VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Find My Way "The caterpillarI…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 80%: Date: 22nd April, 2025 Dear Diary, I can’t lie, this is my first time using a diary, and writing was never my…
Date: 22nd April, 2025
Dear Diary,
I can’t lie, this is my first time using a diary, and writing was never my strong point in school either. But my therapist said that a problem written down is a problem half solved. She says a lot of things that take me minutes to understand, but I guess this one made sense. My mind is like a cluttered room that I can’t seem to clean, every corner filled with overwhelming thoughts that I can’t seem to deal with. It wasn’t always like this, I mean I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t an overthinker, but it was never this bad. My mind is filled with so many feelings, so many emotions and thoughts, that take up most of the space, but it's also a blur. I am trying my best to describe this indescribable feeling, but it’s like my mind is so overwhelmed with thoughts and feelings, that it's gone numb to them.
It all started after the passing of my mother. She passed away two weeks ago, and it hasn’t hit me. I was, and still am in such shock, that I’m truly at a loss for words. I’ve always been kind of emotionally closed off, but people seem to think that I don’t feel, or that I don’t care, but I wish I could let them visit my mind, because my thoughts and feelings really speak louder than words of grief. I’ve never been good with words, but trust me, I feel. I feel everything around me. I’m like a sponge, I soak up other people’s happiness, sadness, anger, and in this case, I had no one’s emotions to soak up but my own. That was difficult. Being the only child, my mother’s passing truly affected me like no other, to say the least.
This caused me to miss almost a term of school, and guess what year I’m in? Year 12. It feels like someone’s praying for my downfall, and trust me when I say this, their prayers sure are working. My mother’s passing affected me more than I show, my friends are beginning to treat me just like usual, with the banter, and playful insults, but I wish I could show them my mind, and how exhausted I truly am. I am a VCE student, in a selective school, so competition is high. Seeing everyone study for hours at school, while I can barely stay focused on one pending task, really did crush my spirit. I tried being kind to myself, telling myself that “I’ve had a rough year” and although it’s true, I can’t stop the constant stress and worry about my future. My circumstances limited my ability to get the ATAR I want, and that’s fine, because there's the equity schemes and all, but I am still worried. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I just wish that I could talk to my future self, to ask where I’m at, and how I’m doing. Hopefully, it will all work out in the end.
Kind regards,
Pia
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: speech with motif
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 75%: What does a puzzle mean to you? Perhaps it’s the patience that lies within searching for the ‘right’ piece. The…
What does a puzzle mean to you? Perhaps it’s the patience that lies within searching for the ‘right’ piece. The hope that each fragment, no matter how small- holds a place in the ‘bigger picture’. Or maybe, it’s the satisfaction of seeing ‘chaos’ turn into 'order’- something which we all can agree is the foundation of trusted decision making in this room.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: „It does not matter how slowly you go…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 85%: The gym smells of sweat and rubber, a tang that sticks to my throat and curls into my lungs. Metal clangs like…
The gym smells of sweat and rubber, a tang that sticks to my throat and curls into my lungs. Metal clangs like hammers striking in the distance, but closer, sharper — each echo a pulse through the floor, through my bones. Fluorescent lights buzz above, restless insects that never pause, their cold glare bouncing off the mirrors and the steel racks. I wrap the coarse tape around my wrists, feeling the sting of yesterday’s calluses. One more rep. Just one more.
Somewhere between the rhythm of my own breathing and the whine of the treadmill, I see him — Ronaldo, sprinting up a hill in darkness, frost clouding each laboured breath. I hear another voice, ragged but insistent: Goggins, barking inside my skull, “Stay hard. Don’t stop.” Their echoes chase me, chasing every inch of my sluggish limbs. But tonight, my muscles feel heavier than their words. My arms shake under the bar; my legs feel like lead. I want to quit, to leave the tape frayed and the weights unmoved.
I close my eyes and the world shifts. Ten years old, rain drenching my jersey, mud clinging to my shins. Dad’s whistle cuts through the storm, sharp, certain, unstoppable. Each kick of the ball is freedom — wild, thrilling, untethered. Laughter spills across the field like wind through leaves. Back then, I didn’t chase perfection. I chased nothing but joy.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: "I wanted to feel close to her to feel…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 85%: "I wanted to feel close to her. To feel like she and I were almost interchangeable." Discuss the role of connection…
"I wanted to feel close to her. To feel like she and I were almost interchangeable." Discuss the role of connection in Flames.
In his magical realism novel Flames, Robbie Arnott presents connection as a defining element of human existence, shaping identities, morality, and survival. Through his characters who navigate relationships with people and nature, Arnott demonstrates that connection can act as a restorative force, guiding individuals towards purpose and healing. Simultaneously, Arnott asserts that it may operate as an ethical compass, directing individuals towards moral integrity and balance. However, Arnott exposes the dangers of excessive attachment, revealing how dependence on connection can distort judgment and inflict harm.
Throughout his novel, Arnott portrays connection with ones surroundings as a restorative force, suggesting that harmony with nature enables individuals to reconcile loss and rediscover purpose within the cycles of life and renewal. After the death and subsequent reincarnation of his mother, missing his connection with her - Levi's mental state begins deteriorating substantially. Despite his facade of "genuinely getting over [his mother's] death", Arnott exposes Levi as an unreliable narrator in the chapter 'Grove', and through a third person narration, asserts that "Levi is not well".
Here, Arnott sheds a light on the struggles - deeply emotional and psychological - that an individual may face after the loss of connection. By semantically staging the struggles Levi experiences, so that emotion becomes behaviour, Arnott epitomises the deep psychological turmoil one may face due to a severence of connection, transforming Levi's "calm and fluid" state to the stark, physical register of "retching;". This progression from adjectives to a violently corporeal verb literalises "inner collapse;" displacing psychological description with visceral action, dramatising the effect of disconnection to a state of mental illness. However, Arnott suggests that reconnection with one's surroundings may act as a healing force, most evident when Levi embraces the help from his close one's and gives way to 'a single, ragged sob'. Arnott employs this dramatised description of Levi's condition to bolster the notion that connection may allow individuals to heal - in Levi's case, accept and finally face directly his grief rather then repress it. Arnott extends this idea by examining how through his reconnection to the cultural world and the ocean which he has always 'repressed', Levi was able to find purpose that 'bellowed inside of him' and 'has kept him afloat ever since'. Thus, Arnott symbolises the reconnection between the two as a deeply restorative force, which asserting that connection with nature allows individuals to heal the fractures within themselves. The ocean embodies
emotional release and reconciliation in lewis life, reconciliation with all that came before him, ever suggesting that through immersion in the natural world, one can recover purpose and inner peace.
Building on the idea of renewal, Arnett extends the role of connection beyond personal restoration, presenting it as an ethical foundation that fosters empathy, kinship, and moral awareness, guiding individuals towards integrity and a just coexistence with both humanity and the natural world. The connection between Karl and his soul embodies this motif. Arnett portrays the soul as a moral compass to Karl, exemplifying how through their connection, Karl was able to start building a life for himself, and a family which he loved.
Employing alliteration, Arnett presents the connection between the two as "sharp and sudden", which goes to reinforce the meaningful connection between them, for Karl was able to find the "other half he was born without", instructing that he was in a position in which he desperately required such connection - a force with the power to change his perception of masculinity. Arnett demonstrates, that through his soul, Karl was able to open up about his "feelings and notion of love", and finally start to build himself a family, which goes to suggest that the connection with his soul provided Karl with an emotional foundation - rejecting toxic masculin habits such as the "repressal of emotions", and fostering a sense of kinship and empathy.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Use at least one stimuli in piece
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 75%: Uprising "I cant breathe." Those were George Floyd's final words as he was forcibly held down by a white police…
Uprising
"I cant breathe." Those were George Floyd's final words as he was forcibly held down by a white police officer who chocked him until his last breath. It was not fair. It was not fair that one white man would take the life of an innocent Black man and only receive a 22.5 year prison sentence when Floyd's daughter forever lost the one person she could call her father, the person who was her rock in life. It was not fair that a dozen protests had to be conducted in order for justice to be brought to the forefront. It was not fair that Floyd's family had to bury their own son, father and loving boyfriend, and be dismissed, being told it was justice. What kind of justice is that? What kind of country is America?
George Floyd was not just buried underground in the hands of Derrek Chauvin, alone. But by the sickness of America, its greed, its racism, it unequivocal cowardice. That same America that brought Breonna Taylor, Emmett Till and Treyvone Martin to the ground. Your system pledges to protect the whole of America, except us. The world still asks "But what did the police officer do wrong?" Ignoring racist abuse & silence against Black American was easy by physically burying their bodies and bold voices. It is easier to oppose justice. It is easier
to silence voices you know hold an immense amount of power.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: not writen about a stimulus it is my…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 72.5%: I never thought this day would come, let alone so soon. I thought it would take decades, but it only took 3…
I never thought this day would come, let alone so soon.
I thought it would take decades, but it only took 3 years for our disruptive and destructive reign of proper chaos to come to a close over the United Kingdom on the 26th of April 2025.
I feel a great sense of pride towards everyone who took part in this success. Finally, we get to hang up our high vis, a potent reminder of all the blood, sweat and tears my group, Just Stop Oil, and I endured. As others involved in Just Stop Oil's success spend multiple years in prison and are abused by members of the public, press and powers that be for daring to speak up and initiate a change.
Our goal was to ignite a blaze of orange that couldn’t be ignored.One that captured everyone’s eye, stopped the nation in its tracks, and forced the government to confront what they’d tried to ignore.
After all, their plans to issue more than two dozen new oil and gas licences would have condemned people to a future fuelled by terror. A future where people experience the unthinkable, social collapse, civil unrest and mass death. All starting with the negatives we are experiencing today as towns go under due to mass flooding and an endless summer.
A future I did not want to continue to endure. So, I joined Just Stop Oil. A group dedicated to stopping the government's destructive ideals. I refused to sit back and witness our collective future being traded away. So, I joined. to help prevent the government from fuelling terror, helping to raise the stakes. To make sure our resistance couldn’t be ignored.
Our actions were designed to enrage. I can still feel the cold weight of the soup can in my hand, the shocking splash against the protective glass of a masterpiece, the sound echoing our own silent screams. I remember the symphony of car horns on the M25, a chorus of fury directed at us, but it was nothing compared to our own rage towards an oblivious government determined to condemn people to an unimaginable living hell they couldn't see it. But we did, and we forced them to look.
Through our actions, we were able to stop the government's destructive ideals, forcing them to ban the issuance of new oil and gas licenses. But this success, achieved over three years gained worldwide attention, coming a price. With our victory came fierce criticism and attempts by influential platforms to undermine our influence.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: creative short story inspired by your…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 95%: Machan (brother) A fuzzy green blur spiraled high into the fiery setting sky, a lazy off-spin from my uncle…
Machan (brother)
A fuzzy green blur spiraled high into the fiery setting sky, a lazy off-spin from my uncle that drifted like a cloud before plopping onto the scratchy synthetic grass. Crack. My cousin struck it perfectly, the thwack echoing against the fence and faded brick wall, before rocketing into the neighbour’s fence with a hollow thud. Again. My cousin dropped my bat and his side threw up their hands in unison, cheering in jubilation and triumph, claiming it was a six. My uncle barked, his voice rough and theatrical, swearing it was out. Someone yelled, “Eh machan, don’t cheat!” and the backyard erupted in laughter, raw and unrestrained.
The fake turf underfoot was dry and patchy, the kind that poked at your ankles. Mosquitoes buzzed around me, latching onto me and jerking away at the last second before I could get a slap off. The smell of frying cutlets clung to the air long after the plate was empty, and its aroma wafted its way outside through the window.
Inside, the kitchen buzzed with my aunties’ chatter.
Sinhala and English gossip and laughter overlapped like static. Appachchi sat outside with my uncles, a carrom board balanced between them on a sketchy stool, flicking the wooden coins with expert precision. The smell of citronella coils mixed with the spice of devilled prawns and chicken sat in an oily bowl of chilli paste that filled the room. Their laughter carried through the night air, mingling with the faint buzz of a distant Sri Lankan news report.
In the corner of my dads office sat my suitcase, half zipped up. The boarding school packing list was taped to the fridge, next to a photo of my sister and I in my Year 6 uniform. I kept catching Amma’s glance. She’d look at me, then at the suitcase, then away again, pretending to fuss over something on the counter.
When the sun dipped below the rooftops and the mozzie coils started burning, the karaoke machine came alive. The uncles sang off-key, and the mums clapped along out of rhythm. I sat on the couch, with my friends next to me, admiring.
That night, after everyone left, I sat by my suitcase. The zip teeth glinted in the dim light. I tried to imagine what it would feel like to leave, to live without Amma’s voice echoing through the house.
VCE · Language Analysis
Language Analysis: The music venue The Salty Boot is…
VCE Language Analysis essay scoring 70%: AA practice - The Salty Boot Following an increase of noise complaints within an inner-city suburb of Metropolo…
AA practice - The Salty Boot
Following an increase of noise complaints within an inner-city suburb of Metropolo in Melbourne, local rock musician, Vince D'Angelo campaigns against the closure of 'the Salty Boot' music venue via his speech in the campaigning rally. Due to the increase of population within the area, the residents are claiming that the music venue is "too noisy", and that the community would benefit from its removal. D'Angelo protests against these claims, contending that the venue is a vibrant space for individuality, creativity and music lovers to unite.
Opening with a heartfelt tone, D'Angelo establishes The Salty Boot as a "beloved" environment for the music lover audience. He heavily implies a binary opposition between the supporters of the Salty boot and the "naysayers and complainers" who wish for it's closure, promoting a deep connection with the music lover audience, creating a supportive environment. Continuing with a sarcastic tone, D'Angelo exposes recent statistical evidence promoting the protection of the music venue, with over "80% of Melbourne residents" wanting the venue to remain open, despite the protestors who argue that the venue is "too loud" and "too colourful". This inclusion of evidence paired with the juxtaposition of beliefs creates a tense environment in which the audience is encouraged to evaluate the communitie's values and determine the true nature of the situation, with a majority of people engaging positively with the venue. D'Angelo continues his attack against the protestors, sarcastically claiming that the removal of the music venue will result in a "boutique hairdressing salon" or "hip cafe", businesses that lack the vibrancy that the Salty Boot brings to the neighbourhood, promoting a sense of justification in the audience to preserve a creative, fun environment in a changing community.
AA - The Salty Boot
VCE · Language Analysis
Language Analysis: argument analysis
VCE Language Analysis essay scoring 72.5%: In the recent surge in expansion of the town of Royson, an announcement has been made regarding the railway…
In the recent surge in expansion of the town of Royson, an announcement has been made regarding the railway extension into Royson. In a response to this announcement, a local member for the region, Siobhan Pierce, has published an article on her website titled “Green light for the Royson Rail Project” regarding the plan for railway extension. The article contends towards the individuals in the community of Royson town as well as new members of the community by informing them the benefits of the railway and endorsing the development.
Pierce opens the piece by welcoming new members of the community into Royson town. Pierce acknowledges the importance of “maintaining traditional character of the town” but due to the expansion Pierce argues that it will “impede our potential as modern and thriving town”. Through the use of inclusive language Pierce reminds the members of the community the necessity of improving the town’s infrastructure to not limit their “potential” encouraging those who has a strong traditional value to be more inclined to listen to Pierce. Pierce continues by stating that shortest distance from their town of Royson to the “nearest” station requires 50 kilometres of travel. The word “nearest” puts the audience into perspective the distance it will take currently for the people in the community to travel from Royson to closest train station influencing the feeling of isolation into the readers. This would cause the individuals in the community to encourage and endorse the development of extension of railway from Gullyville.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Why do character harbour secrets
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: Part A: "He Held something which, some knowledge or intimacy, which made her life seem shallow by comparison" Why…
Part A:
"He Held something which, some knowledge or intimacy, which made her life seem shallow by comparison"
Why do Hadley's characters Harbour secrets?
Tessa Hadley's anthology "Bad Dreams and Other Stories" explores how characters conceal their actions and past for their own self interests. Hadley illustrates how often individuals keep secrets out of shame of their past, hidden pressures or to seek personal gain. Hadley develops different everyday scenarios to showcase the many ways in which individuals keep secrets to assure the safety of themselves.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Title: Resist and Persist Stimulus: If…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 80%: Nia The morning air clung to Nia's skin - thick, smoky and alive. She adjusted the mask on her daughter's face,…
Nia
The morning air clung to Nia's skin - thick, smoky and alive. She adjusted the mask on her daughter's face, the soft pink one patterned with flowers. Sky always rebelled, wearing the mask upside down, a small gesture that made Nia smile despite her stomach tightening. The gesture steadied her hands. The mask she realised, was more than protection. It was the small space between fear and hope, between was what has been hidden and what was still dared to be seen through collective persistence.
Around them, the city pulsed. Drums echoed down the street, and a thousand breaths rose into the same heavy sky. Nia had been to many protests before, but this one carried more weight. Not louder, not larger, just weighted against years of oppression. It was as if history itself was pressing down on the air. Each chant carried persistance, something ancient and aching.
Say their names.
The words throbbed through her chest like a heartbeat. Although, Nia was not going to fall back into line, being swallowed by the crowd. She was going to stand up, with her breath short beneath her mask.
Her mother had said similar words years ago, though masks were different back then - thinner, handmade, pulled tight repetitively against gas and fear. You wear it to protect yourself, her mother told her. Don't let it silence your resistance. Continue to stand up and persist. That voice clung to her now, hovering just behind the chanting crowd.
She looked down at Sky, her small hand clutching a sign sticky with apple juice and glitter. The letters shimmered in the sunlight, crooked but defiant. My Life Matters. Nia's breath caught again. The sign looked fragile, childlike even, but there was an act of resistance in the letters that was unbreakable behind the the mask of glitter, something radiant.
As they moved forward, the air thickened. A line of officers stood ahead, masks blank and identical, their faces unreadable. They stood with a tremendous amount of persistence, not moving an inch despite rebellion from the crowd. It was as if they could hear Nia's mothers voice masked behind the crowd, telling them to continue standing against the defiant crowd.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Title: Speak Up Protest Stimulus: A)…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 65%: Title: Speak Up The Conservative Speak Up: Why a social media ban for young Australians will do more harm than…
Title: Speak Up
The Conservative
Speak Up: Why a social media ban for young Australians will do more harm than good
8th of October, 2025
By Timam Abazovic
Over the past months, many debates have been circulating surrounding the issue of social media and whether children aged sixteen and under should be banned. With many trying to speak up against this injustice, Anthony Albanese and the Australian Government have ultimately decided that this ban will go forward and commence on the 10th of December 2025. He and others believe that social media is to blame for teenagers’ mental health struggles, suggesting that banning them from these platforms will preserve their mental health and wellbeing as they will not be at the centre of cyberbullying, harmful content and online predators. What a disgrace! No wonder why there has been mass criticism online by Gen-Z groups. Even if we are powerless in preventing this injustice, we must speak up and not possibly accept what the government is doing. If we want to make the world a better place, we have to speak up.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: "Although the film ends tragically with…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: Stephen Maxwell Johnson's revisionist historical film "High Ground" is a searing interpretation of a past where the…
Stephen Maxwell Johnson's revisionist historical film "High Ground" is a searing interpretation of a past where the massacre of the Yolngu people establishes divisions and prejudice between eurocentric views and the local Yolngu people. Set in arnhem land, the 1919 massacre elicits significant response from Baywara who's retaliation against the perpetrators is motivated by vengeance. Beneath the violence, Johnson portrays a story that is ultimately concerned with endurance, awakening and truth. Through his portrayal of indigenous survival, spiritual continuity and the possibility of moral reckoning, Johnson transforms tragedy into a necessity towards healing. The film's closing silence, framed by the eternal landscape, is not emptiness, but hope.
Despite its harrowing violence, "High Ground" insists that confronting historical truth is the true foundation for hope. The opening massacre scene establishes a sense of horror and dismay, as Johnson uses silence followed with the crack of a rifle echoing throughout the gorge. The camera lingers on the aftermath of the massacre, a visual reminder that "this country's history is built on blood". This evokes the ghastly massacre as a base for hope and optimism. Further, an aerial shot is used to depict the symbolization of the colonizers godlike gaze. This captures the "high ground" as both a physical and moral superiority, as they're looking down at the people who are lower than them. Yet, Johnson flips this symbol throughout the film, transforming it into a vantage of truth instead of domination. Gutjuk's recollection of the massacre - "You killed them. All of them", forces Travis to confront the violence that has been denied for decades. Through this confrontation, Johnson demonstrates that the exposure of trauma, however painful, can act as moral restoration. Truth, rather than silence, becomes the film's first gesture of hope.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In Rainbow’s End, attempts to be helpful…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: Set in 1950s Victoria, a time period characterised by its white hegemony and systemic oppression, Jane Harrison’s…
Set in 1950s Victoria, a time period characterised by its white hegemony and systemic oppression, Jane Harrison’s play “Rainbow’s End” follows the lives of three generations of Koori women as they navigate their identity and self-worth in times of uncertainty. In the play, attempts to be helpful are often unsuccessful due to misunderstanding, prejudice and systemic barriers. Yet, Harrison shows hope can surface from small acts of love and solidarity, through the pride Gladys takes in her daughter, but the limits it may result in, via Nan Dear’s overprotective nature.
The government’s attempt to be “helpful” instead disadvantages Aboriginal communities. Throughout the play, there is an emphasis on providing better housing to Indigenous people, leading to the destruction of “The Flats” with the replacement of Rumbarala Housing. This crucial moment in the play embodies the destruction of not just the physical need for shelter catered for the Indigenous, but also the destruction of intimate relationships and the core values of culture and family. “It’s anything but lovable” is what is made of the Rumbarala housing, illustrating the disconnect assimilist policies can bring upon Aboriginal families who have built a familiarity and comfort within their humpies. Upon this replacement of The Flats, which aims to bring the best interest to Indigenous communities, it instead destroys the core values of what makes up Indigenous communities with its overwhelming motif of whiteness, “It's concrete, small, white and featureless”. Harrison scrutinises this moment as a drawback to Indigenous families and communities rather than a moment of progression and help between two worlds.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 'Gladys and Dolly are torn between the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: Set in 1950s Victoria, Jane Harrison's "Rainbow's End" follows the lives of three generations of Aboriginal women…
Set in 1950s Victoria, Jane Harrison's "Rainbow's End" follows the lives of three generations of Aboriginal women who each deal with their own challenges as they navigate the division between white Australia and Indigenous Australia, in the face of racism, systemic injustice, and community. Throughout the play, Harrison challenges this notion of a divide existing between white and Indigenous Australians, and instead shows a possibility of empowerment that can arise through her character's development and theatrical symbolism.
Glady's political activism allows her to reclaim agency over her cultural heritage. Harrison first portrays Gladys as a dreamer, clinging to her desire to be accepted as an Indigenous woman in white society. "Instead of being formal, the Queen pulls her into a hug", Harrison's theatrical connventions of "dream sequences", she portray Gladys as being acknowledged and to be seen at the same societal value as a white person. Which is quickly shut down with the bitter reality that is labelled by Harrison, "The lights come back to reality" of the racist views and values white society has pressed upon Aboriginal communities. This usage of dream sequences requires audiences to understand the stark contrast between reality and the dream that Harrison is portraying in Indigenous communities. The transition from Glady's being a dreamer to becoming an activist in her own community, "We demand the right to control our own destiny", allows for empowerment to arise. As she confronts the systemic oppression faced by her community, she shifts from her desire to be valued by white society to taking pride in her Indigenous heritage, through her address to the Queen in her speech ------ "We request... no, we don't…” from accepting the racist views Aborginals face, to challenging this opression, “we demand to be heard". Harrison demonstrates how a reclaim of one's agency can occur in an environment and time where it is torn apart.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Is Oedipus a ‘good helmsman’?
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: Sophocles' tragic 5th-century BCE drama, Oedipus the King, portrays Oedipus with the characteristics of a good…
Sophocles' tragic 5th-century BCE drama, Oedipus the King, portrays Oedipus with the characteristics of a good helmsman; however, his fatal flaw of hubris and authoritative control casts doubt on his suitability for such a role. While he appears to lead Thebes with courage and responsibility, his inability to control his temper, have patience, and recognise his limitations ultimately undermines his leadership.
At the outset, Sophocles presents Oedipus as a responsible and proactive ruler—one who seems ideally suited to steer Thebes through crisis. In a time of crisis for Thebes, the people turn to him, and he responds immediately, stating he has already “sent Creon” to find a cure. This proactive behaviour shows he is ready to steer the “ship [that] pitches wildly.” Sophocles aligns Oedipus with the image of a helmsman who has taken initiative to guide his people out of danger. Furthermore, Oedipus takes responsibility for Thebes' suffering by becoming the “land’s avenger,” displaying a strong sense of duty. He even claims that “no one is as sick as I,” showing empathy for his people’s suffering. This selfless identification with his citizens reveals the morality of a great leader who feels their pain as his own. Thus, at this stage, Sophocles presents Oedipus as an ideal helmsman.
As the play progresses, Oedipus’ growing pride and emotional instability begin to erode the qualities that once made him seem a capable leader. He calls upon the prophet Tiresias to help uncover the murderer of Laius, determined
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: title: power
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 95%: Scene: A bench in a park, surrounded by birds. These longtime friends have met to catch up, and their…
Scene: A bench in a park, surrounded by birds. These longtime friends have met to catch up, and their conversation has transitioned into contemplating the things that matter most in life
***
Jeremy [J]: Did you see the recent Banksy mural near the Royal Court of Justice in London?
Immanuel [I]: No....Who did he annoy this time?
[J]: The law. Again. He graffitied a judge brutally attacking an unarmed protester with a gavel, I think, in response to all the government crackdowns on protests in the UK. It was rumored they wanted to arrest him for vandalism.
[I]: Even if it's a form of protest, it's illegal.
[J] : But doesn’t that feel absurd? The law - the very thing that should protect us - ends up silencing us. Power defends itself, not always justice. It’s wild that the people trying to expose corruption get punished, while those who abuse power get protected.
[I]: what's the point of the law if we break it. Then, there's no point of having laws to begin with
[J]: I'm not saying to abolish all laws. That's stupid! But, laws are not meant to weaken their own people when its sustaining an injustice. When these laws linger, I feel like we have every right to break the law and protest these kind of issues
[I]: I think your idea of protest is inaccurate.
[J]: Really?
[I]: Yeah. You can still protest without breaking the law. You can still challenge power without destroying it.
[J]: Well, how do you think of protest?
[I]: To me, protest is about demanding change from the status quo — things like authorized demonstrations, speeches, marches, petitions. It's a collective "no" to injustice. It doesn't have to be rebellion for rebellion’s sake. You can make noise without burning the whole house down.
[J]: Protest is exactly that, but protest can also be UN-authorized demonstrations. You wouldn’t tell Rosa Parks she was wrong to sit at the front of the bus when you know Jim Crow's laws were absurd, would you?
[I]: That's fair, but I think there should be limitations though. There has to be a line. . If you start saying any protest is justified, where does it end? Murder? Destruction?
[J]: But sometimes power refuses to listen. If we never push back, if we never challenge it directly, power never shifts. But like you agree that there are times where we have to break the law to give more balance to us, the people?
[I]: Well, there’s something called 'civil disobedience' that deals with that. It’s protest that's moral, principled, and aware of its risks. It describes situations where people break the law to protest - and Rosa Parks fits that perfectly.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Space to Belong
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 77.5%: Imagine a land where the oldest continous culture were shared amongst the vibrant communities of our land. A…
Imagine a land where the oldest continous culture were shared amongst the vibrant communities of our land. A land that has space to belong. Australia, a country filled with promise of freedom and opportunity. A golden ticket in fullfilling an ambitious life. Australia a country filled with beauty, rich, and rare. The gum trees leaves that sway with the gust of wind and the oceans as blue as our clearest sky. A country promised with equality and the acceptance of all diversity. A country that represent and accepts all. I soon yet to realise that promises are meant to be broken.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: in high ground, johnson suggests that…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: Stephen Maxwell Johnson’s High Ground explores how the legacy of colonial violence continues to scar both the…
Stephen Maxwell Johnson’s High Ground explores how the legacy of colonial violence continues to scar both the colonised and the coloniser, long after the physical conflict has ceased. Set in 1930s Arnhem Land, the film opens with the brutal massacre of a Yolngu community by white settlers—an atrocity that echoes through generations. Johnson presents this event not as a closed chapter of history but as a living wound that shapes identity, memory, and belonging. Through the intertwined journeys of Travis and Gutjuk, High Ground reveals that the most enduring battles are internal: guilt, displacement, and moral conflict linger far longer than gunfire. In doing so, Johnson suggests that people’s inner struggles can be just as destructive and defining as their external confrontations.
Johnson uses the film’s fragmented, non-linear structure to mirror the fractured memories of a nation still haunted by violence. The recurring flashbacks to the massacre blur the boundaries between past and present, suggesting that the violence remains unresolved. Central to this is Travis, the ex-soldier whose internal guilt becomes more punishing than any physical danger he faces. Having participated in the massacre, he retreats from society and lives in isolation, unable to reconcile with his past. Johnson’s restrained camera work—often framing Travis in shadow or separated from others by the vast landscape—visually conveys his emotional exile. Although Travis outwardly appears composed, his internal conflict corrodes his sense of morality and identity. Johnson refuses to absolve him or label him as redeemed; instead, Travis embodies the enduring psychological consequences of complicity. His inner turmoil exposes the moral ambiguity of those who perpetrated violence, revealing that the war within the self can be just as relentless as any external one.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Title: Resist and Persist Stimulus: If…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 87.5%: Nia The morning air clung to Nia's skin - thick, smoky and alive. She adjusted the mask on her daughter's…
Nia
The morning air clung to Nia's skin - thick, smoky and alive. She adjusted the mask on her daughter's face, the soft pink one patterned with flowers. Sky always rebelled, wearing the mask upside down, a small gesture that made Nia smile despite her stomach tightening. The gesture steadied her hands. The mask she realised, was more than protection. It was the small space between fear and hope, between was what has been hidden and what was still dared to be seen through collective persistence.
Around them, the city pulsed. Drums echoed down the street, and a thousand breaths rose into the same heavy sky. Nia had been to many protests before, but this one carried more weight. Not louder, not larger, just weighted against years of oppression. It was as if history itself was pressing down on the air. Each chant carried persistance, something ancient and aching.
Say their names.
The words throbbed through her chest like a heartbeat. Although, Nia was not going to fall back into line, being swallowed by the crowd. She was going to stand up, with her breath short beneath her mask.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Category: Protest Title: 'Resist and…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 85%: Resist and Persist Dear Professor, I enjoyed our first class today. I think we all did. The quiet boys - they…
Resist and Persist
Dear Professor,
I enjoyed our first class today. I think we all did. The quiet boys - they were not as quiet as normal. I think you brought their personality out a little bit. I think we have been taught to follow what the books say instead of using them to form our own opinions, today's class made me feel like we were actually learning, developing our own thoughts. It made me excited for the future of this class - school might not be as bad now.
Jason.
Dear professor,
I think it's safe to say you are inspiring. Those quiet boys signed up for the debating team today, it shocked the rest of us. In the week since you started, its doubled in size - before I knew it, I had signed up too, my name etched on the now fuller than before list of avid speakers. I feel a sense of hope, as you said I would, for the time we get after class - it feels like we have more freedom now. The hobbies, passions, stories don't feel as pointless anymore, I think the freedom comes from them.
Jason.
Dear Professor,
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: "Better to live at random, best we can...…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 60%: ‘Oedipus Rex’ is a Greek tragedy written by Sophocles in 429 BC as an exploration of the pursuit of truth.…
‘Oedipus Rex’ is a Greek tragedy written by Sophocles in 429 BC as an exploration of the pursuit of truth. Sophocles portrays it as a source of blasphemy against the deities, which incurs horrible punishments for Oedipus' attempts to gain insight into the divine knowledge he is blind to. Sophocles explores the search for truth as a catalyst for destruction, leading to Oedipus’ eventual downfall as he, through his arrogance, reveals his own tragic identity. Sophocles warns against the pursuit of truth as something not meant for mere mortals' understanding, which brings catastrophe for characters such as Oedipus and Jocasta as identity and order are destroyed.
In his search for the truth, Oedipus is issued several warnings by numerous people attempting to steer him away from his own prophesied calamity. Oedipus’ good intentions in aspiring to reveal the murderer of Laius are clouded by hubris. As he endeavours to “bring what is dark to light”, he brings only self-ruin ruin revealing himself as “the murderer [he] hunts”. Oedipus. Sophocles insinuates that while in the dark, Oedipus remains ignorant but still full of hope, highlighting the light as that which brings pain for Oedipus. Nearing his ultimate destruction, Oedipus seeks the knowledge of his birth, “however base [his] birth may be”. Sophocles employs Oedipus as a warning to his audience, depicting him as a self-made tragedy through his journey for the truth. While accepting the pain that may come from understanding his birth, Oedipus knows nothing of the detrimental effects it will have, highlighting his ignorance of the true cost of truth. The shepherd, aspiring to save Oedipus from his hubris-fueled descent into despair, urges him not to “cause pain for [himself] or [Oedipus]”. Sophocles utilises these characters as mediums throughout the play, condemning the search for truth as Oedipus becomes closer and closer to his spiralling downfall through the revelation of his birth.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: title: engage stimulus: 'get up. stand…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 70%: Today, we gather here to protest not just a number on a payslip, but a system. A system that, for generations,…
Today, we gather here to protest not just a number on a payslip, but a system. A system that, for generations, has assigned women lesser economic value, not because of what they do — but because of who they are.
As you know, the gender pay gap in Australia stands at 13.0%. On average, women earn $253.50 less per week than men for full-time work. But this isn’t just a modern imbalance.
It’s the result of a long, layered history a legacy that stretches back over a century!
Let’s be clear: the gender pay gap isn’t just a statistical anomaly. It’s the product of engaging deeply entrenched historical, cultural, and economic systems of oppression towards women.
Typically, we view engagement as a positive thing. We want to engage with others, engage in fulfilling activities, engage with communities, et cetera. But when society turns the positive act of engagement into darker channels such as systematic sexism and misogyny, that’s when us as women need to enforce drastic and forceful change. We need to disrupt these systems for things to change. We need to get engaged in destroying these corrupt systems.
Women entered the workforce in large numbers during the World Wars but when men returned, women were pushed back into the home or into “support roles” with lower pay. In fact, it wasn’t until 1969 that Australia legally recognised the principle of “equal pay for equal work”, and even then, loopholes and biases kept that promise hollow. The idea that men were
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Category: Protest Title: 'Resist and…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 62.5%: Resist and Persist Dear Professor, I enjoyed our first class today. I think we all did. The quiet boys - they…
Resist and Persist
Dear Professor,
I enjoyed our first class today. I think we all did. The quiet boys - they were not as quiet as normal. I think you brought their personality out a little bit. I think we have been taught to follow what the books say instead of using them to form our own opinions, todays class made me feel like we were actually learning, developing our own thoughts. It made me excited for the future of this class - school might not be as bad now.
Jason.
Dear professor,
I think it's safe to say you are inspiring. Those quiet boys signed up for the debating team today, it shocked the rest of us. In the week since you started, its doubled in size - before I knew it, I had signed up too, my name etched on the now fuller than before list of avid speakers. I feel a sense of hope, as you said I would, for the time we get after class - it feels like we have more freedom now. The hobbies, passions, stories don't feel as pointless anymore, I think the freedom comes from them.
Jason.
Dear Professor,