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.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: The title was : Actions not words The…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 80%: Actions, Not Words When did freedom become something we had to beg for? When did justice become a privilege,…
Actions, Not Words
When did freedom become something we had to beg for? When did justice become a privilege, and being treated with dignity become a demand too unreasonable to make without a crowd behind us? When did peace become something we had to lose before we could hope to find it?
They tell us to stand together. They said a moment is akin to a thousand words. That we had to do something, demand a change, refuse to accept a world that has given us every reason to be angry. And I understand that. God,I understand. But I wonder sometimes, what they expect of us. How can they ask us to keep fighting when some of us have nothing left to give?
Even the air feels heavy. The clock in the hall ticks, each second streching into the next, and I find myself listening for sounds that aren't even there. That familiar click of the knob when you turn the key. The creak of the floorboard that's five steps away from my room. Her voice calling out that she’s home, I keep looking at the door.
And I don't know why. As if staring at it long enough might bring her back. As though the world might take pity on me, and just this once, return something it has already taken. And yet it won't, as today has passed, so will tomorrow. Tomorrow, when they ask us to return to the streets. To lift our signs, straighten our shoulders, to make our grief loud enough that someone might listen. They will tell us this is what change demands of us. This is the sacrifice we make when we protest. That even when our mouths dry up, our lungs run out of air as we run out of words, we must keep fighting. That we could walk silent, empty-handed, but atleast we would be walking because to stop is to surrender.
I want to believe our words matter. I want to believe that if I give all of myself to this fight, we will win. I want to believe that all this pain must lead somewhere, beyond the signs and the shouting, a world in which no mother has to wait for her daughter like this.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: standing still
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 60%: standing still throughout the beginning of of my teenager years i acted as my own editor, ruthlessly cutting…
standing still
throughout the beginning of of my teenager years i acted as
my own editor, ruthlessly cutting the foreign" parts of my manuscript until the story was
Sufficient enough for my Australian audience. The first and most significant deletion was my hijab, taking of the fabric that once held my identity and faith in place and letting my long brown hair fall free a white flag of surrender that allowed me to move through the high school hallways without the constant terrorisation and "are you hiding a bomb underneath" mockery that followed, close behind. My second deletion came soon after, replacing the once endless and genuine conversation in farsi, with a curated greeting of “gday ‘mate” letting go off the soft authentic language of my mothers tongue and picking up w horrible aussie accent that i desperately failed to master.
I was ready to replace authenciy with acceptance, that i didnt realize what i was letting go off.
Yet, as the pages grew cleaner, they also grew thinner. i learned to anticipate the piercing looks that came my way as i opened my container of Kabuli palow or biryani, the way eyes would narrow, measuring the distance between my lunch and their bland, insipid reality of a Vegemite sandwich. I began to preempt the judgment. Before anyone could ask, I had already deleted the vibrant spices of my home kitchen, replacing them with something that wouldn’t draw attention.
whilst i was too busy deleting my cultural heritage from my manuscript, my grandmother was a living and breathing archive of the beauty I was ready to let go off she embraced the afghan culture i was Sheepishly afraid to slip thru my identity, she wore her " keremeenaz" and "du damena" (traditional afghan clothing) with pride and dignity, while i was hiding mines inside the back of my closet cabnit. she shared her magic not only inside the house with her special touches of safforn and garam masala but also with the neighbours, family friends, and anyone whos hands could hold a warm plate of mantu
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: "The cycle of violence in High Ground is…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: High Ground, a film directed by Stephen Maxwell Johnson in 2020, is set against the backdrop of colonial Australia.…
High Ground, a film directed by Stephen Maxwell Johnson in 2020, is set against the backdrop of colonial Australia. The film explores Gutjuk rediscovering his past after being caught between his cultural identity and the colonial society in which he was raised. Although the cycle of violence perpetuates conflict by forcing future generations into past conflicts, ultimately any individual can attempt to escape the cycle through their own choices. While the desire for revenge and the persistence of colonial oppression entice violence, in the end individuals who reject retaliation demonstrate that the cycle is not inescapable. Thus Johnson suggests that although the consequences of past historical actions cannot be undone, steps can be taken to forge a new future in which those same mistakes are omitted.
Johnson demonstrates that colonial violence perpetuates conflict intergenerationally, trapping individuals in the consequences of past actions. During the meeting between Moran and Dharrpa, Moran’s badge acts as a motif for conflict. His badge of a “high ranking officer” represents past and continuing colonial violence and oppression, and as such creates a hollow feeling due to the wrongful acclamation of terra nullius on the Aboriginal land. By using this motif Johnson symbolises the military and police of the colonisers as the “opposite” side of the Aboriginal people leading to a common enemy of all the Aboriginal people.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: "Travis has no sense of duty, no sense of…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 87.5%: High Ground Essay Stephen Johnson's 2020 revisionist western film, High Ground, investigates a picturesque Arnhem…
High Ground Essay
Stephen Johnson's 2020 revisionist western film, High Ground, investigates a picturesque Arnhem Land in the 1930s, examining a series of tragedies inflicted upon the local Yolngu clan in that timeframe, as well as its repercussions. Within this, Johnson presents diverse interpretations of loyalty through his characters and their beliefs. The film executes this through scrutinising the colonial officer's extent of allegiance to the force and its law, as well as praising the Yolngu clan's prioritisation of the nature around them and the dedication that they carry themselves with. Lastly, High Ground explores the differing devotions to the connections they share with other people.
Johnson navigates the differing stances of allegiance to the British law and police force through the actions his characters take when forced to. The film begins through introducing the recurring symbol of the police uniform, made complete with a British law badge. The repeated usage of this uniform displays the coloniser's, mainly Moran and Eddy's, commitment to the British law, underlining their loyalty to a cause that they believe in. This unwavering faithfulness is juxtaposed through a birds-eye view shot of Travis removing his police hat, that carried his badge. Through this camera angle, the film can demonstrate to the audience that in this scene, Travis is not willing to abide to the conformities of the British law, but instead choosing to follow his own belief system as the pillaging of the massacre unfolded at the hands of his fellow officers. As the film continues, the officers allegiance to their badge evolves or discontinues, as exhibited through a bonfire scene shared between Travis, Eddy and Moran, where Travis shares to the pair that he would be "better off shooting the two of you right now", as opposed to their idea of hunting down the opening massacre's survivors. This reveals the
varying positions of loyalty to the colonial system between the group, as Travis is willing to act against it to follow his sense of loyalty to the idea of what he believes just, while Moran and Eddy comply to the "rule of law". Overall, Johnson depicts opposing ideas of commitment to the British law of those within the ranks, as some want to have multiple belief systems in morals occurring at once, rather than a full-pledged allegiance to one system.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: ‘The Great Gatsby’ presents a world of…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 87.5%: Following the end of World War 1, 1920s America was characterised by technological advancement, economic…
Following the end of World War 1, 1920s America was characterised by technological advancement, economic prosperity and the hope for a better future. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s’ novel ‘The Great Gatsby’ exposes the moral corruption and social inequality concealed beneath the façade of the American dream. Through the stark contrast between the affluent East and West egg and the poverty-laden Valley of Ashes, alongside the character’s relentless pursuit of wealth and status, Fitzgerald portray how success has become corrupted by greed and desire, which led to devastating consequences. Ultimately, Fitzgerald critiques the legitimacy of the American dream, portraying a society deeply entrenched in class divisions and the illusion that wealth guarantees happiness.
From the outset of the novel, Fitzgerald exposes the deceptive nature of the 1920s Jazz Era, revealing the social inequality and moral decay concealed beneath the mask of prosperity. 1920s American was a period following World War 1 and was a time of technological advancements and economic success, creating the illusion that wealth and status were achievable through hard work. However, Fitzgerald challenges this fantasy through the vivid geographical contrast between East egg’s “white palaces” that “glittered along the water” and west egg, described as being the “less fashionable of the two.” The physical water separating West Egg from East Egg mirrors the unbridgeable social divide between him and Daisy, suggesting that no matter how much West Egg mimics the East egg, it can never buy its way into social acceptance. Fitzgerald further juxtaposes East Egg’s affluence with the valley of ashes, where “ashes grow like wheat” into “ridges and hills and grotesque gardens.” The contrast between “white palaces” and “grotesque” exposes the poverty concealed beneath the promise of prosperity. Revealing how the guarantee of widespread wealth masks a society founded on class divisions, where money remains unattainable to the poor. Furthermore, the billboard depicting the eyes of “Doctor T.J Eckleburg” as “blue and gigantic” symbolises the absence of morality in a society consumed by materialism. The eyes’ presence overlooking the impoverished land suggests an all-knowing observer witnessing the moral corruption hidden under the 1920s glamourous façade. Additionally, Fitzgerald’s repeated imagery of the “ash grey men” who “swarm” dehumanises the workers and conveys that industrialised America views them as needed labourers rather than an individual. The verb “swarm” exposes how industrial wealth depends on theses workers, yet their suffering is obscured from the wealthy. Hence ‘The Great Gatsby’ critiques the validity of the American dream, exposing its promise of social mobility as a fantasy that hides the flaws in America.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: the role of storytelling as an act of…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: The role of storytelling as an act of defiance is integral to the narrative of The Memory Police. Discuss. By…
The role of storytelling as an act of defiance is integral to the narrative of The Memory Police. Discuss.
By constructing a narrative where the act of writing becomes a futile yet vital site of resistance, Yoko Ogawa’s dystopian novel The Memory Police (1994) illustrates that storytelling is not merely a tool for preserving memory, but a deliberate assertion of human existence against the void of the state’s enforced erasure. Ogawa exhibits storytelling as an act of defiance that is integral in the memory police as it is a passive form of endurance that resists erasure and protects individual identity. Furthermore, in a society governed by enforced forgetting, the systematic erasure of memories suppresses individual selfhood and normalises compliance, rendering storytelling as a vital act of defiance and survival against authoritarian control. However, Ogawa depicts storytelling as a futile form of resistance that fails to overthrow the oppressive regime.
Ogawa demonstrates that storytelling as an act of defiance is essential in the memory police as it is a passive form of endurance that resists erasure and protects individual identity. By mirroring the narrator’s own act of writing with the novel’s existence, Ogawa transforms the text into a self-reflexive site of resistance: the novel itself serves as a permanent, tangible archive that defies the regime’s transient, systematic erasure. The assertion that “no one can erase the stories,” is deliberately placed by Ogawa to highlight the vital role of storytelling as they provide a vessel for memory that cannot be erased. This portrays that storytelling is not only important, but is the only way the narrator can retain her humanity. Ultimately, Ogawa employs storytelling to be a fundamental part of The Memory Police as it not only resists the regime’s systematic erasure, but ensures that the characters are not stripped of their humanity.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Sophocles suggests that balance and…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 87.5%: Set against the religious and sociopolitical landscape of fifth-century BCE Athens, where the stability of the…
Set against the religious and sociopolitical landscape of fifth-century BCE Athens, where the stability of the polis was closely connected to reverence for divine authority, Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus the King explores the consequences of humanity’s failure to recognise its limitations. Through the downfall of Oedipus, the king of Thebes, Sophocles demonstrates how excessive pride and an inability to exercise restraint can undermine an individual’s happiness and security. Oedipus’ rejection of prophetic warnings further emphasises the importance of reverence towards the gods and the recognition that human knowledge is inherently limited. However, by portraying Oedipus as a man who attempts to escape his predetermined fate, Sophocles complicates the notion that balance and reverence alone can guarantee a content life. Ultimately, Sophocles warns that human fulfilment requires humility and respect for divine authority, while acknowledging the fragility of happiness in a world governed by forces beyond mortal control.
Sophocles initially highlights the importance of balance in achieving a content life by presenting the destructive consequences of Oedipus’ excessive pride and inability to regulate his emotions. Although Oedipus is initially portrayed as a capable ruler whose intelligence has earned him the gratitude of Thebes, his confidence gradually develops into arrogance, preventing him from responding rationally to challenges against his authority. His determination to uncover the murderer of Laius initially reflects his commitment to protecting his people, yet his investigation becomes increasingly driven by his desire to defend his reputation. This is evident in his confrontation with Tiresias, whom Oedipus accuses of conspiring against him after the prophet reveals the king’s responsibility for Laius’ death. Rather than considering Tiresias’ warnings, Oedipus declares, “You have no power or truth. You are blind, your ears and mind as well as eyes.” Through Oedipus’ dismissive language and personal attack, Sophocles exposes the king’s inability to exercise restraint when his authority is threatened. The irony of Oedipus condemning Tiresias’ blindness is particularly significant, as the audience understands that Oedipus himself remains ignorant of the truth about his identity. His confidence in his own judgement consequently becomes a source of vulnerability, revealing the dangers of allowing pride to overcome reason. Furthermore, Oedipus’ accusations against Creon demonstrate how his suspicion and anger undermine the relationships necessary for stable leadership. Rather than maintaining the measured judgement expected of a king, Oedipus allows his fear of losing power to dictate his actions. Through these confrontations, Sophocles warns his Athenian audience that individuals who lack self-awareness and moderation risk destroying the very security they seek to preserve. Nevertheless, Oedipus’ determination is not entirely condemnable, as his desire to protect Thebes demonstrates genuine responsibility towards his community. Sophocles therefore presents a more complex warning: admirable qualities become destructive when individuals fail to exercise balance in their pursuit of truth and authority.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: framework: protest
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 100%: The first thing I noticed was the flag. We were two hours into the march: hoarse, sunburned, the pole digging…
The first thing I noticed was the flag.
We were two hours into the march: hoarse, sunburned, the pole digging into my shoulder. The wind kept catching the fabric, snapping the rainbow against the grey buildings, while glitter caught in the cracks of the cobblestones and a bass line shook the shutters of the old buildings on either side.
We all knew why we were there. There are still streets in this country where two women cannot hold hands at a bus stop without checking over their shoulders, and a march is the only argument we have that cannot be talked over: ten thousand bodies, in daylight, refusing to be anywhere else.
Nobody argued. Around us the car park was already something more than a crowd. A woman in a T-shirt that read MUM HUGS, FREE passed round sunscreen without asking whose skin it was for. Two teenagers lettered a banner on a car bonnet, bickering happily over how to spell solidarity. When Rosa asked who had no water, eleven hands went up and eleven bottles went the other way, and nobody asked anyone's name. Near the gate, two women walked past holding hands, openly, not checking over their shoulders, and no one looked twice.
Then the front of the crowd braked, the collective pulse of the march snapping, leaving only the hollow echo of our own boots on the stone. On the left, in a doorway, stood an old man in a pressed shirt buttoned to the collar, as though he had dressed for church. In both hands, held against his chest like a shield, he had a flag. Green and red. My breath hitched.
I knew what that flag could mean in certain hands. I had seen it waved from car windows at the edge of other marches, draped across the shoulders of men shouting things I won’t repeat from behind a line of police. A few people lowered their signs. Someone behind me muttered, “Here we go.” Beside me, Dani tightened her grip on her pole, and I felt myself do the sum that years of small hostilities had taught me: flag, man, doorway. Danger. I felt it in my shoulders before I thought it.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: title: The choice
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 95%: A thick layer of grey dust stuck to my skin. The tarpaulin covers, makeshift tin stores, and endless crowds of…
A thick layer of grey dust stuck to my skin.
The tarpaulin covers, makeshift tin stores, and endless crowds of sweat and grime. My mother reminded me to cover my mouth, the thin scarf doing little to block the air. Below us were rows and rows of every type of vegetable I’d never seen. Buckets of small jumping frogs, crabs and an odd collection of bugs. My brows furrowed, not in judgement but in contemplation. Their shouts echoed, every seller insisting we buy their fresh tomatoes or bright green okras. My mother’s familiar voice mingled with theirs — bidding, scoffing, giving in, or winning.
“This is how I always used to do it,” she was proudly holding the bag of 30-rupee beans. 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. Dragging ourselves into my uncle’s car, we drove to the main ‘city’. I groaned 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, asking a store owner where the vegetable section was. I complained on the car ride back. I hadn't come all the way back home just to spend my days buying all the different, exotic foods my mum had been craving for 13 years. I didn’t understand that to her, to my parents, it was like being starved of the beach for that many years — an impossible feat for most Aussies. A choice they had made for me.
All I wanted, all I’d thought this would be hugging the aunties, shaking the hands of my uncles, laughing with cousins, being given meals, gifts and chatting by the fire till the crickets awoke. I hoped it would be shopping for clothes in all the different stores, trying the street food and visiting the beautiful mountainsides.
My expectations hadn’t been met yet, and I felt like my parents were being selfish.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Writing about country
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 87.5%: Title: regeneration By the time I was pushed onto the bus, the city had already forgotten my name. The judge…
Title: regeneration
By the time I was pushed onto the bus, the city had already forgotten my name. The judge called it a ‘rehabilitation’. Mum called it ‘lucky’. I called it exile. The overbearing skyscrapers I knew so well began to disappear beneath the horizon, the skyline shrinking into a blur as I traveled further and further away. High-rises became cottages, parking lots became paddocks, and traffic became silent. Yet somehow, the silence felt more deafening than anything.
The elements of an early summer had settled over the valley before I arrived. The grass stretched over the land in waves, the scent of eucalyptus mixed with livestock infiltrating my senses. As I stood before my new home for the summer, I began to reminisce on things I thought I would never miss. Things that I took for granted. The sound of trains screeching to a halt below my apartment building, the deafening sirens of emergency services, the humming of streetlights late at night. I was told I was given a ‘second chance,’ a chance for regeneration.
I had been left at a place I didn’t know; a place that didn’t know me. I was introduced to the owner of the farm, an aged man named Arthur. He looked at me grimly, the harsh wrinkles on his forehead indicating there were many like me before, sent away to his farm for ‘rehabilitation.’ Still, he shook my hand firmly, and welcomed me into his home.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: personal journeys
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 100%: You search the quiet crowd. Your eyes dart from face to face, scavenging for a crack in their stillness, some…
You search the quiet crowd. Your eyes dart from face to face, scavenging for a crack in their stillness, some sign that they are as terrified and hollow as you. They are bowed in surrender, a collective rhythm you cannot mimic, as if they are breathing air that you are being denied. You feel desperate. Angry. The ventilation hums a low, mocking drone through the floor. A cold coil of nausea twists in your gut. Your throat feels constricted, tight with the effort of not sobbing. You clamp your jaw shut, swallowing hard to push down the pressure rising in your throat, your vision blurring at the edges as the room begins to swim.
The Heifer 2: 216 ‘But perhaps you hate a thing, and it is good for you; and perhaps you love a thing, and it is bad for you. And God Knows, while you know not.’
You stare at the floor. The words ripple through the hall, absolute and infuriating. ‘God knows, while you know not.’ How could that be? How could it be ‘good’ to have my life stripped bare? How could you truly believe in a power that tears away the things you love and calls it mercy? Why is your ignorance a reason for your ruin? You glance up at the preacher. His steady gaze, his rhythmic, practised devotion. A statue carved from a conviction that has never been tested by the fire you are walking through. To him, this is a path. To you, it is a cage. He is loyal to a sealed fate that does not care if you break.
The mosque air is stagnant, heavy with the scent of dust and polished wood. The light feels hostile, the shafts of sun filtering through the lancet windows expose you. They highlight the dust as it settles on you, burying you in silence. The woven carpet beneath you is coarse, unyielding against your knees. You feel only the sharp edges of your own defiance. It offers no comfort. Each person around you bowed, clinging to a hope that you have already seen crushed. Everything is wrong. Faith has not answered your prayers. It has only stood silent while you burned.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Title: The choice
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 90%: A thick layer of grey dust stuck to my skin. The tarpaulin covers, makeshift tin stores, and endless crowds of…
A thick layer of grey dust stuck to my skin.
The tarpaulin covers, makeshift tin stores, and endless crowds of sweat and grime. My mother reminded me to cover my mouth, the thin scarf doing little to block the air. Below us were rows and rows of every type of vegetable I’d never seen. Buckets of small jumping frogs, crabs and an odd collection of bugs. My brows furrowed, not in judgement but in contemplation. Their shouts echoed, every seller insisting we buy their fresh tomatoes or bright green okras. My mother’s familiar voice mingled with theirs — bidding, scoffing, giving in, or winning.
“This is how I always used to do it” she was proudly holding the bag of 30-rupee beans. 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. Dragging myself into my uncle’s car, we drove to the main ‘city’. I groaned as usual. I didn’t choose to move around clammy shoulders, squeezing my way through tight alleys and walkways. Avoiding puddles with strange smells, asking a store owner where the vegetable section was. I complained on the car ride back. I hadn't come all the way back home just to spend my days buying all the different, exotic foods my mum had been craving for 13 years. I didn’t understand that to her, to my parents, it was like being starved of the beach for that many years — an impossible feat for most Aussies. A choice they had made for me.
All I wanted, all I’d thought this would be, hugging the aunties, shaking the hands of my uncles, laughing with cousins. Given meals, gifts and chatting by the fire till the crickets awoke. Shopping for clothes in all the different stores, trying the street food and visiting the beautiful mountainsides. My expectations hadn’t been met yet, and I felt like my parents were being selfish.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Sunset Boulevard warns viewers against the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: Wilder’s scathing yet satirical 1950s melodramatic film noir, 'Sunset Boulevard' presents an intimate perspective…
Wilder’s scathing yet satirical 1950s melodramatic film noir, 'Sunset Boulevard' presents an intimate perspective on the post-silent film industry through a non-linear posthumous narration. Unveiling the facade of Hollywood, 'Sunset Boulevard' serves as a cautionary tale to forebode the harm that manifests from prioritising success over moral integrity and from excessive obsession with unchecked and detached fantasies. However, Wilder sheds light on the possibility of success from authentic ambition as achievable in caustic Paramount Studios. While 'Sunset Boulevard' cautions the consequences of obsessive fantasies and moral compromise, Wilder ultimately suggests the pursuit of dreams can be attained with genuine ambition, rather than condemning ambition itself. In doing so, Wilder's 'Sunset Boulevard' entails the dangers that arise from pursuing dreams when obsessive and disconnected from reality.
Through unchecked ambition and selfish incentives, Wilder reveals that ambition can become harmful when victims of Hollywood prioritise success or celebrity over moral integrity. The flawed morality in 'Sunset Boulevard' is prominent as agent Morino suggests Joe become a "Mocambo Romanoff rut," an intertextual allusion by Wilder to purposely associate Joe Gillis with the fictional archetype of a starving artist, as Morino insinuates that, "the finest things in this world were created on an empty stomach." Wilder employs metaphorical imagery to exude the desperation required by one to achieve success; he deploys this connotation in Morino's dialogue to critique Hollywood's flawed system as a microcosm for the harm that can manifest from ambition that lacks moral integrity. Furthermore, Joe's absence of moral integrity is evident in his flawed decision to join the "gravy train," rather than maintaining authentic ambition. The idiom of the "gravy train" by Wilder effectively connotes the abundance of individuals rejected by Hollywood with profound jaded ambition, like Joe Gillis, who have resorted to seeking success at the cost of moral compromise by minimal effort. The flawed morality to achieve success is also prominent in the tyrannical Norma Desmond's desire for celebrity. By Joe's disdained comments on Norma's beauty montage, Wilder deploys a metaphorical hyperbole in his detailing of Norma being, "under terrible strains." Norma's incentive to redeem celebrity over moral integrity by suffering, "under terrible strains," successfully alludes to the harm that comes with moral compromise in which Wilder connotes beauty "strains" to achieve success is grotesque and thus morally flawed. Wilder's noir film suggests that ambition by desire for success can be harmful when it is prioritised over moral authenticity, essentially cautioning viewers against pursuit of ambition with lack of true morality.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Sunset Boulevard warns viewers against the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: Wilders scathing yet satirical 1950s melodramatic film noir, 'Sunset Boulevard' presents an intimate perspective on…
Wilders scathing yet satirical 1950s melodramatic film noir, 'Sunset Boulevard' presents an intimate perspective on the post-silent film industry through a non-linear posthumous narration. Unveiling the facade of Hollywood, 'Sunset Boulevard' serves as a cautionary tale to forebode the harm that manifests from prioritising success over moral integrity and from excessive obsession with unchecked and detached fantasies. However, Wilder sheds light on the possibility of success from authentic ambition as achievable in caustic Paramount Studios. While 'Sunset Boulevard' cautions the consequences of obsessive fantasies and moral compromise, Wilder ultimately suggests the pursuit of dreams can be attained with genuine ambition, rather than condemning ambition itself. In doing so, Wilder's 'Sunset Boulevard' entails the dangers that arise from pursuing dreams when obsessive and disconnected from reality.
Through unchecked ambition and selfish incentives, Wilder reveals that ambition can become harmful when victims of Hollywood prioritise success or celebrity over moral integrity. The flawed morality in 'Sunset Boulevard' is prominent as agent Morino suggests Joe become a "Mocambo Romanoff rut," an intertextual allusion by Wilder to purposely associate Joe Gillis with the fictional archetype of a starving artist, as Morino insinuates that, "the finest things in this world were created on an empty stomach." Wilder employs metaphorical imagery to exude the desperation required by one to achieve success; he deploys this connotation in Morino's dialogue to critique Hollywood's flawed system as a microcosm for the harm that can manifest from ambition that lacks moral integrity. Furthermore, Joe's absence of moral integrity is evident in his flawed decision to join the "gravy train," rather than maintaining authentic ambition. The idiom of the "gravy train" by Wilder effectively connotes the abundance of individuals rejected by Hollywood with profound jaded ambition, like Joe Gillis, who have resorted to seeking success at the cost of moral compromise by minimal effort. The flawed morality to achieve success is also prominent in the tyrannical Norma Desmond's desire for celebrity. By Joe's disdained comments on Norma's beauty montage, Wilder deploys a metaphorical hyperbole in his detailing of Norma being, "under terrible strains." Norma's incentive to redeem celebrity over moral integrity by suffering, "under terrible strains," successfully alludes to the harm that comes with moral compromise in which Wilder connotes beauty "strains" to achieve success is grotesque and thus morally flawed. Wilder's noir film suggests that ambition by desire for success can be harmful when it is prioritised over moral authenticity, essentially cautioning viewers against pursuit of ambition with lack of true morality.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Sunset Boulevard suggest the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: Billy Wilder's 1950 film noir Sunset Boulevard exposes the deceptive nature of Hollywood's glamorous image of…
Billy Wilder's 1950 film noir Sunset Boulevard exposes the deceptive nature of Hollywood's glamorous image of success, revealing the destructive consequences of pursuing fame, wealth and recognition. Through symbolism, mise-en-scène and characterisation, Wilder challenges the assumption that material prosperity and celebrity guarantee fulfilment or lasting security. By exposing the temporary nature of fame, the moral compromises associated with wealth and the distinction between recognition and genuine achievement, Wilder suggests that Hollywood's superficial measures of success ultimately undermine personal integrity and identity.
Wilder exposes the illusory nature of success by revealing how Hollywood constructs an image of permanent fame, despite its admiration being conditional and fleeting. Through Gothic mise-en-scène, Norma's once-glamorous mansion, now suffering from a "creeping paralysis", reflects the deterioration of her former celebrity. Its decaying interiors, outdated furnishings and low-key lighting establish a claustrophobic atmosphere, exposing the emptiness beneath her material prosperity. Furthermore, the numerous photographs leaving the mansion "crowded with Norma Desmonds" symbolise Hollywood's artificial preservation of youth and fame, as Norma remains trapped within her "celluloid self". Her insistence that "I am big. It's the pictures that got small" further reflects her inability to separate past success from present reality. However, Wilder also exposes Hollywood's role in manufacturing this illusion through Norma's return to Paramount, where an artificial spotlight temporarily restores her former celebrity status. The dramatic irony of Paramount's interest in her luxurious car, rather than her acting abilities, reveals the industry's willingness to abandon individuals once their commercial value diminishes. Through this juxtaposition of former glamour and present rejection, Wilder exposes fame as an unstable measure of success, incapable of providing lasting fulfilment or personal worth.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “The High Ground suggests that people…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 77.5%: In The High Ground 2020, director Stephen Johnson explores the enduring consequences of colonial injustice,…
In The High Ground 2020, director Stephen Johnson explores the enduring consequences of colonial injustice, exposing the destructive legacy of a history built upon dispossession, violence and the suppression of truth. Through the fractured relationships between Indigenous Australians and colonial authorities, Johnson challenges the assumption that injustice can be buried beneath the passage of time. While the refusal to acknowledge past atrocities perpetuates cycles of resentment and moral corruption, Johnson suggests that reconciliation remains possible when individuals embrace the responsibilities of cultural understanding and collective accountability. Ultimately, however, the film warns that reconciliation cannot be achieved through superficial gestures of remorse while the foundations of injustice remain unaddressed.
Johnson initially portrays injustice as a destructive force whose consequences gradually erode individuals' moral integrity, demonstrating that attempts to establish authority through violence inevitably undermine the legitimacy of those who exercise it. In the opening sequence, Johnson juxtaposes the tranquillity of the Yolngu community with the sudden brutality of the colonial police, whose intrusion transforms a peaceful gathering into a massacre. Through wide-angle cinematography that establishes the community's intimate connection to Country, Johnson emphasises the existence of a flourishing society long before colonial intervention. The abrupt disruption of this serenity exposes the profound imbalance between the lives being destroyed and the supposed authority of those responsible. Furthermore, the contrast between the community's everyday practices and the police's violent actions challenges colonial assumptions that Indigenous Australians require the intervention of European law and order. Rather than presenting colonial authority as a force for civilisation, Johnson reveals how its claims to moral superiority conceal the very injustice it perpetuates. This corruption is further embodied by Moran, whose determination to preserve colonial authority leads him to suppress the truth about the massacre. His refusal to accept responsibility illustrates how the protection of institutional power becomes dependent upon the concealment of wrongdoing. Consequently, Johnson suggests that although those responsible may temporarily evade accountability, their attempts to preserve authority through deception cannot undo the moral consequences of their actions. The massacre's legacy survives through the grief and resentment of its survivors, demonstrating that historical injustice cannot be confined to the moment in which it occurs.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Sophocles demonstrate that we…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: Hailed by Aristotle as the pinnacle of Greek tragedy, Sophocles' Oedipus Rex explores the inevitability of fate.…
Hailed by Aristotle as the pinnacle of Greek tragedy, Sophocles' Oedipus Rex explores the inevitability of fate. Steeped in dramatic irony, Oedipus attempts to thwart his prophecy, thus leading him closer to enacting his fate. Through the play, Oedipus is unable to best his fate, however he is partially redeemed through is actions as a leader. Although fate does drive consequences for one's actions, they still must bear responsibility for impacts they ensue, where Sophocles ultimately suggests that one's life and actions should be made through reverence to the gods and upholding of sophrosyne.
Initially, the actions portrayed by characters seem futile to the power of divine will. Oedipus, a man who's decisive and intelligent nature bested the Sphinx's riddle, attempts to escape his fate, though he fails. Fleeing Corinth, unaware of his birth parents, Oedipus kills Laius and marries his mother, as foretold by the Oracle of Delphi. Unaware, he searches for the prior king's killer thus discovering that he is "the curse, the corruption of the land." This suggests that though he attempts to avoid it, his fate remains incorrigible, demonstrating to the Athenian audience on the futility of defying fate. Through Oedipus search of his birth parents, Jocasta realises the horrors that she has committed, thus catalysing her self-destruction despite her efforts to avoid it. Jocasta questions "where are you gods now" highlighting how she believes that her son was killed on Mt Cithaeron, therefore is unable to complete the prophecy. Her anagnorisis, realising that her husband is in fact her child, she commits suicide, suggesting to the civic minded Athenian audience of Sophocles suggestion that one should not attempt to meddle with their fate, as the gods see all. Furthermore, the core miasma itself is a result of Laius' actions, where even through methods of preventing it, inherited sin prevails through divine retribution. Breaking the Greek value of xenia, Laius had previously raped his host's son, creating the prophecy as the gods' punishment. The miasma, though clouding Thebes, uncovers the truth where the inherited sin passed on to Oedipus leaves him "cursed in birth", not dying as intended. Unknowingly he fulfills his destiny set out for him. Sophocles suggests that actions to counteract fate are unavailing cautioning the audience to not oppose the gods in order to protect them from the fate they may be enslaved to.
VCE · Language Analysis
Language Analysis: VCE 2024 EXAM
VCE Language Analysis essay scoring 90%: Recently, Our Local Gym has lost essential council funding to keep the doors open which has caused them to seek…
Recently, Our Local Gym has lost essential council funding to keep the doors open which has caused them to seek alternative options. Commenting on the situation is committee chair Sandy Gestalt whose speech was presented to members of Our Local Gym. Gestalt argues that working with Long Live Lollies is the only way to save the gym and enthusiastically addresses members of Our Local Gym in an attempt to persuade the audience to vote in favour of the partnership with Long Live Lollies.
From the onset of the piece, Gestalt establishes Our Local Gym’s shared history and values with the gym members. She deliberately begins by acknowledging their collective “47 years” in operation has been supported by “council support” and “members”. By starting with mentioning their shared history, Gestalt attempts to build immediate rapport with the audience before jumping into her proposal. This invites the audience to have faith in Gestalt from the beginning which may translate to trusting her and her proposal to work with Long Live Lollies further on. Additionally, Gestalt continues by contrasting the values of Our Local Gym with the values of other commercial gyms. The speaker states that Our Local Gym is accepting of “all bodies and all fitness journeys” highlighting that they are inclusive and supportive which juxtaposes the “competitive” and “obnoxious” nature of commercial gyms. Through this, Gestalt attempts to reflect the sense of community and supportive values of Our Local Gym compared to alternative gyms that members may have to turn to if the funding issue can not be resolved. This may set up the members of the gym to support Gestalt's proposal as their values align with those of Our Local Gym. Throughout her introduction, Gestalt uses inclusive language through the collective use of “we”. She utilises this language to imply unity between herself and members of the gym in an attempt to make them feel a part of the community. This invites the audience to feel personally accountable for the gym’s survival, which compels them to support Gestalt’s proposal to save the gym. Cumulatively, Gestalt attempts to connect with the members of the local gym to make them feel involved in the Our Local Gym community.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: ‘I shall be forced to invent, to…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: Shirley Jackson’s “We have always Lived in the Castle” presents the isolation of Merricat and Constance Blackwood…
Shirley Jackson’s “We have always Lived in the Castle” presents the isolation of Merricat and Constance Blackwood as retreat they build in response to a hostile community. Drawing on her own experience of small-town New England, Jackson exposes how a village can turn a family tragedy into gossip, folklore, and finally, violence. Through the eerie first-person voice of eighteen-year-old Merricat, Jackson explores how truth is distorted within a manipulative and cruel society, and how victims of distorted truth seek refuge through isolation. Yet truth is not unimportant: it is the one thing the sisters must hide, and their whole way of life depends on keeping it buried.
Jackson first presents the village as a community that persecutes difference, refusing to let the past rest through distributing gossip and rumour, rooted in hatred. Merricat’s blunt statement that “the people of the village have always hated us” frames this hostility as permanent. The absolute ”always” implies that the Blackwoods were outsiders long before the poisoning and that the crime simply gave the village permission to hate openly. This hatred is passed to the nect generation through the chant, “Merricat, said Connie, would you like a cup of tea? Oh no, said Merricat, you’ll poison me”. The sing-song rhythm turns the death of a family into a children’s game, showing how built up hatred influences the production of gossip. Merricat’s sarcastic suspicion that parents are “teaching them with loving care” suggests that cruelty is learned and rehearsed. The cruelty peaks after the fire, when the villagers smash the house while chanting the same rhyme. One villager taunts, “We have fixed things up nice for you girls, just like you always wanted it”. Jackson shows that a crowd releases a violence no individual would admit to. Later, the villagers leave food on the doorstep with notes such as, “He didn’t mean it, please”. The guilty offerings expose the hypocrisy of a community whose kindness arrives only after the damage is done. In this light, the sisters’ withdrawal is a rational defence. Jackson shows that their isolation is first imposed on them, and only then chosen, as protection from a community that continually manipulates their truth.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 'I continued with the task of writing…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: Yoko Ogawa's 1994 dystopian novel 'The Memory Police' explores the nuances of identity, connection and resistance…
Yoko Ogawa's 1994 dystopian novel 'The Memory Police' explores the nuances of identity, connection and resistance in a society defined by brutal authoritarianism and pervasive loss. Ogawa suggests that the characters in the novel are primarily victims to a loss of purpose, but can find some moments of fulfilment through storytelling and relationships. In The Memory Police, individuals are subject to the deterioration of their identities due to memory loss, stripping them of meaning in their lives. However, characters are able to maintain a sense of purpose through storytelling and connection. Ultimately, Ogawa's characters lack the drive to resist against destructive totalitarianism, with no attempt to fulfil a life beyond this path that leads to demise.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Sunset Boulevard: Prompt: 'The poor dope.…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 100%: In Billy Wilder’s 1950 film Sunset Boulevard, the pursuit of value through individual choices exposes the…
In Billy Wilder’s 1950 film Sunset Boulevard, the pursuit of value through individual choices exposes the fragility of identity and autonomy when their consequences are overlooked. Hollywood measures personal worth through wealth, recognition and professional relevance, encouraging individuals to seek approval according to external expectations. As these standards become internalised, protecting a desired identity can take priority over recognising the dangers of one’s decisions. Wilder traces this progression from society’s construction of value to its influence upon identity, ultimately revealing how pursuing recognition can compromise independence. Although the studio system creates powerful pressures, the film holds individuals responsible for choices that deepen dependence, damage relationships and weaken their connection with reality.
Wilder first establishes how society’s external expectations encourage individuals to pursue value without fully considering the consequences. The Hollywood studio system treats people and their work as products, judging them according to their ability to generate profit. Joe’s admission that his screenplays “didn’t sell” reduces creative achievement to commercial success. Delivered through his dry voiceover, this judgement reveals the disappointment beneath his cynical attitude. His unsuccessful meeting with Sheldrake reinforces the imbalance between struggling writers and those controlling employment. Norma’s offer to employ him revising Salome consequently appears attractive, despite requiring him to encourage ambitions he recognises as unrealistic. Norma’s mansion reveals the instability of Hollywood’s rewards. Its elaborate furnishings and numerous portraits preserve her former importance, while its decay suggests that accumulated wealth cannot guarantee continued relevance. This mise en scène presents a life organised around past recognition rather than present possibilities. Betty’s declaration, “I don’t want to be a reader all my life. I want to write!”, initially offers a more hopeful response. Her energetic dialogue expresses ambition through creative work. However, her professional collaboration with Joe becomes entangled with romantic attachment, leaving her hopes vulnerable to his dishonesty and divided loyalties. Hollywood therefore offers no simple escape through youthful ambition. Wilder reveals how seeking professional recognition can expose individuals to relationships whose personal costs they underestimate.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Sunset Boulevard: Prompt: 'The poor dope.…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: In Billy Wilder’s 1950 film Sunset Boulevard, the pursuit of value through individual choices exposes the fragility…
In Billy Wilder’s 1950 film Sunset Boulevard, the pursuit of value through individual choices exposes the fragility of identity and autonomy when their consequences are overlooked. Hollywood measures personal worth through wealth, recognition and professional relevance, encouraging individuals to seek approval according to external expectations. As these standards become internalised, preserving a desired identity can take priority over recognising the dangers of one’s decisions. Wilder traces this progression from society’s construction of value to its influence upon identity, ultimately revealing how pursuing recognition can compromise independence. Although the studio system creates pressures that explain these choices, the film also holds individuals responsible for disregarding their consequences.
Wilder first establishes how society’s external expectations encourage individuals to pursue value without fully considering the consequences. The Hollywood studio system treats people and their work as products, valuing them according to their ability to generate profit. Joe’s admission that his screenplays “didn’t sell” reduces creative achievement to commercial success. Delivered through his dry voiceover, this judgement reveals the disappointment behind his cynical attitude. His unsuccessful meeting with Sheldrake reinforces the power imbalance between struggling writers and those controlling employment. Consequently, Norma’s offer to employ him revising Salome appears attractive, despite requiring him to encourage ambitions he recognises as unrealistic. Norma’s mansion reveals the instability of the rewards Hollywood offers. The elaborate furnishings and numerous portraits within the mise en scène preserve her former importance, while the building’s decay suggests that wealth cannot guarantee continued relevance. Joe’s description of it as “crumbling apart in slow motion” connects its deterioration with her fading career. Nevertheless, she chooses to preserve this world rather than acknowledge its limitations. Betty’s declaration, “I don’t want to be a reader all my life. I want to write!”, provides a contrasting response to professional expectations. Her direct, energetic dialogue expresses ambition through creating something new rather than recovering past glory. Through these different responses, Wilder shows that ambition becomes dangerous when the promise of recognition prevents individuals from questioning the decisions made to obtain it.