VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Title: The choice
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 97.5%: A thick layer of grey dust stuck to my skin. Tarpaulin covers, makeshift tin stores, and endless crowds of…
A thick layer of grey dust stuck to my skin.
Tarpaulin covers, makeshift tin stores, and endless crowds of sweat and grime was clawing into every corner. My mother reminded me to cover my mouth, the thin scarf doing little to block the air. Below us, rows and rows of vegetables I’d never seen before. Keeping my balance along the gravel, it was not hard to hate a place like this. Nothing stood still here. Their shouts echoed, insisting. My mother’s familiar voice mingled with the sellers — bidding, scoffing, giving in, or winning.
“This is how I always used to do it.” To her, this was simply coming back. To me, this was treading around a world that I’d never lived in before.
The night before, she’d told me we’d all have to wake up early for the morning market. She said all the cheapest and freshest foods would be gone by 9 am. I complained as usual. I didn’t choose to move around clammy shoulders, squeezing my way through tight alleys and walkways. We avoided puddles with strange smells, gazes falling on the decay. My mother saw potholes, the concrete scarcely holding on to the edges as cars relentlessly passed. I saw a civilization that was failing to adapt, I only heard the endless layering of honks. I hadn't come all the way back for my mum’s 13-year-old cravings. I didn’t understand that to her, to my parents, this was a city they’d lost as soon as they’d left. A choice they had made for me.
All I wanted, all I’d thought this would be, was hugging the aunties, shaking the hands of my uncles and laughing with cousins. I thought this would be feasts, gifts and chatting by the fire till the crickets awoke. I had hoped it would be shopping for clothes at the market, trying the street food and visiting the beautiful mountainsides.
Expectation isn’t reasoning, it removes empathy.
They blind you from truth; you don’t accept things as is. I felt like my parents were being selfish.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: TITLE: AT WHAT COST STIMULUS: IF NOT…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 85%: At What Cost I always thought freedom came from the absence of fear. I was wrong. It was a sweltering day in…
At What Cost
I always thought freedom came from the absence of fear.
I was wrong.
It was a sweltering day in Gaza, the sun beaming down, causing sweat to form upon my brow, dust clouds surrounding the horizon. In every direction you turned gaze. The dunes almost like mountains, making it difficult for me as I push. Pushing I was the heavy, rusty wheelchair holding my brother. The sand compressing below the wheels, making it difficult to roll across the desert.
* * *
Today began like no other cold shower to escape the heat, falafel and hummus for breakfast. My brother had the exact same system except reversed. I’d see him walk to the kitchen as I grabbed my towel. Although it was the same routine. Today was very much a different day because today, my brother and I were to March. My brother was complacent again this morning, procrastinating the persistence of walking for what is right.
I said to him this morning if not now, when? Each day we don’t act, another battle is lost. We must fight back, we must act, at what cost there is for conformity, is larger than the cost of doing something, and failing.
So we must try.
My brother and I began to walk, walk to the city called to meet with those who were disgusted with Israel as much as we are. It wasn’t very far, but there was much more walking to to be done. After about half an hour of trenching through the city we came up upon the rally. So many strong men and women who would not pay that cost of conforming as much as we wouldn’t, all surrounding the city hall door. Each face in their represented a story, a reason, anger and emotions so strong in what needs to change the collide together as one.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “A Doll’s House uses female characters to…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 87.5%: Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House exposes the contradictions of patriarchal society through its portrayal of women…
Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House exposes the contradictions of patriarchal society through its portrayal of women who are simultaneously expected to be obedient and self-sacrificing, yet are forced to demonstrate independence and resilience. Through Nora Helmer, Kristine Linde and Anne-Marie, Ibsen reveals that the expectations imposed upon women are not only restrictive but fundamentally contradictory. Women are expected to remain dependent on men while being responsible for maintaining their families, and are praised for sacrifice while being denied meaningful autonomy. While Nora initially conforms to these expectations, her eventual rejection of them, alongside the contrasting experiences of Mrs Linde and Anne-Marie, allows Ibsen to challenge the assumption that women are naturally suited to submissive domestic roles.
From the beginning of the play, Ibsen uses Nora to expose the contradiction between society’s expectation that women should be dependent and their capacity for independence. Torvald repeatedly addresses Nora using patronising pet names such as “my little skylark” and “my little squirrel”, establishing the unequal power dynamic within their marriage. His language reduces Nora to a childlike figure whose value is associated with her ability to entertain and please him. However, beneath this constructed identity, Nora has demonstrated considerable resourcefulness by secretly obtaining a loan to save Torvald’s life. She proudly explains to Mrs Linde, “It was I who saved Torvald’s life,” revealing that the supposedly dependent woman has actually acted as the protector within the marriage. Ibsen therefore creates a deliberate contradiction between Nora’s social identity and her actual capabilities. Although patriarchal society assumes that women require male protection, Nora’s actions demonstrate that she is capable of making significant financial and moral decisions herself. Furthermore, the secrecy surrounding the loan demonstrates that society does not simply prevent women from being independent; it forces them to conceal their independence. Nora cannot openly take responsibility for saving her husband because doing so would challenge Torvald’s authority. Consequently, Ibsen suggests that patriarchal expectations are maintained by denying women recognition for the very qualities that society requires them to possess.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: The destructive consequences of truth and…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus the King explores how knowledge can often be more devastating than ignorance. Within…
Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus the King explores how knowledge can often be more devastating than ignorance. Within Greek society, Sophocles displays truth as an unstoppable force, ultimately suggesting that ignorance is what catalyses the destructive consequences of truth. This is presented through the sealing of fate, the acceptance of truth and the consequences of remaining ignorant.
Ignorance can seal one’s fate, as the city of Thebes is described as being stricken by a plague, highlighting how the gods’ wrath has been set upon the city. This aligns with Athenian religious values, as the people of Thebes attribute their suffering to the gods’ will, suggesting that some moral atrocity has been committed and left unresolved. Oedipus’ proclamation to find Laius’ murderer, otherwise stating “I curse myself”, emphasises how human limitations can seal human fates, which resonates with the Athenian audience, as they hold the gods in high regard.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 'Chronicle of a Death Foretold' challenges…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: Set in 1950s Columbia, Gabriel García Márquez's 1981 novella "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" critiques the…
Set in 1950s Columbia, Gabriel García Márquez's 1981 novella "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" critiques the downfalls of a society dictated by conservative values at the peak of a turbulent "La Violencia". Marquez challenges the readers understanding of honour to be associated with morality and integrity, presenting the contradictory perceptions of honour in the town. Consequently, Marquez criticises the hollow and performative nature of honour, exposing such notions as futile. Ultimately, Marquez reveals the ramifications of the town's blind adherence to their honour culture, criticising their role in repeating the continuous cycle of violence.
For the contemporary readers, presumed perceptions of being honourable are linked with respectability and following strict moral principles. Yet, Marquez displays the warped interpretations of honour by the town as they disregard morality and religious values under false pretences of honour. The deeply embedded honour culture of the town is shown to demand violence from men, tasking the Vicario brothers with the "horrible duty" of murdering Santiago. Through use of the term "duty", the masculine expectation of violence is presented as an obligation, superceding morality. Furthermore, the twins are encouraged by those around them to do "what a man should do", accentuating the distorted perspectives of the townspeople who encourage murder in the name of honour. Moreover, expected honourable characters such as Colonel Aponte is dismissive to the brothers' plans, ironically mocking "what will the bishop think", and others commenting to "leave him for later, if only out of respect for his grace the bishop". The irony in these statements is blatantly obvious in the contradictions of their supposed devotion to Catholicism and reverence for the bishop with their evident disregard for the murder about to occur. The religious irony is further accentuated through the bishop himself who "didn’t get off" the boat, symbolic of the religious corruption of the town. Moreover, the religious hypocrisy is further elucidated through the priest who suggests the twins are innocent "perhaps before God", directly defying catholic values of denouncing violence. Through the juxtaposition of the expected honourable and moral character of a priest with his defiance of Christian values in justifying murder, Marquez emphasises the warped notions of honour shared by the town which overrules personal and religious morality. Marquez condemns the hypocrisy of this, challenging the reader's previous understanding of honourability.
VCE · Language Analysis
Language Analysis: for vcaa 2020 exam
VCE Language Analysis essay scoring 85%: The local community of the shire of Byways has had recent complaints surrounding the recreational usage of…
The local community of the shire of Byways has had recent complaints surrounding the recreational usage of drones by tourists in the area. Young farmer Warwick Bandle passionately addresses this issue in his speech to community-invested residents at a public meeting. He fervently details the significant harm unregulated drone usage has for farmers, urging council members to prioritise farmers’ needs over tourists’. Bandle reassures his audience of his stance on technology, affirming his support of drone use in non-recreational scenarios. Ultimately, Bandle logically posits the need for stricter regulation surrounding commercial drone use.
From the outset, Bandle is immediately critical of the harm inexperienced drone users bring to farmers. Affronted by the disregard for their farmland, Bandle highlights the severity of the issue, emphasising the importance of supporting farmers in their community. He firmly describes the issue to be a “costly problem for us farmers”, utilising inclusive language to relate to his fellow farmers’ experiences with the issue. In doing so, Bandle speaks for a broader group of farmers, making obvious the extensive effect drone misuse has had. Furthermore, he labels it to be potentially “lethal”, employing the term’s severe deadly connotations to make his community aware of how significant the ramifications can be, therefore creating a sense of urgency to solve the problem. The imagery of drones being “left to rust away in the field until harvest time” is supported by inclusion of the image of a woman chasing after her drone stuck in the field. Juxtaposition of the drone’s modern and high-tech appearance with the empty natural grass surroundings serves to underline the drone’s existence as intrusive and out of place. This sentiment is augmented by the descriptions of it “rusting away”, which Bandle uses to highlight the unnaturalness of the drone amongst the field. Therefore, he conveys to his audience the significant impact drone misuse has on farmers. Consequently, Bandle urges the council to defend the farmers over tourists, stressing the value they bring to the community through the metaphor of them being the “backbone of this community”. With this, Bandle repositions a community-focused audience to realise the important role of farmers in their community, thus becoming personally invested in the issue.
VCE · Language Analysis
Language Analysis: 2021 Section C VCAA
VCE Language Analysis essay scoring 87.5%: In a social media post published on the Toppdale community voice page on the 12th of September 2021, cinema…
In a social media post published on the Toppdale community voice page on the 12th of September 2021, cinema marketing manager Ava urges the residents of Toppdale and the surrounding district to support their struggling local cinema as it faces a threat of forced closure. Adopting a concerned yet passionate tone, Ava contends that the despite growing popularity of streaming services, the cinema is an essential part of the towns historical identity and social fabric, offering the community with an experience that cannot be replaced. The post is accompanied by two images, one represents the inside of the cinema with people inside and the other one the exterior of the cinema.
Initially, Ava appeals to the community’s sense of nostalgia and collective identity by emphasising the cinemas longstanding historical significance as she states it has been a “part of the town since the 1910s”. Ava establishes it as a familiar and enduring institution that has shaped Toppdale across generations. The inclusive language of “our” fosters a sense of collective ownership, positioning the cinema as something belonging to the entire community rather than merely a commercial business. By eliciting feelings of belonging and nostalgia the residents of Toppdale are inclined to support the idea that the cinema must be saved. Furthermore, her reference to the cinema surviving major historical and technological changes, “DVDS”, “Television”, “The Great Depression”, presents the cinema as having endured previous challenges, which reinforces the cinemas resilience and importance, therefore encouraging the Toppdale residents to believe that the cinema can overcome its current difficulties of streaming service popularity and feel a sense of responsibility to help ensure this can be achieved. The image of people laughing together in a cinema reinforces Ava’s contention that the local cinema provides a vulnerable shared experience that cannot be replicated by watching films at home. The people’s laughter conveys a sense of enjoyment and excitement, encouraging Toppdale residents to associate the cinema with positive and memorable experiences that are worth preserving. Therefore, guiding them to want to return to the cinema to support it.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: protest: Unbroken stimulus 1: ‘to…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 65%: Title: Unbroken My day typically consists of being under the spotlight, wearing pieces that make me feel…
Title: Unbroken
My day typically consists of being under the spotlight, wearing pieces that make me feel confident, the abundance of colours and dreamy pieces I have the privilege to wear.
I’ve basically got the dream life. The life which I know all of you behind the screen dream to have, sorry not sorry!
But, this dream I’ve lived the past 5 years, from age 15 to 20, has brought with it the loss of my blissful ignorance. Working my ideal job has cursed me with being exposed to dark truth, the truth that lies behind the industry’s closed doors.
I don’t mean to sound like a performative activist, I know too well that I am a part of the problem. Every 'haul' video I post, every discount code I share, adds another stitch to the shroud covering this industry's sins.
The problem is woven into the very fabric of the industry, a poisoned thread running through every seam, impossible to unpick without unravelling the whole garment.
Fashion, modelling, all comes down to the production of clothing, of course. This is no surprise. However, what has really shocked me down to my core, is the disgusting roots.
Behind the flattering ring light and the curated aesthetic is a landscape of overflowing landfills, the phantom ache of exploited hands, and the calculated deception fed to every consumer. We have all been lied to, under the spell of their meticulous curation of your algorithm.
Yeah, I know guys! I am the one on your feed, shoving the latest micro-trend down your throats and forcing you to open your wallets. I am sorry.
Sorry to the thousands of workers who don’t have nearly as much privilege as me, who are tricked, manipulated, and confined by the untouched threads which strangle them, day after day.
Okay, so, welcome to a day in their life, working 16 hour shifts, and yes, 7 days a week, not like (nothing like) your average 9-5. With 98% earning below a freaking living wage, pouring blood sweat and tears into their craft, with no reward? And for what? So we can pride ourselves on fitting in with the trends, looking like our favourite influencer,
“Anna, don’t be so dramatic”. Oh okay, I’d like to see you try work 16 hours every day, every week, every day of the year, no break, no humanity, not a single ounce of humanity.
Well, “I’d protest” Okay, just like the thousands of fabric workers in Bangladesh did? Cool, and take the chance of being shot by rubber bullets, attacked with tear gas, forced to disperse and killed?
VCE · Language Analysis
Language Analysis: Taylor T. writes a blog about their…
VCE Language Analysis essay scoring 87.5%: Mobile phones have taken control of our lives ever since they were introduced, they have become so addictive…
Mobile phones have taken control of our lives ever since they were introduced, they have become so addictive that we have them joint at our hips. There are always with us that society has felt the need to use these devices to show our locations to anyone and everyone without a second thought as to what the repercussions may be. in Taylor T posted a blog post online titled “Why i won’t be sharing my location with you anymore”, he argues that using mobile phones to share your location is dangerous and cause more harm than good. He uses a measured tone to persuade his audience of his followers of the blog and specifically his friends and family to stop sharing their locations with everyone.
Taylor suggests that the novelty of blasting their location to everyone they know has gone down the drain. he begins with emotive language by expressing that when he finally deleted all location sharing apps “[he] never felt saner”, this reference to feeling “saner” conveys a strong sense of personal relief and wellbeing and positions the audience to gather how freeing it felt for him to “be in control” of his safety and privacy. the nostalgic tone demonstrated through the personal anecdote of his initial feelings towards downloading location sharing apps when he first got his phone in high school, claiming it “was the coolest thing ever.” the past tense word of “was'“ implies how Taylor no longer believes that having other peoples whereabout is trendy. The repetition of “i could see” illuminates the abundant control a person can have when having access to someone’s location. This directly relates to the edited photograph of a person holding their phone with a map of a bunch of red dots flooding the screen. The red pings represent the locations of people we know in our lives and suddenly have their exact whereabouts without their consent, from getting the exact location of his friends from different classes to being able to see how far away his dad was to picking him up. This is intended to demonstrate to the readers how the accessing one’s location made us lose the opportunities we once had to actually call or message our loved ones to see how far they were because we already know the answer. Taylor uses juxtaposition to demonstrate both the pros and cons of sharing ones location, how it keeps a “peace of mind” by knowing that your loved ones are safe and that its easier than calling to check in on them. however its goes against ethics as it is an invasion of “privacy” and if hacked can lead to “stalkers.” The writer employs a list of relatable social dilemmas, including ‘how to stop sharing with someone without hurting their feelings’, to highlight the interpersonal complexities of location sharing, encouraging readers to reconsider the impact of digital tracking on their relationships.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: The desire for safety is what causes the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 100%: In stark contrast, Jackson validates the longing for safety as a reaction against a harsh society, especially when…
In stark contrast, Jackson validates the longing for safety as a reaction against a harsh society, especially when denied a true sense of security and protection from one’s family. Jackson explores the consequences of Merricat’s deeper lack of love and belonging from not only the rigidly structured society, but within her own home itself. The long-lasting effects of classism and hatred within their environment are evident throughout Jackson’s novel, presented through the villagers who have ‘always hated’ the Blackwood family. Their prejudice and hostility are driven as much by the family’s entrenched privilege as by the crime committed six years prior. This is further emphasised through the mob of villagers ‘moving like a wave’ towards the house when the structure is already in ruin. In this moment, the responsible veil that masks the villagers’ true intent is stripped as Jim Donnell, the chief firefighter, very ‘carefully’ removes his
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Born a crime is a story of overcoming…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: Trevor Noah’s memoir, Born a Crime, primarily explores times of racial segregation during pre and post-apartheid.…
Trevor Noah’s memoir, Born a Crime, primarily explores times of racial segregation during pre and post-apartheid. Noah condemns the limiting factors which must be ultimately overcome in order to survive in an unjust society. He demonstrates the extent to which race and gender are limitations that influence the success of an individual. However, ultimately, he champions language as a tool used to overcome limitations.
Initially, Noah criticises the unjust reality of gender, which must be challenged. Noah presents Patricia as an individual who defies traditional societal norms and conformities. As Patricia works to obtain a career as a secretary, which was considered socially inappropriate for a black woman at the time, given that “teaching a black woman how to type was like teaching a blind woman how to drive”, Noah satirically mocks Patricia’s career choice, highlighting the severe abnormality of her decision, ultimately demonstrating her ability to overcome gender as a barrier to her success. Furthermore, Noah presents his childhood as “a world run by women”, championing the ability of his mother, Patricia, and his grandmother to raise him. He highlights the ability of multiple female individuals to overcome socially imposed limitations.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Chronicle of a Death Foretold examines the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: Set within a town founded upon the tenets of catholicism, Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s allegorical novella “Chronicle…
Set within a town founded upon the tenets of catholicism, Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s allegorical novella “Chronicle of a Death Foretold" centralises dogmatic beliefs emanating from 1950s Columbia to examine the reification of ‘honour’. From the outset, Marquez castigates the ways in which the townspeople liken ‘honour’ to that of a spiritual mandate – a law sanctioned by God himself to construct a guise of moral sanctity that masks their collective complacency, becoming mutually reinforcing partners in maintaining social control. Dissecting this premise, Marquez does not merely criticise the performative nature of religious duty, he further highlights the total absence of divine intervention in order to reveal the religious institution as an empty vessel that the townspeople ‘fill’ with their own prophecies of honour and machismo. However, the trompe l’oeil narrative paradoxically also portrays the ecclesiastical values that continue to permeate the conscience of the community, ultimately revealing how the two antithetical notions of honour and religion can co-exist.
At its core, the novella reduces religion to a series of empty and ritualistic performances as the institution itself remains passive and complicit in the face of brutality. This is evident through the religious symbolism of the bishop as he “didn’t get off his boat” to see the banquet the entirety of the town had prepared solely in anticipation of his arrival, and “gave a mechanical blessing without even getting up”. The bishop’s bypassing, opting to perform only a perfunctory and ‘mechanical’ blessing signifies the eclipse of the town from catholic morality into devotion to atavistic codes of honour, as the bishop who is meant to be God’s instrument on Earth himself has metaphorically abandoned the town. This physical detachment becomes emblematic of a more profound spiritual abandonment as the townspeople are left without a moral anchor, and do not seek to reconcile this religious vacuity, rather turning to reify violent codes of honour. This is articulated as the indifference of the bishop acts as permissive of the dismissal of moral conscience, crystallized as the Vicario twins affirm despite committing a murder, they are “innocent before God and men”. This claim is inherently paradoxical as by invoking a divine witness into a moral void, the twins reveal that their God is not an ecclesiastical authority, but a sacronistic system of honour that permits violence. Moreover, they collapse the distinction between the two as “before god and man” is synonymous with ‘before religion, and man-made systems of ‘honour’. This characterises Marquez’s condemnation of tension between religion and honour as a veneer, religion acting as a mere moral mask for the supremacy of an atavistic honour code. Marquez frames this through the inaugural epigraph: “the pursuit of love is like falconry”, a subversion of the biblical commandment to ‘love thy neighbour’. Marquez demonstrates an inversion of love through the symbolism of falconry. Just as a falcon is hooded, the townspeople are blinded; they mistake their rigid ‘honour’ for love, using it as a veneer to cleanse the savagery of their sins. This being the entry point to the narrative proves particularly significant as it effectively allows Marques to immediately position readers outside of the town’s myopia by exposing spiritual vacuity concealed behind the mask of honour – transforming the narrative into a castigation of dogmatic systems of honour and performative religious values.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: using the passage as a focus, discuss the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 85%: Edith Wharton, in her novel ‘The age of Innocence’, endorses freedom from the restrictive social codes of ‘Old New…
Edith Wharton, in her novel ‘The age of Innocence’, endorses freedom from the restrictive social codes of ‘Old New York Society’. Throughout the text, Wharton frames Ellen as being ‘freed’ from the conformist expectations of New York society, yet she is ostracized and subject to the “loneliest kind of freedom”. At the same time, Newland desires to be freed, yet the social codes and expectations are so imprinted on his character that escaping from the society itself is framed as impossible. Wharton uses the concept of freedom to criticise the hypocrisies of the New York social sphere.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: The desire to act with honour mostly leads…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: Set in 1950s Colombia, Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s 1981 novella ‘Chronicle of a Death Foretold’ critiques the…
Set in 1950s Colombia, Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s 1981 novella ‘Chronicle of a Death Foretold’ critiques the downfalls of a society dictated by rigid honour ideals at the peak of a turbulent ‘La Violencia’. Exposing the harsh demands of the community’s honour culture, Marquez pities the misguided extreme lengths some go to in order to appease societal expectations and maintain an image of happiness. However, he foregrounds the severe ramifications that arise as a result, denouncing the desire to act with honour as culprit for the town’s convoluted morals and unhappiness. Consequently, Marquez celebrates the defiance of the honour code which he frames as the path to achieving happiness.
Marquez unveils a society in which warped notions of honour are valued above all else, critiquing the blind desperation to comply with societal structures to achieve happiness. The strictness of such an honour culture is prevalent through the acknowledgement of the Vicario twins’ “horrible duty” which the whole town is aware of, with use of the term “duty” implying the moral obligation imposed upon the twins as a result of their desire to act with honour, almost becoming synonymous with the law. Marquez critiques the extremity of such a culture upheld by the entire town, yet ironically hints that the townspeople themselves remain blissfully oblivious to the detriments of their unforgiving expectations as they blame fate for Santiago’s death. This is evident through the recurring motif of Santiago’s deathly appearance prior to his murder, with characters describing him to have already had “the face of a dead man”, and “looked like a ghost”. Thus, Marquez delineates the blindness of the town as they attribute responsibility for Santiago’s death to fate rather than their complacency, and are temporarily satisfied by their beliefs. Perceived ‘happiness’ is also blatant as Santiago’s murder is championed by others as morally just, with the priest himself claiming the twins are innocent “perhaps before God”. In doing so, Marquez juxtaposes the expected morality of such a religious figure with his corrupt catholic morals in justifying murder, condemning how the excessive desire to act with honour supersedes religious morality, unbeknownst to the characters themselves. Therefore, Marquez is sympathetic yet critical towards a society in which unforgiving honour expectations twist perceptions of morality, leading characters to mistakenly seek comfort with their honour culture.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Refusal to relinquish dreams is at the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: Billy Wilder’s 1950 film noir, Sunset Boulevard is a satirical commentary on the toxic nature of the Hollywood film…
Billy Wilder’s 1950 film noir, Sunset Boulevard is a satirical commentary on the toxic nature of the Hollywood film industry in the early 20th century and criticising the way the industry treats its human talent as disposable commodities. Throughout the film, Wilder endorses how the refusal to let go of a person’s dreams is at the heart of all suffering to a restricted extent, through the illusion of former glory, and attachment to fame. However, Wilder rejects the concept that refusing to let go of aspirations is the centre of all pain through his criticism of Hollywood’s ruthless machinery at the centre of suffering for the characters of his film.
Through Sunset Boulevard, Wilder explores how the refusal to let go of one's past glory can lead to immense pain and suffering. Norma’s characterisation permits Wilder to emphasise how Norma’s refusal to move on from her days of fame have led to her mental insanity, highlighted through Wilder’s inclusion of Norma’s personal cinema, playing only her own work and her dedication to reply to the “mail” she receives from “fans”. Additionally, Wilder’s mise-en-scene throughout the Palazzo, cluttered with “Norma Desmonds” on every surface demonstrate her inability to let her former glory go and her infatuation with her past fame. Similarly, Wilder’s use of chiaroscuro lighting within Norma’s palazzo symbolises the psychological decay of Norma by representing her fractured mind, trapping her in a gothic past and visually separating her delusions from reality. The pairing of this lighting with the cluttered interior of the palazzo, allows Wilder to underscore the way Norma’s home obscures the truth of her lost career. Wilder’s intertextual reference of Ms Havisham from Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, links Norma to the theme of living in the past and the destructive nature unfulfilled dreams can have on a person. This emphasises to the audience that a person’s unwillingness to move on from past dreams or former glory can cause immense pain, which in the case of Sunset Boulevard Norma’s infatuation with her own past leads to her mental state of delusion, believing she is back in the prime of her acting career. In expressing this concept, Wilder explores how Norma’s refusal to move on causes harm to other characters in his film. Through the close up shot of Max playing the organ with Norma and Joe conversing in the background, Wilder emphasises how the pain of Norma’s refusal to admit the truth of her isolation from Hollywood impacts those closest to her. Wilder approves of the concept that a refusal to renounce one’s ambitions is the centre of all hardship for not only the person in denial but those around them too.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: To what extent is revenge a form of…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 97.5%: Stephen Maxwell Johnson’s revisionist frontier-drama High Ground interrogates the violent genesis of modern…
Stephen Maxwell Johnson’s revisionist frontier-drama High Ground interrogates the violent genesis of modern Australia, challenging romanticized myths of settlement. Set against the breathtaking yet unforgiving landscapes of Arnhem Land, the film follows Travis (Simon Baker) and Gutjuk (Junior Nayinggul) as they navigate a region torn apart by institutional brutality. While the title characteristically evokes physical dominance and military control, Johnson systematically subverts this premise. Rather than framing revenge and tactical elevation as true forms of justice, the narrative exposes them as hollow, destructive traps. Ultimately, Johnson argues that true power and moral clarity cannot be achieved through the barrel of a gun or the retaliatory violence of the empire, but must instead be forged through radical truth-telling, deep listening, and the restoration of connection to Country.
Johnson establishes early in the narrative that the pursuit of physical dominance is a corrupting illusion, demonstrating how characters who rely on tactical elevation become trapped in a cycle of state-sanctioned violence. This arrogance is epitomized by Moran, who views the frontier through a myopic lens of absolute control, aggressively asserting that “in THIS country we all abide by the same law” and declaring “I didn’t come here to negotiate.” Early on, even Travis operates under this fatalistic mindset, notoriously claiming that “when you've got the high ground, you control everything.” Director Stephen Maxwell Johnson captures the moral bankruptcy of this perspective through chaotic, bloody massacres underscored by the mournful squawking of black crows, contrasting the spiritual purity of the landscape with human savagery. Characters like Eddy embody the pure sadism of this system, viewing the frontier as a hunting ground where a spotter’s true role is to “confirm the kill” while boasting that “Travis is the nice one.” Johnson uses these elements to expose how the physical "high ground" of military superiority is merely a mask for colonial theft, proving that institutional violence masquerading as justice is actually nothing more than calculated, state-backed revenge.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: destruction of memories leads to a…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: In The Memory Police, Yoko Ogawa depicts a society defined by the systemic erasure of objects and the subsequent…
In The Memory Police, Yoko Ogawa depicts a society defined by the systemic erasure of objects and the subsequent decay of the human spirit. Through the experiences of the unnamed narrator and the inhabitants of the isolated island, Ogawa illustrates that memory is not merely a record of the past, but the primary scaffolding of the self. Without the ability to retain memories, identity is not simply altered; it is fundamentally dismantled. Ogawa posits that the destruction of memory inevitably leads to the destruction of individuality, as memories serve as the emotional anchors that connect individuals to their humanity. Ultimately, the regime’s control—and the citizens’ passive acceptance of it—transforms the heart into a hollow vessel, proving that memory and identity are inextricably linked.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Sunset Boulevard depict and…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 77.5%: How does Sunset Boulevard depict and create illusions? Billy Wilder's iconoclastic 1950s film noir Sunset…
How does Sunset Boulevard depict and create illusions?
Billy Wilder's iconoclastic 1950s film noir Sunset Boulevard aims to uncover and critique Hollywood's facade of opulence and fantasy, hidden behind exploitation and cruelty. Amidst an unsettled and increasingly extravagant American society, disillusioned by Cold War tensions after the traumatic World War, Wilder cautions against the illusions portrayed by Hollywood. Sunset Boulevard demonstrates how illusions underpin dark undertones to the workings of Hollywood and foreshadow destruction. Wilder initially challenges the flamboyant illusion of Hollywood's luxury in the exposition, portraying the media-built perceptions of the industry as false. Additionally, Wilder creates illusions between characters that destroy identity and result in moral decay. Ultimately, in a tragic climax, Wilder posits the destructive nature to illusion, condemning the industry that upholds them and the audience that consumes them.
The meticulously decrepit exposition of Sunset Boulevard cuts down extravagant perceptions of Hollywood, depicting its image as an illusion. The opening scene of the film frames the iconic Hollywood film star's street name, "Sunset Boulevard", in the gutters. Paint peeling and text obscured by dirt and leaf litter, Wilder immediately contradicts the image of the street and its lavish mansions, introducing a theme of decay to the setting. Wilder reinforces this theme through his depiction of Norma's "Hollywood palazzio", a great mansion the audience expects on Sunset Boulevard, defiled by unkempt overgrowth, blackout blinds and shutters, weed-covered gardens, and an abandoned, empty pool. The decrepit state of the house unveils the illusion of opulence hiding in reality of abandonment and decay, mirroring the reality that Hollywood stars undergo an immense pressure mentally and physically. Wilder warns his audience not to be blindly deceived by Hollywood's delusions, foreshadowing the cruel treatment depicted of film stars. In addition, the mise-en-scène of Joe's apartment room, made suffocatingly cramped by a tracking establishing shot through Joe's window revealing scattered papers, empty coffee mugs, and cigarette butts clustered around his pitiful workstation and typewriter. Wilder portrays a much more common and realistic side of Hollywood than the apparent opulent lives of film stars, depicting the struggle of creators like Joe, who can only try to "make a living". Joe's sardonic and cynical lexus presents a perspective seemingly grounded in reality amidst the film's illusions, allowing Wilder to depict Hollywood's image of luxury as illusory and disconnected from the struggling lives of creatives in Hollywood. Wilder ultimately cautions his audience's desire for extravagance, warning of dangerous misconceptions around the image of success they consume.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Title: Resist and Persist Stimulus…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 97.5%: Resist and Persist Before I say anything else, I’m going to say my name. Nasrin. Two syllables. It isn’t a…
Resist and Persist
Before I say anything else, I’m going to say my name.
Nasrin.
Two syllables. It isn’t a difficult name. But I’ve heard it shortened and mispronounced so often that I stopped correcting people. That is how a name disappears. One polite silence at a time.
I should be in class right now. Instead I’m out here with a borrowed megaphone and a speech I wrote on the tram. Behind that glass, someone is deciding what happens to families like mine. In front of me stand the people who can make them listen. Some of you came with banners. Some of you only stopped because the road was closed. I’m speaking to all of you.
Picture a row of dominoes. One tips. The next goes. Then the next, until falling is all anyone remembers. That is how the words work. A “boat”. A “flow”. A “case”. Each one nudges the next, until nobody remembers there is a person underneath.
I used to think the best thing a refugee could do was stay quiet. Nobody said it to me. Nobody had to. It was in how Mum thanked every person who handed her a form. We’d been given a place to stand, and the unwritten rule was to stand very still, be very grateful and take up as little room as possible.
So I got good at it. “I’m fine.” “It’s okay.” “Honestly, I’m just happy to be here.” Sentences that sound like gratitude. Really, they’re a small, polite way of falling down.
But standing still has a shelf life. For me, it ended with a form.
Form 88-B. Nine pages, with a reference number printed above our names. Mum filled it out at our kitchen table with a dictionary beside her, and I translated the words the dictionary didn’t have. Halfway down page two: Reason for leaving. Three lines.
Three lines for the night we ran. Three lines for everyone we didn’t say goodbye to.
I watched my mother stare at that box for a very long time. Then she picked up the pen and made it fit.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Title: Resist and Persist Stimulus…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 92.5%: Resist and Persist Before I say anything else, I’m going to say my name. Nasrin. Two syllables. It isn’t a…
Resist and Persist
Before I say anything else, I’m going to say my name.
Nasrin.
Two syllables. It isn’t a difficult name. But I’ve heard it shortened and mispronounced so often that I stopped correcting people. That is how a name disappears: one polite silence at a time.
I should be in class right now. Instead I’m out here with a borrowed megaphone and a speech I wrote on the tram, because behind that glass someone is deciding what happens to families like mine, and in front of me stand the people who can make them listen. Some of you came with banners. Some of you only stopped because the road was closed. I’m speaking to all of you.
Picture a row of dominoes. One tips, the next goes, then the next, until falling is all anyone remembers. That is how the words work. A “boat”. A “flow”. A “case”. Each one nudges the next, until nobody remembers there is a person underneath.
I used to think the best thing a refugee could do was stay quiet. Nobody said it to me. Nobody had to. It was in how Mum thanked every person who handed her a form. We’d been given a place to stand, and the unwritten rule was to stand very still, be very grateful and take up as little room as possible.
So I got good at it. “I’m fine.” “It’s okay.” “Honestly, I’m just happy to be here.” Sentences that sound like gratitude but are really a small, polite way of falling down.
But standing still has a shelf life. For me, it ended with a form.
Nine pages. Mum filled it out at our kitchen table with a dictionary beside her, and I translated the words the dictionary didn’t have. Halfway down page two: Reason for leaving. Three lines.
Three lines for the night we ran. Three lines for everyone we didn’t say goodbye to.
I watched my mother stare at that box for a very long time. Then she picked up the pen and made it fit.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In The Memory Police, to what extent is…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 100%: The islanders’ erasure is not merely a coercive imposition from the Memory Police, but a systemic abandonment of…
The islanders’ erasure is not merely a coercive imposition from the Memory Police, but a systemic abandonment of identity that stems from their own compliance. Following the disappearance of a single culturally resonant object like ribbons, the community loses a vital link to personal vanity and memory, stripping away the cultural fabric of their lives before the physical toll even manifests. As memories vanish, the islanders' inner landscapes experience a profound structural shift, developing sudden “holes” or settling into a progressive state of being “empty.” This distinction reveals a fracturing identity; while a “hole” marks the sudden, traumatic shock of a fresh loss, the progressive “emptiness” reflects a gradual, eroding numbness as the self hollows out over time, firmly anchoring what the narrator describes as the feeling that her "heart was changing." Ogawa uses this visceral metaphor of internal excavation to transform an abstract psychological loss into a tangible, somatic experience, proving that compliance manifests as a literal hollowing out of the self rather than a passive event. This resignation is primarily driven by the islanders’ desperate, instinctual need to maintain a fragile stability. While such a reaction could be interpreted as an involuntary psychological trauma response rather than a purely willing capitulation, it ultimately functions as a protective choice to prioritize immediate comfort over the burden of the past. This deliberate trade-off is clear when they participate in specific rituals of erasure, such as the river disposal of these very ribbons or the burning of hats, surrendering their items without active
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Title: The Noise We Make Stimulus:…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 85%: The clock on the wall of the Department of Institutional Archives did not tick; it hummed—a flat, electronic…
The clock on the wall of the Department of Institutional Archives did not tick; it hummed—a flat, electronic frequency designed to mask the sounds of the traffic three stories below.
Every desk was spaced exactly nine feet apart. At Desk 14, Arthur sat behind his black terminal, reviewing transcripts of public testimonies. His job was simple: when a citizen’s testimony contained "disruptive emotional syntax"—phrases that expressed grief, anger, or moral objection—Arthur was required to highlight the clause and press Alt+Delete. The system called it Syntactical Standardization.
In his left ear, Arthur wore a small, beige rubber earpiece. It was not a Vonnegut-style radio blasting white noise, but a modern compliance loop—a gentle, steady chime that played every forty seconds to reset the employee’s train of thought.
Chime.
Arthur blinked. He had been looking at line 42 of a document:
“We stood on the steps for four hours in the freezing rain because my sister had no voice left to speak for herself.”
Arthur’s cursor hovered over the sentence. Standard protocol required him to delete “in the freezing rain” and “because my sister had no voice left.” Such details invited empathy. Empathy invited friction.
Beside him, Miller at Desk 15 worked with mechanical efficiency. Miller’s fingers clattered across his mechanical keyboard like hail on a tin roof. He never paused. He never looked at the names on the left-hand margin of his screen. When the compliance chime sounded in Miller’s ear, Miller’s eyes simply glazed over for a microsecond before his hands resumed their rhythmic, obedient dance.
Chime.
Arthur felt a tight, suffocating weight behind his ribs—the physical handicap of quiet compliance. For seven years, he had participated in this slow erasure. He had deleted mothers, deleted workers, deleted the quiet rage of people whose only crime was wanting to be heard. He had convinced himself that because he did not write the laws, he bore no responsibility for their execution.
He looked down at his desk. On the stainless steel lip sat a brass paperclip. It was an illegal object—strictly non-regulation in a paperless office. Three weeks ago, Arthur had picked it up off the floor of the lobby. Since then, he had kept it hidden in his palm, bending and unbending its metal wire until his thumb was calloused. It was his anchor.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “I am going to put death in all their food…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 82.5%: Set within the isolated Blackwood estate, Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle explores how the…
Set within the isolated Blackwood estate, Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle explores how the past continually shapes individuals and their relationship with society. Through the villagers’ hostility towards the Blackwood sisters, Jackson reveals how prejudice is transmitted between generations, allowing past resentment to persist in the present. Furthermore, the return of patriarchal authority demonstrates oppressive structures can be revived through the introduction of new figures, preventing individuals from escaping from the influence from previous generations. Ultimately, Jackson exposes how unresolved trauma causes individuals to unrelentingly revisit the past in order to seek security. Through the destruction of the household, Jackson suggests while the past can be physically disrupted, its social and psychological consequences remain difficult to overcome.
Jackson reveals how the past perpetuates itself through generational transmission, as communities inherited and reproduce prejudice towards those perceived as different and threatening. Jackson establishes a setting of restrictive physical isolation through the “great circle” of wire fence surrounding “every inch” of the Blackwood estate. Yet, by portraying the “telephone” and “mail”, vital tools of communication, as “unbearable”, she reveals the sisters’ seclusion is not self-imposed, but are a sinister product from the extreme hatred from the villagers, reaffirmed by Merricat’s superlative proclamation: “the people in the village have always hated us”. Beyond their fortune as the factor that derived the hatred, Jackson reveals society refuses differences and perceives the sister’s unconventional form of living as threatening. Despite being two of the wealthiest families in the town, both the Clarks and the Carringtons, receive “smiles and nods” from the villagers because their wealth and social position fits within the accepted convention. The sisters inherited their family’s fortune without masculine domination, therefore their accumulation of wealth is viewed as threatening, and blatantly disregards the traditions from the eyes of the villagers. Indeed, the Blackwood fortune may be an affront, but to the people in the village, its concentration in the hands of women is the greatest travesty. The cruel villagers aim to persist this hatred by transmitting their acts of hostility in the innocence from the younger generation. Through the Harris boys’ “rhythmic and insistent” chants of “cup of tea… poison me… go to sleep… ten feet deep…”, the nursery rhyme that represents childish innocence is instead weaponised as a pedagogic tool that perpetuates generational hatred. Such corruption of childish innocence mirrors the villagers’ moral decay, where persecution is positioned as justified. When Merricat wonders if “Jim Donell and Dunham and Harris lead regular drills”, the polysyndeton emphasises the knowledge of these prominent male figures being passed onto the children and demonstrates how violence can not only be spontaneous but carefully institutionalised. The villagers’ vitriol is revealed as a ritualised enactment of sanctioned cruelty that transforms the sisters into figures of malevolence.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Title: Level Up Stimulus: We dont stop…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 75%: We ate on the pitch. Not in a restaurant. On the actual ground in Darwin, in the heat that would not let up…
We ate on the pitch.
Not in a restaurant. On the actual ground in Darwin, in the heat that would not let up even after sunset. Fifteen of us sat in the middle of the pitch with food in our hands, but nobody said much.
The changerooms had already been loud, that specific kind of loud when a group of people realise that what they have been doing has finally become real. But out on the pitch it was quiet, and I remember thinking: so this is what play actually is.
Play has a version of itself that asks nothing of you. When I joined the First XI, I was the youngest in the youngest, trying to fit in and trying to keep pace, I trained and played, but the game passed through me and left nothing behind.
That kind of play is easy.
you occupy a position, follow the rules and wait for your turn to be over. You are present without even choosing to be in the game. It is play as an occupation - filling a position in someone else’s game.
But play at this level, holds you in the shallowest arena possible.
Play without care creates a group which turns up to the game without ever deciding to actually enter the arena. The team accepts the scoreboard, goes through the motions and takes nothing back home with them.
For 1388 days. This was us.
Play without intent is not play.
It is occupting a position in someone else’s game.
What changes play is the moment a group of people decides that they need to enter the arena. That shift does not arrive through one dramatic event. Instead an array of miniscule moments which shape a team, we had stayed at the lowest level for this entire period of time.
I remember our captain stopping mid drill and simple saying: “Do it again, properly.”
No anger. No speech. Just an expectation that we needed to build our arena.
That sentence ultimately drew a line between performing the game in someone else’s arena and actually being able to create our own.
From that point on. Play carried weight. You took it home. You woke up already thinking about it. Training stopped being something you simple attend, but something which was used as a workshop to build a team which built an arena through attitude and culture.
Hard work stopped being applauded.
it became assumed.