dignity, independence and power, lasting impacts of intergenerational trauma remains a barrier for growth and improvements. The play Rainbow’s End, written by playwright Jane Harrison, set in the Yorta Yorta lands, serves as a critique of the corruption embedded in the systemic practices of the 1950s Australia. Despite white hegemony and dominance of Eurocentric views, Harrison applauds profound connection to Indigenous identity as a form of resistance against colonial views. Empowerment from the will to rectify corruptions encourages First Nations Australians to fight for aspiration and not succumb to the will of authoritative power. However, Harrison exposes the lasting impacts of intergenerational trauma as a barrier for reform, prompting continuation of impoverished lifestyles.
Harrison applauds identity as a source of empowerment that overcomes the indoc[trinated] influence of Western hegemony. Nan’s characterisation recognises her grit and profound connection to home through her adamant claim to go back to “Murray River” and “die there”. Exhibiting her resistance amid the corruption of Western policies promoting cultural erosion, Harrison reveals the importance of remaining grounded to culture and traditions. Moreover, through her scepticism and reluctance to accept Western practices and society, portrayed as she cynically labels Errol a “gubba fella” and critiques Gladys’ “obsession” with British monarchy, Harrison exposes the deeply rooted consequence of intergenerational trauma that shaped views and perceptions. Emphasising Nan’s disapproval as not solely fulfilled by anger but rather an act of defiance to remain in control of her own life, Harrison demonstrates the need for Indigenous society to not abandon connection to home or identity. Harrison suggests that Indigenous Australians [need to] adopt immense connection to culture to ensure culture is preserved and passed along generations, resisting cultural genocide.Similarly, through the love interest of Errol and Polly, Harrison reveals the need for acknowledgement and acceptance of cultures and traditions. Despite Errol’s innocent yet ignorant aspiration to provide Polly a “better life”, he ironically disrupts their relationship through his inability to account for the values and traditions of First Nations Australians. His goal to provide Polly “the world” becomes futile by failing to respect Indigenous lifestyles and their significance in fighting oppression. Polly’s strong characterisation reinforces her as a hopeful and admirable figure for Indigenous women by not succumbing to temptations of comfort and convenience to remain grounded to her identity. Depicting Indigenous women’s strength and power as stemming from the negligence to be consumed by Eurocentric views, Harrison emphasises control and autonomy as empowerment in a prejudiced society.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does We Have Always Lived in the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 92.5%: In the 1962 Gothic novella, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson constructs an unsettling world in…
In the 1962 Gothic novella, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson constructs an unsettling world in which boundaries between sanctuary and confinement, innocence and violence, and normality and deviance are persistently destabilised. Through Merricat’s unreliable and deeply subjective narration, Jackson positions the reader within the isolated Blackwood estate, where the sisters’ withdrawal from society appears simultaneously protective and destructive. Against the hostility of the village and the lingering influence of social conventions and past trauma, Jackson exposes how prolonged isolation distorts characters’ perceptions of themselves, others and reality. Ultimately, Jackson suggests that isolation offers refuge from a hostile environment, yet increasingly confines the Blackwood sisters within their own constructed sanctuary.
Initially, Jackson presents prolonged ostracism as a psychological refuge, allowing the Blackwood sisters to seek security from the hostility and judgement of outside society. The villagers’ treatment of Merricat and Constance demonstrates how social hostility drives alienated individuals towards isolation. The townspeople’s depiction of the Blackwoods as monstrous culminates in the taunt, “Merricat, said Constance, would you like a cup of tea”, rendering their hostility as a nursery rhyme and transforming their belittlement into communal entertainment derived from a traumatic experience. Jackson’s use of a childish verse form exposes how the townspeople’s cruelty has become normalised rather than recognised as shameful. Their treatment of Merricat develops into a form of communal surveillance, intensifying her anxiety during her weekly shopping trips. Merricat’s confession that she “was afraid of going past that house” depicts the village as a space of observation and hostility, where the unseen judgement of others threatens her autonomy. In response, Merricat’s rituals and imaginative projections replace conventional social norms, allowing the sisters to construct security within their isolated reality. Her “new magical safeguards” reinforce her child-like mentality, enabling her to impose a sense of control over the external world she perceives as destructive. Likewise, Merricat’s fractured imagination fuels her fantasies of self-exile, revealing how sustained cruelty has conditioned her to equate security with detachment from reality. Her belief that “everything’s safe on the moon” transforms the moon’s remoteness into a symbol of psychological refuge, illustrating her child-like conviction that extreme separation from society offers ultimate safety. Jackson therefore suggests that when conventional society becomes threatening, isolation can appear to be the only means of preserving security and autonomy.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: friendly games
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 95%: We were both the competitive kind. The slight creak of the floorboard from his steps had woken me, but it was…
We were both the competitive kind.
The slight creak of the floorboard from his steps had woken me, but it was the curious energy radiating from his glimmering eyes that made me instinctively alert. Like how the streams of sunlight would beam through dissipating clouds in the aftermath of a storm, his warm brown eyes were peeking through wild tufts of jet-black hair, the same ones that formed patches around my ears and body. He was barely a boy then, yet he was standing so assertively on his short chubby legs that I couldn’t help but feel challenged to stare back and wag my tail furiously.
He looked at me some more before pointing a stubby finger.
“Mummy,” his jumbled words clumsily rolled out of his mouth. “I wan dat one.”
Upon hearing him, a man turned and saw me lying on the cushion.
“Oh him? That’s Peter Pan, he’s quiet now because he was just napping.”
A smile stretched across his lips.
“But don’t you worry, Kiddo, he’s one energetic puppy.”
Soon, I would learn that everything was a game between me and Victor, and out of all those games we would play, tug of war was my favourite.
Every time I sank my canines into the tight crevices of the rope, I felt the adrenaline rushing through my veins, the thumps of my pulsating heart. I could still vividly remember the bursts of energy that would flood through my muscles during those games, how I would stretch back, claws deep in the dirt, mouth clamped ferociously around the knot, as I tugged at the rope with every drop of strength and intensity I could muster.
Our tense competition was evident through the tally of victories kept on the chalkboard, but the short columns of grainy white lines didn’t mean much to me. It was the thrill of the game, and Victor’s bright laughter sprinkled in after each round that kept me wanting to play again and again.
In one of our earliest matches, I pulled so hard that the impact left Victor stumbling and falling backwards onto the grass. As I bounded towards him with the rope still in my mouth, excited for another round, I saw his small face, twisted with angry streaks of mud and eyebrows creased in annoyance.
“No more, Peter, I don’t wanna play anymore.” Tears were welling in his eyes and slowly rolling around the curve of his cheek. “You always win; it’s no fun.”
And then he left with heavy stomps in his trail.
VCE · Language Analysis
Language Analysis: Garcia Marquez conveys the…
VCE Language Analysis essay scoring 70%: Introduction - Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “Chronicle of a Death Foretold” is a novella that revolves around the…
Introduction -
Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “Chronicle of a Death Foretold” is a novella that revolves around the brutal murder of Santiago Nasar and raises questions around collective responsibility and moral weight. The author suggests that subconscious obedience to societal expectations is the catalyst to injustices. Marquez emphasises the way double standards in society are used to justify suffering, while also celebrating the defiance of unwritten social rules.
BP1 -
Through his novella, Marquez challenges the notion that thoughtless compliance with social norms is beneficial. By presenting Santiago Nasar’s death as a consequence of adherence to expectations, the author exposes how social expectations can contribute to the immoral actions of individuals. For instance, in court, Pedro and Pablo Vicario’s justification of their crime is simply “it was a matter of honour”, suggesting that they viewed the honour-killing as necessary and a normal part of their society. Marquez utilises their justification to scrutinise the way societal standards around restoring honour cause people to interpret murder as justified rather than a crime. Marquez presents such social norms as eroding individual empathy, as the Vicario brothers, despite taking responsibility for the murder, asserted “but we’re innocent” in court. Through the perspective of the Vicario brothers, the author suggests that unjust social standards can weaken moral judgement by disguising an act of immorality as duty. Moreover, Marquez emphasises the way unethical social expectations lay the foundation for injustice. For example, Pablo Vicario’s fiancee Prudencia Cotes later admitted that she wouldn’t have married him if “he hadn’t done what a man should do.” By presenting the Vicario brothers’ crime as a gender expectation, the author highlights how blindly adhering to such standards within society can shape actions and contribute to negative consequences such as the tragic death of Santiago Nasar. Marquez conveys that when social expectations are viewed as obligations rather than individual choice, blind adherence and tragedies become inevitable.
BP2 -
VCE · Language Analysis
Language Analysis: Good morning fellow book-lovers. I…
VCE Language Analysis essay scoring 82.5%: Amidst the rise of e-readers and other electronic literature devices, discussion has grown about the risks…
Amidst the rise of e-readers and other electronic literature devices, discussion has grown about the risks they pose to future literacy. Addressing an audience of teachers, librarians, and senior school students from the local area, Mrs Elliot’s speech at the opening of the ‘Reading: the future’ forum outlines the potential harm perpetuated by the complete transition away from traditional literature. Accompanying her speech with two visual sources she balances the benefit and detriment provided by e-readers both intellectually and culturally.
Elliot commences her speech by establishing a sense of understanding with the audience, and constructing her persona as a pragmatic figure, outlining how e-readers have failed to deliver their promised benefits. Beginning with an address to her ‘fellow book lovers’, the speaker immediately constructs rapport with more literarily inclined listeners. She cultivates an intimate in-group with them in order to ensure they feel represented by her perspective. This predisposes the audience to hold greater respect for Elliot’s opinion and feel more invested in preserving traditional literature, as it represents an important part of their shared community. Building off this specific connection, the orator then describes herself as an ‘early adopter’, the proaction implied in the term ‘adopter’ suggesting her tendency to willingly accept technology. She thereby shifts her focus onto more technologically inclined and younger audience members, allowing her to avoid appearing resistant to change, thereby framing later arguments as arising from genuine concern, rather than ideological opposition. By acknowledging that she initially misjudged the impacts of e-readers, thinking that they ‘had to be a good thing’, the speaker affirms a pragmatic and authentic persona, as she is willing to recognise her errors. Meanwhile the certainty of the word ‘had’ is designed to remind the audience that even apparent facts can be flawed, encouraging them to revisit their certainty about the benefits provided by e-readers. To emphasise this notion Elliot continues by contrasting a previous idealistic view of ‘effortless’ change with a current, more grounded reality to reflect her shifting opinions, from naivety to realism. Elliot thereby encourages the audience to similarly challenge their preexisting assumptions of the benefits provided by technological change, advising a more critical and reasoned approach. Thus, Elliot’s introduction is designed to position book-lovers and younger, tech-comfortable audiences to feel closely connected to and represented by her, while nonetheless subtly positioning them to support the continual necessity for physical books, despite the transition towards digital alternatives.
VCE · Language Analysis
Language Analysis: Good morning fellow book-lovers. I…
VCE Language Analysis essay scoring 90%: Amidst the rise of e-readers and other electronic literature devices discussion has grown about the risks they…
Amidst the rise of e-readers and other electronic literature devices discussion has grown about the risks they pose to future literacy. Addressing an audience of teachers, librarians, and senior school students from the local area, Mrs Elliot’s speech at the opening of the ‘Reading: the future’ forum outlines the potential harm perpetuated by the complete transition away from traditional literature. Accompanying her speech with two visual sources she balances the benefit and detriment provided by e-readers both intellectually and culturally.
Elliot commences her speech by establishing a sense of understanding with the audience, and constructing her persona as a pragmatic figure, outlining how e-readers have failed to deliver their promised benefits. Beginning with an address to her ‘fellow book lovers’, the speaker immediately constructs rapport with more literarily inclined listeners. She cultivates an intimate in-group with them in order to ensure they feel represented by her perspective. This predisposes the audience to hold greater respect for Elliot’s opinion and feel more invested in preserving traditional literature, as it represents an important part of their shared community. Building off this specific connection, the orator then describes herself as an ‘early adopter’, the agency of the term ‘adopter’ suggesting her tendency to willingly accept technology. She thereby shifts her focus onto more technologically inclined and younger audience members, allowing her to avoid appearing resistant to change, thereby framing later arguments as arising from genuine concern, rather than ideological opposition. By acknowledging that she initially misjudged the impacts of e-readers, thinking that they ‘had to be a good thing’, the speaker affirms a pragmatic and authentic persona, as she is willing to recognise her errors. Meanwhile the certainty of the word ‘had’ is designed to remind the audience that even apparent facts can be flawed, encouraging them to revisit their certainty about the benefits provided by e-readers. To emphasise this notion Elliot continues by contrasting a previous idealistic view of ‘effortless’ change with a current, more grounded reality to reflect her shifting opinions, from naivety to realism. Elliot thereby encourages the audience to similarly challenge their preexisting assumptions of the benefits provided by technological change, advising a more critical and reasoned approach. Additionally, asserting that she is ‘an enthusiastic reader’ like many in her audience, Elliot fosters further personal connection with them through shared experiences. This is strengthened by the inclusive and active language of ‘we actively create’ which allows the audience to feel like involved participants, validating their desire to enact meaningful change. The speaker asserts literature as a mechanism through which individuals develop meaning, rather than merely passively consuming. This affirms the audience's sense of responsibility for protecting books and heightens their desire to preserve physical media, rather than moving entirely to e-readers. Thus, Elliot’s introduction is designed to position book-lovers and younger, tech-comfortable audiences to feel closely connected to and represented by her, while nonetheless subtly positioning them to support the continual necessity for physical books, despite the transition towards digital alternatives.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: “The distance between” “Sometimes the…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 82.5%: A tumultuous sheet of grey washes over the sky, undulating, rolling and impenetrable. The sky begins to…
A tumultuous sheet of grey washes over the sky, undulating, rolling and impenetrable.
The sky begins to darken and a small village is engulfed in shadow and not too far away, up upon a small unremarkable hill, a boy no older than the age of 15 carries his washing back inside before the rain gets to it. People don’t know how he got there or why, all they know about him are the rumors being spread around town. “He lives all by himself,” some say, others talk about how he grows his own food but the general sentiment centres around the idea “He must be so lonely without anyone to talk to.”
The boy knows about their conversations, their whispering drifts up to his small mundane wooden shack, down through the chimney and into his delicate alabaster ears. As the sun begins to fade under the horizon and the fire starts to burn low, their murmurings become clearer. “My brother said he watches us from up there,” “What does he do all day,” “What a weirdo.” The boy had become used to these words, their arrival each night filling him with an unusual sense of familiarity. At first he wondered what they meant and he would open his windows, glancing down at their small houses. He searched for the people talking about him but he never found them. From the top of the hill, the village seemed so distant and the boy felt so alienated but that was all he ever knew so how could he complain? He convinced himself that they were afraid of him, that he wasn't welcomed. At least, that's what he told himself.
Was the boy on the hill, really a boy on a hill though?
Maybe he was a boy who sat alone at the back of the classroom.
The hill wasn’t really a hill either, it was the distance between him and everyone else. His wooden shack was the seat he ate lunch at, lodged in the corner of the normally deserted library. A place where his existence could become virtually erased. No-one existed in his reality and he didn't in anyone else's. It was easier for him like this, he didn’t have to worry about the obtrusive stares of others, their opinions, their judgement. He didn't have to worry about any of it.
No-one else existed in his private slice of the universe except him and the whispers.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: “The distance between” “Sometimes the…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 77.5%: A tumultuous sheet of grey washes over the sky, undulating, rolling and impenetrable. The sky begins to…
A tumultuous sheet of grey washes over the sky, undulating, rolling and impenetrable.
The sky begins to darken and a small village is engulfed in shadow and not too far away, up upon a small unremarkable hill, a boy no older than the age of 15 carries his washing back inside before the rain gets to it. People don’t know how he got there or why, all they know about him are the rumors being spread around town. “He lives all by himself,” some say, others talk about how he grows his own food but the general sentiment centres around the idea “He must be so lonely without anyone to talk to.”
The boy knows about their conversations, their whispering drifts up to his small mundane wooden shack, down through the chimney and into his delicate alabaster ears. As the sun begins to fade under the horizon and the fire starts to burn low, their murmurings become clearer. “My brother said he watches us from up there,” “What does he do all day,” “What a weirdo.” The boy had become used to these words, their arrival each night filling him with an unusual sense of familiarity. At first he wondered what they meant and he would open his windows and glance down at their small houses, searching for the people talking about him but he never found them. From the top of the hill, the village seemed so distant and the boy felt so alienated but that was all he ever knew so how could he complain? He convinced himself that they were afraid of him, that he wasn't welcomed. At least, that's what he told himself.
Was the boy on the hill, really a boy on a hill though?
Maybe he was a boy who sat alone at the back of the classroom.
The hill wasn’t really a hill either, it was the distance between him and everyone else. His wooden shack was the seat he ate lunch at, lodged in the corner of the normally deserted library. A place where his existence could become virtually erased, no-one existed in his reality and he didn't in anyone else's. It was easier for him like this, he didn’t have to worry about the obtrusive stares of others, their opinions, their judgement. He didn't have to worry about any of it.
No-one else existed in his private slice of the universe except him and the whispers.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: “The distance between” “Sometimes the…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 70%: A tumultuous sheet of grey washes over the sky, undulating, rolling and impenetrable. The sky begins to darken…
A tumultuous sheet of grey washes over the sky, undulating, rolling and impenetrable.
The sky begins to darken and a small village is engulfed in shadow and not too far away, up upon a small unremarkable hill, a boy no older than the age of 15 carries his washing back inside before the rain gets to it. People don’t know how he got there or why, all they know about him are the rumors being spread around town. “He lives all by himself,” some say, others talk about how he grows his own food but the general sentiment centres around the idea “He must be so lonely without anyone to talk to.”
The boy knows about their conversations, their whispering drifts up to his small mundane wooden shack, down through the chimney and into his delicate alabaster ears. As the sun begins to fade under the horizon and the fire starts to burn low, their murmurings become clearer. “My brother said he watches us from up there,” “What does he do all day,” “What a weirdo.” The boy had become used to these words, their arrival each night filling him with an unusual sense of familiarity. At first he wondered what they meant and he would open his windows and glance down at their small houses, searching for the people talking about him but he never found them. From the top of the hill, the village seemed so distant and the boy felt so alienated but that was all he ever knew so how could he complain? He convinced himself that they were afraid of him, that he wasn't welcomed. At least, that's what he told himself.
The boy on the hill wasn’t really a boy on a hill though.
He was a boy who sat alone at the back of the classroom.
The hill wasn’t really a hill either, it was the distance between him and everyone else. His wooden shack was the seat he ate lunch at, lodged in the corner of the normally deserted library. A place where his existence could become virtually erased, no-one existed in his reality and he didn't in anyone else's. It was easier for him like this, he didn’t have to worry about the obtrusive stares of others, their opinions, their judgement. He didn't have to worry about any of it.
No-one else existed in his private slice of the universe except him and the whispers.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: explore the significance of honour in the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: Gabriel Garcia Marquez's 1981 novella "Chronicle of a death foretold" is set within the 1950s Colombian society…
Gabriel Garcia Marquez's 1981 novella "Chronicle of a death foretold" is set within the 1950s Colombian society paralysed by patriarchal-honour codes, illuminating the institutional failure and moral hypocrisy. Marquez exposes how rigid patriarchal-honour codes relied on by the community, ultimately legitimising sanctioned violence due to the obsession of purity. Marquez illustrates transgression is possible, and the murder is a result of institutional failure and individual choice, highlighting the community's complicity. Marquez presents the novella through a past friend of Santiago Nasar, returning to understand the murder. Marquez elucidates how institutional failure role model morality, results in distorted mores that rationalise violence as gender expectations, consequently highlighting complicity through other's ability to subverse.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “This year i’m trying to make a living”…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 85%: Wilder presents a Hollywood culture of utility-based valuation, commodifying individuals and compelling them to…
Wilder presents a Hollywood culture of utility-based valuation, commodifying individuals and compelling them to compromise their authenticity in order to maintain professional survival. He makes a self-reflexive critique of the industry, uncovering the ways in which those within it are forced into moral erosion as a result of an exploitative corporate hierachy that is the studio system. Wilder depicts how writers like Joe, are reduced to a tool of film creation, exemplified by Sheldrake's dismissive opening address "OK Gillis you have 5 minutes". In Sheldrake, who is representative of higher-up authorities in Hollywood, even going so far as to alter Joe's work entirely and "make it a musical", Joe realises that "to make a living", he must abandon the writer he wants to be and instead become the utility that Hollywood demands. In knowing "just a story won't do", Joe becomes willing to forgo his honest character, reflected in his "bases loaded"
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “This year i’m trying to make a living”…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 85%: Wilder presents a Hollywood culture of utility-based valuation, commodifying individuals and compelling them to…
Wilder presents a Hollywood culture of utility-based valuation, commodifying individuals and compelling them to compromise their authenticity in order to maintain professional survival. He makes a self-reflexive critique of the industry, uncovering the ways in which those within it are forced into moral erosion as a result of an exploitative corporate hierachy that is the studio system. Wilded depicts how, writers like Joe, are reduced to a tool of film creation, exemplified by Sheldrake's dismissive opening address "OK Gillis you have 5 minutes". In Sheldrake, who is representative of higher-up authorities in Hollywood, even going so far as to alter Joe's work entirely and "make it a musical", Joe realises that "to make a living", he must abandon the writer he wants to be and instead become the utility that Hollywood demands. In knowing "just a story won't do", Joe becomes willing to forgo his honest character, reflected in his "bases
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “This year i’m trying to make a living”…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 77.5%: Wilder presents a Hollywood culture of utility-based valuation, commodifying individuals and compelling them to…
Wilder presents a Hollywood culture of utility-based valuation, commodifying individuals and compelling them to compromise their authenticity in order to maintain professional survival. He makes a self-reflexive critique at the industry, uncovering the ways in which those within it are forced into moral erosion as a result of a demanding authoritative studio system. Wilded depicts how, writers like Joe, are reduced to a tool of film creation, shown by Sheldrake's opening address being "OK Gillis you have 5 minutes". In Sheldrake, who is representative of higher-up authorities in Hollywood, even going so far as to alter Joe's work entirely and "make it a musical", Joe realises that "to make a living", he must abandon the writer he wants to be and instead become the utility that Hollywood demands. In knowing "just a story won't do", Joe becomes willing to forgo his honest character, reflected in his "bases loaded" pitch
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Oedipus the King evoke the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: Sophocles presents politics as a cycle of evil in which leaders cannot escape, compelling his audience to empathise…
Sophocles presents politics as a cycle of evil in which leaders cannot escape, compelling his audience to empathise with Thebes while also questioning Athens’ political foundations. Throughout the play, Thebes is embroiled in a constant cycle of tyranny. Laius is the city’s despotic past, supposedly ‘destroy[ing]’ his son to prevent his downfall from power. Oedipus is the city’s present, initially appearing to break from the cycle through claiming ‘read[iness] to help’ and a willingness to ‘do anything’ for his city. However, Oedipus ultimately falls victim to his system, allowing ‘crude, mindless stubbornness’ to nearly destroy Creon on a belief he ‘must rule’. The king descends into tyranny through forcing the shepherd to ‘talk with pain’, creating a stark contrast between compassion and cruelty which allows the character to embody terrifying unpredictability. Creon, the future of Thebes, is superficially presented as a ‘man of sense’; a ‘calm’