VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Framework 2: Writing about protest•…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 67.5%: choosing sides Good Morning Dear students, Parents, teachers, staff and of course, why would I not forget the…
choosing sides
Good Morning
Dear students, Parents, teachers, staff and of course, why would I not forget the offical party of this fine, prestigous School.
You may already be thinking, I am hear to talk about the class of 2025 Graduation. Yes and No.
Well, Yes and No.
I am here to acknowledge and celebrate this magnificent cohorts achievement in finally finishing the final wonderful 18 years of schooling. But I am also here to choose sides. To choose two sides that are nowhere near simillar.
You see, you may have or not realised I am an immigrant. You may be thinking at this very minute, I would you need to choose side as we all have been on one side of a team. A cohort. A class.
Well that's not the case.
You may or may not have realised I am on immigrant. My mum is a immigrant. My two older brothers are immigrants. who have all not been through like this - Finally getting to to recieve the recognition of a graduated yr 12 collegian. They never got that day, that side to success, to freedom.
But I was lucky. I was lucky to be put into a school of diverse backgrounds, who almost of had from the older generations migrated to this beautiful, multicultural nation we call our home. However! There is no such thing as being neutral - no such thing as being equal. As there will eventually be injustice tagging along our school dress or blazers.
I was never seen as part of a neutral side in school. I was always told to pick a side. In P.E for a dodgeball game of dodgeball or for
a group project for our Humanities class in Year 10. Therefore, I was always put in the middle the one who would never know where to go to which side of the classroom or field. As I was never able to decide the road to find. to the path of success of the finish line. I was always last placed, second worst, but never first place, never the one standing in the middle of the podium holding within the palm of my hands my very own gold medal.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Title: 'Make a Difference' Stimulus 1…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 95%: Make a difference – Rohan Ravi, NHT 2025 framework 2 The street outside City Hall buzzed with heat and tension,…
Make a difference – Rohan Ravi, NHT 2025 framework 2
The street outside City Hall buzzed with heat and tension, the asphalt sticky underfoot, the air laced with the smell of sweat, incense, and the faint tang of spray paint. Madeline adjusted the straps of her backpack, shoulders aching from hours of walking, her palm slick against the frayed canvas. Inside her bag was a crumpled list of names, teenagers she had known, tutored, laughed with. Now on the other side, locked up, missing, or worse.
Tonight’s rally was for Tyrone. Fifteen years old, picked up for violating curfew. Dead two nights later in a police chase that should never have happened. The headline had called him “a troubled youth.” But Madeline remembered how he used to build massive towers from old Jenga blocks at the library, every block fitting perfectly, his tongue poking out in concentration. That image cut sharper than any headline.
A crowd pressed together, hundreds from her neighbourhood. Young, old, angry, exhausted. Some stood tall, their heels urging towards there backs. Others held candles, their flames shivering bright in the dusk.
She had not planned to speak. She had scribbled notes on the tram, tucked them between the pages of an old novel. But now, stepping onto the milk crate dragged from behind the 7-Eleven, she felt the weight of all those names in her hand. The megaphone was cold, the rim smelling faintly of metal and disinfectant. Her grip shook.
This is for the community, she reminded herself. This is For Tyrone. For all of the others who were too scared to speak out.
“They say youth crime is out of control,” she began, her voice snagging on the first words. “But who gets to decide what counts as crime? Tagging a wall? Breaking a window? What about cutting after-school programs and pretending that does not hurt anyone?”
The news cameras blinked at the edge of the crowd. “To those in power, the ones writing the
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Oedipus is destroyed by his own flaws, not…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 82.5%: Oedipus in Sophocles’ play Oedipus the King is the quintessential tragic hero, as his continual hubris proves to…
Oedipus in Sophocles’ play Oedipus the King is the quintessential tragic hero, as his
continual hubris proves to be his hamartia, the tragic flaw which leads to his ultimate
downfall. Sophocles reveals that while Oedipus is condemned from birth to fulfil a
devastating prophecy, he exacerbates its effects through a persistent, blind arrogance. His
pride not only destroys him, but also proves to be the destruction of those under his care.
However, even though Oedipus’ reckless actions are primarily to blame, other characters
contribute to his ultimate downfall.
Throughout the play, it is Oedipus’ relentless hubris which blinds him to the truth, sending
him into a spiral of self-destruction. In an effort to prove his kingly worth, Oedipus sets out
to discover the “seed” of the plague by consulting the oracle, and then the blind seer
Tiresias. Despite Tiresias’ desperate pleas to hide the truth, Oedipus forces it out. Here,
Oedipus’ belief in his superiority as king arrogantly allows him to believe he can dominate
the seer, who he views as “scum”. Yet, by forcing the truth out of the seer, Oedipus begins
his descent into tragedy, as he begins to realise that he is an “abomination”. His blind,
hubristic pursuit of the truth is aggravated by his determination to discuss the matter in
public, in front of the Theban palace. By choosing this setting, Oedipus consigns himself to
public humiliation and shame, and his people are witness to the claims made against him.
Thus, Oedipus’ wilful and arrogant belief that he can conduct his “private” affairs in the
“public” domain worsen his ultimate destruction. Sophocles symbolises Oedipus’ hamartia
through the “telltale” limp elucidated at the beginning of the play. By including a
description of Oedipus’ affliction in his initial characterisation of the tragic hero, Sophocles
foregrounds the importance of the limp. Here, Oedipus’ limp, which he has had “since
birth”, represents how he is hindered by his own hubristic nature. Oedipus fails to control
his flaws, and so creates his own destruction.
Oedipus’ hubristic actions not only cause his own individual demise, but also the
destruction of those he loves. Sophocles elucidates this idea at the beginning of his play
through the symbolism of the “raging plague” on Thebes which is a “blight on the fresh
crops and the rich pastures” of the people. The playwright uses the plague to represent
Oedipus’ abominable actions, and the devastating effect they have had on the populace -
the people he is meant to protect as their king. In this way, innocent people are
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Title: 'Imagine if..." Stimulus: 'You…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 87.5%: “We cannot sit and stare at our wounds forever,” said Haruki Murakami. It wouldn't hurt any less, heal any…
“We cannot sit and stare at our wounds forever,” said Haruki Murakami. It wouldn't hurt any less, heal any quicker. Imagine if we use up all our imaginations to try and picture ourselves without it, just to find out it will never end.
Creativity, imagination, what does it take to be silent and to lock yourself up as a child?
To be the one who didn’t cry because someone else was already crying louder.
The one who didn’t speak because someone else’s voice was already more beautiful.
The one who didn’t ask, because someone else’s need was already clearer.
Imagine if you skip the sandbox and step straight into shoes too big for your feet.
Play, they say, is for the creative mind — a mind that learn who it is, a mind that explores the world. But what happens when that play never existed? And will we ever grow out of that creative mind?
I never learned to play like other children did. It wasn’t toys or games that I lacked — it was space. The space to stumble, to be messy, to exist without purpose.
“Oh, you’re always such a big help, such an easy child,” my parents said.
The seven-year-old me loved hearing that — because it was the only time I felt visible.
Daisy, my older sister, was the one with the big heart full of love, as Mum would proudly say. She was emotional, expressive, loud — the kind of child parents write about in photo albums.
So, I tried to be like her, creating my own feelings to be like her.
“Maybe another time, honey,” Dad said when I asked him about his childhood. He looked tired.
Daisy played badminton like him — fast, fierce, always laughing. I liked stories and drawings, things that lived quietly on paper. But I told myself, I can change.
I was nine when I first held a badminton racket. I walked slowly from school to practice, pretending to be tired so Dad wouldn’t ask me what I’d learned. I just listened as Daisy talked and talked, her words filling the car like music I couldn’t sing along to.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Imagine if...
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 70%: Imagine it... I'm supposed to be in that red brick building soon but instead I'm sitting here in this metal…
Imagine it...
I'm supposed to be in that red brick building soon but instead I'm sitting here in this metal box. The heat from outside sweats the glass windows, caving it in a thick heavy fog. My once crisp white blouse now clings to me. My shallow breath beating to the same tune of the city's orchestra.
I brake at the red light and gaze out side my window. Young children play on swing sets with earnest smiles laughing in joy. To my left, I see men in ironed collared shirts, with perfectly matching cufflinks walking down the path. Adjacently, women in pinstripe pantsuits with their perfectly twisted up and polished heels. I sit back and wonder, how did we get here. How did we go from being so free to becoming complacent. Can we imagine it?
Imagine if we could all stop moving. Just for one second. I think back to when dirt meant mudpies, sticks meant swords, and sand meant castles with turrets, drawbridges and moats to protect the queen.
The air felt lighter then which now tastes like exhaust fumes and the subtle tang of bitumen melting in the heat.
The world feels rehearsed, everyone following the routine. The choreography is effortless and obedience is guised as agency. Now we move when I'm told. Everyone does. I often wonder how we all fell into a lull. On how somewhere along the way we all understood that we follow the lights that command us in colour: red to halt. Green to go. we know by heart. Each of us pretending we are going somewhere new.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “I wanted to feel close to her, to feel…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 92.5%: In his magical realist novel Flames, Robbie Arnott interrogates the nature of connection—not simply as a force of…
In his magical realist novel Flames, Robbie Arnott interrogates the nature of connection—not simply as a force of comfort or kinship, but as a fragile and volatile current that can both heal and harm. While the novel ultimately affirms the importance of authentic relationships, it also exposes the costs of connection in a society structured by masculine control and emotional repression. Through the interwoven stories of siblings, lovers, and strangers, Arnott critiques the patriarchal desire to possess or define intimacy, revealing how the very pursuit of closeness can unravel identity, autonomy, and even nature itself. Although Flames concludes with moments of reconciliation, Arnott invites readers to reflect on the social and emotional sacrifices embedded within the pursuit of intimacy.
Arnott presents the struggle to form lasting, meaningful relationships through female characters whose emotional labour fosters healing and transformation. The evolving connection between Nicola and Charlotte is grounded not in obligation, but in mutual admiration and understanding. Nicola’s initial inability to approach Charlotte on the farm is not a failure, but a reflection of deep emotional investment—a silent persistence that ultimately earns Charlotte’s trust. In the climactic moment where Charlotte confronts Levi, it is Nicola who both protects and supports her, physically shielding Charlotte and later allowing herself to be soothed by her sister’s touch. Their bond transcends traditional familial roles, marked by reciprocity and shared strength. As Charlotte reflects, “I wanted to feel close to her, to feel like she and I were almost interchangeable,” Arnott illuminates a form of connection that dissolves individual ego, offering instead a collective identity rooted in love and resilience. In portraying their relationship, Arnott celebrates a femininity that resists possession and instead embraces quiet solidarity, reinforcing the idea that true connection arises from presence, patience, and respect.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Discuss the interplay between wealth and…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: Ghost Wall, a 2018 novel written by Sarah Moss, follows Silvie Hampton on a re-enactment of Iron Age Britain in the…
Ghost Wall, a 2018 novel written by Sarah Moss, follows Silvie Hampton on a re-enactment of Iron Age Britain in the early 1990s. Within the novel, Moss highlights the complex differences in individuals created as a result of their financial status as well as the effect of this on their relationships. Firstly, Ghost Wall highlights the fact that differences in wealth can result in conflicts of control and power, both over one's life and the lives of others. Alongside this, Moss shows that individuals of a similar class may develop closer relationships with one another than with those of a separate class. Lastly, Moss' Ghost Wall also depicts the negative emotional and psychological effects that being of a lower class or being less wealthy than others may have on an individual.
To begin, Moss demonstrates with Ghost Wall the potential for conflicts of power and control to arise between individuals of different classes and levels of wealth. Moss depicts this through the interactions between Bill Hampton and Professor Jim Slade. Bill comes from a lower-class background, and Moss implies that he received no formal tertiary education to solidify this idea. Silvie tells the university students that her father is a "bus driver", and attributes her family's presence at the re-enactment to Bill's hobby-like passion for ancient British history. Professor Slade, on the other hand, is a professor at a university in England's south, and Moss portrays him as being significantly wealthier than the Hamptons. She achieves this through Silvie's internal monologue; Silvie predicts that, while Slade is at the re-enactment, his family has "gone off somewhere nice... France or Italy probably". With this, Moss highlights the difference in wealth between Bill and Professor Slade, which she then uses to create a conflict between them. At one point in the novel, Silvie reflects upon her father's sometimes erratic behaviours and concludes that "the thought of those other men who were paid to walk the places [Bill] loved and write the ideas he could have had" while, as Alison states, he was "stuck behind the wheel all day", is one of the potential explanations for his deep-seated anger. Moss highlights with this that financial differences between individuals can result in jealousy and internal conflict. In addition, Moss demonstrates how this can 'bubble over' into hostility towards those perceived as being better than oneself. She achieves this in Ghost Wall with the inclusion of an argument between Bill and the Professor, in which they are discussing the purpose of Hadrian's Wall. When Bill argues that the ancient British "put the wind up" the Romans, enough so that the Wall was built, Slade deflects his point by stating that it was actually "much more of a symbol than a military necessity". At this, Silvie noted that her father's "face darkened", which suggests that he both resented the idea that the Professor had access to more historical knowledge than he likely ever would, and that he was particularly close-minded in regards to others' interpretations of historical events. Silvie regarded this conversation between the men as them "fighting about talking", which Moss uses to solidify the idea that the class differences between individuals can culminate in conflict. Overall, Moss' Ghost Wall implies that both internal and external disputes can form as an effect of differences in wealth between individuals.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: to what extent is justice served in…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 85%: First performed at the Dionisia festival in 429 BCE Athens, the tragic Theban play ‘Oedipus the King’ challenges…
First performed at the Dionisia festival in 429 BCE Athens, the tragic Theban play ‘Oedipus the King’ challenges the traditional ideas of the serving of justice relating to individuals being punished for morally corrupt behaviour. The playwright contends that there are many different forms of justice which are served to the many, however only those who hold a profound belief in freewill can escape justice through death. Primarily, Sophocles champions the appointment of leaders who do not seek power but are given it by the people as this justly awards those with admirable qualities. Moreover, through the unjust nature of leaders being punished for events beyond their realm of control, Sophocles laments leadership as ultimately it is the onus of a leader to be punished on behalf of the community they represent. Despite this, Sophocles concedes that justice can be evaded by those who undermine the authority of the divine through agency, however this can only be achieved in death. As such, the playwright urges his audience to view the different capacities in which justice can be achieved, so when their fate is achieved, they can reflect on why their predestination was their justice. Not quite sure of some of the phrasing here?
Sophocles lauds leaders who initially do not seek leadership but are rather elected due to the merit of their character in prioritising civic responsibility over personal desires. Sophocles utilises Creon, the titular protagonist’s brother in law to explore this ideal wherein during his agon with Oedipus Sophocles orchestrates Creon to ask “how could kingship please me…?”. Indeed, this rhetorical question characterises Creon to be an individual who does not possess the innate ambition to attain power. Despite his desire for leadership, Sophocles imbues Creon with admirable qualities that would make him a benevolent leader. Primarily this can be seen in episode one during Creon’s agon with Oedipus, wherein Creon stands up for the ideal of justice. Sophocles demonstrates this through Creon's statement “don’t convict me on sheer unverified surmise”. This appeal to justice highlights Creon’s strong sense of justice where one should be convicted on evidence rather than hearsay. Herein, the condemnation of guilt being based on hearsay will resonate with the Athenians as they had a justice system which consisted of jury based trials. Thus, they will feel comforted in the just nature of their society. Not only does Sophocles augment Creon to believe in justice, the playwright characterises him as devoted to his city, Thebes. In episode two where Creon is lamenting Oedipus’ conviction of him to the leader, the brother in law mourns that “there is nothing worse: Branded a traitor in the city”. Sophocles use of such a hyperbolic statement underpins Creon’s character as one dedicated and loyal to his city. The Athenians will respect this trait of Creon as Ancient Athens was often at war with other Poleis and thus loyalty to one's state was extremely sacred. As such Sophocles champions those who are intrinsically loyal to their city even when the city is prosecuting them unjustly. Ultimately, Sophocles concedes that the culmination of such benevolent traits is what ordains kingship rather than due to one's birthright. This can be witnessed through Oedipus’ agon with Tiresias where Sophocles allows him to state “the crown the city gave me”. Indeed the metaphor of the crown symbolises his royal title of king, hence allowing Sophocles to divulge that leadership is granted to those who possess the characteristics of a sound leader, instead of inheriting it without proving oneself. Here, Sophocles champions states such as Athenians are a democracy where statesmen are elected by the people meaning that individuals must prove themselves a valuable leader before they are given power. Through the character arc of Creon and the use of Oedipus’ revelation of how he became king, Sophocles concludes that when individuals are placed in positions of power due to their characteristics instead of their desire, justice is served as they will act to allow the city to prosper.
As Sophocles’ play progresses how leaders are served justice of behind of their people is explored, where initially the punishment seems unjust however Sophocles laments that such suffering is inevitable for leaders. In the prologos of the play, Sophocles constructs
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Despite all the sadness and trauma in her…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: In many semi-autobiographical narratives with elements of bildungsroman, trauma often reflects both a source of…
In many semi-autobiographical narratives with elements of bildungsroman, trauma often reflects both a source of dread and a catalyst for reflection for individuals. In Vicki Laveau-Harvie’s non-linear memoir, The Erratics, trauma is presented as an enduring and erratic force that isolates and destabilises individuals, yet ultimately enables reflection and emotional resolution. The instability and volatility of trauma is mirrored through structure, tone, and nature in order to reflect the unpredictable ways in which trauma manifests. Additionally, purposeful disconnection from family and oneself act as both a wound and a source of protection as confrontation has the potential to worsen the prolonged effects of trauma. Finally, trauma allows individuals to heal through reflection and inner peace, rather than forgiveness, as the impact that trauma has is potentially lifelong.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Title: resist and
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 85%: Section B 2024 Title - Resist and Persist OPINION - The New York Times By Michael Nabati. The walls shake. Dust…
Section B 2024
Title - Resist and Persist
OPINION - The New York Times
By Michael Nabati.
The walls shake. Dust falls. My ears ring.
My mother clutches the edge of the table, knuckles white, bracing for the next blow.
My little brother barely flinches anymore, he just stares, as if the world around him is happening to another family, in another life.
Outside, Mosul BURNS.
The sky is thick with smoke, turning the midday sun into a dull dying ember.
The air stings my throat but I don't cough, I don't make a sound.
Sound gets you killed.
Silence is how we survive.
But silence is also how we disappear.
My uncle lies on a thin mattress, his leg wrapped in cloth already dark with blood.
The bullet went straight through his foot.
Next time, they said, it would be his head - "a warning".
A warning for what?
For trying to buy bread?
For stepping outside at the wrong time?
For existing?
They tell us to stay inside, but the walls
aren't safe.
The streets at Mosul aren't safe.
Nowhere is safe.
They say they rule this city, but the bombs
don't belong to them.
The planes above don't care who's on
the ground.
To them, we're all the same: target, threat.
Gunfire rattles through the city.
Short bursts. Silence.
A single shot.
Someone is dead.
Someone is always dead.
I don't look out the window anymore.
I already know what I'll see: a body in the
dirt, a pool of blood drying under the
sun.
Life snuffed out as easily as blowing out
a candle.
They want us afraid.
They want us silent,
But I refuse to give them that victory. I refuse to let them knock down our walls. So I write.
It is my protest - my only act of defiance. I write to make sense of this madness, to scream without making a noise. They want to erase us, to make us ghosts before we are even dead. But if I capture our suffering in ink then we are still real. We are still here.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: title: whats the point stimulus: the…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 100%: John Smoth- School Captain 'Suck it up princess’, ‘Don’t be a pussy’, ‘Be a man’. We’ve all heard these taunts…
John Smoth- School Captain
'Suck it up princess’, ‘Don’t be a pussy’, ‘Be a man’. We’ve all heard these taunts and insults in the school grounds and in the wider community, yet many of us would not even blink twice about what is implied. The pressure on boys to conform to a toxic machismo is felt from our formative years.
But what is the point of play when it evokes shame rather than lift? What’s the point of play if it stops being a source of freedom and becomes a mechanism of control?
It’s time that we change the discourses around play and interrogate the attitudes that ostensibly benign words inculcate. Play is the means by which values and attitudes are established and built, therefore play must be the way that values and attitudes can be shifted. To shift attitudes, we must all recognise that the point of play should be fairness.
***
Last week, I saw this in action. The Head of Senior School, Mr Hart, on yard duty, picked up on covert bullying where a Year 8 boy was teased and told to “man up” and to “not be a girl” after ducking to a ball thrown at him. The teacher called out the toxic and misogynistic attitudes of these boys, demanding that they reflect on the implied values that were embedded in their superficially innocuous teasing. For Mr Hart, there was nothing benign about their words and their implications. He recognised that speaking out against such toxic attitudes was a moral imperative; and that silence renders everyone complicit in the perpetuation of unfair play that underpins gender-based violence and the dangerous machismo that is considered normative for males in the games they play in and out of the playground. Indeed, we must all recognise the duty as individuals and as a whole school community to make all play fair – because if play is no longer fair, what’s the point of playing at all
***
As children, our understanding of the world is shaped through play, where imagination renders social norms irrelevant because we can play any part. But they are only irrelevant in the transient innocent years of youth when play is about playing rather than about conforming to roles. As we get older, we confront attitudinal and gender boundaries and play becomes dictated by harsh gender norms in which the lens through which young boys perceive themselves and others becomes confined. The simplistic idea of play, where no limits exist, becomes tainted and increasingly harder to navigate. The freedom and self-expression which ideally underpins play becomes corrupted by expectations and stereotypes that are socially constructed and hard to shift when it is covertly
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: To what extent is Shirley Jackson’s novel…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: While Shirley Jackson's 1962 short gothic novel ‘We Have Always Lived in the Castle’ appears to reject…
While Shirley Jackson's 1962 short gothic novel ‘We Have Always Lived in the Castle’ appears to reject traditional values, it ultimately reinforces them by subjecting its female characters to the traditional expectations of the time.
On the surface of the novel, Merricat is found taking on the traditional tasks of the male in the household, she is the one to go to the village and she also has peculiar interests like “history books” and “death cup mushrooms” which were very un-feminine for the time the story was set. For many readers, it seems Jackson has created a progression in the stereotypes around women yet she just as readily juxtaposes this by the role Constance plays within the story. Constance is fully isolated to the house and has the roles of gardening and cooking within the Blackwood household. This contrasts with Merricat as Constance just as readily obeys the traditional expectations of women at the time being shown when at the beginning of the story there weren't any men within the household to boss her around except for Merricat who was playing man of the house. Through this, Jackson shows the audience that despite attempts, women are blindly still subjected to the typical standards from the 1960s and by having Merricat reject traditional standards yet boss Constance around, it is solidifying the fact that there isn't any progression for the women at the time. Constance’s subjection to the traditional roles of a woman are further explored through the jars of preserves she has “worked all her life” to create and carry on the legacy of the Blackwood women. Constance's dedication to these jars explores how despite there not being male dominance in their household, she still feels like she needs to continue on what the women before her have done and continue completing the traditional 1960s tasks of a woman. Through this aspect, Jackson proves that women can’t overrule men and even when it isn't necessary, women often still feel the gruelling need to obey traditional tasks and values of time. Merricat claims these jars of preserves will “stand here forever” and this conveys Jackson's message that the preserves will stand in the Blackwood house forever but so will the traditional expectations and values of women.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: "There comes a moment where the…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 80%: Present: As I examine this world through a more nuanced lens, I’ve developed a perspective on the child I once…
Present:
As I examine this world through a more nuanced lens, I’ve developed a perspective on the child I once was. The world in which he’s lived in seems almost unrecognisable. This world is dark, cold, build on the false promises of vanquish and prosperity. A world build on the foundation of conflict, it almost convinced me I was nothing. However, through this lens, I’ve found solace in the things that used to bring me so much comfort in life. Old movies I used to watch, validate my inner child, casting a hedge of protection that once again separates me from the dangers of the real world. However, come with this refute of reality, I’ve realised now that I cannot
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: According to Oliver, what is necessary for…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 87.5%: In Oliver's poetry, allowing for enjoyment in life based on one's own desires is celebrated as a necessity for a…
In Oliver's poetry, allowing for enjoyment in life based on one's own desires is celebrated as a necessity for a meaningful life. In 'Sunrise', Oliver emphasises the individuality of life's enjoyments through expressing how "you can/die for an idea" the people who have done so, brilliantly creating an unforgettable 'cry of light'. Through this metaphor, Oliver allows the readers are able to grasp onto the all-consuming effects of intense passion in life as it offers both guidance and purpose. Through this, Oliver praises those who live their life according to their own devotions. Oliver
extends on this in the poem ‘Stanley Kunitz’ where she explores the realisation of the dedication and hardwork her role-model contended with in order to produce the work that he did. Oliver describes in a garden, watching Kunitz "on his knees/cutting away at the diseased, the superfluous, [and] / coaxing the new". Despite the physical strain of this, Oliver states he is "willing to labour like that on the mortal wheel". The symbolic nature of this tending to a garden mirrors the dedication and commitment that arises from partaking in something for enjoyment. Through this willingness to endure diligent work in the name of passion, Oliver upholds life's
enjoyments as a necessity which provides meaning.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: writing about country title: going…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 72.5%: My country, my blood As you step towards the crowded grey walls of terminal 5 at the Melbourne airport you…
My country, my blood
As you step towards the crowded grey walls of terminal 5 at the Melbourne airport you feel something shift inside you. The stale air transported you back to the bustling streets of your local market. For a second you can smell the chai wala next to the Haldirams down the street. The chai wala is running his stall right outside, enticing people to have a quick cup with their fresh jalebi and samosa. The steam from his cart blows away into the polluted air, taking the aroma of fresh cardamom and just the right amount of ginger with it. The scent of it enraptures you, and you nearly fly away with it, till a bump snaps you back to reality. For a second you think it was some idiot on a scooted driving four times the speed limit, but then you zone back in to the dull grey carpet surrounding you and realise it was just some lady rushing to make her connecting flight.
It's easy to forget where you are, you’d rather be standing barefoot on the luscious green landscapes of Punjab, with the fresh soil underneath your feet, laughing without a care in the world, running after the tractor your Nanu is driving around the field.
Time passes, it’s been a few months, and yet it’s all you can think about. You thought it would be fun at first, to move across the world and see all these new things. But you never realised the things you will never see again.
The people you will never see again.
The chowkidar who patrolled your street every night and would play ‘Chidia Ud’ with you whenever you got into a fight with the girl down the street.
The stationery shop clerk who would always keep an extra set of whatever loom bands had released in the back, so you could buy it when you got your pocket money for the next month.
Even the local grocer across the street who gave you a kinder joy
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In High Ground, survival often comes at…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: More than a denunciation of colonial violence, Stephen Johnson's 2020 neo-western film 'High Ground' interrogates…
More than a denunciation of colonial violence, Stephen Johnson's 2020 neo-western film 'High Ground' interrogates the tension between survival and moral integrity, suggesting that to do more than merely survive, one must confront and reconcile these two binaries. Johnson condemns the adoption of reductive moral roles to justify ones trauma, highlighting the tragedy of being shackled to restrictive moral frameworks. Moreover, Johnson impugns the moral standing of those who reluctantly hide behind a guise of virtue, castigating the acceptance of the status quo. In spite of this, Johnson commends those who successfully navigate the need for personal resolution with the desire to be moral, presenting compromise as the only path towards personal progress.
Johnson polemically chastises those who don archetypical moral roles in a world of complexity on the Australian frontier. Through the use of a war framed wide-shot, featuring Travis standing as Eddy slumps on a bed, as the composition is bisected by a tent pole, Johnson evinces the moral relativism on the colonial frontier. In this, Johnson illustrates how reductive notions of binary morality bind those traumatised by war, where Eddy, the one who had to "watch [head's] explode" is forced into an antagonistic self-perception by endless comparison to the impossible standards of Travis, "the nice one". Being perpetually reminded of Travis's moral power by his frequent reception of instructions to "put it down" throughout the film renders Eddy trapped by a negative self-image, enabling him to internalise that "it's [his] fault, all of it." With this reductive identity, Johnson showcases his proclivity for violence through a zoomed in shot of his face as he holds Gutjuk by the neck demanding to "tell [him] what he fucking [knows]!" In this use of blocking, Johnson elucidates how Eddy has adopted Moran's ideology that "you can't share a country" in an attempt to reconcile his guilt as a part of the colonial machine by accepting an identity as a bruiser for Moran, vehemently seek to justify his past crimes. As a result of this, Johnson's deployment of diegetic buzzing flies frequently appearing in conjunction with Eddy's screen presence portends his inevitable death as a result of his inability to confront his past. This culminates in the denouement of the film, where even in death Eddy is depicted as unable to escape the violence he uses to resolve his moral dissonance by the rope tied around his shoulder tethering him to his pistol. Through this leveraging of props, Johnson unveils the manner in which Eddy sacrifices his moral integrity to survive existential confrontation with an identity as a "bad [man]", a tragic causality of binary thinking perpetuated by the colonial institution.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “Rainbows end portrays authority figures…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: In Jane Harrisons play rainbows end, the story follows the lives of an intergenerational family consisting of 3…
In Jane Harrisons play rainbows end, the story follows the lives of an intergenerational family consisting of 3 main protagonists: Nan Dear, Gladys and Dolly. The play explores the difficulties and challenges First Nations people have faced, as well as revealing how they navigate these hardships as a result of the colonised policies in the 1950's. Harrison further dwells into how authority figures can impact First Nations views, exploring how First Nations were controlled and finally revealing how connection to culture was lossed as a result of colonisation, especially assimilation.
Harrison portrays powerlessness in identifying personal views and beliefs, drawing importance to how authoritive figures can shift percieved values. The phrase "where they take our babies away" by Nan is evident of facing social injustices. Symbollically taking away children through authoritive force is a common occurence during the 1950's, knownly referencing to the stolen generation. As a result of stolen children, Harrison demonstrates how views become tainted, as a result of traumatic experiences, revealing Nans growing fear and distrust to authorities. Reflecting how many First Nations have endured during times of active colonisation, leading to critical views in their perspective. Harrison furthers expands on this idea when Gladys asks " Why do we have to prove they lived like "whitefella's" - this rhetorical question is indicative of assimilationist policies, forcing First Nations to abadon their culture. This reveals the helplessness the First Nations have had in deciding their lives, as a result of authoritive figures prompting them to leave the cultural backgrounds for return in basic rights. Here, Harrison demonstrates how Gladys, Nan (First Nations) people viewed the systemically unjust conditions in the 1950's, presenting both of their views as critical and in disbelief as led by being poorly treated as Indigenous women. As First Nations were conformed to ideologies, Harrisons play "Rainbows End" embodies the mistreatment they have faced, resulting in disempowerment. With the author depicting how Authoritarian figures can critically impact how people percieve things.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “Rainbows end portrays authority figures…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: Jane Harrison's play 'Rainbows End' is a play that follows the lives of an intergenerational family of Nan,…
Jane Harrison's play 'Rainbows End' is a play that follows the lives of an intergenerational family of Nan, Gladys and Dolly. Harrison explores the challenges and difficulties, how social injustices have led to unequal opportunities, how colonisation controls their life as well as expressing how inequality and misstreatment can disintergrate.
Rainbows End portrays the hindered ability to direct ones future, with people in power having autocratic control. This can be evidently seen in the interaction of Gladys and the Bank Manager, where she nervously holds the pen, with the goal of getting Dolly a job. Through this, this reveals that Gladys is illiterate not knowing how to read or write. This illiteracy is evident of the inequality First Nations face, as it is indicative that these communities weren't taught the fundamental life skills, putting them as disadvantaged, ultimately further linking to how colonised policies limit First Nations growth and success. With Harrison revealing how people in power have the ability to control lives of those who are powerless. To further build on this point of being disadvantaged, this is further expressed through the use of the encyclopedia, with 'celestial music' being heard. Through the use of the encyclopedia, and stage directions this demonstrates how First Nations idolised any opportunities they could get, seeing the encyclopedia as a 'holy being', Gladys' achievement of the encyclopedia further alludes to how difficult it was in First Nations gaining a mainstream education, ultimately symbolic of their limitations, impacting their ability to grow. Here Harrison highlights how as a result of colonised policies and authoritative control, she explicitly shows how First Nations were significantly impacted, having limited opportunities. Thus informing people how autocratic control can dictate people who are powerless.
In addition to unequal opportunities, Harrison shines light on how human degradation in an individuals ability to shape their own lives is diminished through authoritarian force. This authoritarian force can evidently be seen where Nan recounts her story where 'they forced us to leave cummergunja" despite cummergunja being her home and safety. Here it is symbolic of the ensuing displacement that occured in the 1950's, with the authoritive figures essentially killing them out of their homes. Through the usage of Nan's displacement it further reveals how First Nations had no choice in any scenario, portraying the idea of powerless - through Nans conforment to authoritive figures control, it is further of the injustice colonised policies, aimed at purposely dislocating and harming their communities. This idea of lives being controlled is further established with Gladys's goal for Dolly aiming to give her "what she didn't have", is evident of the opportunities reinforcing the idea of authoritarian force. This establishes Gladys' life as a child
Text Response Redraft
In Jane Harrisons play rainbows end, the story follows the lives of an intergenerational family consisting of 3 main protagonists: Nan Dear, Gladys and Dolly. The play explores the difficulties and challenges First Nations people have faced, as well as revealing how they navigate these hardships as a result of the colonised policies in the 1950's. Harrison further dwells into how authority figures can impact First Nations views, exploring how First Nations were controlled and finally revealing how connection to culture was lossed as a result of colonisation, especially assimilation.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: New Beginnings Never regret, If its…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 80%: Stimulus - Never regret. If it's good, it's wonderful. If it's bad, it's experience. New beginnings. As I stood…
Stimulus - Never regret. If it's good, it's wonderful. If it's bad, it's experience.
New beginnings.
As I stood on the banks of the ganges with my family, I could feel the cold air burst across my face and hear the chants and the chime of bells far away. We had come to Mahakumbh, a rare Hindu gathering that occurs every 144 years in Prayagraj when rare planetary alignments occur. It wasn't until this moment that I realized that this journey would become more than just a family holiday. I could not have guessed that I would take such an auspicious and challenging journey of faith.
We stood to one side waiting for the right moment to step in. My father suddenly shoved us into a wave of millions of people moving together like a living river we were standing besides. The air around me was filled with the smell of the auspiciousness of the rituals, and strong smells of the nearby street food.
Every step I took through the sacred city of Prayagraj felt devotional. As we approached the triveni sangam where the three rivers Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati meet, I saw millions of devotees bathing in the waters with eyes closed and faces tilted towards the sun. The moment I put my feet into the icy river, I was faced with a choice: regret the cold, or embrace the experience. I chose acceptance over regret, and through that decision, the "wonderful" arrived. Goosebumps prickled my skin, not from the cold, but from a deep sense of spirituality that I had never felt before.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: AT WHAT COST?
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 77.5%: At what cost? By Gloria.R.Smith, an advocate for women’s rights and mother of two daughters 15th July 2024…
At what cost?
By Gloria.R.Smith, an advocate for women’s rights and mother of two daughters
15th July 2024
New York Times
I rise today not just with sorrow, but with determined rage— because I’m angry, frustrated, and can no longer support this injustice with silence. The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the right to abortion care is fundamentally wrong, and I refuse to stand by while people debate what should never have been debatable.
Women’s bodies are not political battlegrounds for people hiding in marble offices. Anatomy isn’t a topic for boardrooms or chambers—it’s a lived reality for many women in America.
The Supreme Court greenlit forced pregnancy, taking away the right to bodily autonomy from women. However, abortion is still health care, and women will still need to access it. This overturn of abortion rights is an act of violence against countless women like me and you.
That is why I write - to raise my voice. To protest. To demand accountability. To demand that this injustice end now.
This isn't just about laws. This is about lives.
This issue is not distant for me. As a mother of two daughters and a women's rights advocate, I carry the weight of this injustice daily. America prides itself on being the “land of the free,” yet my girls are growing up in a country where their freedoms are being stripped away before they are even old enough to understand them. My advocacy is not just about policy; it is about protecting their futures.
It is often in the heart of personal suffering that protest finds its voice. And this fight became even more personal when my friend Jennifer became a victim of her state’s abortion ban. She was forced to carry a non-viable pregnancy to term, knowing her life could be at risk.Her mind darkened with each passing day, hope swallowed by shadows. Every clinic shut its doors. Every law turned its back. She was forced to carry. Forced to suffer. Forced to grieve.
Her ordeal pierced the silence and awakened collective determination: we will not let this suffering stand unanswered. Behind every law is a human life, and behind every injustice, the possibility of resistance.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “Rainbows end portrays authority figures…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 72.5%: Jane Harrison's play 'Rainbows End' is a play that follows the lives of an intergenerational family of Nan,…
Jane Harrison's play 'Rainbows End' is a play that follows the lives of an intergenerational family of Nan, Gladys and Dolly. Harrison explores the challenges and difficulties, how social injustices have led to unequal opportunities, how colonisation controls their life as well as expressing how inequality and misstreatment can disintergrate.
VCE · Language Analysis
Language Analysis: Debate about whether FOGO (waste…
VCE Language Analysis essay scoring 72.5%: 16/10/25 The increase in wastage has sparked a proposal, with supporters believing that FOGO services is…
16/10/25
The increase in wastage has sparked a proposal, with supporters believing that FOGO services is necessary in reducing these numbers of wastage. In Sharma's opinion piece(?) she utilises a spritful and optimistic tone to argue that adopting services such as FOGO would be key in reducing our harm to our environment. Through her tone, she urges councillors of Merraways to pursue implementation to further reinforce the idea of sustainability and reducing waste.
In the beginning, Sharma frames her argument around a opinion piece, with a clear stance that FOGO services should be implemented. Aiming to evoke connectedness from local residents towards the adoption of them. Her optimistic tone states that "there is no time to waste", as results of other councils becoming "greener and cleaner" highlights the importance that FOGO would have in reducing wastage, resulting in a cleaner environment. Sharma aims to outline the services benefits in a hopeful tone, in order to garner support from the readers (local residents). She further builds on this idea, claiming FOGO is a "vital service", depicting their work as crucial to reducing wastage. Utilising/shifting to a stern tone, she uses negative connotations to outline FOGO as vital, and its significance, using a harsher tone to create a sense of urgency amongst local residents in hopes to posite readers outlook on the issue to be more positive. Shifting to a concerned tone, she further highlights how ineffective existing measures such as "home-composting" is as not "practical" for everybody. With a switch in tones from a positive to concerned tone, it demonstrates that current waste methods are inconvenient and inconsistent. As a result, Sharma aims to depict the weaknesses of these strategies to illustrate to local residents that FOGO should be introduced as its convenient and consistent. Further to garner support from the residents.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: “Before God and before men”, Pablo Vicario…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel, "Chronicle of a Death Foretold", written during the 20th century encapsulates a…
Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel, "Chronicle of a Death Foretold", written during the 20th century encapsulates a small coastal Colombian town, struggling to survive and uphold it's rigid traditions during civil wars and soon after WW2. Centralising the story around Santiago Nasar; a wealthy, young and proud Arab man --- who is slaughtered in broad daylight --- Garcia shines the sacrificial and destructive and destructive idea of honour, in a town caged by such cultural roots. Portraying honour to overtake love, and even destroy lives, while simultaneously illustrating the consequences of rejecting honour and ultimately the town itself. Marquez creates a living town thriving on honour, and shows this slow death as honour is grusomely stripped away.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: How does Sunset Boulevard depict and…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 62.5%: Wilder’s use of camera techniques throughout the film enables him to visually depict what illusions manifest as…
Wilder’s use of camera techniques throughout the film enables him to visually depict what illusions manifest as and their effect on one’s life. Early on in the film, as Joe stumbles onto the grounds of Norma’s “grim sunset castle”, the audience’s first view of Norma is captured through a long shot camera angle, capturing Norma within her house, the view of her obscured by window blinds as shse calls out “You there!”. This camera shot symbolises both Norma’s mental and physical seperation from the world outside her home, and unawareness of a world that has moved on from her past fame and successes. In this Wilder visually depicts someone stuck in their own delusions and represents this through Norma’s confinement to her home. Therefore Wilder condemns the act of remaining in a deluded state and confining one’s self to a false reality. Later, as Joe and Betty Schaefer walk through the sets of Paramount Pictures, a wide camera shot captures painters painting clouds onto walls of the sets on the street as Betty describes the setting as “all