VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: TITLE: Deeds not words Stimulus 1.…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 87.5%: Mr. Beckheld never raised his voice. That’s the first thing I noticed. His actions were always restrained, as…
Mr. Beckheld never raised his voice. That’s the first thing I noticed. His actions were always restrained, as if waiting for release. I was only young when we met. Broken, cold, hungry and waiting on his welcome mat beneath exposed brick. He took me in without question, fed me without words, gave me a place to rest without judgement. A mentor. His eyes told more than his mouth could. They told me familiarity, they told me understanding.
Like a father, he gave me parts of the world that were strangers to me: a home, a parent, love. Warmth he made abundant for me, he struggled to allow himself to feel. Until Elise.
Soft-spoken, gentle, kind — those are fractions of how I would describe Elise.
They met at the brink of night that tiptoed into sunset, in an array of waves and sand. Things moved quickly from there, but not rushed. Their relationship grew fast with intention. Before I knew it, Elise was living amongst us, from a stranger to family in a blink. I’d never seen Mr. Beckheld so fulfilled, so free.
He struggled, but he learned what it meant to be loved.
Elise cooked dinner most nights, as Mr. Beckheld always worked late. Under a bright candle flame, we would talk about nothing in particular — school, art, music, aspirations. Elise shone brightly, like a beam of pure light. A considerate one that knew its brightness and dimmed for others’ comfort. The candle flame danced free while she hummed and stirred a pot that coated the room with sweet aroma.
Mr. Beckheld arrived home, hung his jacket on a hook and took off his shoes upon the creaking floorboards. His actions were louder than usual; they felt tired and aggressive to my ears through the hallway. Elise’s stirring slowed as he entered the kitchen and she became more mindful of any sounds she made. Her body stiffened, movements hesitant — I’d never noticed how she shrank when he came home on edge.
I started to take notice more after that. How her pants never went above her ankles. How her sleeves were never short. How quickly she laughed at my mentor's jokes. How her eyes stayed locked on her plate at dinners.
I convinced myself she was shy, but shyness doesn’t shrink a person so completely.
A little while after, I became an adult. Living in my own home now, I still made time to visit daily.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Personal Journeys
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 90%: - When people ask me where I’m from, I need a moment to think. Do I tell them my parents are from Hong Kong, or…
- When people ask me where I’m from, I need a moment to think. Do I tell them my parents are from Hong Kong, or do I tell them I was born here in Australia? Which comes first. Not long ago, the answer would have been clear as day.
- My parents migrated from Hong Kong to Australia in 2005. Every year, we go back to Hong Kong in January. Its school holidays for me and my brother, so it’s easiest to arrange. Every year, it’s a mad rush to the airport because dad thinks time is a myth, and mum’s last minute luggage inspections are agonising.
- When we arrive in Hong Kong, we take the same bus every time to my grandma’s apartment in Sheung Shui. Its small and modest, because she lives alone.
- We ring the doorbell. My mum, my brother and I wait awkwardly. Eventually, she opens the door. “Hi PoPo,” my brother and I say. No smile, no nothing. Just a comment on how skinny I am. She scolds my mum for this.
- Walking in, there is a peculiar scent that I can only describe as incense and cleaning chemical. There’s no living room, just a black leather couch and a circular dining table, one of those that can be pulled out in case of emergency family gatherings. A pillar of Cantonese homes.
- Sprawled beneath the TV are framed photos of Popo’s grandchildren, and a bowl of apples still wrapped individually in their Styrofoam sleeves.
- Besides them, stands a tall orchid in a porcelain vase, inscribed with Chinese characters I can’t read. Each petal is an abstract dotted pink, which fades into a soft white towards the edges. It bears the weight of unwanted attention, which seems to intrude the humble space of Popo’s home.
The afternoon goes by quickly. Unpacking the suitcase feels routine, like retracing steps I’ve taken before—shirts folded neatly into Popo’s drawers, toiletries lined up in the bathroom.
- But as dark clouds begin to smother the sky, like cotton pads dressing a wound, the anticipation of evening ceases, and in its place, comes the ritual of dinner.
- The Yum Cha restaurant should feel familiar, but I feel nothing but dread.
- The elevator doors open onto the fourth floor, and I brace myself for the press of voices that will rush at me like a toccata- impossible to keep up with unless you already know the notes. Inside, the interior is deceptively spacious- at least 50 tables packed like mosaic. It takes practise to walk to your table without knocking an auntie’s purse or an uncle’s walking stick. The trick is to turn your hips and shuffle sideways, although easier said than done. We’ve booked 2 tables, 24 seats in total. I choose the one with the most direct line of sight to the TV.
- The rest of the seats are filled by people I don’t recognise. It’s awkward sitting with strangers, though Mum claims we know them.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: ‘Sunset Boulevard reveals the destructive…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 87.5%: Sunset Boulevard, directed by Billy Wilder, is a 1950s noir melodrama that investigates how the popularity of the…
Sunset Boulevard, directed by Billy Wilder, is a 1950s noir melodrama that
investigates how the popularity of the Hollywood film industry encouraged a
social fixation on the glory of celebrity. Throughout the film, Wilder explores
the nuances of success and fame, sometimes pitting the two qualities against
each other. Sunset Boulevard demonstrates that striving for career success
can have both positive and negative outcomes; however, it suggests that
those who are swept up in Hollywood’s preoccupation with fame will almost
always experience negative consequences. Furthermore, the film interrogates
the role of the audience in this destruction, insinuating that audiences
perpetuate Hollywood’s obsession with fame through an intense fascination
with gossip and scandal, in a way that conceals its true costs.
Wilder uses the character of Joe Gillis to warn the audience about the
harmful effects of self-interest and an obsession with success. At the
beginning of the film, Joe, a struggling screenwriter, devises ‘a little plot’,
lying that Norma’s ‘silly hodgepodge’ script is ‘fascinating’ so she will
hire him as an editor. This suggests that Joe’s self-interest has destructive
implications, as he is willing to indulge Norma’s self-delusion in order to
gain money and eventual success, even though the relationship he establishes
with Norma is founded on dishonesty. Wilder also uses the ‘dead monkey
upstairs’ as a symbol of Joe’s impending doom. When Joe refers to the
monkey as Norma’s ‘only child’ and ponders the emptiness of Norma’s life, he
acknowledges that the monkey was a wild animal that had been kept locked
in the house as a pet – a plaything for Norma. As Joe watches over ‘the last
rites for that hairy old chimp’, the close-up shot of Joe’s face, framed by the
blinds and the bars of the window frame, implies a sense of confinement,
signalling to the audience that it is now Joe who is trapped in the house.
Wilder’s implicit comparison between Joe and the monkey can be seen as
a warning to the audience that Joe’s desire to get ahead could lead to him
sharing the monkey’s fate. The characterisation of Joe, and his character arc,
demonstrate that ambition and selfishness can be disastrous for an individual
and their relationships.
However, the film does not always show ambition and a desire for success
to be wholly negative. In particular, it juxtaposes Joe’s self-interest with the
characterisation of Betty Schaefer, an aspiring writer who has ‘not once’
wished for fame, and who ultimately views success as writing ‘true’ and
‘moving’ screenplays. Betty’s emphasis on creating work that holds its value
contrasts with Joe’s choice to work on Norma’s ‘idiotic script’ for short-term
gain; Betty’s ambition is presented as being more admirable than Joe’s. Near
the end of the film, Joe recognises the potential in Betty’s ambition and Analytical
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Jackson’s novel suggests women must choose…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: From the outset, Jackson exposes conformity as a coercive force, suggesting that women are denied genuine choice…
From the outset, Jackson exposes conformity as a coercive force, suggesting that women are denied genuine choice and instead are pushed towards submission or madness. Merricat immediately establishes the families profound isolation, noting that “the people of the village have always hated” the Blackwoods, exposing the mutual rejection between both groups. Furthermore, Merricat's reduction of the villagers to just ordinary ‘people’ holds negative connotations, as it strips them of their identity and individuality, highlighting her complete and utter rejection of reintegration with society. This rejection of the villagers illustrates a defiance of the patriarchal, collective behaviour thrust upon her. Through this, Jackson condemns how this mob mentality, demonstrated by the villagers and individuals in 1960s Vermont, is a degrading force which drives women to succumb to conformity. Moreover, upon visiting the town for necessities, Merricat recalls hearing a “horrified little laugh” behind her. Jackson highlights both the villagers' amusement
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In my brilliant career characters have…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 85%: Written during a time of nation building, patriarchal dominance and emerging feminism, Miles Franklin’s “truly…
Written during a time of nation building, patriarchal dominance and emerging feminism, Miles Franklin’s “truly Australian” novel, MBC explores the tensions between individual desires and social constraints. Written against the backdrop of a drought-stricken Australia, Franklin highlights the lack of control those in poverty have over their circumstances, critiquing the emergence of a class division in a changing Australia. Challenging the dominant patriarchal society of the period which oppresses and limits women's self-expression and agency, Franklin advocates for a society which enables women the right to choose their own destiny. In doing so, she defies social conventions which demand women marry and forfeit their independence. However, through the stubborn refusal of her protagonist Sybylla to submit to convention the “yarn” itself is a testament to the capacity of an individual to choose their own destiny, even if she is “only a- woman!”
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: In “Oedipus the King.” Sophocles warns…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 77.5%: Sophocles’s Greek Tragedy play, Oedipus the King, was written and performed around 429 BCE, in the “Golden Age”…
Sophocles’s Greek Tragedy play, Oedipus the King, was written and performed around 429 BCE, in the “Golden Age” of Athens, a time of democracy and intellectual development. Sophocles explores the central themes of fate versus freewill, truth and knowledge and the consequences of human flaws. Throughout the play, the audience is warned about the dangers of our flaws. Sophocles’ exposure of personal flaws in “Oedipus the King” determines that hubris, ignorance and anger can be detrimental, however can also imply positive qualities in individuals. The play navigates the development of these flaws, the shortcomings they bring upon characters and the impacts of these flaws on relationships in the play. Therefore, serving as a warning to audiences about the dangers of our personal flaws.
Sophocles critically exposes how pride, anger and ignorance are not only flaws but also inherently dangerous qualities. At the beginning of the play, Oedipus’ pride is immediately communicated to the audience as he presents himself by the “world know[ing] [his] fame” before declaring himself to be “Oedipus.” He believes that his reputation precedes him, not requiring him to even say his name, demonstrating his hamartia of overconfidence and his inflated sense of authority. Oedipus considers himself to be one with the Gods, telling the commonfolk to “let me grant your prayers.” His pride and self-belief cause him to be relentless till he finds the “murderers of Laius,”, demonstrating his loyalty to the people of Thebes, even if it leads him to his own downfall. Oedipus’ pride interrelates with his anger and ignorance, as he is unable to accept Tiresias’ riddles and that he “is the man [he] hunts.” Instead of understanding Tiresias, Oedipus’ anger rears him to curse Tiresias as a “scum of the earth,” which fuels’ Oedipus’ ignorance and inability to listen to Tiresias because of his pride. Tiresias deems that Oedipus’ “precious eyes” are “blind to the corruption of [his] life. Sophocles juxtaposes Oedipus's "precious eyes" which can physically see with his “blindness” to the “corruption,” in his life. Oedipus’ ignorance causes him to be unaware to the visible truth, unlike a blind Teiresias who is blind who "sees" Oedipus's future, further foreshadowing his future of physically self-inflicted literal blindness. Sophocles’ sharp contrast between Oedipus’ human ignorance and Teiresia’s divine wisdom reinforces Greek culture which has weighted emphasis on the divine and prophetic following which humans like Oedipus often rejected. Through Oedipus’ pride, anger and ignorance, Sophocles exhibits the dangers of these flaws in ultimately shaping fates and being profoundly detrimental to the futures of individuals.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 'Gladys and Dolly are torn between the…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: Set in 1950s Victoria, Jane Harrison's "Rainbow's End" follows the lives of three generations of Aboriginal women…
Set in 1950s Victoria, Jane Harrison's "Rainbow's End" follows the lives of three generations of Aboriginal women who each deal with their own challenges as they navigate the division between white Australia and Indigenous Australia, in the face of racism, systemic injustice, and community. Throughout the play, Harrison challenges this notion of a divide existing between white and Indigenous Australians, and instead shows a possibility of empowerment that can arise through her character's development and theatrical symbolism.
Glady's political activism allows her to reclaim agency over her cultural heritage. Harrison first portrays Gladys as a dreamer, clinging to her desire to be accepted as an Indigenous woman in white society. "Instead of being formal, the Queen pulls her into a hug", Harrison's theatrical connventions of "dream sequences", she portray Gladys as being acknowledged and to be seen at the same societal value as a white person. Which is quickly shut down with the bitter reality that is labelled by Harrison, "The lights come back to reality" of the racist views and values white society has pressed upon Aboriginal communities. This usage of dream sequences requires audiences to understand the stark contrast between reality and the dream that Harrison is portraying in Indigenous communities. The transition from Glady's being a dreamer to becoming an activist in her own community, "We demand the right to control our own destiny", allows for empowerment to arise. As she confronts the systemic oppression faced by her community, she shifts from her desire to be valued by white society to taking pride in her Indigenous heritage, through her address to the Queen in her speech ------ "We request... no, we don't…” from accepting the racist views Aborginals face, to challenging this opression, “we demand to be heard". Harrison demonstrates how a reclaim of one's agency can occur in an environment and time where it is torn apart.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Sunset boulevard demonstrates that fame…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 85%: Billy Wilders Sunset Boulevard provides a scathing critique of Hollwood’s deceptive promises of fame, exposing the…
Billy Wilders Sunset Boulevard provides a scathing critique of Hollwood’s deceptive promises of fame, exposing the excessive physical and moral sacrifice required to obtain fame, Created in the aftermath of WW2 and influenced by German expressionism and film noir Wilder presents fame as a seductive trap that traps, exploits and destroys individuals that pursue it. Through character arcs such as Joe Gillis’s moral collapse and eventual demise to Norma Desmond’s psychotic breakdown and Mox Von Mayerling’s obsessive loyalty Wilder depicts Hollwood’s promise of fame leading to success and validation as an intoxicating force that strips individuals of their autonomy and identity. Sunset Boulevard serves not only a critique of fames illusionary promises but as cautionary tale for all who seek external validation at the cost of ones moral integrity.
Wilder constructs Hollywood as a decaying dreamscape where success is not born of artistic integrity but extracted through the sacrifice of morality and individuality. Hollywood is positioned as a relentless machine commodifying people into consumable images exploiting them while profitable and then ruthlessly discarding them. Joe Gillis’s rejection by Sheldrake who sneers that “that’s last year’s story” epitomises the industry’s obsession with novelty and disposability stripping away the façade of Hollywood as a site of originality. In this moment Wilder dismantles the illusion of meritocracy exposing instead a system driven by profit that punishes those who refuse to compromise. Joe’s furious claim that “audiences don’t know that someone sits down and writes a picture” foregrounds Hollywood’s disdain for artistry while implicating audiences themselves as complicit in sustaining its superficial culture. Through cumulative listing and appeals to injustice Wilder emphasises the systemic nature of this corruption. Symbolism reinforces the critique as Joe’s car functions as a recurring motif of his autonomy and identity with his desperate line “if I lose my car it’s like having my legs cut off” equating material possession with survival in a world that erodes individuality. The repossession of the car visually marks the beginning of Joe’s downfall and foreshadows his entrapment. Norma’s mansion similarly operates as a grotesque metaphor for Hollywood’s materialism. When Norma proclaims “I am big it’s the pictures that got small” Wilder amplifies her delusion through a low angle shot drenched in chiaroscuro lighting an unmistakable borrowing from German Expressionism which visually exaggerates her grandeur while simultaneously exposing her fragility. The mise en scene of the mansion cluttered with grotesque luxury and oppressive shadows resembles an expressionist prison a distorted dreamscape that mirrors Norma’s warped psyche. This reflects the wider post war context where the decline of silent film stars like Gloria Swanson and the rise of consumer culture left many actors commodified and abandoned by a rapidly modernising industry. Wilder harnesses film noir fatalism and expressionist distortion to frame Hollywood not as a site of aspiration but as a cultural machine that seduces with glamour yet entombs those who enter.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Green and Kinsella only describe modern…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: In 'False Claims of Colonial Thieves', Yamatji woman Charmaine Papertalk Green and non-indigenous Australian John…
In 'False Claims of Colonial Thieves', Yamatji woman Charmaine Papertalk Green and non-indigenous Australian John Kinsella engage in a narrative discourse that discusses and past and present implications of colonialism. Often referring to modern Australia, the poets share a scornful outlook on the ongoing destruction of land through mining practices and underscores a need to hold contempt on the process. Although the collection frequently voices condemnation on modern Australia, both poets underscore a need to appreciate beauty even from two very different perspectives.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Oedipus the King shows that knowledge can…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 90%: Sophocles’ tragedy “Oedipus the King” endures not just for its shocking revelations, but for its profound…
Sophocles’ tragedy “Oedipus the King” endures not just for its shocking revelations, but for its profound exploration of fate, blindness and human identity. Set against the backdrop of a society deeply shaped by the will of the gods, the play traces the downfall of Oedipus, a ruler whose relentless search for truth ultimately leads him to destroy the very identity he seeks to understand. Through the use of dramatic irony, anagnorisis and paradox, Sophocles positions wisdom as both in favour and jinx, inclining the audience to view knowledge as both heroic and a fatal flaw
Sophocles initially frames Oedipus’ intelligence as a heroic force through the use of mythic allusion and choral praise. The play recalls Oedipus’ defeat of the Sphinx, whose “riddle of death” had “brought the city to its knees.” By solving the riddle, Oedipus not only liberates Thebes but also elevates himself to a near-divine status, as the chorus hails him as the man who “lifted up our lives” and “first of men.” This choral exaltation underscores his civic role as saviour. Yet Sophocles complicates this moment through irony: Oedipus’ triumph is rewarded with marriage to Jocasta and the throne of Thebes, honours that unknowingly bind him to the very crime he seeks to expiate. Oedipus himself revels in this glory, declaring in a prologue of hubristic pride, “Here I am myself, you all know me, the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus.” Sophocles thus deploys Oedipus’ self-aggrandising tone and the dramatic irony of his ignorance to foreshadow that the very knowledge that elevates him will also undo him.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: ‘On the moon we have everything…’…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: In the novella We have always lived in a castle, Shirely Jackson explores the complex relationship between fantasy…
In the novella We have always lived in a castle, Shirely Jackson explores the complex relationship between fantasy and reality, illustrating how fantasy serves as a coping mechanism in confronting harsh truths. Through the evolving characters, especially through the unreliable narrator Merricat and recurring motifs, Jackson contends that fantasy can become not only preferable, but sometimes necessary to protect oneself from a painful reality. The novel ultimately reveals how the boundaries between fantasy and reality can blur, with fantasy providing true liberation for some.
At first glance, reality appears to be the preferable and rational choice, defined as the state of things that actually exist. However, Jackson embodies reality through the cruel, invasive and often dismissive villagers who live outside the Blackwood estate. Merricat recalls how the townspeople constantly lampooned the Blackwoods by singing ‘Would you like a cup of tea? Oh no,… you’ll poison me”. This nursery style chant reinforces the sister’s outsider status and embeds the idea that Constance poisoned the Blackwood family. Their deliberate seclusion is symbolised by the positioning of their house with them primarily living at the back of their house far away from the village, ‘where no one else ever came’. This displays the physical and psychological isolation of the Blackwood sisters from the outside world. The house becomes a sense of protection against the villagers’ hostility, suggesting that the reality outside the Blackwood estate only offers cruelty and fear for Constance and Merricat. Hence, withdrawing into fantasy offers the sisters safety, where they can also retain some of their dignity.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: 1. In what ways does the apartheid result…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: Set against the backdrop of the Apartheid and its aftermath, Trevor Noah’s memoir, “Born a Crime (BAC)”, reveals…
Set against the backdrop of the Apartheid and its aftermath, Trevor Noah’s memoir, “Born a Crime (BAC)”, reveals the extensive and often institutionalised suffering of non-white individuals during this time period. As both the author and protagonist, Noah documents how the apartheid and post apartheid periods in South Africa inflicted extensive suffering through physical hardship and systemic inequality, yet depicts that resilience and strength could be cultivated by those who endured it. This adversity included extreme violence, emotional abuse and barriers to finding a sense of self and belonging.