VCE · Text Response
Text Response: To what extent does ambition lead to ruin…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 62.5%: Billy Wilder's film noir Sunset Boulevard explores the 'heartless' nature of 1950s Hollywood Studios that cruelly…
Billy Wilder's film noir Sunset Boulevard explores the 'heartless' nature of 1950s Hollywood Studios that cruelly abandoned their creative talents in favour of profit. Sunset Boulevard reveals that the lust for fame leads to the erosion of ones physical and psychological state. Yet alludes to how the cruel Hollywood industry and its focus on commercialism creates dramatic destabilisation in the "famous stars of yester year." Contrary to this, Wilder suggests that Hollywood's parasitic nature can be overrided by optimism and integrity. Wilder underscores how the desperate desire for prestige can result in the dilapidation of those who seek it, while simultaneously critiquing the toxic characteristics of the 1950s Hollywood industry and how its predatory nature and focus on profitability renders ambition as pointless. However, Wilder contrasts this notion with optimism and pragmatism, romanticising how determined ambition can lead to success in some cases.
The director powerfully explores how the quest for significance has a substantial cost on an individuals wellbeing. At the beginning of the film Wilder includes a flash forward of Joe Gillis's lifeless body floating in the pool. Wilder strategically employs a high angle camera tilt, coupled with Joe's sardonic and ironic post-humourous narration, pitying "the poor dope" as he "always wanted a pool." Evidently, Wilder unviels the exorbitant cost of ambition as a price "too high" suggesting that Joe's aspiration leads to his unfortunate demise, rather than his intended ("get dough and get out") fortune. Furthermore, Wilder continues to express this notion during a specific intertextual reference to Queen Kelly, as Joe and Norma are watching a movie starring a younger Norma in her prime days. In Queen Kelly, the younger Norma lights candles as she breaks the fourth wall and looks dead into the camera. Although Wilder invites the audience to believe that Norma is the proud subject of her own voyeuristic gaze ("moments of melancholy") as she attempts to reignite her lost stardom, given that she "is big, the pictures that got small”. Indeed, this clearly exemplifies the price of determination, as Norma is stuck in her deluded reality despite the "audience leaving twenty years ago," underscoring how ambition can lead to psychological ruin. Moreover, towards the end of the film, prior to Joe's inevitable murder, Norma pauses at a mirror in "grim Sunset castle" and removes her cosmetic tape whilst fixing her hair. Norma is preparing for a performance despite her being "yesterdays glamour queen," the mirror represents Norma's grandiose inability to distinguish between reality and illusion, exacerbating the idea of how the ruthless drive for fame fuels a perilous journey that concedes in the down fall of ones psychological state. Wilder thus highlights how the lust for recognition leads to the disintegration of ones integrity.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Topic: “'We killed him openly,' Pedro…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: Set in the backdrop of the 1950s in a small Latin American town, Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “Chronicle of a Death…
Set in the backdrop of the 1950s in a small Latin American town, Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “Chronicle of a Death Foretold” explores the fragmented recounts of a murder twenty-seven years later, which are pieced together to resolve why it happened. In the text, most of the characters perform in ways that ultimately benefit the community; however, a small handful act for their own self-interest. Marquez exposes this through the defiance of accepted gender norms, the inaction from figures of power, and blind adherence to the values instilled by the Church.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: in oedipus the king ignorance is superior…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 67.5%: 5/3 Practice Paragraphs In "Oedipus the King", ignorance is superior to awareness. Do you agree?
5/3
Practice Paragraphs
In "Oedipus the King", ignorance is superior to awareness. Do you agree?
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: personal journey
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 77.5%: Who I’m Meant to Be: In our hallway, the walls are waiting. There’s an empty space between my cousin’s framed…
Who I’m Meant to Be:
In our hallway, the walls are waiting.
There’s an empty space between my cousin’s framed law degree and my uncle’s medical certificate — a careful gap measured in ambition. My mother dusts around it every weekend, as if she’s already polishing the future.
When relatives visit, they stand there.
“She’ll be next,” someone says, smiling at me like it’s already decided.
I smile back. I’ve learned how to do that.
At dinner, success is served alongside rice and stew. It sounds like job titles passed across the table. Doctor. Surgeon. Specialist. Words that land heavy and respectable. My father says them with pride, like he’s building something solid out of syllables.
I chew quietly. There’s a melody playing in my head that no one else can hear.
Music has always felt like a secret doorway. When I close my bedroom door, the house fades into background noise — the clink of dishes, the murmur of the evening news, the low hum of expectation. I sit on the edge of my bed with my guitar, and the world rearranges itself. Chords feel like breathing. Lyrics slip out of me before I can overthink them.
In those moments, I am not someone’s potential.
I am simply myself.
The first time I let the word “music” escape at the dinner table, it fell between us like a glass shattering.
Silence spread slowly, carefully.
My mother’s smile stiffened, just slightly. My father cleared his throat — the sound he makes before saying something measured.
“It’s good to have hobbies,” he said.
Hobby.
The word shrank everything I felt into something decorative.
I nodded, but something inside me folded in on itself.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Artistic integrity is fundamentally at…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 62.5%: Billy Wilder’s 1950 noir melodrama “Sunset Boulevard” explores the feud between art and economics in mid-century…
Billy Wilder’s 1950 noir melodrama “Sunset Boulevard” explores the feud between art and economics in mid-century America. Set in a post war society, the film captures the rebuilding of the American economy and the subsequent effects on members of creative industries. Whilst Wilder portrays artistic integrity as being largely at odds with economic aspirations, ultimately this is a part of his broader criticism of capitalist culture. Wilder portrays creative ambition as being at odds with financial aspirations, conveying the impracticality of creative pursuits. In essence, Wilder rejects capitalism in society, which places profits over people, contributing to a less connected society.
Wilder portrays creative authenticity as being an unrealistic career path. Narrator Joe Gillis is characterised as a stereotypically struggling screenwriter through establishing shots of his disheveled apartment strewn with clothing and magazines. Despite Joe’s work ethic “grinding out original stories”, he lacks both job security and true creative freedom. Joe is forced to write about “psychopaths” because they “sell like hot cakes” in order for him to make a living, yet his artistic aspirations remain unfulfilled. Thus, Wilder asserts that Hollywood’s self portrayal as a dream factory is untrue, and young people’s perceptions of their dream workplace are entirely unrealistic. This is further demonstrated through Wilder’s portrayal of Betty Schaefer. Betty lives in a small shared apartment with a woman named Connie. This conveys Betty’s own financial struggle despite her clear work ethic as a reader, offering to work “early in the morning” or “in the evening”. Furthermore, Wilder’s dialogue features frequent lines from Norma Desmond who ironically claims about speech in modern films. Norma’s frequent outbursts and declarations that she’ll “show them”, “so help me” highlight her need to be heard and validated. After years spent as a silent film actress, Norma’s speaking appears to be a result of her long suppressed creativity and self expression. Hence, Wilder conveys that even those at the heights of fame in Hollywood lack true creative freedom or autonomy. Wilder exposes the false facade of Hollywood, warning viewers that an artistic career is not always glamorous.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Education is necessary to heal the wrongs…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 65%: Freedom Writers by Richard LaGravenese proves that education is a powerful tool given that it allows students to…
Freedom Writers by Richard LaGravenese proves that education is a powerful tool given that it allows students to view their past mistakes through a new lens of empathy and shared understanding. Education assists in rectifying the systemic wrongs in which has held these students back. In the film, Erin Gruwell is portrayed as an unexperienced educator in which she attempts to facilitate a change in the deep-seated fears and misunderstandings between the students. Erin pursues her traditional learning curriculum, one fit to educate ‘normal’ students, though she learns she requires to adapt to their learning style in which she introduces a game called ‘the line game’. Ms Gruwell would ask questions, the students step onto the line if they answer yes. Erin included a variety of questions, starting off asking superficial questions, then began asking
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Personal journeys
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 65%: The aroma of fresh jasmine filled the streets, with frequent honks and beeps creating ringing sirens throughout…
The aroma of fresh jasmine filled the streets, with frequent honks and beeps creating ringing sirens throughout my brain. The air was dense and carried a trance of sandalwood brewed with smoke. The community was different from Melbourne, the locals here had friendly conversation and negotiated about fresh produce at markets. While the women wore flourishing sarees mixed with abstract patterns and a welcoming smile. However I still did not feel like a local. Slangs were foreign to me, and my relatives furrowed their eyebrows in confusion when I would converse with them, but did not fail to understand when my older brother would speak to them.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “Oedipus the King demonstrates the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: Emerging amidst the apex of Athenian prosperity, Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus the King reveals the unsuspecting…
Emerging amidst the apex of Athenian prosperity, Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus the King reveals the unsuspecting dangers intrinsic to perception and conviction through the downfall of Oedipus, an individual who prides himself on these very qualities. Sophocles suggests that although perception and conviction may initially appear admirable and empowering, they ultimately precipitate destruction. From the outset, the tragedy frames Oedipus’ intellectual conviction as a source of civic stability, suggesting that his past triumphs fostered a false sense of infallibility. However, as the search for the truth intensifies, Oedipus’ conviction manifests as a defensive hubris, leading him to dismiss divine prophecies in favour of his own limited perception. Ultimately, Sophocles highlights the tragic irony of blindness inherent in human insight, illustrating that true perception can only be obtained through the shattering of one’s convictions.
In the play’s exposition, Sophocles establishes Oedipus’ admirable conviction and skilled perception as a source of reassurance for the desperate polis. Through the priest’s desperate petition for help, Sophocles underscores the polis’ trust in Oedipus’ superior perception. During their exchange, the priest expresses the universal recognition of Oedipus as the “first of men” after the defeat of the Sphinx. This hierarchy illustrated by the priest places Oedipus at the top, fueling his hubris. Hence, “now again”, the polis’ “bend to [Oedipus]” for help. This imagery of “[bending]” implies a religious connotation as it is similar to how one would pray to a god, suggesting that although the city knows Oedipus “cannot equal the gods”, they do hold him in such high regard for his skills that they treat him similar to one. Furthermore, Oedipus’ proclamation that he will “bring it all to light [himself]” highlights his own conviction in the pursuit for the murderer. Ultimately, the combination of the polis’ admiration and Oedipus’ own pride in his skills leads him to develop a sense of infallibility. In doing so, Sophocles prefigures Oedipus’ hubris in his perception and conviction early on in the tragedy to later demonstrate that these very qualities will precipitate his eventual downfall.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In 'The Crucible' the leaders of the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 65%: Miller lambasts those individuals who misguide society due to their own fear of losing authority, underscoring this…
Miller lambasts those individuals who misguide society due to their own fear of losing authority, underscoring this as a method in which paranoia can easily spread. In The Crucible, figures such as Judge Danforth are those who have the utmost power in Salem, and because of this, he makes rash decisions in order to keep his authority. This is evident when in Act 4 he is requested to pause the proceedings of the court, to which he denies and states, ‘I cannot pardon these when 12 are already hanged for the same crime.’ This suggests how Danforth is so fearful of his power diminishing that he would rather send more innocent civilians to the noose than stop the trials. It depicts how his fear of losing power is so strong that he puts aside all of his morals and beliefs and takes the harsh decision to kill more individuals and continue to spread fear and hysteria amongst Salem. Miller vilifies individuals who misuse authority to harm others
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: A Doll's House Ibsen
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: While Nora’s desperation drives the scene, Helmer’s command to dance “Slower, slower!” exposes the broader dynamics…
While Nora’s desperation drives the scene, Helmer’s command to dance “Slower, slower!” exposes the broader dynamics of the controlling patriarch within the marriage. Torvald’s exaggerated expression implies Nora’s intensity is remarkably excessive, directing her to become the focus of the scene due to her erratic movements. Nora’s rejection of Torvald’s command through her insistence that “I can only do it this way” momentarily evokes a sense of dominance in her performance of the Tarantella, underscoring it as a representation of her outward acts of defiance towards the constraints of her patriarchal marriage. The imperative mood is employed as Nora’s commands that “This is how it should go,” presenting the undertones of manipulation that she exhibits to control Torvald to exercise his attention solely on her. The stage direction that she “laugh[s] and brandish[es] her tambourine” reveals Torvald’s diminished male authority and how it threatens his control, regardless of his recognition of the changing power dynamics. His critique of her performance with a determination that Nora is “dancing as if your life depended on it” incorporates an act of situational irony into the scene,
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Even in his worst hustler days, Trevor’s…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 60%: In Trevor Noah’s memoir, Born A Crime, Patricia’s self-asserted freedom and unwavering religious faith frame Noah’s…
In Trevor Noah’s memoir, Born A Crime, Patricia’s self-asserted freedom and unwavering religious faith frame Noah’s viability in a system designed to oppress him, both of which remain intact even during Noah’s tumultuous ‘hustler’ years. Noah and Patricia, as a team, conquer the battles of apartheid through her iron will. This establishes a stable arena for him to triumph through near-death experiences. Noah utilises his multilingualism, hard-wired by his mother, to weave in and out of social and cultural groups, saving him from being a victim of violence and crime. With Patricia’s encouragement, Noah is mentored to face hardships with hilarity rather than violence, which is rooted within the cycle of oppression that his mother combats. By creating a new world for Noah, Patricia gives him an educated lens through which to observe the institutional flaws of apartheid, presenting him with the opportunity to confront and expose these disadvantages. By virtue of Patricia’s determination, Noah explores latent possibilities, preparing him to survive a country “trying to kill [him].”
Patricia’s emphasis on multilingualism serves as an essential survival mechanism, allowing Noah to navigate the dangerous obstacles presented by the socio-economic traps of the township. Throughout his childhood, Patricia stresses the paramount importance of language as a tool in a country immersed in “language barrier[s]”, through her lived experiences. Noah’s allusion to the biblical story of the “Tower of Babel” not only demonstrates the prevalence of religion in his worldview but also spotlights the scale of disconnectedness experienced by South Africans. His ability to “bridge the race gap[s]” by harnessing his wide range of languages provides him with a safety net. By presenting before Noah her own use of language, Patricia demonstrates her application of language in dangerous situations. This allows her to “cross boundaries [and] handle situations”, such as her brief interaction with Afrikaner shopkeepers. Through this anecdote, Noah is shown how to “simulcast”, transforming language into “a tool that served [him his] whole life”, which embodies his mother's concentration on embedding multilingualism in Noah’s everyday life. This is proven through his encounter with Zulu men, where language serves as the saving grace. This parallels how Patricia’s teachings pinpoint the means for survival for Noah in a divided society structured on government traps with “fatal flaws baked in.”
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: how ai has impacted education
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 70%: Artificial intelligence has begun to transform many areas of education, but one of the most promising…
Artificial intelligence has begun to transform many areas of education, but one of the most promising applications lies in improving the way student writing is understood and evaluated. My interest in entering the field of educational AI stems from a desire to help English students develop stronger essays through clearer, more consistent feedback. Writing is one of the most important skills students learn, yet it is also one of the most difficult to assess fairly and efficiently. By contributing to AI systems that can read and analyse student essays, I hope to help create tools that support both students and teachers in developing stronger writing.
One of the main challenges in English education is the time required for teachers to carefully read and provide detailed feedback on every student’s work. Essays require attention not only to grammar and structure, but also to ideas, argument development, and interpretation. Because teachers often manage large classes, it can be difficult to give every essay the depth of feedback it deserves. Educational AI has the potential to assist in this process by quickly analysing writing patterns, identifying structural weaknesses, and highlighting areas where arguments could be strengthened. Rather than replacing teachers, such systems could allow them to focus more on higher-level guidance while routine analysis is handled automatically.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: '... but I wanted her to be unhappy,…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 77.5%: Through her novel We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson constructs a world where cruelty is not…
Through her novel We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson constructs a world where cruelty is not only present but deeply ingrained in human behaviour. Through her depiction of a community that ostracises those who are different, a family scarred by betrayal, and a protagonist who copes with alienation through violent fantasies, Jackson explores the many forms cruelty can take. However, while the novel is steeped in cruelty, it is not entirely without tenderness. The bond between Merricat and Constance offers moments of comfort and care, suggesting that even in a hostile world, connection can persist. Nonetheless, the prevailing tone of the novel is bleak, and Jackson's portrayal of human nature leans heavily toward cynicism. Ultimately, while not every character is cruel, the world Jackson creates is defined by a relentless undercurrent of judgment, exclusion, and harm.
Jackson portrays the wider society of her novel as one that is fueled by fear and conformity and as such, a world in which cruelty towards others is accepted and even encouraged. This social cruelty is exhibited through Jackson's portrayal of the “people of the village”, who taunt Merricat during her excursions into the town. Through the rhymes sung by children, Jackson is able to reinforce how deeply the community has internalised its hostility towards the Blackwoods. Jackson makes clear that this rejection stems not only from the unresolved poisoning that haunts the family, but from the sisters' refusal to conform to societal expectations of femininity, class, and community participation. As Merricat claims that “the people of the village have always hated us,” Jackson reveals a world in which cruelty is a baseline, not an exception. The cruelty of the people of the village does not just lead them to exclude the Blackwood family, but rather actively wreak havoc on their home. Such scenes of violence and destruction are not portrayed as an aberration, but as the inevitable climax of years of exclusion and resentment — a public expression of the cruelty that has always simmered beneath the surface. Thus, through her clear designation of the village as being “full of terrible people”, Jackson builds a world that is actively cruel in its treatment of those it deems as ‘others’.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In "we have always lived in the castle"…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 60%: Choice is something that comes with power and control. Shirley Jackson's tripartite structured gothic fiction novel…
Choice is something that comes with power and control. Shirley Jackson's tripartite structured gothic fiction novel "We have always lived in the castle" (1962) Investigates a mid-century America steeped in patriarchal ideals & classist ideologies. Merricat pathologically obsesses over protecting she and her sister from an idyllic feminine sanctuary, from following her murder of the majority of her family. Jackson suggests through "We have always lived in the castle." ("castle") that while the sisters desire isolation as a refuge, it is ultimately a fearful society that grants them this wish. Psychologically, Individuals within the text express desires to be isolated & they express satisfaction when it is granted. on the Familial level, Characters are denied their seclusion from the world. through figureheads. On a societal level the characters are gifted their isolation they so truly desired, after drastic change occurs in the physical landscape.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In "we have always lived in the castle"…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 60%: Choice is something that comes with power and control. Shirley Jackson's tripartite structured gothic fiction novel…
Choice is something that comes with power and control. Shirley Jackson's tripartite structured gothic fiction novel "We have always lived in the castle" (1962) Investigates a mid-century america steeped in patriarchal ideals & classist ideologies. Merricat pathologically obsesses over protecting she and her sister from an idyllic feminine sanctuary, from following her murder of the majority of her family. Jackson suggests through "We have always lived in the castle." ("castle") that the sisters have desired Isolation as a chosen place of refuge, however society to be feared society enabled them to have it. Psychologically, Individuals within the text express desires to be isolated & they express satisfaction when it is granted. on the Familial level, Characters are denied their seclusion from the world. through figureheads. On a societal level the characters are gifted their isolation they so truly desired, after drastic change occurs in the physical landscape.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Does Sophocles depict the power of the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 65%: The presence of gods has always been a tremendous force pervading Greek literature. In Oedipus the king, Sophocles…
The presence of gods has always been a tremendous force pervading Greek literature. In Oedipus the king, Sophocles portrays the power of the gods as an unyielding, indomitable force that pressures his mortal characters. Throughout the play, the god's omnipresent influence is one that underpins and drives the viewpoint of Greek society, reaffirming both the ineptitude of humans and a requirement for piety. In addition, Sophocles also posits how the god’s power cannot undermine the nobility of humans, an admirably defining feature of mortal individuals.
The gods are a constant pressure whose influence is inextricably linked with being human in a conservative Greek society, observed in the play. Sophocles initially presents this through a series of evolving nautical metaphors that analogises the gods to the chaotic, undulating forces of nature. Exclaiming that “our ship pitches wildly”, the priest holds the gods in a perilous awe as Thebes, likened to a ship riding along uncertain waves, is threatened to be destroyed. In this way, Sophocles establishes the gods' power in the protasis to be an all consuming authority. As Thebes is on the verge of being consumed by the “red waves of death” The flaring “red” colour symbolism serves to highlight the hardly suppressed rage of the “fiery gods”. Sophocles reanimates these nautical motifs during the catastrophe as Oedipus is consumed by a “black sea of terror”. Oedipus is swallowed by the ocean waves, defeated by gods and their decrees in which he sought control over. Hence, Sophocles conveys to his audience the fundamental subordinance of humans in the face of gods.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In an unsafe environment where one's…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 62.5%: In an unsafe environment where one's livelihood is risked, Jackson emphasises that superstitions can provide…
In an unsafe environment where one's livelihood is risked, Jackson emphasises that superstitions can provide psychological comfort and perceived safety, leading to the ability to escape this situation. As the plot develops, Merricat's desired position as the patriarch is challenged by the arrival of Charles, who "looks just like [John Blackwood]", the original patriarch of the Blackwood family, and also shares a similar temperament. Charles begins to exclude Merricat from the leadership of the family, arguing that "she has no right" to control their finances, and also belittles her, calling her a "good child" as opposed to her previously protecting Constance and Uncle Julian. However, Merricat doesn't entirely realise the true danger posed to her as she believes her magical safeguards, such as her buried silver dollars and "three magic words" will protect the home from being fully infiltrated,
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: To what extent is Sunset Boulevard about…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 67.5%: The film Sunset Boulevard, directed by Billy Wilder, seeks to uncover the dark underbelly of Hollywood and fame…
The film Sunset Boulevard, directed by Billy Wilder, seeks to uncover the dark underbelly of Hollywood and fame portraying it as a controlling and alluring industry. The film was produced in 1950, the golden age of Hollywood, showcasing how the industry enables a complete loss of control. Sunset Boulevard shows that the loss of control causes complete insanity and the loss of morals. On the other hand, Wilder outlines how maintaining control can lead to promising opportunities. In this way Wilder positions the audience to acknowledge the deceptive and destructive facade that Hollywood hides behind.
Sunset Boulevard underlines how losing control can lead to insanity. This is observed through Norma Desmond, who is an ephemeral figure consumed by illusions of grandeur who seeks to make a “return” to the Hollywood industry. When Norma declares that she “is big, it's the pictures that got small”,she gives the audience an initial impression of her deluded disposition. Wilder positions the audiences to make meaning of how the deterioration of control mentally impacts Norma, leaving her in a state of delirium. Moreover, this idea is explored through the “room full of Norma Desmonds” Norma surrounds herself in. Her mansion acts as a decaying shrine to her former glory and emphasises how Norma losing self control acts as the prime cause of her delusions. The audience gains an understanding of Norma’s valuation of influence and popularity, and how her obsession leaves her isolated from reality. Furthermore, Norma’s act of attempting suicide further examines the loss of control in Sunset Boulevard. The over the shoulder scene of Joe overlooking Norma in the bed after her suicide attempt suggests, that she has no longer has self regulation and results in endangering herself just to gain Joe’s attention. Norma’s victimised and innocent position she adopts, illustrates her manipulative and deceptive nature. Additionally, the final scene in which Norma is fully engulfed in an illusion, further analyses the impact of the loss of control. The wide shot paired with the eerie and tragic music captures Norma slowly descending the opulent staircase into madness. This scene symbolises that Wilder is concerned with the standards and ideals of Hollywood that force an obsession that spirals out of control to become dangerous and hurtful. Through the character of Norma, Wilder positions the audience to understand the unhealthy and destructive nature the descent into chaos and loss of control presents.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: The novel Frankenstein demonstrates that…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein demonstrates the importance of compassion by contrasting its human…
Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein demonstrates the importance of compassion by contrasting its human protagonist with his inhuman creation. Shelley invites readers to question whether Victor or the Creature is more capable of compassion, and what this says about each character’s claim to be considered human. In her characterisation of Victor, Shelley presents a man whose ego and ambition override his natural humanity and suppress his capacity to feel compassion for his own creation. By contrast, while the Creature is capable of great cruelty, Shelley also presents him sympathetically by demonstrating his capacity to feel compassion. Ultimately, it is the reader’s humanity which is tested, as we are invited to feel compassion for both characters, despite their wicked and destructive actions.
Victor Frankenstein is an egotistical protagonist whose over-reaching ambitions cloud his ability to feel compassion. Frankenstein introduces himself to Walton as having been the “plaything and… idol” of his parents, implying that he was spoiled as a child and therefore lacks a strong model for how to parent well. This foreshadows the tensions which will exist in his relationship with the Creature, who is symbolically his child, but whom he immediately disowns. It is clear from his account that Victor constructs the Creature not out of love but from a desire to prove his scientific theories, meaning that he shows little compassion for how the Creature will experience a life he did not ask for. When he describes his scientific studies, Frankenstein exclaims, “what glory would attend the discovery if I could banish disease from the human frame and render man invulnerable to any but a violent death!” The choice of the word “glory” connotes his self-serving motives, and the desire to be “invulnerable” echoes the implications of the novel’s subtitle – “The modern Prometheus” – in suggesting that Frankenstein sees himself as more than human, wanting to elevate himself to a godlike status by his power to give and sustain life. Shelley thus makes it clear that his motives are not born of compassion but of ambition. This characterisation is reinforced when he sources dead bodies from which to construct the Creature, stating, “a churchyard was to me merely the receptacle of bodies deprived of life”. The coldly scientific tone demonstrates Frankenstein’s lack of compassion for the families of those whose graves he is robbing and whose bodies he is defiling. Recalling the Creature’s first moments of life, Frankenstein poses the rhetorical question, “How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form?” Notably, his focus here is entirely on his own feelings, using possessive pronouns (“my emotions”) and derogatory language about the Creature (“the wretch”). Again, his sense of having accomplished something superhuman, by taking “infinite pains and care” contrasts with his failure to display the characteristic human quality of compassion for this new life he has brought into the world. Like his own parents, Frankenstein fails to rise to the responsibility of a parent by acting in the Creature’s best interests rather than his own. Thus, while Frankenstein is technically human, he fails to manifest the compassion which readers expect of him.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: It is a body paragraph on section A film…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 62.5%: One way in which Sunset Boulevard supports the view that the glamour of Hollywood ultimately leads to…
One way in which Sunset Boulevard supports the view that the glamour of Hollywood ultimately leads to disappointment is through its portrayal of faded stardom and the false promises of fame. The film industry’s paradigms are manifested through Joe and Betty’s unravelling romance in Artie’s party and on how they flirt as a pair of writers, reflecting the Hollywood cliché and also as they share a theatrical esplanade through the artificial sets of Paramount Studios. Therefore, representing the glamour and romantic nature of Hollywood and how attractive it is the upcoming writers like Betty, represented further in the golden arches of paramount studios that house a buzzing environment of actors and film crew, guided by the creative plotlines of writers. Wilder utilises the artificial sets of Paramount Studios as a backdrop to demonstrate the “all phoney” reality of Hollywood as its promises are mainly not long lasting or sustainable for its workers. As the
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: It is a section A body paragraph on the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 60%: One way in which Sunset Boulevard supports the view that the glamour of Hollywood ultimately leads to…
One way in which Sunset Boulevard supports the view that the glamour of Hollywood ultimately leads to disappointment is through its portrayal of faded stardom and the false promises of fame.
The film industry’s paradigms are manifested through Joe and Betty’s unravelling romance in Artie’s party and on how they flirt as a pair of writers, reflecting the Hollywood cliché and also as they share a theatrical esplanade through the artificial sets of Paramount Studios.
Therefore, representing the glamour and romantic nature of Hollywood and how attractive it is, the upcoming writers, like Betty, are represented further in the golden arches of Paramount Studios, which house a buzzing environment of actors and film crew, guided by the creative plotlines of writers.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Harrison demonstrate the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 65%: Set against the backdrop of the 1950s, Jane Harrison's 'Rainbow's End' reveals a time when western societal…
Set against the backdrop of the 1950s, Jane Harrison's 'Rainbow's End' reveals a time when western societal knowledge of First Nations people was limited, leading to widespread misunderstanding and mistreatment. Harrison examines how the white population’s ingrained arrogance towards Aboriginal people systematically excluded them from society. Furthermore, Harrison criticizes the condescension western society inflicted on First Nations people. Additionally, Harrison portrays white societal norms as ignorant, revealing the profound lack of morality within the white population of the 1950s. Ultimately, Harrison exposes the ignorance and arrogance of the white population in 1950s Australia by scrutinizing the mechanisms of oppression, segregation, and the paternalistic beliefs held against Indigenous Australians.
Through systematically marginalising First Nations people from society, Harrison highlights the white populations ingrained arrogance. The exclusion of Indigenous people in society led to segregation across Australia. During the Queen’s visit, Gladys reveals she ‘couldn’t get through’ because of the hessian fence, as the government systematically screened Aboriginal poverty and hid the humpies from the queen. Thus, displays white institutional arrogance as the government deliberately excluded Aboriginal people. To further reinforce this, the hessian fence is referred to by Gladys as a ‘band-aid over a sore’, as the fence symbolises the segregation enforced upon Aboriginal people. Harrison criticises white authorities for avoiding addressing the Aboriginal housing problem, disregarding them. Furthermore, when Gladys was at the bank, the bank manager wondered ‘how’d she fit in’, representing the arrogance of white economic exclusion as her merit is ignored for her racial fit. Through Harrison’s overlay of the song ‘catch a falling star’, it juxtaposes Dolly’s hopeful song against Gladys’s humiliation, revealing how white institutions reject Aboriginals to exploit them for their labour. Harrison exposes the white Menzie’s government for arrogantly segregating First Nation’s people in society for political and racial control.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 'Shakespeare presents marriage as…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 62.5%: Firstly, Wilder exposes the destructive consequences of ambition which consumes individuals to lose touch with…
Firstly, Wilder exposes the destructive consequences of ambition which consumes individuals to lose touch with reality resulting in becoming delusional. Wilder demonstrates the consequences of relentlessly pursuing ambition through Norma Desmond, who is revealed as an individual isolated in a "white elephant" of a mansion. Stuck in a time loop where reality moves forward while Norma is trapped in her own delusional world. Through many film techniques like lighting, closeups and the music intro, Wilder showcases Norma Desmond as a delusional character who still believes she is 'big', not realizing the world has moved on without her. When Joe meets Norma for the first time, Norma corrects Joe in a stern tone, 'I don't want to be a star. I am a star', when he talks about her potential comeback. Insisting that she has never stopped being a star, regardless of whether she is still in the industry. Wilder reinforces this delusion using dramatic low-key lighting and an intense close-up, casting
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In the Memory Police Silence is both…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 77.5%: In The Memory Police, Yoko Ogawa constructs a dystopian society in which objects and the memories attached to…
In The Memory Police, Yoko Ogawa constructs a dystopian society in which objects and the memories attached to them gradually disappear under the control of an authoritarian regime. Within this environment of surveillance and fear, silence becomes a crucial survival strategy for the island’s inhabitants. Speaking out against the disappearances risks punishment from the Memory Police, forcing citizens to suppress resistance and accept the gradual loss of their memories. However, Ogawa also reveals that while silence may initially protect individuals from danger, it simultaneously contributes to the erosion of identity and human connection. Through the dangers associated with resistance, the fragile safety offered by passive acceptance, and the gradual loss of memory and selfhood, Ogawa ultimately suggests that silence operates as both protection and destruction within authoritarian systems.
Ogawa first illustrates that silence acts as a protective mechanism because resistance against the regime is extremely dangerous. The Memory Police enforce their authority with cold brutality, carrying out their duties “without any trace of emotion,” demonstrating how authoritarian control relies on emotional detachment to normalise violence. Their indifference reinforces a climate of fear in which citizens quickly learn that dissent invites punishment. This threat becomes particularly evident through the experiences of those who retain memories, such as R, whose ability to remember places him in constant danger. The regime insists that anything that fails to disappear is “inconceivable,” revealing how the state manipulates reality itself to eliminate opposition. By framing resistance as impossible, the regime forces individuals to distrust their own perceptions and memories. As a result, characters such as the Narrator recognise that survival depends on silence rather than confrontation. The disappearance of voices further symbolises this suppression of dissent, as citizens are warned they will eventually “forget [they] ever had a voice.” Through this imagery, Ogawa suggests that authoritarian power does not simply punish resistance but actively erases the ability to express it. Consequently, silence becomes a necessary form of protection for individuals attempting to survive within a system where speaking out risks immediate destruction.