VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Rainbow's End explores the challenges of…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: Jane Harrison’s Rainbow’s End explores the challenges Indigenous Australians face when dealing with oppressive…
Jane Harrison’s Rainbow’s End explores the challenges Indigenous Australians face when dealing with oppressive forces. Set in 1950s Australia, the play shows how colonialism continues to affect Indigenous people through poor living conditions, racism and pressure to fit into white Australian society. These forces affect both the community and individual identity, making it difficult for characters to feel accepted and in control of their lives. However, Harrison also shows that oppression can be challenged through cultural pride, family, community and resistance. Ultimately, the play suggests that although the effects of colonialism are difficult to overcome, maintaining connections to culture and others can help people resist oppression.
Harrison shows that oppressive forces can create poor living conditions and make it difficult for Indigenous communities to improve their lives. The Flats is repeatedly affected by flooding, with Dolly saying they are “fighting nature all the time.” The phrase “all the time” shows that the community’s problems are ongoing. The flooding makes it difficult for the characters to live safely and comfortably, showing that Indigenous communities have been left in poor conditions because of social and economic inequality. This makes their struggle more than an individual problem, as the whole community is affected. The government’s poor response is further shown through the hessian placed around The Flats, described as a “band-aid over a sore.” The “band-aid” suggests that the government is only covering up the problem instead of fixing it. The hessian is put up so that the poverty of The Flats is hidden from Queen Elizabeth II, showing that the government cares more about Australia’s image than improving the lives of Indigenous people. Harrison therefore shows how government neglect makes dealing with oppression difficult. Nan Dear also remembers being “forced” to leave Cummeragunja. The word “forced” shows that Indigenous people had little control over their own lives. This connects the characters’ current struggles with the injustices experienced by earlier generations, showing that colonial oppression does not simply disappear with time because its effects continue to affect later generations. Therefore, Harrison demonstrates that structural oppression creates ongoing problems that make it difficult for Indigenous communities to escape inequality.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: "Rainbow's End explores the challenges of…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 92.5%: Jane Harrison's Rainbow's End (2007) is set on the flood-prone fringe of a rural Victorian town in the early…
Jane Harrison's Rainbow's End (2007) is set on the flood-prone fringe of a rural Victorian town in the early 1950s, a period in which Indigenous Australians were denied full citizenship and remained subject to sweeping government control over where they could live, work and raise their children. Through this setting, Harrison dramatises oppression as a structure that operates on multiple levels: as official government policy that severs people from land and family, and as an everyday prejudice that restricts opportunity and dignity within the community itself. Yet the play does not present its characters as passive casualties of this system; rather, it insists that resilience, education and an enduring connection to Country provide the means by which these oppressive forces can be confronted and, to some extent, overcome. Harrison therefore constructs a narrative in which institutional control and social discrimination inflict profound and lasting damage, while ultimately suggesting that collective action and self-determination offer a pathway through which her characters can begin to reclaim agency over their own lives.
Harrison first establishes oppression as an institutional force, exercised through government policy that treats Indigenous families as subjects to be relocated, assimilated and controlled rather than as citizens with rights of their own. This is voiced through Nan Dear's memory of a real historical dispossession: "They forced us to leave. Forced us to leave Cummeragunja. Our home." The blunt repetition of "forced" strips the sentence of any agency on the speaker's part, syntactically enacting the very powerlessness the line describes, while the truncated final clause, "Our home," asserts a possessive claim to Country that policy itself refused to recognise. By referencing the actual 1939 walk-off from the Cummeragunja Mission, Harrison grounds her drama in documented history, transforming personal testimony into a form of political record that indicts the Aborigines Protection Board's authority over Indigenous life. This institutional control is reinforced through the play's own stagecraft: the settlement is physically divided from the township by a railway line, a piece of staging that renders segregation not as background information but as a visible boundary the audience watches characters cross and recross, compounded by the era's assimilationist expectation that the family simply "learn to live like" the white community surrounding them. The device transforms an abstract policy into spatial reality, reminding the audience that exclusion in this period was enforced architecturally as much as legally. Harrison extends this critique of colonial authority into the play's historical framing, staging Nan Dear's ambivalence toward the 1953 coronation celebrations through the terse rejection, "She's not my Queen." The clipped, declarative syntax refuses the pageantry of imperial celebration surrounding it, exposing the irony of a nation celebrating unity and loyalty to the Crown while denying its Indigenous population the full rights of citizenship. Together, these moments position government policy and colonial authority as the foundational oppressive force in the play, one that precedes and enables the more immediate discrimination the family encounters in daily life.
VCE · Language Analysis
Language Analysis: Australia should protect the use of…
VCE Language Analysis essay scoring 80%: Intro: “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither…
Intro:
“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety".
This is a quote that I first came across in my Year 9 Humanities class. Silently sitting in there, I didn't really give much thought, attention, or value to this issue now, only 3 years later this quote has given me a new perspective on our society.
Benjamin Franklin's words reflect how the sacrifice of fundamental rights risks the loss of both freedom and security. So, what does this mean?
This demonstrates how Australia is quickly transitioning into a cashless future, one that our future generation is approaching with limited choice or say. Unless we make a change, our country's inclusivity and safety will be at risk.
Australia's convenience of contactless payments is being identified as one of the ‘frontrunners’ of digital payments. We are amongst other leading countries such as China, Norway, and South Korea. However, Australia’s gap in data protection services, leave citizens feeling like they lack control over their personal data.
Despite its efficiency and easy to use system of digital payments, cash should remain an important part of our everyday lives. From supporting the vulnerable to equipping our children with the financial literacy that they need to manage life.
We should ensure that we protect the use of cash instead of fading into a cashless society.
Our actions to preserve cash should ensure that cash and digital payments coexist to ensure that we create a more inclusive, one-for-all society.
B1:
According to the Australian Human Rights Commission, almost one in four Australians are digitally excluded from society. This is almost seven million people in our country.
Additionally, cash is essential for those who find it difficult to use or access online banking, such as people living in remote areas, including First Nations communities, as digital services are becoming steadily unreliable over time.
Many shops are already transitioning to ‘card-only’ policies, excluding many vulnerable citizens, such as people with disabilities and victim survivors. So, every time we use digital payments for transactions that could be made with the cash sitting at the bottom of our wallets, Australia moves one step closer to becoming a digital world that is difficult to escape, without considering the needs of all citizens. By continuing to use cash in small parts of our everyday lives, we can help preserve it for our vulnerable citizens, including the elderly.
B2:
Furthermore, cash is an important asset to have as it is vital for emergencies and helps individuals and especially families to budget effectively.
Many of us often face unexpected situations.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “High Ground suggests that truth and…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: Stephen Johnsons 2020 film ‘High Ground’ exposes the devastating consequences of colonial invasion in Arnhem land…
Stephen Johnsons 2020 film ‘High Ground’ exposes the devastating consequences of colonial invasion in Arnhem land during the early 20th century, revealing how incompatible values surrounding land, law and justice shape the lives of the Yolnu people and British colonisers. Johnson challenges that a society built on revenge cannot fully achieve justice and the ability for colonisers to manipulate history further silences the Yolnu people. Whilst truth and justice is implied to be very difficult to uphold, an embracement of identity and land may preserve community and values.
A society that is built on a cycle of revenge and violence results in an inability to achieve justice. Both the Europeans and Indigenous people engage in acts of violence This is driven through leaders Moran and Bawywara. Moran stating “They killed a what woman” with emphasis on “white” reveals a racial hierarchy of grief and revenge. One white death receives urgency and punishment, whereas the deaths of many Indigenous women and children and minimised or concealed. Gutjuk reverses Morans narrative stating that the conflict “didn’t start with {his} uncle, it started with {Moran}”, revealing Baywara’s violence is represented as a response to invasion and massacre, not its cause. Morans loaded labels “wild mob”, “killing livestock”, “burning stations”, construct Baywara’s resistance as savagery. The possessive colonisers value settler property, cattle and stations above indigenous lives, land and law demonstrating their values of authority. The ongoing rotation of violence means revenge will never gain justice for those wanting it which is symbolised through both Moran and Baywara dying at the end of the film.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Desire is the most powerful force in…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 87.5%: Influenced by the social and cultural anxieties of post-war Hollywood, Billy Wilder’s noir film Sunset Boulevard…
Influenced by the social and cultural anxieties of post-war Hollywood, Billy Wilder’s noir film Sunset Boulevard exposes an industry in which individuals are driven by desires for fame, recognition, security and belonging. Wilder presents desire as a powerful force because it motivates individuals to pursue idealised versions of success, often causing them to compromise their authenticity and relationships. However, the film ultimately suggests that desire becomes most destructive when it is cultivated by Hollywood’s obsession with image, status and commercial value. Through the contrast between aspiration and disillusionment, Wilder reveals that while desire propels individuals towards their ambitions, the institutional values of Hollywood manipulate these desires and determine their consequences. Thus, Sunset Boulevard largely supports the view that desire is a powerful force, but suggests that its destructive potential originates from the culture that teaches individuals what they should desire.
Desire initially operates as a powerful motivator, compelling individuals to pursue success even when their ambitions conflict with reality. The film’s opening establishes this destructive pursuit through Joe’s cynical voice-over as his corpse floats in the swimming pool, revealing that the “poor dope” had always wanted a pool. The dramatic irony between Joe’s aspiration for material success and his death immediately subverts the glamorous associations of Hollywood, suggesting that the pursuit of wealth and status can become fatal. His desire for professional recognition is further expressed when he accepts Norma’s offer to revise her screenplay despite recognising its poor quality. Joe acknowledges that the script is “just so lousy” yet remains because his financial circumstances leave him desperate for security. Wilder’s use of first-person narration exposes the contradiction between Joe’s cynical awareness and his willingness to compromise his values, demonstrating how desire can overpower moral judgement. Similarly, Norma’s desire to return to the screen transforms her past fame into an obsession with reclaiming relevance. Her declaration that “I am big. It’s the pictures that got small” reveals her refusal to accept the changing film industry, while the antithesis between “big” and “small” exposes the distorted logic through which she measures her worth. Her desire is therefore not merely for employment, but for the restoration of an identity founded upon public admiration. Through these competing ambitions, Wilder demonstrates that desire can provide individuals with purpose while simultaneously encouraging them to deny uncomfortable realities.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In sunset boulevard how does wilder…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 87.5%: Influenced by the cultural and social context of post-war Hollywood, Billy Wilder’s noir drama film ‘Sunset…
Influenced by the cultural and social context of post-war Hollywood, Billy Wilder’s noir drama
film ‘Sunset Boulevard’ elucidates the harsh consequences of an industry that glorifies
manufactured images over human authenticity. Wilder reveals that Hollywood reduces
individuals to their physical appearance and commercial value, disregarding their talent and
humanity once their image becomes unprofitable. Furthermore, he demonstrates that idealised
images entrap individuals within artificial identities, preventing them from accepting change and
confronting reality. Ultimately, through the contrast between Hollywood’s glamorous facade and
the corruption concealed beneath it, The auteur critiques the glorification of images by exposing
how glamorous appearances conceal the corruption, exploitation and decay within Hollywood’s
institution.
Through the characterisation, the auteur initially critiques the glorification of images by revealing
that Hollywood determines an individual’s worth according to physical appearance and
commercial value rather than talent or humanity. This institutional prejudice is evident through
Betty Schaefer, who explains that she “didn’t have the looks” required for acting and was told to
undergo surgery on her nose. Through Betty’s accepting dialogue, Wilder exposes an industry
in which even a young and ambitious woman is encouraged to physically reconstruct herself to
conform to a profitable image. Her rejection despite altering her appearance underscores the
instability of Hollywood’s beauty standards, where individuals are pressured to sacrifice their
identity, yet are offered no guarantee of acceptance in return. Furthermore, Wilder exposes this
commodification through Norma’s assertion, “I am big. It’s the pictures that got small.” The
juxtaposition between “big” and “small” reveals Norma’s refusal to recognise that the film
industry no longer considers her image commercially desirable. However, the director suggests
his criticism towards Hollywood itself, as Norma’s delusion has been curated by an institution
that once celebrated her appearance before abandoning her as she aged. Her bitter observation
that “there just aren’t any faces like that anymore” reduces performers to their appearances,
reflecting how silent cinema transformed Hollywood actors into visual commodities rather than
valuing them as talented human beings. Through close-up shots of Norma’s dramatically
illuminated face, Wilder imitates the visual language of silent cinema while simultaneously
revealing its disturbing consequences. Her face appears theatrical and mask-like, suggesting
that the image Hollywood once glorified has replaced the authentic individual beneath it. Thus,
Wilder critiques an institution that elevates people as profitable images before discarding them
when their appearances no longer satisfy its commercial demands.
Concurrently, the director suggests that the glorification of idealised images prevents individuals
from accepting change, entrapping them within identities constructed from past success.
Norma’s inability to separate herself from her screen image is established when she delusionally
whispers, “No one ever leaves a star. That’s what makes one a star.” Her repetition of “star”
demonstrates that she does not understand fame as a temporary professional status, but as a
permanent identity that entitles her to admiration. Consequently, Joe’s desire to leave becomes
more than romantic rejection as it threatens the artificial image upon which Norma’s entire
sense of self demands. Wilder visually reinforces this entrapment through the mise-en-scène of
Norma’s mansion, which is crowded with photographs of her younger self. These images
surround Norma with idealised versions of her past, transforming her home into both a shrine
and a prison. Rather than preserving her identity, the photographs prevent her from developing
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: The depictions of insanity in Pat Barker’s…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 93.75%: Pat Barker's Regeneration argues, with only one important qualification, that what the novel diagnoses as…
Pat Barker's Regeneration argues, with only one important qualification, that what the novel diagnoses as insanity is overwhelmingly sane and logical when read as a response to war rather than a departure from reason. Symptoms like mutism, stammering, and hallucination are shown to follow a coherent internal logic tied directly to trauma, rather than being random malfunctions of the mind. Barker complicates a simple agreement with the prompt, however, by showing that the label of insanity itself is frequently deployed not as an accurate diagnosis but as an institutional tool, used to discredit conscience and reassert control over men whose bodies are, in fact, responding with perfect rationality to conditions no human psychology evolved to withstand. Ultimately, the novel suggests that the true irrationality lies not in its patients, but in the war and the systems built to manage its human cost.
Barker constructs the patients' symptoms as precise, comprehensible responses to specific traumas rather than arbitrary breakdowns of reason. Prior's mutism, for instance, is diagnosed by Rivers as growing out of "a conflict between wanting to say something, and knowing that if you do say it the consequences will be disastrous," so that his silence becomes the mind's rational solution to an impossible situation rather than a loss of coherent thought. Burns's inability to eat after being blown into a rotting corpse follows the same logic: his body's revulsion at the "taste and smell" of decomposing flesh is not madness but an entirely sane, protective refusal to ingest what nearly killed him. Even Rivers's diagnostic framework treats breakdown as "erosion," the slow accumulation of "weeks and months of stress," rather than a single inexplicable collapse, reinforcing that these responses are traceable, logical consequences of extreme circumstances. By giving each symptom this internal coherence, Barker asks the reader to see shell shock not as a mysterious descent into unreason, but as the psyche doing exactly what any rational system would do when faced with conditions it cannot otherwise survive.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “Then I’ll have to change too. I’ll prove…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 65%: Jane Harrison’s ‘Rainbow’s End’ explores the lives of three Indigenous Australian women from three different…
Jane Harrison’s ‘Rainbow’s End’ explores the lives of three Indigenous Australian women from three different generations, living on “the Flats” in 1950s Victoria. While the play suggests that the harsh and traumatic realities from systematic racism can cause incredible development, Harrison ultimately asserts how a more genuine, and transformative growth comes from deep compassion and empathy. By tracing the lives of the “Dear family”, and a white outsider “Errol”, Harrison demonstrates that empathy that is both for oneself and for others, is an essential catalyst into breaking the cycle between prejudice and injustice. While survival might be born of hardship, the play suggests that it is through compassion and connection, in which individuals truly find the agency to change themselves for the better.
In the play, Harrison suggests that while hardship forces survival and maturity, it is familial compassion that triggers genuine emotional growth. This forced hardship is demonstrated when Gladys is concerned about Dolly, hoping that “they won’t take her.” These feelings originate from Gladys being part of the ‘Stolen Generation’ herself, which imply how Gladys had been forced to mature early, as part of a survival mechanism from being taken away from her family. Furthermore, Harrison’s decision to use Nan Dear’s blunt and restrictive warnings to “keep away from them cork trees,” highlights the grandmother’s tough love, which stems from a protective compassion, born from her past trauma. Harrison uses the cork trees as a symbol representing the dangerous threshold of Dolly’s path to emotional growth; whereas Nan uses the cork trees as a site of trauma to be avoided, where it ultimately becomes the place where Dolly’s innocence is shattered. Although Dolly is stricken with fear about her future, it is ultimately her family that helps her through this experience. This proves that although Dolly’s harsh experience at the cork tree experiences triggered her maturity, it is the genuine familial compassion that ensures that this growth is of hope, rather than despair. Thus, Harrison suggests that while trauma may force an individual to grow, such growth only becomes genuine when there are people to support you.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Wesley is courageous, but his courage…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 85%: Larry Watson’s retrospective novel, Montana 1948 elaborates the influencing factors that affect willingness to take…
Larry Watson’s retrospective novel, Montana 1948 elaborates the influencing factors that affect willingness to take action. The town of Bentrock plays host to Wesley Hayden’s reign as sheriff, as key patriarchal figures influence the importance of legal principle to protect their reputation. Watson presents this through Wesley attempts to act courageously whilst balancing family loyalty and duty as pressures of the Hayden name weigh tremendously on him forcing delayed justice. However, Watson suggests the postponement of Wesley’s actions was a result of his scepticism towards the truth as a result of the influence of his father. By contrasting Wesley’s actions with his family duties and responsibilities, Watson ultimately demonstrates how the postponement of courage comes at a high cost.
Wesley subconsciously strives for validation from Julian, as a result his ideals orbit those of family loyalty and legal duty. Watson emphasises this behaviour as an inability to act purely as a sheriff because what he believes is justice can’t be separated from his customs of family protection. Wesley becomes so obsessed with becoming the son Julian wants him to be, he merges his legal obligations and personal preference so that his identity becomes an amalgamation of Hayden protection. Gail’s attempt to separate his sheriff values away from his bias, is met with Wesley questioning who she is asking for: her “husband” or “sheriff”. As a result Wesley’s moral foundations become questioned to a point that his denial of Frank’s crimes morphs into a curiosity. Even so, his curiosity is no match to his internal commitment in protecting the Hayden reputation as Wesley scurries around the nature of Frank's crime. Watson highlights this through Wesley’s intent to conceal Frank’s sexual assault from the greater Bentrock community as he still dosen’t want “(it) all over town”. Watson ultimately develops the limiting effect of family values on the sheriff striving for father-son validation even though it delays his courage to reveal the truth as the protection of his father’s empirical Hayden reputation comes above all else.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: High Ground suggests there is no easy…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 65%: Conflict between colonists and the indigenous population of Australia has been ongoing since the first arrival of…
Conflict between colonists and the indigenous population of Australia has been ongoing since the first arrival of the settlers, wars over ownership of land, identity and culture have had an overarching effect on any chance of resolution . Set in 1919 Northern Australia amid widespread colonial violence and dispossession, Stephan Maxwell Johnson’s revisionist Western “High Ground" (2020), written by Witiyann Marika (has ancestral roots to the yolngu people) explores the devastating consequences of massacres , the loss of country, and cultural destruction. Stephan Johnson, establishes that whilst there might be no straight forward resolution to a conflict the real answer lies with acknowledging the past trauma inflicted upon the Indigenous community of Australia in order to reconcile with the past mistakes made. Johnson argues that different perspectives of justice prevent a resolution from being reached, which is further averted by the power imbalances between the settlers and Indigenous population. Although Johnson suggests that there is no easy resolution to conflict, He also emphasises the need to recognise the former history, and acknowledge the pain and suffering imposed on the Indigenous Community.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: To what extent is Twelfth Night a play…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, deception is far more than a source of comedic intrigue; it is a pervasive force…
In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, deception is far more than a source of comedic intrigue; it is a pervasive force that threatens the psychological and emotional integrity of the characters. While disguise and artifice are initially presented as methods of survival or play, the play reveals that these deceptions are inherently dangerous. By alienating characters from their true selves, fostering harmful illusions, and providing a vehicle for malicious cruelty, Shakespeare argues that the act of concealing the truth inevitably leads to suffering. Ultimately, Twelfth Night suggests that when characters trade reality for artifice, they construct a self-imposed prison from which only the truth can liberate them.
The most immediate danger of deception is the loss of one’s authentic self, a conflict most clearly embodied by Viola. Her adoption of the male persona, Cesario, is initially a strategy of necessity, yet it quickly becomes a form of self-inflicted imprisonment. As she confesses, "I am not what I am," she encapsulates the profound psychological fragmentation that comes with sustaining a lie. The danger here is not merely the deception of others, but the erosion of her own identity; her "Cesario" persona becomes so deeply ingrained that her true desires are stifled. By creating a barrier between her inner life and her external performance, Viola finds herself trapped in a cage of her own making, where the boundary between the mask and the woman becomes dangerously blurred.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Love as Self-Inflicted Suffering in…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: Introduction In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, love is often presented not as a source of joy, but as a performance…
Introduction In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, love is often presented not as a source of joy, but as a performance of suffering. While the characters in Illyria frequently blame their unhappiness on external circumstances or the cruelty of others, the play suggests that much of their pain is, in fact, self-inflicted. By obsessing over idealized illusions, adopting deceptive identities, and failing to distinguish between reality and fantasy, characters such as Orsino, Viola, and Olivia perpetuate their own emotional anguish. Ultimately, Shakespeare illustrates that love becomes a trap when individuals choose to dwell in the safety of a fantasy rather than the complexity of the truth.
Body Paragraph 1 (Orsino) Orsino is the epitome of idealized love, demonstrating that suffering is often a chosen state. His obsessive pursuit of unwanted affection for Olivia reveals a man more in love with the idea of being in love than with the woman herself. As he famously declares, "If music be the food of love, play on," he reveals that he cherishes the sensation of love itself—the "food"—more than any genuine connection with Olivia. This is a clear example of self-inflicted pain because Orsino actively cultivates his longing; he chooses to dwell in a fantasy of love rather than engaging with the reality of his situation or seeking a genuine connection.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: "the townspeople find it easier to blame…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: 'The townspeople find it easier to blame fate than question tradition'. Discuss #4 Gabriel Garcia Márquez's 19883…
'The townspeople find it easier to blame fate than question tradition'. Discuss #4
Gabriel Garcia Márquez's 19883 novella Chronicle of a Death Foretold explores the deeply corrupted tradition entrenched within 1950's Columbian society which controls individuals and removes their agency. Chronicle of a Death Foretold establishes how societies led by corrupted must trust their leaders blindly would rather blame fate than stray from tradition. Garcia Márquez establishes how deeply entrenched beliefs cultivate a flawed society with lack of agency. Additionally, Garcia Márquez condemns how tradition societal expectations never debated cause strict expectations to the point of performance. Finally, Garcia Márquez reveals the fatalist collective fatalism and blaming of fate which results from the inability to break tradition.
Garcia Márquez highlights how disconnected and corrupted institutions when unquestioned evade individuals agency. From the outset of the novella, Garcia Márquez utilises subordinate clause as he positions 'Santiago Nasar get up at 5:30... the bishop was coming' above 'on the day they were going to kill him'. Revealing early how strong religious performance is prioritised above all, to the point where murder is belittled to be subordinate to it. Garcia Márquez utilises this grammatical structure to reveal to his modern audience the hierarchy of values in 1950's Colombia, and how governing institutions are spotlighted over oncoming tragedy. Garcia Márquez further highlights the the substancial deluded perception of the church through Santiago's dressing in 'all white linen' in a 'pontifical style' but still having a 'copper' taste in his mouth" from drinking the previous night.
Garcia Marquez strategically introduced that Santiago dressing pompously while experiencing hangover to reveal to his modern audience the irony of their town. How all the while it appears holy, its all a theatrical performance put on by the entire community, which he uses to warn the dangers of deciet. Garcia Márquez further elaborated on these performative inhibitions through the bishop's arrival,
as he 'wont get off the boat' while delivering a bless sign of the cross in the air'. which Garcia Marquez strategically included to reveal the true disconnect between the townspeople and their religious inhibitions which defend their deeply enshrined religious doctrines. Revealing how a town the unworthy worship of institutional leaders can cultivate strict tradition which society fears to question.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: This is for an oral speech concerning…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 72.5%: small Wiradjuri girl carrying the weight of years of trauma, not just her backpack, on the walk to school. A…
small Wiradjuri girl carrying the weight of years of trauma, not just her backpack, on the walk to school. A darker-skinned fellow still having his position questioned after generations, including himself, having to work twice as hard just to be there.
A hard-working individual who still has to face despicable ridicule and shame as a consequence of just being a woman.
How can we say Australia has instilled itself with fair and equitable values when this is the reality of millions when they walk out the door and into the Australian sun?
‘Australian values’ have been riddled with bitter contempt: who deserves more, who could we just further oppress, how do we manage ourselves as a country to even look respectable to each other?
It's time we reconcile with the dark past and bitter present. It’s our chance to seize the moment and the privilege befallen unto us. Fight the wave of white superiority, misogyny and discrimination. We need to affirm our belief in the Indigenous population, their role in cultivating the land into the beautiful soil we stand on today, and open our eyes to the countless generations of immigrants and their role in establishing and fostering culture. We need to look at each other and pull those out from between the gaps where they suffer silently. Australia is a country built on the prosperity of all its citizens. We need to ensure that change happens for the prosperity of all of our lives.
The sound of the Australian bush, calls of our native birds decorate our open space. The sickly sweet smell of eucalyptus on the tip of each of our tongues. The soil nurturing us from below, filtering water and lending us its land. Surely the omnipresence of our surroundings doesn’t let us forget who we should lend our extended gratitude to?
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: High Ground presents different…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: PROMPT: High Grand presents different understandings of loyalty. Discuss Set against the backdrop of Arnhem Land,…
PROMPT: High Grand presents different understandings of loyalty. Discuss
Set against the backdrop of Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Stephen Johnson's 'High Grand' presents the rigid colonial atmosphere of early 1900's Australia, underscoring the multifaceted presence of [loyalty] within connections and expectations. While Johnson depicts [loyalty] as an intrinsic virtue for each individual, he ultimately underpins the stark opposition in views of [loyalty] for those who consider [loyalty] as a source of control while others utilise [loyalty] to connect to their culture. In essence, Johnson's confronting depiction of frontier cent-dominated Australia urges viewers to witness the brutality and destruction within frontier dominated Australia.
From the outset, Johnson confines an understanding of loyalty to those who utilise Country as an avenue to seek (belonging) within their culture? The exposition features Gutjuk as a young child, painting through a low-angle close up shot as he spreads ochre across his face. There Johnson details the bright white cultural paint as Gutjuk smears it on his face. By employing this vision Johnson immediately establishes the naturality of the Yolgnu culture celebrating the cultural use of flora. Following this Johnson embeds a long shot highlighting Yolgnu men holding hand-made spears and painted in the same white ochre. This moment details the unequivocal cultural significance to the Yolgnu group, where Gutjuk desires to "watch and learn" the older hunter men with the desire to follow their footsteps. Within this Johnson facilitates Country as an avenue for ones cultural growth, reflecting
Gotjuks early devotion to his yolngu culture. Johnson further this in the rising action as Travis and Gutjuk act after their first day searching for Baywara. Employing, a close-up shot of Gutjuk now a young adult-picking 'good bush tucker' off a tree, accompanied this shot with the golden lighting seeping through to braeles, illuminated by the sun. Johnson reinforces the devotional love Johnson displays Gutjuk in staying true to his culture, to find subtle empowerment by drawing back to his cultural understandings through Country, and echoing his guidance from Baywara's voice through the pushpins, "keeping him going". Johnson shifts to a medium long shot depicting Gutjuk, his colonial clothing contrasts his yolngu actions. Thus Gutjuks motivation in staying loyal to his cultural heritage despite the attempted assimilation of colonial norms becoming 'Tommy'. Cumulatively, Johnson encloses the force of cultural connections acting as upbringing, celebrating the cultural embrace of First Nations use of Country as a catalyst for cultural acceptance. is this rising enough to loyalty?
Despite the empowering representation of cultural loyalty, Johnson's alternative demonstration of loyalty divulges the manipulation of loyalty as a motive in order to insert a deviation. Johnson's exposition, highlights the divisionistic opposing value of loyalty for the colonial figures, prioritising their post WWI mentality to drive their
despite the "peaceful" intentions of the "massacre"
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “Fear and authority are used as a means of…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 85%: Sarah Moss’ 2018 novella Ghost Wall exposes how patriarchal, intellectual and collective forms of authority can…
Sarah Moss’ 2018 novella Ghost Wall exposes how patriarchal, intellectual and collective forms of authority can restrict individual autonomy, particualy when those subjected to them are denied alternative sources of knowledge or support. Yet Moss complicates the proposition by demonstrating that authority itself is not inherintly oppressive. Knowledge, community and female solidarity can instead challenge coercive power and create possibilities for freedom. Ultimately, Moss suggest that control becomes most enduring when fear is internalised, allowing oppressive authority to operate without requiring constant physical force.
Moss first demonstrates that authority becomes a means of control when those who possess power are able to determine what others accept as truth. Bill’s authority is strengthened by his selective understanding of history, as he presents his interpretation of of the past as unquestionable knowledge. His description of Hadrian’s Wall as a “physical manifestation of Ancient British resistance still marked on the land” reveals how he transforms history into ideological validation, with the noun “manifestation” giving his personal interpretation an almost tangible authority. Significantly, Silvie has been largely educated through her father’s knowledge admitting “[her] dad taught [her]”. This reveals the epistemological authority that Bill has over Silie. This is further reinforced by her admission that “[she] didn’t quite know how to ask anything of [her] own”, where the pronoun “anything” suggests that his authority has restricted not just her answers, but her capacity to formulate independent questions. Moss therefore reveals that control does not always require direct violence, authority over knowledge can make idividuals uncertain of their own judgement, causing them to police themselves before authority even needs to intervene. Against this, the Professor’s correction that Hadrian’s Wall was rather “a marker, the edge of empire” exposes the instability of Bill’s supposed authority. In this way, the isolated campsite operates as a small scale reflection of a divided Britain. Competing narratives of national identity demonstrate how authority over history can create an ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality, particularly resonant with the nationalism and divison surrounding Brexit. Moss ultimatelty suggests that authority is most controlling when it succeeds in convincing individuals that its version of the truth is the only version avaliable.
VCE · Language Analysis
Language Analysis: this is an ORAL pov
VCE Language Analysis essay scoring 95%: Good evening everyone. As part of this community discussion on Victoria’s healthcare system, I’ve been asked to…
Good evening everyone. As part of this community discussion on Victoria’s healthcare system, I’ve been asked to speak about an issue that affects thousands of Victorians every day. As an emergency department nurse, I see the impact of this issue firsthand.”
“It’s 2am. Every chair in the emergency department waiting room is occupied. An elderly man is clutching his chest. A mother is trying to comfort her crying child. A paramedic crew waits beside their ambulance because there is nowhere to transfer their patient.
And all around them is the same question: ‘How much longer?
As an emergency department nurse working within Victoria’s public healthcare system,
this isn’t a scene from a television drama.
It is a reality that healthcare workers and patients face every day.
Last winter, I cared for an elderly woman who arrived at the emergency department struggling to breathe. She was frightened, exhausted, and clearly needed urgent medical attention.
Yet because there were no available beds, she spent hours waiting in a chair.
Throughout the night, she kept asking me the same question:
“When will I be seen?”
I wanted to reassure her.
Instead, all I could do was apologise.
Sadly, her experience is not unique.
Victoria’s emergency healthcare system is under immense pressure, and urgent action is needed to reduce dangerous hospital wait times.
The evidence is clear. The number of patients waiting more than 24 hours in Victorian emergency departments has increased by over 70% compared to the previous year.
In addition, only around 71% of patients are treated within clinically recommended time limits,
meaning nearly one in three patients waits longer than they should.
These are not just statistics. They represent real people waiting in pain, fear, and uncertainty.
One major reason for this crisis is the shortage of hospital beds.
Emergency departments are designed to assess and stabilise patients before transferring them to hospital wards
. However, when wards are already full, patients remain in emergency departments for extended periods.
This creates a bottleneck across the entire system.
Some people argue that the Victorian Government has already invested billions of dollars into healthcare and that improvements simply takes time.
While that may be true, investment means little if demand continues to exceed capacity.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: RESIST AND PERSIST Stimulus 1: “If you…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 82.5%: There is an old tale, a sad one, and we all know how it ends. Yet, we tell it anyway. It goes like this: Once…
There is an old tale, a sad one, and we all know how it ends.
Yet, we tell it anyway.
It goes like this:
Once upon a time, there was a hungry young girl. She lived in a world where the warmth of spring was few and far between. She lived in a world where the days were cold and dark, because spring had been consumed by the ruthless winter. The winter that burrowed its people in thick layers of snow so they could no longer be heard, starved them so they no longer had the strength to think and froze them so they no longer had the ability to move. All so that they could continue to build their mounds of snow, drowning out the land that was once green with love and freedom.
There would be days, weeks if lucky, for which spring would return and happiness would blossom in the population once more, though this time would seem to always be cut short by the inevitable return of winter. Then one day, the flowers stopped blooming, the birds stopped chirping, the water stopped running and the people stopped hoping. This girl was one of those people, her name was Eurydice.
Once upon a time, there was a boy who refused to relinquish the hope that spring would come again. He was a shy boy, yet he loved to sing, bringing light and music to an age riddled with silence and oppression, but more than this, he loved Eurydice. When he proposed to her, he promised that he would write a song, a song so beautiful and so raw that it would melt the winter freeze and allow spring to warm the land once more. The people were humoured by this idea, they laughed:
”How could you, one single man, bring down a tyrant like winter itself?”
“If spring would not come around when we needed it most, it would certainly not come again just for a boy such as yourself, who has decided to sing a song.”
Orpheus heard these comments but he did not care - or at least he tried not to - for he knew that while they sat, huddled together, mocking him and complaining about their conditions, he wrote, he planned and he moved. He asked them:
“How can you be so sure that spring will not come for my song when you yourself have never sung?”
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does the play subvert the view that…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 65%: Oedipus the King, a Greek tragedy written by Sophocles, explores a connection between the possession of hubris, and…
Oedipus the King, a Greek tragedy written by Sophocles, explores a connection between the possession of hubris, and the entitlement of fate. Through the presentation of admirable traits, the inescapable nature of fate, and ignorance towards clear warnings, Sophocles ultimately suggests that Oedipus’ hubris alone, did not make him deserve his fate.
Presenting admirable character traits, Sophocles explores how actions contributing to downfall were made in good faith. In the opening scene of the play, when Oedipus is addressing the people of Thebes, he states, “you pray to the gods? Let me grant your prayers”. Through Oedipus’ use of personal nouns, saying “let me”, Sophocles introduces the idea that Oedipus is willing to take on duties of the gods, when he is nothing more than a mortal human. Oedipus’ selfless nature suggests that he is a leader of the people, and is motivated by satisfying the needs of Theban citizens. Later in the plat, when Oedipus learns of the “plague” within Thebes, he vows to hunt Laius’ murderer down, exclaiming, “I am the lands avenger by all rights”. The presentation of Oedipus, as the “avenger” of the land represents a connection with Thebes, deeper than regular human bond. Sophocles employs this deep connection with Thebes to highlight where Oedipus’ loyalties lie; with the land and people of Thebes. By allowing the audience to understand Oedipus’ drive to satisfy the needs of the Theban citizens, as well as his deep connection with Theban land, Sophocles represents how Oedipus’ search for the truth was in good faith, and his admirable motivation meant he was not deserving of his fate.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Based on the text above, discuss the way…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 85%: In this passage, Ovid masterfully elevates the impending assassination of Julius Caesar from a localized political…
In this passage, Ovid masterfully elevates the impending assassination of Julius Caesar from a localized political murder to a catastrophic event of cosmic and divine proportion. Writing during a period deeply invested in the mythologizing and deification of Caesar, Ovid reflects a cultural and political climate where the transition from Republic to Empire legitimized through divine lineage. By framing the assassination through a supernatural lens, the Ovid highlights the world-altering significance of the event, reinforcing the sacred authority of the imperial regime that followed.
Ovid conveys the immense significance of this event primarily through the mobilization of the entire natural and divine order. The passage begins not with human conspirators, but with "Venus anxia" (an anxious Venus) pleading across the heavens. As the mythical ancestress of the gens Iulia, Venus's personal anguish immediately ties Caesar's fate to the highest tier of the Roman pantheon. The sheer inevitability of his death is magnified by the "ferrea... decreta sororum" (the iron decrees of the Sisters), demonstrating that Caesar’s demise is so monumental that it is woven into the unyielding fabric of cosmic destiny, which even the gods cannot alter.
VCE · Language Analysis
Language Analysis: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre…
VCE Language Analysis essay scoring 70%: In response to the recent debate surrounding the rise of AI data centres, David Pocock's article published in…
In response to the recent debate surrounding the rise of AI data centres, David Pocock's article published in The Guardian contends that the Australian Government must maximise the benefits they receive from foreign-owned companies. Writing in a cautionary tone, Pocock warns Australians of Australia's past mistakes regarding gas exportation.
Pocock first highlights Australia's previous failure to receive a fair return for gas companies' gas exportation, using this as a warning against repeating similar mistakes with the emerging AI industry. Pocock guides the audience by utilising hypophora, asking the audience "why" people promote the idea for a '35%' tax on gas exports" and answering his own question. This makes it easier for them to follow along, as they are able to immediately realise "what's happening" with gas exports. This hypophora also serves to make the answer appear obvious and appeal to the audience's sense of Pocock then employs inclusive language, where he shifts from focusing on the issue of gas exports from a national perspective to a more individual scale. He suggests their gas "belongs to all of us," personalising the argument to the audience emphasising the effects of not maximising their potential "return" and how it would impact Australian citizens directly. This use of inclusive language also serves to evoke a shared sense of responsibility, as Pocock positions
them to feel as if they have ownership over this gas and therefore have an obligation to 'deserve a fair return for it.' This is further accentuated by Pocock's appeal to concern through referring to gas as a 'finite resource.' This evokes concern in the audience, positioning them to presents gas as a valuable resource and emphasizes the severity of the situation. By portraying the government as putting their 'vested interests' ahead of the national interest," the audience is encouraged to evaluate whether the government is capable of being in control of such a valuable resource. The government is also presented as acting out of self-interest, amplifying the audience's frustration as they may feel previously established sense of responsibility over Australia is impacted by the government's careless mistakes. Thus, Pocock leaves the audience feeling a sense of ownership and control over the Australian government's decisions.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: ‘In Oliver’s poetry, moments of connection…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 82.5%: Mary Oliver’s New and Selected Poems, Volume One (1992) explores the profound relationship between human beings…
Mary Oliver’s New and Selected Poems, Volume One (1992) explores the profound relationship between human beings and the natural world. Drawing on poems from collections including American Primitive (1983) and Dream Work (1986), Oliver repeatedly presents encounters with animals, landscapes and natural processes as opportunities for individuals to understand their own existence. For Oliver, nature is not separate from human life; instead, humans belong within a larger “family of things”. Through moments of connection with nature, individuals can discover belonging, accept their physical existence and recognise the value of life despite its inevitable limitations. Oliver ultimately suggests that meaning does not have to be found through achievement or social approval, but can emerge through an attentive relationship with the world around us.
Oliver first presents connection with nature as a source of belonging and reassurance. In “Wild Geese”, nature provides an alternative to the isolation created by human expectations and guilt. The poem directly addresses a lonely reader, immediately stating, “You do not have to be good.” This rejection of moral perfection allows the reader to recognise that belonging is not conditional upon achievement or behaviour. Oliver then encourages the reader to “let the soft animal of your body / love what it loves”, using the language of instinct to reconnect human beings with their natural selves. The adjective “soft” suggests vulnerability, while “animal” deliberately places humanity within the natural world rather than above it. The reader is encouraged to trust an instinctive connection with life instead of constantly judging themselves. This connection becomes complete when the wild geese are described as “announcing your place / in the family of things.” The metaphor of family suggests that belonging is already available to every individual because they are part of a wider natural system. “Morning Poem” similarly presents connection with nature as a source of meaning even for those experiencing unhappiness. The poem states that “Every morning / the world / is created”, transforming the daily renewal of nature into a meaningful event. Even people carrying a “thorn” within themselves are reminded that the earth continues to offer beauty. Oliver ultimately describes each pond with its lilies as “a prayer heard and answered”, giving the natural world spiritual significance. Through these poems, Oliver suggests that meaning emerges when humans recognise themselves as participants in nature rather than detached observers.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In We Have Always Lived in the Castle, the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 87.5%: Suspicion and hostility gripped 1950s and 60s Cold War American society. Shirley Jackson's proto-feminist Gothic…
Suspicion and hostility gripped 1950s and 60s Cold War American society. Shirley Jackson's proto-feminist Gothic Novel, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, written in 1962, investigates the consequences of cruelty towards outsiders for both the persecuted and the persecutor. Her text exposes the danger of lacking compassion for those that do not conform to social dogmas, while also highlighting the damage of classism. Jackson posits that while the villagers in her text are in part driven by fear, resulting in their loss of humanity, their motivation also lies in their resentment towards the Blackwood's sense of superiority.
Jackson interrogates parochial society as a climate for anxiety and distrust towards women who threaten its structure. Constance and Merricat are feared due to their independence from men and the wider androcentric society. The community resent their self-sufficiency and "heaps of gold coins", enabling them "to pay for whatever [they] wanted", in this way, they are defying societal norms of remaining within the internal space while the men occupied the external world. Merricat's trips into the village are an adoption of the masculine role, however it makes her feel "vulnerable and exposed" due to the villager's "ugly glance[s]" and general hostility towards her. Furthermore, Jackson's simile that "a little gasp went around the store like a scream" crystallises the villagers' uneasiness about the murders, motivating the shop owner to "serve [Merricat] immediately" out of fear. Indeed, Merricat's declaration that she "could make them run like rabbits" just by saying "what [she] really wanted to" punctuates the distrust the community has towards the remaining Blackwood family. Further, the sisters, through their occupation of the domestic space, particularly Constance's cooking, have power that deviates from traditional masculine power, elevating their resistance against patriarchal structures. The motif of sugar exemplifies the control women have over those they cook for, and the danger of underestimating their capabilities - Merricat's afterthought that the family "are very low on sugar" frightens the villagers. Thus, the fear from the villagers is a response to Merricat and Constance sitting outside of expected American identity, an identity that was seen as crucial to the functioning of the nation. Charles "pointing his fork at [Merricat]" acts as a historical allusion to the Salem witch trials; punctuating the transcending patriarchal response to marginal women that sit outside of hegemonic social structures, threatening the power of these structures. The repetition of the sisters' witch-like status is emphasised through the simile that she looked "like a pair of witches walking home", coupled with Merricat's query about whether she "could eat a child if [she] had the chance". Their position as 'witches' is utilised by Jackson to elucidate the connection between enforcing conformity upon independent women and the femicide of the witch-hunt. So, wielding the gothic element of the past haunting the present, Jackson criticises the misogynistic history embedded in New England's societal fabric, predisposing the people of the community with prejudice that leads to fear. Thus, We Have Always Lived in the Castle posits that the motivation of the villager's in part stems from their anxiety about women who deviate from the norm.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: write an introduction and body paragraph:…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: Written as an autobiographical memoir, Trevor Noah's "Born a Crime" exhibits much of the constant strain between…
Written as an autobiographical memoir, Trevor Noah's "Born a Crime" exhibits much of the constant strain between opportunity and the lack of choices. Set against both a apartheid and post-apartheid backdrop, Noah examines the determination of fate based on one's race, tied to their inherent access to different parts of the system. Additionally, patriarchal constraints remove much of the choices for women, where men define what is socially acceptable for them to do or not to do. This is compounded by the many restrictions placed by stereotypes such as socio-economic and education status, where your position on this scale dictates your freedom of choice.