VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Personal Journey - finding my way.
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 80%: Finding My Way This time, the sound of the whistle to hear the coaches final words wasn't welcoming. Normally,…
Finding My Way
This time, the sound of the whistle to hear the coaches final words wasn't welcoming. Normally, after a training session for soccer I was ready to allow my body to relax again; to give it a reward for its strength and ability to improve my status in the team and feel healthy. Yet, this time the whistle acted like a lightning bolt through my body. Simultaneously the sound of the whistle and my body breaking down forced me to the ground. I had no control. The dampness of the grass and the freezing cold air were no match for the pain that engulfed my body. All I could manage was a primal scream. I knew I needed assistance immediately. I knew that the bright pitch lights would be shepherding me off the pitch rather than lighting the way back to the coach for one last pep talk.
The cliché that you don't know what you have until its gone is one that hits home the hardest. Who would have thought that my knee could in fact become the villain of my story. It seemed like any other day up until the point when my happiness was stripped from me. I struggled to draw breath, and the fast pace of my heart made me feel as if I were about to explode. I knew it was bad, but until I managed to take off my tight soccer sock I still had some hope, like blowing up a red balloon my knee expanded as the sock no longer held back the swelling. The MRI results reported the worst news - my ACL and meniscus were torn badly. I knew I needed to find my way and not allow my devastation to inhibit my transformation.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In sunset boulevard the need to be seen…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: In Sunset Boulevard, the need to be seen drives people to destroy themselves, do you agree? Billy Wilder's gothic…
In Sunset Boulevard, the need to be seen drives people to destroy themselves, do you agree?
Billy Wilder's gothic 1950s film, Sunset Boulevard, reveals the illusionary world of Hollywood and exposes its true nature. In the film, ambition is a driving force amongst those in Hollywood, which further leads to a destructive and inevitable end. Wilder presents how ambition for fame and stardom is present throughout most individuals in Hollywood. Further, the film illustrates the destructive nature of being ambitious for stardom and greatness. Further Wilder presents that individuals who have decaying fame seek to drive themselves back to the spotlight, which leaves them destroyed.
Wilders gothic film exposes the truth beneath Hollywoods glitz and glam, showcasing how the desire for fame is evident amongst most individuals. In Hollywoods superficial world, the ambition for stardom is widespread due to the popular and wealthy life that comes with it. Wilder showcases Hollywoods wealth through the low angle shot of Joe to Normas "white elephant of a place". Wilder use of this shot demonstrates the difference of a poor dope film writer, compared to a past Hollywood sensation, therefore exposing why fame and stardom is sought after amongst many individuals, due to the high standard of life it brings. Furthermore, Wilder presents The desire for fame through Norma, her pursuit for a "return" not a "comeback," demonstrates her desires for stardom. This is reinforced through her "merciless set of trials" where she trained like an olympic athlete" it highlights how the pursuit for fame blinds individuals from trying to fit in unrealistic standards. The magnifying glass used by Wilder further represents the severities that individuals suffer to be successful in the industry, highlighting that each small, little detail is examined on individuals to fit in to the Hollywood standards and expectations. Moreover, Normas pursuit is exemplified with her losing half a pound since tuesday after trying to return to Hollywood, this represents the ever present pursuit amongst many individuals and how that pursuit can be so severe but is still sought after. Overall, Wilder presents that the pursuit for being ambitious for fame and stardom in Hollywood is widespread and is amongst individuals.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In the play the desire to act honorably…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 87.5%: Sophocles perennial tragedy “Oedipus the King” first performed in 429 BCE at the height of the Peloponnesian war…
Sophocles perennial tragedy “Oedipus the King” first performed in 429 BCE at the height of the Peloponnesian war depicts a world ensnared by the inexorable forces of fate and the divine. In his lamentable expose Sophocles promulgates the nature of one's behaviors as directly linked to their suffering, although the playwright blurs the line between moral and immoral actions in the play. Firstly, the playwright laments the upholding of civic duty through its association with agony. However, even in immoral actions do characters find such visceral consequences highlighting the futility of morality. Overall, the playwright lauds suffering as unrelated to the nature of one's actions and instead interwoven with divine justice.
In Sophocles' faithful representation of traditional Greek mythology, the playwright elucidates the facade of honour in action through its eventuation of prolonged anguish and turmoil. In his attempt to foster such a paradoxical relationship the playwright employs Oedipus’ vow to “bring what is dark to light” epitomising his hamartia—an admirable yet ruinous commitment to truth. Sophocles transforms intellectual virtue into the agent of downfall, illustrating how moral duty can devolve into unseen suffering. In seeking illumination, Oedipus becomes the architect of his own catastrophic revelation. In his construction of Oedipus’ as driven by such honour the playwright underpins his quest for truth as a heroic pursuit, intended at quelling the “raw wailing miseries” of Thebes. However, the juxtaposition of the protagonist's seemingly moral desire and the suffering is revealed in Oedipus' confident declaration that “the same violent hand may strike me down” embodies dramatic irony. In this way Sophocles allows the audience and their knowledge of the myth of Oedipus to perceive what the protagonist himself cannot- the he himself if the killer he seeks. The phrase transforms prophetic justice into self-condemnation, promulgating the illusion of control in upholding civic duty. Through such vivid irony the playwright bemoans Oedipus' moral pursuit for the truth by underlining the grim consequences that result from it, interweaving civic inclination with the very suffering he proclaims. Furthermore, Sophocles encapsulates such suffering in Oedipus’ assertion that he “fathered” his children “in the soil that gave [him] life” grotesquely invokes the Greek myth of autochthony—birth from the earth. Sophocles distorts this mythic purity into incestuous horror, fusing fertility and corruption. The soil, once sacred, becomes a metaphor for cyclical sin and polluted regeneration. Through this incestous discovery that stemmed from his moral pursuit to cleanse Thebes of its pollutants, Oedipus marks his own kin with a curse. Given Athenian audiences would have held a firm connotation of incest as a sacreligious act, a belief amplified by the myth of autochthony, the playwright interweaves moral action with unfathomable suffering that not only implicates Oedipus himself but further permeates his bloodline with the stain of discovered truth, crystallising the paradox between honourable behaviour and their unequivocable consequence.
VCE · Language Analysis
Language Analysis: AA 2023 exam. single paragraph.
VCE Language Analysis essay scoring 75%: The young musicians contest and rebut potential queries their opposition may have for rejuvenating the Narrow…
The young musicians contest and rebut potential queries their opposition may have for rejuvenating the Narrow Valley community. The musician's commence with a conversational and professional tone as they break down their oppositions reasoning for being against the new idea of music festivals in their local area being explored. The intended effect of the chosen tone is to foster connection with the Narrow Valley community by making conversation more approachable and comfortable for the audience whilst also introducing a respectful interaction. By doing so, the musicians are setting up their likelihood for the audience to allow their voice to be heard after the authors establishing a respectful communication system. hypophora is strategically used to dismantle concerns the audience may have with the author proposal. This was intentionally used to
VCE · Language Analysis
Language Analysis: Toppadale cinema vcaa 2021
VCE Language Analysis essay scoring 77.5%: The arising risks of shutting down for a local cinema in the regional town of toppdale has ignited concern…
The arising risks of shutting down for a local cinema in the regional town of toppdale has ignited concern and unease within local residents. This collective apprehension provoked the cinemas marking manager Ava, to publish a social media post on the Toppandale community voice page, on the 12 of September discussing the potential unfortunate closing. She contends that Toppadale cinema is a vital part of the communities history and social life and must be supported by locals to prevent it from closing down. Directing her arguments towards the toppadale residents, Ava aims to convey the significance of the local cinema
From the outset, Ava draws attention to the cinemas significance as a part of toppdales heritage and identity. Ava begins by describing the cinema as the "backbone" of the town since the "1910's" having survived the "great depression" and "two world wars". Through mentioning the cinemas historical background Ava appeals to a sense of tradition and history, she emphasises the significance of the cinemas, positioning the building as a symbol of endurance, evoking feelings of nostalgia and civic loyalty. This is intended to propel the local residents to remember and acknowledge the true importance of the cinema, as a focal part of their town and its long lasting heritage. Ava then furthers her point by constantly referring to the town as "our town" and directly addressing
the audience when she states that "by connecting with you" she hopes to gain community support. By employing various uses of inclusive language, aiming to involve the community members, Ava reinforces unity and shared responsibility within the toppandale residents. In this way she compels the readers to realise the similarities in values they share with the reader regarding a join concern for their treasured cinema, seeking to further bridge the gap between Ava and the local residents, persuading the Toppadale people towards understanding Ava's contention. In conjunction with this she emphasises how the valuable community building is at "risk of closing its doors, Forever!", using a hyperbole and dramatic punctuation to heighten the emotional impact of her message. The capitalisation and exclamation mark amplify the sense of finality and loss, creating a sense of urgency and guilt among the locals if they fail to take action, intending to prompt the locals to make sense of the cinemas historical importance and understand the urgent need to protect it.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 'we got through the war by sticking…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: Section A A text response 'We got through the war by sticking together. Trusting each other.' High Ground depict…
Section A A text response
'We got through the war by sticking together. Trusting each other.' High Ground depict a world without trust. To what extent do you agree?
Set in post world war - in Ahnem Land Australia, the 2020 film 'High Ground' directed by Steven Maxwell Johnson is a representation of how trust is the basis of relationships, however a lack of trust leads to a lack of loyalty. The Western genre film captures how although the characters survived war by trusting each other, there is a major lack of trust in their relationships and depicts a world that lacks trust. However, the director also showcases how there is still trust in the world and how it is built through loyalty. Johnson seems to portray how even in a world lacking trust, having faith in one and another with loyalty can still prevail.
It is made evident from early on in the film that there is a major absence of trust between the Yolngue people and the Northern Territory officers. Johnson makes this very evident from early on in the film, which is representative of the frontier wars in Australia. In the prologue a brutal and violent Massacre occurs as a result of the settlers grasamly attacking the Yolngu tribe. Through a handheld montage the officers are captured aggressively riding horses towards a tribe of first nations people. Braddock who is a priest played by Ryan Corr is seen explaining to the other settlers that '[they] don't want any trouble'. However this is quickly juxtaposed as the camera pans out to Travis who is a sniper and is introduced through a point of view shot of him positioning his gun. The sniper is clearly demonstrating that the colonisers have no trust towards the First Nations people, and even though they claim to be trying to have a 'peaceful' conversation about two First Nations men stealing a cow, they ultimately have military tactics and are ready to inflict pain and violence. Building on this, Eddy instructs the other officers that 'no one shoots but him' when pointing to Travis however before a conversation can even begin the Northern Territory officers start a massive attack on the tribe. This scene as the chaotic and stressful nature of it is captured through a series of handheld shots and diegetic sounds of gun shots, most people in pain and animals especially birds. The brutal massacre evidently highlights the major lack of trust between the two communities and
showcases how the colonisers have no trust towards the Yolngu people. The director implements a negotiation scene which is meant to bring the two groups together, however once again the two communities are captured through a long shot sitting on opposite side with an evident gap between them. The use of their costume and body language also captures the clear lack of faith in one another. The negotiation ultimately results in an argument when Moran refers to the land as the 'sirs' land', as the settlers believed Arnhem Land was Terra Nullis, however this comment upset the Yolngu people who believed that this was their rightful land as they have been on it and as Papa explain the settlers 'came overseas to our land'. Once again Johnson is portraying the divide between the two Nations and how peace and negotiation is not an option due to the contradicting interest and lack of trust. Johnson portrays resulting to violence and disrespect due to a lack of trust.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Title: Carrying Country Stimulus: ‘I…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 65%: My heart beats as the sun ascends the sky, casting a glow that illuminates my charcoal plumage, bringing a new…
My heart beats as the sun ascends the sky, casting a glow that illuminates my charcoal plumage, bringing a new day forward. It was peaceful, new rhythmic songs being sung across the land by my own. As they soar the endless skys in flocks, I stand my ground on the land I once called home. My parents nested me until I could hunt and fight on my own.
I raise my wings high and mighty, ready to ascend through the winds, over the land, searching for a place I may call home. The sun coats the earth below, and the water glistens under it, welcoming me across the river that descends through the soil, a silver ribbon that stitches the land together.
As I soar, the air hums with memory. The wind carries whispers of the ones who came before, their stories tangled within the branches, intertwined together, woven into the blades of grass that sway beneath me. I sense them not as echoes of the past, but as presence, as heartbeat. They remind me that the journey forward often begins by looking back from the start.
I had longed to explore, to find home, to find myself. Yet as I drift over the land, I begin to feel that home is not a single place waiting to be found, but a rhythm, a pulse that beats beneath my own.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Patterns of the place
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 80%: Chapter 3: What makes me….me? In 1972, almost 10,000 children were adopted in Australia. In 1978, around 4000…
Chapter 3: What makes me….me?
In 1972, almost 10,000 children were adopted in Australia. In 1978, around 4000 children were adopted in New Zealand. My parents are a part of these statistics. I have patterns of my place throughout my characteristics, but I do not know where my place is.
My mum’s patterns include her blonde hair and blue eyes. She has a fair complexion and almond shaped eyes that squint when she smiles. My dad’s patterns include his curly black hair and chestnut coloured eyes. He has a darker complexion. My place is based on assumptions from our patterns.
As I walk through the hallways of my home I see pictures of family members celebrating birthdays, debutantes and Christmas’. These are the family members that I know and love but they do not share the same patterns. I think about how those who do share the same patterns could have fought in world wars or competed in the Olympics. I try to remember them and where their patterns originated from but I can’t. I have no idea.
In primary school we had a project where we researched the heritage of our patterns and cooked a meal from that country. I sat there clueless because I didn’t know what to do. No country comes to mind when I picture the patterns of my ancestors. After much thought I eventually decided on Mexico because my favourite food was enchiladas. I picture a map of the world with patterns running through Mexico. Maybe my ancestors are Mexican and that's why I loved their food so much. Or maybe I was just coming up with an answer so I had something to say to that dreaded question, a feeling that no young child should ever have to experience.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Title: ‘Every voice matters’ Stimulus…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 70%: The sun was shining, it was a perfectly normal day. To the normal eye. But there was something off about the…
The sun was shining, it was a perfectly normal day. To the normal eye. But there was something off about the way the sun gleamed, the trees swayed. Something almost artificial. Like it was curated to perfection, a scene out of a movie. I know I know nothing is perfect. But what if I told you the government got rid of flaws, creating world that featured no violence or hate. Definitely a movie, right? It took me a while to notice what was happening but once you see it, it becomes even more obvious. You’d think the constant robot surveillance and the identical streets and houses would give it away. Turns out it doesn’t.
The government has everyone wrapped around their fingers, controlling their every move. Some would say it’s nice that there is no violence. Some would say conflict can help shape you as a person and society. It is unknown what the government do to you if they get suspicious of you. There are rumours they make you disappear, erasing you from everyone’s minds and pictures. Ethical? No. Good for them? Yes. Is this seriously what the world has come too. I used to love the perfect routine of my day, but it had always felt off. It never felt right to me.
I stumbled upon a group called the Hackers, they have been planning a rebellion for years. Collecting evidence using old fashioned methods and spreading the word using invisible messages. No one wants to speak out yet they are waiting for enough people to figure it out and see their messages.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: choosing sides
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 90%: Section B: Choosing sides The Conversation By Kiera Maine, Lecturer in Public Health at Monash University,…
Section B: Choosing sides
The Conversation
By Kiera Maine, Lecturer in Public Health at Monash University, Melbourne
There is a quiet suffering that stains the hospital corridors - a pressing healthcare malaise that women have been told to endure, rather than dismantle. Our pain is minimised, our bodies mistranslated, and our silence mistaken for consent. There is no such thing as choosing sides, nor being neutral, to care for human life is to advocate for the injustices of womens health.
Progress for women has never come easy. Though we've fought for generations for parity, progress in the medical sphere remains structurally inert. It is therefore imperative that we continue to fight for adequate research and funding when it comes to healthcare, and the issues that uniquely affect our bodies. We as women must come together to battle the war of medical indifference, there are no sides to our suffering, and our only choice is to fight.
We are living in a world where women's bodies remain battlegrounds. The Pill was introduced in the 1960's, granting women agency over their reproduction. Yet in 2022, Roe V. Wade was overturned, stripping millions of women their right to choose what to do with their own bodies. This decision symbolises defeat; a brutal, back-lit severance for women in the war for bodily autonomy.
To live better lives, we must not question womes suffering, nor can we choose who we do and don't stand by. The consequential success of the courageous woman who struggled before us didn't act alone, nor did they choose sides, but fought as a unit for justice.
Prominent figures like Emmeline Pankhurst and particularly, Vida Goldstein, championed not only women's suffrage, but sparked further equality beyond the ballot bar. Goldstein stood for independence, moral courage, and conviction that protest is not only a right, but a responsibility - after all, neutrality didn't exist back then. She was a beacon for change, an embodiment of rebellion, persistence and struggle.
Civil resistance became the inherited code of conduct for women, a template of persistence needed to dismantle the gatekeepers of power.
Crucially, this legacy of struggle is not merely a historical footnote. Today, our war for autonomy has shifted from the ballot box to the clinic, and our adversaries are no longer just politicians, but the institutions of corporate indifference.
Yet, despite this monumental success and progression... feminism is at a perilous inflection point.
The medical sphere remains in medieval times.
The very militant conviction that delivered the vote has softened.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: ‘Faggot.’ ‘Freak.’ The words still…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 80%: ‘Faggot.’ ‘Freak.’ The words still echo from my last post, carved into the comment section like scars — a…
‘Faggot.’ ‘Freak.’
The words still echo from my last post, carved into the comment section like scars — a digital mausoleum of everything I once tried to hide. They weren’t just insults; they marked the moment my private rebellion of lipstick and lace was dragged beneath a light I never invited. What began as curiosity became transgression; what felt intimate became spectacle. I wanted to shed the shame, to dissolve into quiet anonymity — and yet, shame has a way of staining what it touches.
What unsettled me most was the realisation: this story was never mine alone.
Throughout centuries, cross-dressing has threaded itself through every continent and creed — warriors clad in disguise, courtiers bent on theatre, dreamers defying the binaries of cloth and flesh. Still the world recoils. Why must expression ignite disgust? The reasons, tangled in fear and control, resist simplicity. Yet one truth rises clear as breath on glass: it is the tyranny of gender stereotypes that breathes disdain into difference.
Stereotypes are the mind’s oldest magic — a survival spell. We cast people into safe and unsafe, known and foreign. We pretend that certainty is safety, that categorisation is control. But the human need to conform, to anchor identity in expectation, corrodes the self. These binaries — masculine or feminine, stoic or soft — demand obedience, not empathy. They script our performances and forbid improvisation. And in that obedience, the spirit withers.
When I was younger, I kept asking questions no one seemed to hear. Why did power sit in short hair and muted tones? Why did colour — pastels, ribbons, lace — signify weakness? Each answer I found led only to confusion. “Normal” felt like a mirage — an ever-receding horizon of adequacy. After the incident online, that mirage shattered entirely. My private experiment became a public joke, my pictures passed around like evidence. The ridicuference was a disease only silence could cure.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: used stimulus 2 and title for protest…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 65%: Listen: The Global March for Child Labour Manilla's streets blister in the middy sun, yet the heat cannot dim…
Listen: The Global March for Child Labour
Manilla's streets blister in the middy sun, yet the heat cannot dim the roar of voices demanding change. Shoulder-to-shoulder, packed like sardines, a tide of voices refusing to be silenced. We march as one body, one heartbeat ripping off anything that gets in our way, to fight against the chains of child labour. I am not just a child of the crowd, I am an echo of my parents struggle and proof we will not be silenced.
Dancers in bright colourful costumes flitter around us. Colour flashes as they do traditional dances to the sound of voices ringing and metal drums banging, forcing others to listen. Those marches and rallies I've seen on TV felt dangerous and scary but here I feel safe, like I belong. Diversity from every nation coming together, ensuring we are heard as we fight to eliminate child labour.
We are here with 'Global March' an international company which has fought tirelessly to stop child labour and "promote and protect the rights of all children". Numerous rallies, marches, sit ins and boycotts have been planned around the world, but we are here at the beginning, the one that started them all.
In the Sweatshops - 1993
The overwhelming heat engulfs my senses and I am flashed back to my unforgiving childhood. A childhood that has shaped who I am and what I'm doing today.
There is no dawn in the sweatshops just the piercing, metallic clang at five AM that awoke us from our restless sleep and shoved us back into the machineries of survival. The air was thick and alive with flies that fed on our sweat. Their neverending buzz became a soundtrack of degradation that reminded us to keep our mouths shut and just listen.
Without any will left, the word tore out of me... "Enough!" The machines seemed to choke into silence. Hundreds of eyes burnt into me, a single spark of defiance in a furnace of fear. I was bashed, bruised and beaten, banished to the back of the shops Where I was forced to work in silence in the blasting heat with my toes deep in mud.
In the darkness humanity slipped from me. I was no longer a worker, not even a person, just a cog in a machine, tapped up to be used for profit.
Back to the March - 1998
Those chants from 1998 brought me back from those sweatshop memories and reminded us of the power of our voices put together where hope surges louder than despair.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 'Dark, horror of darkness, my darkness,…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: First performed in 429 BCE Athens, Sophocles’ quintessence of classical Greek tragedy, ‘Oedipus the King’, charts…
First performed in 429 BCE Athens, Sophocles’ quintessence of classical Greek tragedy, ‘Oedipus the King’, charts the spectacular deterioration of its eponymous character – a king whose hubris becomes his ultimate hamartia. Through motifs and imagery, Sophocles emphasises the personal cost of excessive pride. On the other hand, Sophocles utilises the chorus’ commentary to highlight the repercussions of hubristic folly on the collective while leveraging the play’s tragic structure and symbolism to signify how conceit can both amplify the scale of one’s ruin and propel one towards catastrophe.
Over the course of the play, the consequences that Oedipus’ hubris imposes upon him is divulged through symbolic imagery. The titular king’s declaration to “bring it all to light [him]self” juxtaposes, in a moment of tragic irony, the play’s climax wherein Oedipus antithetically plummets into the literal “depths of…darkness”. Through Oedipus’ inability to bear the truth of his polluted heritage, Sophocles asserts the exclusivity of omniscience to the gods, emphasising that certain truths are too devastating for mortals to withstand. Oedipus is thereby positioned as a cautionary figure against hubristically transgressing celestial realms of knowledge – a “sickness more than [one] can bear”. Extending this motif of light and darkness, Oedipus’ anagnorisis where the truth does indeed “burst to light” subverts the traditional association of light with enlightenment: in Sophocles’ tragedy of destiny, revelation does not bring clarity or triumph but devastation as Oedipus despairs at the truth his arrogance blinded him to. The illumination of knowledge here exposes human vulnerability and the limits of mortal understanding, reinforcing the play’s warning against overreaching pride. Further, Sophocles’ juxtaposition of Creon’s dramatically ironic warning in the prologue, that Oedipus will “pay back blood with blood”, against the sanguinary imagery in the exodus depicting “each stroke blood spurt[ing]”, establishes Oedipus’ ignorance of what?. Coupling this with Tiresias’ prophetic proclamation about his ultimate “downfall”, Oedipus’ auto-enucleation becomes the manifestation of divine punishment for his blasphemous transcension of the oikos: his compulsion to “dig…[the pins] down the sockets of his eyes” in a gory ocular mutilation serves as a grim warning against the arrogance of mankind. Here, the repetition of “blind” also emphasises Oedipus' ignorance and the tragedy brought on from it while the feral imagery and zoomorphism of Oedipus “stalking” like a “maddened beast” reveals how his former hubris in elevating himself above the Grecian pantheon has ironically reduced him to a primal state of savagery. As such, Sophocles' visceral and brutal imagery signifies how one’s vanity can be a source of personal devastation.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Jackson suggests that, when faced with a…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: ‘We Have Always Lived in the Castle’, a gothic novel by Shirley Jackson, explores the appropriateness of escaping a…
‘We Have Always Lived in the Castle’, a gothic novel by Shirley Jackson, explores the appropriateness of escaping a problematic society through isolation. Written in 1962, the novel is set in the context of the defined patriarchal structures of the 50’s and 60’s in America, with the ideals of the nuclear family. Jackson depicts how exclusion from regular society allows for the patriarchal structures to be subverted, supporting the idea that removal from society is the correct response to flawed societal norms. However, Jackson suggests that removing oneself from society can only be successful with enough wealth and knowledge to ensure it is sustainable. Additionally, Jackson presents the consequences of extended isolation, reinforcing how it may be an inappropriate method of reacting to a troubled society.
Jackson illustrates how subversion of patriarchal structures can be achieved through complete separation from society. Merricat and Constance love in their own matriarchy, where the power lies with the female members of the household. Jackson presents their world as vastly different to the traditional nuclear family ideals being pushed at the time, which presents how their differences contribute to their ostracization. When Helen Clarke comes to visit with Mrs Wright, she begins to prod the sisters about their resistance to the patriarchy, suggesting that “[they] should have boyfriends”. Jackson proposes that while still in contact with members of society, the patriarchy will continue to impact the lives of individuals. This idea is further reinforced when Charles comes to visit. Charles symbolises male power and control as when “Constance had let him in”, he begins to take control of the Blackwood estate. Jackson demonstrates how men feel entitled to power under the patriarchy, as Charles feels he is immediately in charge of the sisters. It is only when the house burns down and Charles is completely gone from the sisters lives that the patriarchy is subverted. The housefire symbolises the destruction of the patriarchy, as it enables the sisters to cut themselves off from the town, villagers and their patriarchal values. Jackson critiques the patriarchy, and suggests that avoiding it through isolation, the method of excluding oneself is justified.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: the gift of adversity
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 77.5%: Dear Asha, You’re fifteen, quiet and unsure of where you fit. They say the apple doesn’t fall far from the…
Dear Asha,
You’re fifteen, quiet and unsure of where you fit. They say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, yet your mum couldn’t have fallen further. She was the middle child of a family with an absent father and too many wounds to count, but somehow, she became the beating heart of yours.
Your earliest memory with her begins in a water park. The air was filled with laughter and the smell of chlorine. You remember the sound of rushing water crashing against the pool’s edge as Mum lifted you above the waves. Her arms were strong, her laughter louder than the world around you. In her grasp you felt weightless — safe. Even in the deep end, where the bottom disappeared, she would paddle over and hold you. Back home, where shouting and drugs were as familiar as wallpaper, her arms became the one place where everything felt still. You didn’t know it then, but that was her gift — the ability to make safety from chaos.
But every gift comes with a price.
The curse of drugs haunted our family like a sickness passed through blood. You remember the morning the phone rang — a sound that still echoes in your bones. Mum’s voice cracked as she whispered “No…” before collapsing into sobs. You didn’t understand the word overdose, but you understood loss. You watched your mother’s strength fracture, just for a moment, and that was when you learned what heartbreak looked like up close.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Twelfth Night critiques social norms and…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 65%: Written in 1601-1602 Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is a romantic comedy set during a time of festive misrule, where…
Written in 1601-1602 Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is a romantic comedy set during a time of festive misrule, where disguise, revelry, and inversion of social order where embraced. Set against the exotic and chaotic backdrop of Illyria, the play uses the comedic premise of a woman disguising herself as a man to explore the complex and often contradictory nature of human and societal behaviours. Shakespeare adopts comedy to critique the rigid social and gender expectations of Elizabethan society, exposing their hypocrisy and instability. Yet, through the play’s comic resolution, he restores social order, suggesting that while such norms may be flawed, they remain deeply ingrained within human nature and society. Through these central notions of class, gender, and social pressures, paired with Shakespeare's manifold characters, the play harbours an evocative insight into the rigid class hierarchies, gender norms and conflict of sixteenth century England. Ultimately establishing a nuanced critique while upholding the standards which resonate with his original audiences.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “I had ten years of dramatic lessons,…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: Billy Wilder’s gothic film, Sunset Boulevard, shatters the glamorous facade of the Hollywood industry, revealing it…
Billy Wilder’s gothic film, Sunset Boulevard, shatters the glamorous facade of the Hollywood industry, revealing it to be shallow and insensitive. Wilder exhibits this through the cruel, heartless treatment of Hollywood actors, who are not of typical archetypes . He further illustrates its shallowness by dismantling the myth that Hollywood workers live in luxury revealing that the true experience for many is one of extreme financial distress. Moreover he uncovers the cruel, heartless nature of the Hollywood media, and the truth behind its misplaced priorities. However, Wilder also indicates that the industry at times can be genuine and sympathetic, especially to those who they have mistreated . Ultimately, Sunset Boulevard depicts the industry as shallow and unforgiving, yet not entirely heartless.
Throughout the film Wilder presents to viewers that the Hollywood industry has no interest in stars that do not fit their ideal vision. Wilder illustrates this to viewers through Betty’s mistreatment as a young acting prospect, which she reveals to Joe during their walk down the Hollywood sets. She explains how the studio “didn’t like [her] nose”, and once she had it changed, “they didn’t like [her] acting”. Betty’s story perfectly encapsulates the superficial and callous nature of the industry, making her alter her looks so that she appears like a star should, and only then dissecting her acting talent. This is further emphasised through the matter of fact tone in which Betty delivers the line, suggesting her story is not a shocking one, but rather a normal occurrence within the industry. Wilder reveals to the audience that despite the job of Hollywood actors being to act, the industry cares more about their surface level looks, than any talent they may possess. Additionally, Wilder demonstrates the shallow and heartlessness of Hollywood through the unfair, ageist comments made of Norma. When DeMille is informed by his assistant that Norma is visiting his set, his assistant exclaims “isn’t she a million years old?” This comment exhibits to viewers the true extent of the industry’s superficiality, and the callous treatment of those who do not look the part. Despite having never met Norma, the assistant cannot fathom that she may have something to offer, simply due to her age. He judges her exterior appearance, without even offering a chance to prove her worth. This is emphasised through the assistants body language and facial expressions, denoting how bewildered he is at the thought of a middle aged woman being on a film set. This reinforces Wilder's message that the Hollywood industry does not care about people who do not fit their idea of a star.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Love, laugh, live… if only
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 80%: This is a story that I regret not having a long time ago
This is a story that I regret not having a long time ago
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Traditional roles restrict the characters…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: Traditional roles often attempt to define individuals, shaping their ability to choose how they live their life, in…
Traditional roles often attempt to define individuals, shaping their ability to choose how they live their life, in We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Shirley Jackson demonstrates how these roles can restrict freedom and enforce societal conformity, while also showing that they can be used to create power. The novella reveals how patriarchal authority and societal pressures intertwine to enforce prejudice, creating a world in which traditional roles both confine and empower.
Jackson uses the character of Charles Blackwood to expose how patriarchal power disrupts female autonomy and solidarity within the novel. Charles embodies the intrusive force of masculine authority, seeking to re-establish dominance in a household that has become reliant on women. His arrival marks an attempt to restore traditional hierarchies, as he came to help the Blackwoods manage their ‘money,’ yet his motives are rooted in greed. Through his fixation on material wealth and his presumptive right to command as ‘head of the table’, Charles intrudes on the sanctuary that Merricat and Constance have built. Jackson uses this intrusion to critique how patriarchal structures confine women, as Charles’s desire to marry Constance is not an act of love but an attempt to seize her property and control ‘the safe.’ He becomes ‘a ghost’ that must be ‘driven away,’ symbolizing the contamination of the sisters’ world by male dominance. His efforts to discipline ‘Mary Katherine,’ as though she were a child, further reveals how Jackson portrays male authority as a repetitive cycle of psychological control. Ultimately, Charles’s presence transforms the house from a place of safety into chaos, illustrating Jackson’s belief that masculine control corrupts the purity of domestic life, leaving destruction.
In We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Jackson explores how women resist societal expectations and claim power in a world that seeks to limit them. Merricat and Constance assert control over their home through domestic chores, turning them into a source of independence rather than a limitation. The ‘rows and rows’ of preserved food in the cellar symbolize how
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Framework 1: Writing about Country…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 90%: My Country Moves Me (Speech by Olivia Thorne, delivered at the National Youth Forum on Country and Climate) My…
My Country Moves Me
(Speech by Olivia Thorne, delivered at the National Youth Forum on Country and Climate)
My name is Olivia Thorne, and I come from Burramine, a small town in northern Victoria where the land lies flat and bare, stitched together by orchards, river gums and the slow-moving Murray River. I stand before you not just as an Australian, but as a voice for Country — the soil that feeds us, the forests that breathe for us, and the rivers that remember what we have forgotten.
The title of my speech, “My Country Moves Me,” is not about relocation, but transformation — how the land shapes my understanding of home and urges me toward change. We need to mend what we have broken and return to a way of living with the land, not merely on it.
When I was a child, I would ride my horse past the pinecone orchards, down Duffty’s Bend at sunset. The air smelled of dust and sweetness; the horizon stretched forever. My father would say, “The land gives you everything, Liv. Most only see it as a landscape, but this place is home — and home must be cared for.” Those words have stayed with me.
Now those same fields are patched and silent. The billabongs lie dry, rivers shrink each year, and the hills that cradle our valley have burned more times than I can count. The silver-green eucalyptus trees that once shimmered in the heat now stand as blackened monuments to our neglect.
We call them fire seasons as if destruction were temporary, yet it has become a way of life. From 2019 to 2020, more than 1.5 million hectares of Victoria burned. Over 420 homes were lost. But numbers cannot capture the smell of burning gum trees or the silence where birdcalls once rang. To governments, these are statistics. To Country, they are cries for help.
Somewhere along the way, we forgot that Country is not ours to own.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: ''You see this is my life! it always will…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: During Hollywood's golden era, many aspired to achieve stardom, though a privileged few ever achieved this dream.…
During Hollywood's golden era, many aspired to achieve stardom, though a privileged few ever achieved this dream. Set against the back drop of post-war 1950's Hollywood, Billy Wilder's late film Sunset Boulevard explores the implications faced by individuals associated with Hollywood. Through character and cinematography, Wilder critiques Hollywood's obsession with exploitation of aspirants, revealing how the industry prioritises financial gain. This is shown through the manipulation of ambition, exposure of the psychological decay instilled within individuals and the critique of transactional relationships within Hollywood. Ultimately, Wilder delineates the irreversible ramifications which arise as a result of pursuing fame.
Sunset Boulevard exposes the commodification of ambition, revealing how Hollywood exploits the ambition of individuals. The determination of aspirants leaves them susceptible to Hollywood's predatory dreamscape. Through Joe, Wilder reveals the true cost of ambition. an enduring ambition.The underwater shot of dead Joe's body surrounded by camera's not only underscores how ambition is interlinked with death, but reflects the superficiality of Hollywood an industry which values applicants only when they are useful. Wilder's employment of cameras illustrates how fame is not proportional to ambition but rather luck. Additionally, Joe's character serves to depict Hollywood's seductive facade as he becomes blinded to his death. Similarly, Sheldrake, an upcoming producer is also consumed by Hollywood's corrosive underbelly. His luxurious and sleek office conceals the decaying physical state. Joe's posthumous voice outlining "the set of ulcers" encapsulates that fame is often intertwined with a weakened physical state. Furthermore, the symbol of the cigar undermines how individuals are often alluded to physical decay as success engulfs them. Thus, Wilder, through the ambition of individuals, underscores the devastating price of fame and success.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Sophocles’ Oedipus the kind demonstrated…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: First performed at the Dionysian Festival around 430 BCE, Sophocles' Oedipus the King examines a society where…
First performed at the Dionysian Festival around 430 BCE, Sophocles' Oedipus the King examines a society where happiness lies in the hands of suffering. His Greek explores how easily one's fortune can change and hence how quickly joy can be taken away. Sophocles presents constantly changing and reveals how people have little control over this, he also acknowledges the ability of mortals to remain ignorant from harsh reality and shield their peace. In this way, the Greek underscores that while human happiness is fragile, there are also ways people can protect this.
Sophocles highlights that fortune can change quickly and hence that individuals should tread lightly. Upon defeating the Sphinx, Oedipus claims with confidence in the prologue that "the world knows [his] fame," revealing how highly regarded he is by those around him for this achievement. So highly regarded that they are reliant on him to solve the "corruption of the land" however, ironically enough this is revealed to be Oedipus himself who must now exile into to end Thebes' suffering. Oedipus' initial happiness has turned into devastation in the matter of 24 hours and through this unity of time the Athenian audience are really made to understand how quickly peripeteia can occur and hence how quickly one can go from "the first of men" to nothing. In this way, Sophocles warns these people to tread lightly and that their joy can be destroyed just as fast as it was earnt. This notion is reinforced the chorus who initially are happy to have Oedipus as their king, claiming that "never will [they] convict [him]" and hence revealing how much they adore him. However, it is only in in the antistrophe where "now you bring down light upon my eyes". Through this, Sophocles exposes how the views of the community can rapidly change, revealing how happiness can turn into regret.
Not only does Sophocles emphasise the dynamic nature of fate, he also depicts the control people lack over this. Upon consulting the oracle at Delphi, Oedipus decides to flee Corinth in order to protect his parents "[he] heard all that and ran". Unknowing Polybus and
2. knowledge if sought early enough could've prevented suffering
- Corinth - kills his dad unknowing - weds Jocasta
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In Sunset Boulevard, the crucial conflict…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: "Before you hear it all distorted... maybe you'd like to hear the facts." Billy Wilders world of Sunset Boulevard…
"Before you hear it all distorted... maybe you'd like to hear the facts."
Billy Wilders world of Sunset Boulevard aims to provide the truth in a "hollow world", yet it is inevitable, the impact of illusion affects both the characters and audience alike, proving significant to the noirs conflict. Wilder censures the luring nature of Hollywood that provides dreams of success only to revoke it, driving characters into self soothing and the preservation of others. However, Wilder also exposes the transactional nature between Hollywoods Stars and writers and their superior directors, agents and their audience. Giving payment of identity and morals in return for being "given the brush", proves most crucial to the films friction.
An idyllic facade is what entices individuals to Hollywood. Individuals see glamorous lifestyles, through lavish homes, wealth and beauty, and are driven to Hollywood, not giving it a second glance. Through opening the film with a high angle looking down on Sunset Boulevard stencilled into the curb, Wilder is immediately shattering the illusion of Hollywood, depicting it as dark, not glamorous, as having fallen leaves, like of the fallen stars disregarded by the machine, as having the iconic palms, overarching the city as personified judges rather than proud figures. Despite warning of what Hollywood really has to offer, the lies of what Paramount, agents and stars have to work for is seen through by many of the characters and Hollywood associates who simply "want the dough." Although early introduced to director Sheldrakes, opulant office, where he can lay back with a cigar in hand and get paid a significant amount for doing so, he is seen by Joe to have a "set of ulcers," conveying the stress he and other Hollywood higher ups are under to keep audiences happy. Joe continues to be drawn to the illusions of Hollywood when he comes across a "great white elephant of a place," which once he enters is exposed as a "grim sunset castle" possessing the star of "yesteryear" Norma Desmond. Although no locks are found in the house, Joe finds himself being continuously drawn to "that peculiar prison of [his], emphasising the difficulties characters grapple with understanding what Hollywood is promising them versus what they're actually receiving. The facade continues to Paramount studios, where the locked Bronson gate acts as a secluded area where success can be attained. Yet no matter the efforts made, particularly by Norma Desmond and Joe Gillis, the large gates when opened would only ever provide "hollow" interactions. These characters are willing to be a part of so long they get what they want, validation. The possibility of what a perfect life in Hollywood could be creates characters ignorance towards reality, making Hollywood a machine one can never return from.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Echoes of the Past
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 95%: "Echoes of the Past" November 2023, Arlington National Cemetery, a twenty-one gun salute cracks the air as…
"Echoes of the Past"
November 2023, Arlington National Cemetery, a twenty-one gun salute cracks the air as F-18s roar overhead trailing American colours. The crowd is a mix of grieving family members, fellow veterans and fellow activists who admired Pete's commitment to the anti-war movement. In the front row, Senator Tom Cotton sits stiffly in a jet black suit, his face unreadable. I look at his face and realise nothing has changed as I step up to the podium and sigh.
Today we honour a soldier. A friend. Peter was like a brother to me. We fought side by side - first in the jungles of Vietnam, protecting our country's ideals, and then in the streets of cities all over the world with banners in arms, demanding an end to the endless cycle of war. And now, I stood here, to bury my friend, not because of an enemy bullet, but because he had lost hope.
When Peter saw that America was sending more weapons to Israel, fuelling the war in Gaza, he realised that the past was repeating itself. The echoes were too deafening for him to bear. He realised that his fifty years of protesting in anti-war rallies had led to nothing.
And so, he took his own life.
[The crowd goes silent as I look at the coffin and then at the Senator.] I grip the podium, my knuckles turn white.
Senator, last month you condemned our anti-war protests stating "It is shameful to see those who once wore the uniform now standing against our closest ally."
It was the same dismissal we faced in 1971 from Senator John Stennis, who accused us of 'dishonour[ing] the uniform by breaking the law in protest".
There I was with Peter on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, throwing away the medals I had earned in Vietnam months before. The sun beating down on our backs as we held a banner over our head that read "Vietnam Veterans Against The War" in blood red.
Back then, walking the streets of D.C., shouting til our voices broke was nothing. Nothing compared to the mouths of cities clawing at our backs, legs and mud pulling at our boots as if death himself was trying to drag us under. Nothing compared to the light that shot like diamonds from a child's eyes—a light now extinguished, leaving two dark, frozen pools.