VCE · Text Response
Text Response: "The island will soon be nothing but…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: The island will soon be nothing but absences and holes.” Memories give life substance and meaning in The Memory…
The island will soon be nothing but absences and holes.” Memories give life substance and meaning in The Memory Police. Do you agree?
In Yoko Ogawa’s haunting dystopia, The Memory Police, memory is not simply forgotten but systematically erased, compelling individuals to confront the unsettling fragility of identity and autonomy. While Ogawa foregrounds memory as a vital source of substance and meaning for the island’s citizens, she also suggests that relationships and self-determination are equally essential in sustaining human value and existence. On the one hand, Ogawa elevates memory as the foundation that preserves identity and anchors human experience. At the same time, she portrays relationships as offering connection and reinforcing meaning even in the face of enforced absence and additionally presents autonomy as both resisting erasure and enabling individuals to preserve agency, ensuring that life retains value despite authoritarian control. Ultimately, though the text affirms that memories are central to humanity’s capacity for meaning, Ogawa presents them as intertwined with love, connection, and agency, implying that the erosion of any of these facets under authoritarian control risks reducing life to “nothing but absences and holes.”
Ogawa clearly demonstrates memory as a fundamental part of human meaning, reinforcing the idea that its preservation is crucial for maintaining identity and existence. This is illustrated in a conversation between the narrator and the old man, where Ogawa uses the metaphor that as “things got thinner”, the people’s “hearts got thinner” and “diluted” too, to show her view that as memories fade away, so does the inhabitants’ ability to feel and connect. In Japanese culture, the heart is a symbol of one’s mind, emotion, and spirit; through this metaphor, Ogawa also suggests the emotional numbing and adaptation to loss that citizens go through in a world where they can “forget almost anything.” The parallel between physical and emotional emptiness symbolises how loss of memories extends beyond the material world and into the substance of life. This is further supported through the rhetorical questions, where Ogawa reveals the narrator’s doubts, “What can the people create?” suggesting a bleak outlook on human creativity in the face of overwhelming loss, implying Ogawa’s view that without memory and history, the island’s inhabitants are doomed to mediocrity
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: resist and persist
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 67.5%: Resist and Persist December 1st 1955 - Montgomery, Alabama, USA They say obedience keeps peace. That's a lie.…
Resist and Persist
December 1st 1955 - Montgomery, Alabama, USA
They say obedience keeps peace. That's a lie. My life has been anything from peaceful. My hands were trembling when I clenched my bus ticket. The orange paper turning grey with every drop of rain. My black trench coat clinging damply to my skin, as drops of water ran over my brows and sploched towards the pavement. I stared at the wooden door engraved with 'White's only'. Through the fogged windows, I saw yellow light and heard laughing voices. Customers waiting for the bus. A reminder that I'm not like them.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Prompt: 'The country does what the…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 65%: Act 1:Ignorance: They call me a coconut: Brown on the outside, white on the inside. The morning was cold,…
Act 1:Ignorance:
They call me a coconut: Brown on the outside, white on the inside.
The morning was cold, crisp, and empty, like a farm on a Sunday morning. The land was barren and soothing, except for my residence: It was bustling, vibrant and stressful, like the city of Melbourne. I always hated how noisy everything felt. It was the morning of Awrudda: Sri Lankan New Year, the dullest celebration of the year, though my parents would beg to differ. Amma (mum) and Thatha (dad) were drenched head to toe in bedazzling jewels that danced atop their bathik clothing (a type of Sri Lankan clothing worn on celebrations), as they rushed vigorously to prepare all the food and celebrations. I stood out like a sore thumb, in my crusty Oodie that was bedazzled in Dorito crumbs, slumped in my bed as my mind absorbed into the depths of my Tiktok ‘For You Page’. The celebrations seemed dull and especially embarrassing. Despite Amma's efforts in preparing the Kiribath (milk rice) and other Awrudda cuisines, they seem unappetizing to me, and I would much rather prefer my day-old nutella sandwich. Wouldn't anyone?
The rest of the morning, followed by an underwhelming family breakfast where the mindnumbing vocals of Sinhala news almost put me to bed. During this time, my mind travelled back to the memories of messing about with my friends in the city, far away from any Sri Lankan news channel, but for now, I was confined to the chair of our dining table. The rest of breakfast was as thrilling as my grandma’s bingo club.
My Sri Lankan heritage is like the countryside. Barren and downright lifeless. I prefer the exhilarating blues that the Australian city life provides.
Being from an ethnic background, I struggled throughout my primary years of schooling. The bullying, the names, the swirlies. I went through it all. So you could imagine why I veer away from the Sri Lankan bushlife.
My name is Pravin (Prav preferably) and you could call me white washed.
Act 2: Rejection
They still call me a coconut.
Days turned to weeks, weeks to months, months to years.
The morning was not cold, crisp, nor empty. The air was scorching; droplets of sweat streaming down my forehead like racecars. The land shifted, gone was the metropolitan utopia of Melbourne, infact it was a dystopic nightmare: Despite its friendly demeanour, the “WELCOME TO COLOMBO” sign made my stomach drop: Home was further than ever. Part of me wishes I’d stayed in Melbourne, but here we are.
The ride home wasn’t smooth sailing either. The rocky road made sleep an impossible task, and invited an excruciating headache. 2 hours of this, mixed with the mindboggling Colombo traffic made me feel truly welcome. So far, I hated it here, but something about Amma’s smile made me want to suppress my complaints.
The party continued at my Aachi (grandma’s) house. Upon arrival, my eyes fixated on cuisines that I had never seen before mixed with antagonizing aroma’s harassing my nostrils. I immediately refused and slumped in my chair. With my plate empty, I grew ravenous yet determined to avoid any form of Sri Lankan foods. Maybe I was hungry or I was going crazy, but the chicken pan roll did look enticing, however the Uber Eats app was tempting me, like the devil on my shoulder…
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Title: change
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 65%: Ashes Beneath the Skin My roots run deep through rugged mountains and endless deserts — places that don’t…
Ashes Beneath the Skin
My roots run deep through rugged mountains and endless deserts — places that don’t forgive, only endure. The wind there carries voices older than memory, whispering through dust and ruin. Villages cling to the earth as if falling away would mean erasing their names. The land burns in red and gold, rivers cutting thin scars across the skin of the earth. That’s where I come from — a place that survives by pretending it’s not breaking. I guess I learned that from it.
They say life’s about finding yourself. I don’t think I’ve ever been lost. I just don’t know if the version of me that people see is actually mine.
At school, people act like they’ve got a map — who they’ll be, where they’ll go, what kind of man they’ll become. I try to look like I belong to that plan: laugh when they laugh, nod when they talk about girls or cars or futures. But my reflection doesn’t get the joke. The mirror in my room splits my face in two, and I don’t know which side’s pretending harder.
My father says men don’t talk about what’s wrong. He says silence builds strength. But silence just echoes louder at night. I sit with it, watching the candle on my desk burn low — that trembling flame trying not to die out. I think about how easy it is to disappear quietly.
Some days I scroll through photos of my
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Framework: Protest
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 85%: A butterfly flutters. The soft breeze of the wind sways the fragile wings in swirls. Rather than resisting, it…
A butterfly flutters. The soft breeze of the wind sways the fragile wings in swirls. Rather than resisting, it yields. And like that, the butterfly rises, weightless, untethered. I watch as it disappears, freely feathering off into the vast blue sky.
A little girl ahead begins to hum, a soft, wavering tune, until her mother’s hand clamps over her mouth. A drone hums overhead, its red sensor blinking like an unblinking eye. Conversation halts, footsteps synchronise once more. The street exhales into silence. No one looks up. No one dares.
I reach into my school bag out of pure habit, only to realise it is empty. Once, it was filled with stories, creases in the spines like veins of memory. I still remember the day the wardens raided the classroom. My friend had slipped me a worn copy of The Little Prince beneath the desk; its pages smelled faintly of dust and hope. We didn’t even reach the second chapter before they confiscated it. That night, the teacher who gave it to us was gone. Ever since, the air has felt quieter, stripped of imagination.
When I think back to that day, I remember the girl beside me gasping as she traced a sentence with her fingertip, a line about taming and love. She whispered it once, as if tasting the word, before the book was torn away. The look in her eyes, fear and awe tangled together, was enough to make me understand why they were afraid of books.
That night, I lay awake, replaying her whisper. My heart thudded against my ribs as a thought formed — fragile, reckless, impossible. Could I do something? What would it mean to try? For hours I watched the ceiling, the faint hum of patrol drones outside vibrating through the glass. My hand hovered over my bag, remembering the feel of that book. By morning, my hesitation had hardened into something heavier, quieter, like resolve.
My fist tightens around the strap of my bag; my breath quickens. A pulse of heat rises beneath my skin, steady and deliberate. My pace quickens, each step a drumbeat against the pavement. The words I would say to them form and reform in my mind, sharp and unyielding. I briskly walk back home, a thousand thoughts swirling through my brain as I prepare to voice my contrary beliefs to my parents.
I barged through the front door, the disruption almost startling my mother and father who were uniformly seated around the porcelain marble table, wrapped in silence. For a second, I witnessed a flicker of genuine emotion, momentarily flustering them, but they promptly composed themselves, their expressions returning to a cultivated blankness.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: resist and persist
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 60%: Resist and Persist December 1st 1955 - Montgomery, Alabama, USA They say obedience keeps peace. That's a lie.…
Resist and Persist
December 1st 1955 - Montgomery, Alabama, USA
They say obedience keeps peace. That's a lie. My life has been anything from peaceful. My hands were trembling when I clenched my bus ticket. The orange paper turning grey with every drop of rain. My black trench coat clinging damply to my skin, as drops of water ran over my brows and sploched towards the pavement. I stared at the wooden door engraved with 'White's only'. Through the fogged windows, I saw yellow light and heard laughing voices. Customers waiting for the bus. A reminder that I'm not like them.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In Oliver's poetry, there is a balance…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 77.5%: Written during a time of civil and political unrest, Mary Oliver's writing offered a profound and introspective…
Written during a time of civil and political unrest, Mary Oliver's writing offered a profound and introspective respite from political discussion, exploring the interplay between humanity and its relationship with the natural world. In "New and Selected Poems Volume 1", that includes works from "American Primitive" and "Dream Works," Oliver retreats into the natural world to explore the balance between the dark and light elements of life, suggesting the need to experience both in order to grow. As such, Oliver teaches that the natural world reveals profound truths, such as light, often lost in modern human experiences.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: framework: protest title: 'every voice…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 75%: Every Voice Is Important December 1st 1955 - Montgomery, Alabama, USA They say obedience keeps peace. That's a…
Every Voice Is Important
December 1st 1955 - Montgomery, Alabama, USA
They say obedience keeps peace. That's a lie. My life has been anything from peaceful. My hands were trembling when I clenched my bus ticket. The orange paper turning grey with every drop of rain. My black trench coat clinging damply to my skin, as drops of water ran over my brows and sploched towards the pavement. I stared at the wooden door engraved with 'White's only'. Through the fogged windows, I saw yellow light and heard laughing voices. Customers waiting for the bus. A reminder that I'm not like them.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 'On the moon we have everything. Lettuce,…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: Introduction Published in 1962, Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a gothic novella that…
Introduction
Published in 1962, Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a gothic novella that examines the intense psychological and social consequences of exclusion, trauma, and fear. Set in a decaying family estate on the edge of a hostile village, the novel follows two sisters who retreat from the world and build a fragile system of control to keep danger—both emotional and physical—at bay. Jackson uses this claustrophobic setting, a deeply unreliable narrator, and a series of symbolic motifs to explore how power and control operate as coping mechanisms, especially for those who feel threatened by society or haunted by the past. The vision of the moon, where everything is “solid tight” and free of “ghosts,” becomes a chilling metaphor for a world where control is total, but at the cost of reality, connection, and freedom.
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Body Paragraph 1: Control is portrayed as a response to fear and instability, with psychological power used to construct personal safety in a world perceived as threatening.
Throughout the novel, control functions as a defence mechanism against trauma and disorder. One character constructs an elaborate system of magical rituals, believing that burying objects, speaking protective words, or avoiding certain places will maintain order. These compulsive behaviours, which seem irrational on the surface, serve to stabilise a deeply fractured internal world. The fantasy of the moon — a realm where danger and memory are excluded — encapsulates the yearning for absolute safety through total control. Even lethal elements such as “amanita phalloides” are included in this imagined paradise, suggesting a twisted sense of comfort in having power over life and death. Language and narration also become instruments of control: by manipulating what is revealed and what is concealed, the narrator imposes her own logic on reality. A key act of violence—the poisoning of an entire family—is withheld from the reader until late in the novel, demonstrating how power over narrative can mask guilt and reshape the truth. Jackson’s use of stripped-back prose and repetitive internal monologue enhances the sense of emotional rigidity, reinforcing the idea that psychological control, while protective, also leads to denial and delusion. This internalised power becomes a fortress, but also a prison, disconnecting the individual from truth and healing.
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Body Paragraph 2: Power within domestic spaces is shown to be fragile and easily disrupted, particularly when external forces challenge established boundaries.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: framework: protest title: 'every voice…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 77.5%: Every Voice Is Important December 1st 1955 - Montgomery, Alabama, USA They say obedience keeps peace. That's…
Every Voice Is Important
December 1st 1955 - Montgomery, Alabama, USA
They say obedience keeps peace. That's a lie. My life has been anything from peaceful. My hands were trembling when I clenched my bus ticket. The orange paper turning grey with every drop of rain. My black trench coat clinging damply to my skin, as drops of water ran over my brows and sploched towards the pavement. I stared at the wooden door engraved with 'White's only'. Through the fogged windows, I saw yellow light and heard laughing voices. Customers waiting for the bus. A reminder that I'm not like them.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: framework: protest title: 'every voice…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 75%: Every Voice Is Important December 1st 1955 - Montgomery, Alabama, USA They say obedience keeps peace. That's a…
Every Voice Is Important
December 1st 1955 - Montgomery, Alabama, USA
They say obedience keeps peace. That's a lie. My life has been anything from peaceful. My hands were trembling when I clenched my bus ticket. The orange paper turning grey with every drop of rain. My black trench coat clinging damply to my skin, as drops of water ran over my brows and sploched towards the pavement. I stared at the wooden door engraved with 'White's only'. Through the fogged windows, I saw yellow light and heard laughing voices. Customers waiting for the bus. A reminder that I'm not like them.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: ‘The real price of deception is to oneself…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 60%: Exposing the powerlessness of manufactured fantasy against the "wicked, foolish dream[s] which [have] seized…
Exposing the powerlessness of manufactured fantasy against the "wicked, foolish dream[s] which [have] seized [their] heart[s]," Billy Wilders quintessentially American film, 'Sunset Boulevard' poignantly unveils the corrosion of the self through delusion and the cumulative effects of deception to those who believe the false promises of fame. Compounded by the skilful overlaying of a gothic lens, this film noir performs a powerful vivisection of the impact of deception on all victims of Hollywood's facade, regardless of status quo. Through his intelligent blend of fiction and meta-cinema, Wilders iconoclastic opus aims to expose the destructive effects of Hollywood's illusory to ones internal autonomy as a price to pay for accompanied fame.
Initially contextualising Hollywood's illusory world as a dystopian nightmare, Wilder strategically exposes how fantasy consumes individuals to ultimate downfall. From the outset of this noir, a failed screenwriter, Joe Gillis falls victim to Hollywood's fraudulent promises of success, forced into sinfulness just to survive. However, the circular narrative highlights "the poor dope[s]" corpse in a low angle shot, symbolically placing the audience below the consequences of his delusions.
Joe's posthumous narration sets a sympathetic tone since he "always wanted a pool" but "the price turned out to be a little high" due to the cost of achieving a dream of luxury, blind to the consequences that would follow. Moreover, the cemented pool works as a symbol of the rich and synonymous with Hollywood mansions in the 1950's, ironically suggesting that the belief of success without consequence is a deadly enterprise. Moreover, as Joe enters Norma's "grim sunset mansion" he subtly foreshadows the destructive impacts of deception among movie stars through the correlation between "Miss Havisham that rotting wedding dress" with Norma's persona. The allusion of Miss Havisham details a character who was abandoned by her fiancé , refusing to change her clothing and lives secluded, pausing the time to be stuck in her days of glory. Similarly to Norma, Hence, Norma directly parallels Miss Havisham as she refuses to accept changing times and her aging exterior. This only amplifies her delusion to downfall as she descends into the cameras who deserted her in the end for financial benefit. A tracking shot follows Norma down the stairs as she melodramatically performs to an imagined cast and crew of her film, "Salome," using out of date expressions and gestures to fall into her crime scene. Thus, Wilder exposes how constant fantasy only leads to psychological malfunctions in the end, without reversible solutions. Wilder deliberately heightens this sense of unease through a dramatic musical score to intensify the scene but also to underscore how delusion consumes an individual's autonomy. Therefore, through Wilder's artistic approach to denounce how made up fantasy only causes damaging futures, he suggests fame is inevitable without compromised identity.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: To what extent are the lives of the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: Written in 1962, Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle explores the limitations placed upon the…
Written in 1962, Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle explores the limitations placed upon the aristocratic Blackwoods as a result of the patriarchal and formal society they live in. Narrated by the psychologically damaged mind of Merricat, Jackson explores how unrele nting gender roles and rigid social norms lead to a bleak society in which the identity of individuals are suppressed. Ultimately, Jackson works to not only condemn the harsh patriarchal norms societies are based upon, but also demonstrate that liberation and freedom can be achieved through a rejection of these conventional societal values.
Jackson depicts both the women of the village and the Blackwood family as being restricted by expectations of conformity through their formal and rigid interactions with the world. During Mrs. Wright and Helen Clark’s ‘dutiful’ visit to the Blackwood house, Merricat notices Mrs. Wright’s ‘trembling’ hands and her ‘hesitat[ion] over the plate’ offered by Constance. The visibly fraught state of Mrs Wright highlights the social obligations she must fulfil, despite any legitimate concerns for her personal safety, for the sake of social formalities. Jackson expands on this in their mother’s portrait, which was ‘looking down’ on Constance, symbolising both the social duties she has inherited from her mother, despite her agoraphobia, while also highlighting the spirit that now lives on in Constance’s body, forcing her to embody her mother’s spirit. However, Jackson also explores the limitations of social duties through Mrs. Wright’s ‘timid’ demeanour when she is given the chance to take a ‘glance’ at the Blackwoods’ infamous dining room. Her morbid curiosity, only surfacing in the confines of the house, serves to emphasise the identity Mrs. Wright must hide in the face of general society, her meek demeanour highlighting her awareness of the fact the actions are deemed unacceptable to greater society. Therefore, through Mrs. Wright’s and Constance’s prevailing social duties, Jackson underscores the oppressive nature of social etiquette created by rigid societal norms.
As well as having a limited sense of individuality and identity, Jackson depicts the Blackwood women as being historically reduced to domestic roles through Charles’ imposed visit, furthering the limitations placed on them by gender norms in patriarchal societies. As his stay progresses the dynamic of the household can be seen shifting to imitate a traditional American nuclear family, with ‘little cousin Mary’ being reduced to a petulant child and Constance to a dutiful wife. Charles’ assertive nature in taking over Merricat’s ‘job’ restricts her from straying from the childish role he has imposed onto her, and highlights the domestic roles forced onto Constance by this traditional family dynamic. This is
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In Sunset Boulevard, success does not…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 77.5%: Materialistic success, even when obtained, is shown to leave an individual dissatisfied and unfulfilled. Billy…
Materialistic success, even when obtained, is shown to leave an individual dissatisfied and unfulfilled. Billy Wilder’s, 1950s film noir ‘Sunset Boulevard’ condemns the Hollywood filmindustry exposing the dark aspects hidden behind it’s glitz and glamour. Hollywood is presented to define success as an achievement of fame, beauty and wealth. In the film Wilder criticises this as he portrays that it leaves one dissatisfied and unhappy, however when individuals strive for success through their own dreams rather than what society dictates to beas achievement they are left content. Despite reaching the pinnacle of wealth, beauty and fame, Wider illustrates that they are left discontent. In contrast to this Wilder exemplifies how when one pursues their own desires they feel satisfied.
Wilder explores how the accomplishment of success through wealth fails to fill one with joy. Despite Norma’s abundance of wealth, she is ultimately unhappy with her life without acting.Norma is illustrated in opulence expressing that “[she’s] rich” and has “millions of dollars”. She is also constantly illustrated wearing clothing symbolising her wealth such as leopard print and feathers. However, in spite of this she is also described to experience “moments of melancholy”. Wilder uses this contrast of wealth and unhappiness to express to the audience how monetary success does not bring one joy but leaves them empty. Wilder highlights this idea further through Joe emphasising how “he always wanted a pool” which acted as a symbol of wealth in the society of Sunset Boulevard. Even after obtaining this as well as “all [his] things”, Joe discovered that “the price turned out to be a little high”, he found himself trapped and getting more depressed as he remained in Norma’s “big mansion”. Close up shots of Joes face as the film progresses shows his downturned lips and downward gaze which exemplify to the audience Joe’s sadness despite his wealth and possessions. The audience is exposed to the lack of fulfilment brought upon by wealth and how it ultimately leads to discontent. Through this Wilder explores how success through wealth does not bring one happiness but ultimately leaves them empty and depressed.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Fate is inescapable. To what extent does…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 70%: Exploring the constructs of 5th century Athenian society Sophocles tells the story of a fated paricide and incest…
Exploring the constructs of 5th century Athenian society Sophocles tells the story of a fated paricide and incest in his play Oedipus the King. While characters in the play have some level of agency their lives are ultimately dictated by fate. As Oedipus uncovers the truth of his lineage he also discovers the power of the Gods and is ultimately redeemed when he comes to accept his fate and the power of Apollo.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: "The magic of the movies creates a…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 87.5%: In an era where the lucrative film industry flourished as a method of escapism for the denizens of post-WWII…
In an era where the lucrative film industry flourished as a method of escapism for the denizens of post-WWII America, Billy Wilder's acerbic film Sunset Boulevard emerges as a scathing exposé illuminating the dark underbelly of a typically romanticised industry. Wilder asserts that the discrepancy between the glorification of the "Dream Factory" and the bleak reality of the commercialised business, as well as society's moral degeneration breeds inevitable disenchantment. Yet, he posits there is a hopeful future for Hollywood, as a new wave of authentic "message kids" can lead it out of darkness.
To begin, Wilder demonstrates the tragic disillusionment that occurs when the romanticised, idyllic Hollywood storylines fail to deliver in America's morose reality.
Hollywood's archetypes are manifested in Joe and Betty's budding romance, as the pair of writers flirt at Artie's party with filmic romance tropes and share a melodramatic promenade through the curated sets of Paramount Studios. Fulfilling the cinematic archetypes of the romance between a jaded cynical anti-hero and a hopeful, innocent woman, Betty and Joe's relationship is imbued with Hollywood cliche. Yet ultimately - perhaps consequently - it is unable to be sustained. Notably, their romance plays out on an artificial street, "all cardboard, all phony, all done up with mirrors", highlighting its utopian disconnect from reality. As their romance departs from the sanctuary of the film set and is placed in the grim reality of Norma's mansion, the Hollywood-esque drama and intimacy of the relationships fades in a cold, stilted conflict as Betty's vulnerable pleads for Joe to "go with [her]" are met with his patronising resistance. Disenchanted and heavily disappointed by the real identity of a man she once perceived as independent and clever, Betty "can't look at [Joe]" and their eventual separation signals a tragic end to the "untitled love story" that thrives in the space of a constructed Hollywood but is fatefully ruined by the ugly truth. The culmination of these subverted filmic storylines that eventually result in tragedy reveals the inevitable disenchantment of a society that believes the glamourised lives of Hollywood fiction is applicable to reality. Wilder demystifies the romanticised filmic tropes not just for his characters but for his audience, and in doing so, contends that disillusionment is inexorable.
The allure and magic of Hollywood comes not only from its idyllic fairytales but also its reputation as a "Dream Factory", with the industry's alleged abilities to promote ordinary citizens to glorified "picture folk". Yet Wilder asserts that this too creates disenchantment, as the ruthless business ultimately mistreats and discards their works.
The "star of yesterday" Norma Desmond is indelibly marked by her years of facing "a dozen press agents
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Title : Connections
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 72.5%: Good morning. I stand before you in the Federal Court of Victoria as an Aboriginal member of parliament to…
Good morning. I stand before you in the Federal Court of Victoria as an Aboriginal member of parliament to talk about a familiar concept we are all privileged to: Connection. Yet, some are neglected of this privilege by a select few. I ask the parliament leaders, what happens when we deprive people from a source of connection. What happens when we enable the foundation of Australia to be built upon by irreparable loss. Like removing a child from their father, this can lead to severe disconnection between peace and freedom.
Recently, the 'select few' unremorsefully blasted a 46,000-year-old Aboriginal site which hosted centuries of Aboriginal culture. And it was all toppled down for the sake of economic returns. Visualise the roaring machinery of demolition vehicles destroying every tree in its path just for the sake of an iron mine. Senior Judge, was our culture less significant than iron mine?
During the stolen generations, many of Aboriginal were:
Stripped of rights.
Stripped of family.
Stripped of connection.
Have we not learnt from the past? They removed children from their families once, yet again you remove the ancestral site from the children. Now you remove connection again.
Rio Tinto performed a cost-benefit analysis and they deemed our culture in Juukan Gorge as trivial.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: framework: protest
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 97.5%: INSTRUCTION MANUAL Model No.1: How to Build a Racist Society (Beginner Set) This manual is compiled from the…
INSTRUCTION MANUAL
Model No.1: How to Build a Racist Society (Beginner Set)
This manual is compiled from the tried and tested expertise of a person of colour residing in Australia. This expertise, passed on through generations, guarantees authentic results. Isolation, exclusion and fear of objecting. Read carefully and follow step by step to achieve a society dressed in prejudice.
WARNING: This product is hazardous to human dignity. Misuse may cause trauma, isolation and generational pain.
DO NOT: Assume this manual is harmless. The fact it sounds like a joke is part of the danger.
STEP 1: Lay the foundation
Parts required:
- Selective memory
- Media outlets
- Legislative acts
- Ignorance
Caution: Truth may resurface
The cornerstone of a successful racist society lies in policy. The Immigration Restriction Act, The White Australia Policy, a 50 word dictation test forms the base of a white working man’s paradise and ensuring Australia is an empowered white community. To distinctively separate the country by race, you only need to follow the demonstration of Arthur Caldwell, your ethnocentric idol. For example, in a populate or perish situation, fill the country with the right type – Beautiful Balts. It’s the prime solution to alleviate public fears about maintaining Australia’s White racial makeup. Generations later, non-white people will understand that being European, British, African or Asian is not the determinant. It is white and non-white. These policies must further be recorded. Future generations must understand that although the laws themselves have been dismantled, their ideologies endure. The original policies need not remain structurally intact. Their legacy ensures that darker-skinned individuals continue to be marked as less than. Finally, to prevent outspoken truths, embed polished narratives throughout school textbooks, documentaries and newspapers. Ensure the historical racial violence is diluted so that minorities are denied a moral foothold and protest appears unnecessary.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: "It's time"
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 62.5%: Keeley McDermott Section B It's Time Goodmorning Australia. Today I stand as not only a candidate for prime…
Keeley McDermott
Section B
It's Time
Goodmorning Australia.
Today I stand as not only a candidate for prime minister over this hardworking country, but as a woman trying to eradicate one of our negative issues. An issue that has spread throughout like poison throughout our souls. The poison of misogyny. I seek to dismantle this poison, whereas my opponent seeks to maintain the system that hurts us all. I aim to create a government that works for all of us. Not just a small group.
Every election we undergo the same process. There is talk about change, we vote for someone the same person, and then we go home and forget our decision was based on what. Over and over again we vote for the same corrupt government, who promise us the same lies. In a moment my opponent will stand up and speak about hardships we all face, but let me ask you. Will we see any change if you vote him in? Will groceries still cost an arm and a leg? Will housing prices still remain unreachable? Will domestic violence still have enormous numbers?
Nothing will change if we support this idea of praising the government and not holding them accountable for their promises.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In High Ground, the characters regard…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 77.5%: Stephen Maxwell Johnson's film, "High around' (2021) explores the brutal colonisation of indigenous people and…
Stephen Maxwell Johnson's film, "High around' (2021) explores the brutal colonisation of indigenous people and the methods used by the colonisers to reinforce set in the 1930's,
and maintain power. Johnson depicts the consequences of colonisation
including its impact on Indigenous communities causing them to seek retribution as well as the colonial mentality to hold power over the Yolgnu people. However Johnson also comments on the importance of peace and justifies the significance of reaching peace through reconciliation with indigenous Australians.
Johnson condemns the actions of colonisers in dividing indigenous communities causing many Indigenous Australians to use violence as a means of revenge. The coloniser's violent actions are immideately shown in the opening massacre scene where the colonisers on horseback arrive at an Indigenous village, killing 17 people, including children and women. In this scene, the colonsiers on horseback are unable to be identified when riding, only their guns and bright uniforms showcasing to the audience the overwhelming presence of the colonisers as harbingers of chaos. The massacre "blinds" Baywara with anger resorting to him to use guerilla tactics such as lighting missions on fire. Dharppa advises that Gutjuk does not follow his Uncle's path as he could've been "[their] greatest teacher." Here Johnson draws attention to the futility of violence and the harmful path of retribution. Johnson incorporates the history of Indigeinous resistance and the voices that were denied in Australia's history. Gulwirri, an INdigenous woman who was in Baywara's mob also shows disagreeance with Grandfather Dharppa in negotiating with the colonisers. Dharppa, Gutjuk and the other Indigenous men travel to the East Alligator Mission, she calls them "cowards who talk when they should fight" connoting her belief that only armed resistance is effective in response to colonialism. Johnson alludes to Indigenous rage and autonomy to showcase the division within Indigenous communites whilst many took revenge, which resulted in further conflict.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: ii) Sunset Boulevard shows that in a town…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: Centering on Billy Wilder's 1950 film noir Sunset Boulevard, Wilder seeks to convey Hollywood's ideals of the…
Centering on Billy Wilder's 1950 film noir Sunset Boulevard, Wilder seeks to convey Hollywood's ideals of the ‘dream machine', and the lengths of which writers and film stars will go to in maintaining their dreams. Wilder portrays Sunset Boulevard as an obituary in exposing the deceitful nature of the Hollywood film industry beneath it's image of glitz and glamour, forging the idea that stories are neglected in an industry of commerce & demonstrating the inevitable onset of delusion when faded stars are no longer relevant to Hollywood's ideas of success.
BP 1: How dreams can overshadow reality in Hollywood
Wilder criticizes the Nature of Hollywood's glittering facade of the dream machine, an industry which tempts witless writers and artists with the promise of fulfillment, only to discard them when they no longer align with the ideal of perpetual youth - leaving them with mere fragments of a lIfe once lived.
Joe Gillis' cynical narration throughout sunset Boulevard perpetuates his characterisation as the 'starving artist' trope, a man who no longer finds joy in the craft of film making.
Joe humbly refers to himself as a "B-list screenwriter with a couple pictures to his credit." often circling this back to his refrain of giving up his dream to move back to his typing job in Ohio. He quotes "This year I'm trying to make a living", supporting the idea of the loss of his passions beyond a means of a paycheck, that is, until he begins writing under Norma Desmond after losing his car.
As Joe ghostwrites for Norma’s Salome screenplay, he becomes victim to the allure of Norma's mansion & the fortune that her liestyle provides, relinquishing his personal agency & artistic passions in favour of a new dream - the fleeting security of Norma's lavish lifestyle, chasing the pursuit of the ‘easy life'.
Joe's loss of personal agency plays into Wilder's ideas of moral decay that can occur in pursuing dreams. The subjective idea of Joe's entrapment within the mansion furthers the idea of Hollywood's commerce of dreams, falsifying artists’ beliefs that they, too, can make it in the film industry, when in fact they exist only as a cog in the machine of Hollywood's mass production.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: stimulas one and two
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 92.5%: The Creative Space The living room felt smaller without the furniture. Boxes lined the walls like sentinels,…
The Creative Space
The living room felt smaller without the furniture. Boxes lined the walls like sentinels, taped shut, marked with black texta: Kitchen, Books, Fragile. The house, once loud with voices and slammed doors, now held only the hollow sound of their breathing. Dust hung in the air, catching the late afternoon light. The walls seemed naked, pale rectangles where pictures had once hung like badges of family history. The carpet held ghostly dents from the furniture, small hollows that suggested absence more than presence. Even the air smelled different—a mix of cardboard, dust and polish, as if the house itself were bracing for abandonment.
Anna knelt by the couch, dragging out a battered board game. The lid sagged at the corners, its colours faded, the painted jester grinning with a patience that felt mocking now.
“Look what I found,” she said, forcing brightness into her voice.
Lily’s face softened—a rare break in her nervous frown. “We used to play this every Saturday. Do you remember?”
Mark snorted, dropping onto the floor. “I remember you crying every time you lost.”
“Only because you cheated,” Anna replied, trying to sound amused.
But her laugh caught. She remembered that afternoon—the dice skittering across the carpet, her father’s calm voice telling her to “roll again, with a cooler head.” That moment, so small, had felt safe: someone setting boundaries, keeping the game—and the family—together.
Now, the safety felt like a myth.
Their laughter rang out, sharp and too loud in the emptiness, then faded almost guiltily. It left a stillness that made them all aware of how strange it was to sit cross-legged again, as if the house itself had tricked them into revisiting a time they’d outgrown.
Mark rolled the dice. The clatter echoed in the stripped room. “Still the same game. Still the same rules,” he said.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Sunset Boulevard represents a condemnation…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 75%: Billy Wilder’s film noir Sunset Boulevard (1950) critiques the contemporary film industry in its dehumanisation of…
Billy Wilder’s film noir Sunset Boulevard (1950) critiques the contemporary film industry in its dehumanisation of actors through its promises of “dreams” and success. Motivated by the idealism of the American Dream promoted by Hollywood cinema, Wilder’s tragedy aims to warn those about the industry’s ruthlessness of producing young and naïve actors’ dreams of success and stardom, only to discard them once they no longer serve a purpose for the industry. Yes, Wilder effectively rejects Hollywood’s reputation as the “dream factory”, as it creates ambition and desire, but results in individual decay for the sake of materialistic gain. However, Wilder also strategically presents a silver lining to the “dream” through the idea of sustained, happy delusion and optimism residing in wilful delusion. Therefore, Wilder uses mimetic characters; femme fatale and the opportunist protagonists to serve as allegories for the ultimate destruction of “dreams” within a shared a delusion, despite the alternative optimism provided by some characters.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: "in a town ful of stories, it can be…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 62.5%: Ultimately, the entire film, Sunset Boulevard, is a powerful commentary that exposes sunset Boulevard confusing…
Ultimately, the entire film, Sunset Boulevard, is a powerful commentary that exposes sunset Boulevard confusing illusion with reality. Wilder does not just merely criticize the Hollywood industry, but he uses it as a mirror to reflect the American culture of that prefers to neglect the truth and create falsehood through storytelling to suit their own needs, and the seductive nature, the drive of illusion drives people in pursuit of ambition. By blending satire with tropes and realism with artifice, Wilder suggests that the world of Sunset Boulevard is sustained by performance where truth is not cared and chosen to be neglected.
from Joe, which is portrayed when Joe comments Norma's script 'fascinating', which further implicates the readers to believe in and distinguish the truth from the narration. Wilder therefore creates, narration and storytelling as devices blurs the line between truth and reality.
Ultimately, Wilder present the facade of Hollywood as a world built on entirely by illusion and where moral values and truth consistently blurred. Through Joes cynical narration describes the Hollywood industry to be all 'phony' a place that manufactures fantasies and for public consumption while concealing the emptiness and decay beneath the glamorous industry. Wilder employs stark lightning to contrast between Norma Desmond's decaying, aggrandising manner and the gleaming precent studios often shown in bright lightning symbolising the facade of glamour that obscures the moral and emotional rot of the industry. Wilder's use of film noir aesthetics, of dramatic chiaroscuro lighting, constructs an atmosphere of pervasive corruption, where honesty and authenticity do not play a part in the industry. Portrayed through Joe who views Hollywood made from 'cardboard and old props', becomes part of the illusion, through his own downfall turns into entertainment, suggesting that illusion is not just what Hollywood produces but a system where people survives by pretending. Thus Wilder, provides a poignant commentary on the world of Sunset Boulevard where image replaces the truth and the difference between real life and performance fades away.