VCAA Examiners Reports 2012

Examiners’ Reports from 2012 to 2008 for Section B – Writing in Context(Creating and presenting)The following advice and examples of student responses are from the 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009 and 2008examiners’ reports. As you read through the commentaries and advice, note what has changed or improvedin the way the Context is being approached and handled by students from year to year.You will clearly see that there is very little (indeed, ‘nothing’) here that has not been covered in class andadvised by your teacher.The advice from the examiners from 2008 – 2012 has been collated to avoid too much overlap andrepetition. You can always read the complete reports from the VCAA website.The highlighted bold text in these reports is mine.Note: Student responses reproduced herein have not been corrected for grammar, spelling or factualinformation.Critical advice for teachers and studentsThe following table lists the “critical advice for teachers and students” in the Examiners’ Reports for 2012 and2011. It is essential that you heed this advice and, if required, seek your teacher’s help.2012• Students should be encouraged to be bolder in what theywrite.• Formulaic approaches are limiting.• Avoid prepared or memorised responses.• Imaginative essays must explore ideas and/orarguments.• Focus on a suitable choice of genre for individualstudents.• Choose a polished and edited style that enables studentsto display high-quality writing skills. This is quite difficultto achieve with approaches such as a blog, a post onsocial media or a diary entry.• Explore big ideas and examine complexities.• Unpack a given prompt in great depth.• Have a clear grasp of key terms in the prompt beforecomposing a response.• Challenge the prompt, don’t simply agree with it andshow examples.• Ensure there is adequate practice and strategies forexploring the prompt.• Responses should have continuity, a core and a sense ofprogression.• Create an interesting opening.• Demonstrate a controlled use of language, andunderstand and practise this generic skill.• Teach students to use texts as vehicles, not as the centreof the task, and continue to improve the incorporation oftexts in appropriate ways.• Teach the use of text as explaining complexity, notmerely as simple illustration.• It may be useful to ask the question, ‘What does the textsuggest about the Context?’• Teach and practise a variety of approaches to writing.• Help to develop greater sophistication with creativepieces.• Develop pieces that are well crafted.• Discourage ‘petty’ personal stories that offer little depth tothe piece of writing.2011• Students must demonstrate ‘a controlled use oflanguage’, and this generic skill should beunderstood and practised.• Students should take the time to ‘unpack’ the promptbefore they begin writing.• Formulaic approaches were limiting.• Memorised responses failed to address the prompt.• Use texts as vehicles, not as the centre of the task.• Avoid retelling the plot.• Teach/learn a variety of forms of writing.• Incorporate texts in ways appropriate to the form.• Practise writing in a range of approaches, styles andforms.• Ensure there is adequate practice and strategies forexploring the prompt.• With imaginative writing, ensure that the form andcontent of the piece is sufficiently sophisticated forexploring the ideas of the context and the prompt.• Develop writing that is well crafted.• Teach/learn the use of text(s) to explain complexity,not as simple illustration.• It may be useful to ask the question, ‘What does thetext suggest about our Context?’[VCAA Examiners Reports 2012 – 2008 for Part B Writing in Context: collated by G. Marotous – Melbourne High School] 1

2012 Examiners’ ReportStudents were required to write an extended response for a specified purpose and audience, exploring ideasand using detail from at least one prescribed text. In all cases students had something to say, and it wasclear that some very interesting approaches and interpretations to creating and presenting had beenstudied in classes.It was clear that most students understood that this section is about good writing. Good writing,however, cannot occur without good ideas, and the texts and supplementary material used bystudents offered the opportunity to include complex ideas about the Context, the text and the prompt.All four prompts provided students with ideas from which to springboard their thinking about the relevantContext. Students who demonstrated that the basis of their ideas emanated from the prompts were providedwith a ready means to develop significant ideas.The writing itself was varied. Certainly, there was no advantage in taking one approach to writing aboveothers. Each student, with the help of their teacher, should select an approach that allows them todemonstrate their writing skills. While the majority of students took a conventional approach, manystudents were more creative in their approach and were able to use a polished writing style while exploringthoughtful ideas.It must be reiterated, however, that students must respond to the ideas in the prompt. They cannot writea prepared response that may have worked in class. The prompt provides a cornerstone for the directionof the piece and ideas related to the prompt must be the focus of the writing.Writing was assessed on the quality of the students’ ideas (in relation to the Context, the nominated textand the prompt), the quality of writing (regardless of the approach students chose to take) and the mannerin which the prompt was dealt with.Authentic pieces of writing are highly regarded and it was good to see many students employ aheading this year. At the same time, however, there is no provision for a reflective commentary in theexamination.While the majority of students had little difficulty in demonstrating how their piece of writing was also informedby a prescribed text, there were some who seemed to ignore the instructions from the examination: ‘Yourwriting must draw directly from at least one selected text that you have studied for this Context…’. This is aclear instruction that the text drawn from must inform the writing in ways that must be clear to the reader, andthat the student has used it effectively ‘as appropriate to the task’. The texts provide rich resources in respectto the way in which the Context is explored. A small number of students, however, showed little or noconnection to the ideas of their nominated text. Some narratives were not drawing clearly on ‘detailand ideas’ from the selected text. On the other hand, most students seem to be clear that Part B isnot a text response. It is the responsibility of the student to demonstrate the connection between theideas of the nominated text and the piece of writing.2011 Examiners’ Report. . . Student responses took advantage of the range of forms and writing styles. Some were thoughtfuland provocative, demonstrating sophisticated insights into the Context through the prompt’s focusand the texts studied throughout the year. Most students presented a piece of writing related to theirContext, the more successful choosing an approach to writing that suited their individual strengthsand that was appropriate to the ideas they wished to convey.The most successful students wrote with confidence and structured their pieces in a cohesivemanner so that the ideas were well developed within the conventions of the writing form theyselected. It appears that the expository approach, in its many forms, was still the most popular, althoughmany students attempted an imaginative approach. Few students attempted a persuasive approach butmany who did were successful. Students wrote in various forms; for example, opinion articles,speeches, essays, narratives and letters. . . .It is important that students understand the ideas and/or arguments arising from the prompt anddeal with them accordingly. The examination required students to explore ideas related to ‘compromise’and its importance ‘when responding to conflict’, or to examine the idea of identity (‘there is no me’) inrelation to the absence of connection (‘without connection to others’). In ‘Whose reality?’ the focus of theprompt was ‘shared experiences’ and how that does not mean ‘people see things the same way’. ‘Theimaginative landscape’ prompt related to the concept of creating ‘places in which we dwell’.[VCAA Examiners Reports 2012 – 2008 for Part B Writing in Context: collated by G. Marotous – Melbourne High School] 2

Students must respond to prompts. While a prompt can be seen as a springboard for ideas in relationto the Context, the piece of writing must deal with the ideas the prompt itself offers. The most successfulscripts showed insightful grasps of the implications of the prompt. While the majority of studentswere able to work with the prompt, there were some who seemed to ignore the prompt altogether.2010 Examiners’ ReportMost students demonstrated that they had gained a number of insights about the Context they had studiedand many showed the capacity to present those insights in a controlled, fluent and well-written manner. In2010 there were far more imaginative approaches to writing and texts were used to inform the pieces ofwriting in a more evocative way.Assessment was based on the interrelationship among:• the quality of writing in relation to the specified purpose• the handling of the prompt• the quality of ideas (this, of course, is formed by the study of the Context and from the texts studied).Students presented a range of approaches to writing in their responses. While the expository approach wasstill the most popular, it was evident that students are being encouraged to choose an approach that bestsuits their writing and thinking. This year there were fewer bland textual responses. It was pleasing to seethe varied and imaginative ways that students were able to explore the Context, the nominated textand the prompt.Students who wrote excellent responses were obviously thinking about responding to the prompt aswritten. They used their understanding of the text(s) and concepts from their Context study to informthe ideas they explored within their writing. The less successful responses did not think critically aboutthe idea that the prompt was communicating or ignored the prompt altogether. The more successfulresponses got to the core of the prompt instead of treating it like a text response. Students need to bereminded that there is an important distinction between the Context they have studied and the task they arerequired to complete in the exam – that is, to explore the idea that is represented in the prompt.Students should not come to the examination with pre-prepared responses relating to theconcepts/issues central to their Context study and ignore the idea the prompt is communicating. While theprompt is seen as a springboard for effective writing, the ideas of the prompts must be explored. It isimportant that students have an exact understanding of the core of the prompt.Although students were more adventurous in their writing, this did not always lead to betterresponses. It is expected that students will have sophisticated insights into the Context they havestudied and the capacity to explore them in the direction dictated by the prompt. Weaker responsestended to be either too broad and neglected discussion of the prompt, or consisted of pre-preparedresponses that did not respond to the prompt directly at all.Use of textIt is very important that teachers and students understand the requirements of Section B in the examination.While students are free to create a response that is an expository, persuasive or imaginative piece of writing,the piece itself must explore the nominated Context and respond to the prompt offered for that Context. Inaddition, the instructions are quite clear about the expectation of the connection of the response tothe student’s nominated text.It is expected that the study of the texts forms the basis of a detailed exploration of the Context. Whilemany classrooms supplement the study with a variety of other material, and this is a rich way to develop anexploration of the central ideas in the Context, the more specific aspects of the study of Context comes fromthe selected texts. In the examination students who compose seemingly gratuitous creative pieces orsimply label one of their characters ‘Abigail’, ‘Blanche’ or ‘Holden’ have not fully examined or exploredthe ideas of the text in relation to the prompt. They must ensure that the connection between thepiece of writing and the nominated text is discernible and central in the ideas of their pieces. There isno provision for reflective commentary in the examination, so the connections between the text andthe prompt must be obvious within the piece.The most successful responses drew thoughtfully from the text; however, the least successful onlyused a scene or a feature of character in a superficial way or retold the plot of the text. This approachwas not always relevant to the prompt. There can be no definitive advice on the success of relying on asingle text or employing both (or more). Some students used the two texts expertly to demonstrateexceptions and qualifications, while others did little more than use the second text to add yet more of thesame examples. While students writing using an expository approach tended to employ both texts, a number[VCAA Examiners Reports 2012 – 2008 for Part B Writing in Context: collated by G. Marotous – Melbourne High School] 3

of students explored only one text. Students who used more than one source to illustrate their ideas oftenproduced pieces with a strong sense of unity and purpose. This cohesiveness was contrasted by pieceswhere one idea followed the next as students went through their list of examples. The product was more aplan for an essay than a thoughtful, finished piece.The transference of ideas from the texts is critical. Students who understood and could conveysophisticated ideas from their texts were the most successful, regardless of the approach to writingselected.Responding to the taskStudents and teachers must not disregard the fundamentals of good writing, including audience,purpose, form and voice. These are set out in the assessment criteria and the fundamentals of goodwriting should be embedded in the writing itself. Students are reminded that some forms of writing aredifficult to complete under examination conditions and students should take this into account whencreating their responses.2009 Examiners’ ReportResponses showed an increased maturity and receptivity to the human condition, as well as moreintelligent insight. The sophisticated use of philosophical aphorism to turn an idea into a discussionwas also observed. This is a sound strategy where students understand and can discuss the ideassuggested by the prompt without undermining their own insights.Students who wrote excellent scripts were obviously thinking about responding to the prompt aswritten. They used their understanding of the text(s) and concepts from their Context study to inform theideas they explored within their writing.Weaker students did not think critically about the idea the prompt was communicating or ignored theprompt altogether.Better responses got to the core of the prompt instead of treating it like a text response. Studentsneed to be reminded that there is an important distinction between the Context they have studied and thetask they are required to complete in the exam – to use their writing to explore the idea represented in theprompt.2008 Examiners’ ReportStudents presented a range of approaches to writing in their responses; however, overwhelminglystudents selected an ‘expository’ approach. For too many, the approach to writing could be likenedvery much to a text response. Section B is not text response; it focuses equally on ideas and writing.Overreliance on a text may undermine the capacity to develop ideas that emerge from the prompt. Likewise,when considering the approach to writing chosen by the student, quotations should generally be usedjudiciously.The text was often used as illustration to support a conceptual discussion and this worked well in responseswhich offered excellent insights. Weaker responses relied too much on the text and responded with greatslabs of plot. The difference between successful and unsuccessful pieces in this regard was aconceptual discussion versus simplistic storytelling. Many responses leaned too heavily on the text andwere not able to use the text as a conduit for exploring the Context. Often the quality of ideas appearedinhibited because students seemed afraid to move too far away from the text.Weaker responses, on the other hand, also seemed to have pre-prepared introductions, which wereobvious as they were often generic discussions of the Contexts. The introductions were followed by apassing recognition of the prompt with a number of examples included from one or two texts. Often thepenultimate paragraph discussed a wider ‘outside world’ example. In these cases there was littleengagement with the direction of the prompt nor any attempt to create an authentic piece of writing.Stronger responses had a greater conceptual understanding of the implications of the ideas of theprompt, the text(s) and the Context.Students who attempted a more imaginative approach generally directly employed the text as a basis fortheir work. Less often students used the text in implicit ways, often beyond, however, their capacity to do so.Some did little more than reuse the basic plot, perhaps in a modern setting. Others created hypotheticalscenarios which placed the characters in a different setting and time. While this could be successful, too[VCAA Examiners Reports 2012 – 2008 for Part B Writing in Context: collated by G. Marotous – Melbourne High School] 4

often in these cases the stories were trite and superficial. Like all responses these were of varying success.Some pieces, however, bore virtually no connection to the prompt or one of the texts.Some of the best responses were imaginative. Capable students demonstrated the capacity to create anengaging piece of writing, weaving insights and explorations of both the Context and the prompt intotheir story or narrative. This task is equally about ideas and writing, so those students who could producean artful piece were highly rewarded.A potential problem, however, is when a student creates an imaginative response using a particulartext but then does little more than retell the plot of the story and offer a cursory nod at the prompt.Whatever approach to writing a student decides on, they must explore the ideas of the prompt, the Contextand the text.Use of textThere can be no definitive advice on the success of relying on a single text or employing both (or more).Some students used the two texts expertly to demonstrate exceptions and qualifications while others did littlemore than use the second text to add more of the same examples. Some students who relied on a singletext were able to develop a more coherent response than those who felt they were required to use bothtexts, and were unable to make the transition from one text to the other in a coherent, fluent manner.It appeared that in general, students who used more texts needed to be more skilled in pulling theideas together seamlessly.Outside/extraneous materialSimilar to the use of multiple texts, students who ‘forced’ outside material into their writing withoutconsidering how it might fit conceptually would sometimes end with absurd scenarios. This use ofmaterial needs to be congruent with the ideas surrounding it.Likewise, the ability to fluently incorporate the material is important and when it works, it is excellent. Far toooften responses were formulaic in nature; in many cases, this resulted in writing that was forced andclunky.[VCAA Examiners Reports 2012 – 2008 for Part B Writing in Context: collated by G. Marotous – Melbourne High School] 5

Sample Response from the 2012 Exam‘Our fantasies can be more powerful than our reality.’Nominated text: The LotPREPARING FOR THE SHOPOCALYPSEBy Michael Leunig‘Man can never get enough of what he doesn’t need to make him happy.’ – Eric HofferSpring has finally arrived bringing forth a sense of hope for humanity that seemed somewhat inhibited by thepreceding winter months. The land glistens in all its natural glory, but why waste my morning in the sun whenI can spend it drowning in the punitive glow of a thousand fluorescent lights? On this particular morning, Ifind myself casually ducking in and out of stores in Chadstone shopping center ‘Chaddy’ – the holy sanctumof the modern consumer.The domed glass roof and tacky palm trees only accentuate the vast gap between life and this souldestroying cathedral to emptiness. This shrine to mass-consumption and ‘mass-mindedness’ is thehabitation of the modern consumer. ‘Indigenous people have long said that the unique and complex qualityof the land significantly forms the authenticity of the culture and people.’ No wonder the gap betweenauthenticity and a synthetic fantasy is becoming increasingly blurred.Everyone looks anaesthatized. Soccer mums harbouring pram loads of snot-nosed preschoolers whilstsipping skinny lattes. Fat people with an extra large bucket of fried chicken in one hand and a grant pretzel inthe other. Consume consume consume... that’s what it’s all about. I enter into a mild daze as I blankly weavemy way through the endless rows of pointless speciality stores, observing the boundless supply of newfangled gadgets and gizmos – each one screaming at me to give in to temptation.‘The rot of conformity sets in’. Cheap clothes, processed food and anything with a remote control is theonly way to distract the consumer from the vacancy of his ‘wilting soul’. He can be seen trying on a pair ofluxury trousers or handing his credit card to the dreadlocked lady behind the bench with the scented candles.Procurement is his herroin. The effect is not lasting, however, soon the fantasy will wear off and once again,he will find himself on the mad pursuit to attain his next hit.As I enter one of the saundry kitchen supply shops, I find myself uncontrollably reaching for my backpocket at the sight of that radiant quesadilla maker. After all...I am only human.Man has become trapped in the fantasy in which the acquisition of pointless material items is the key toa happy life, our so-called happiness measured by the economic indicators of society. ‘We have delayed oursouls with all sorts of toxic junk and chaos’ in pursuit of happiness, however, is the consumer genuinelyhappy when the fantasy wears off and he sits alone on his designer couch in silk pajamas? Just as the greatpoet-philosopher Lao Tzu claimed that ‘True art does not look like art’, perhaps the same can be said abouthappiness.‘The alienation that we feared is the very alienation we end up creating for ourselves and society’.‘What consumerism destroys it replaces with crude synthetic substitutes for life and personal truth.’We learn to applaud this fantasy and ‘shun the real thing’. I hope I’m not around when the world wakesup from this ostentatious fantasy to find no authentic happiness in sight. When the ‘mania posing as[happiness]’ wears off, all we left with is that pathetic collection of miniature warships that we got on sale atBig W.‘It is not unusual these days to hear that the world is coming to an end.’ With the doomsday fastapproaching, the Apocalypse a frequent topic of conversation, we may as well spend up and indulge in thisfantasy while we still can. Quesadillas anyone?Assessors comments• This upper-range script captures Leunig’s voice and capacity to step back and reflect on life, including thehealthy cynicism that is so much a part of Leunig’s writing.• Demonstrates an appropriate voice that is sustained and effective.• Excellent control of language and careful placement of imagery.• The script shows the ability to internalise the ideas of the text and use them to present a wonderful pieceof writing that is at the heart of Section B.• While the quotations may be overdone and, to an extent, get in the way, this does not detract too muchfrom the way in which the student aptly draws from the text.• It is powerful and evocative.• An interesting and thoughtful approach to the prompt.• Clear development of an authentic piece of writing.[VCAA Examiners Reports 2012 – 2008 for Part B Writing in Context: collated by G. Marotous – Melbourne High School] 6

Sample Responses from the 2011 Exam‘Shared experience does not mean that people see things the same way.’Nominated text: The Shark netSample 1Reality is ultimately subjective in nature. As Robert Drewe states in the novel The Shark Net, ‘memory mayfalter, and portraiture is a highly subjective endeavour but I have tried to tell a truthful story.’ For Robertlooking back upon a past life with newly gathered experiences, to retell his past with the perspective initiallyassociated with it would have been nigh on impossible. Indeed this subjective nature of reality leads itself intothe possibility of multiple realities which can do exist at one time. The Greek philosopher Plato argued thatan ‘objective view’ on reality will continue to evade us as we remain trapped in our own subjectivity. As aresult we will never establish one ‘truth’ as people will continue to hold their own unique perspective of theworld and their place in it.Our morals, our beliefs, experiences and values all help shape the skewed lens through which we see theworld. Our world view is the changing intersection of the world and our interaction with it. No two people canlive the same life nor share the same experiences and as a result each of us will continue to hold a differentperspective of the world and our place in it. Blanche DuBois in Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar NamedDesire lived a life at Belle Reve that shaped her view of the way things ‘ought to be’. However thisperspective did not fit with the harsh and often brutal nature of life in New Orleans. Stanley destroyed thefaçade of which Blanche lived by. Blanche was punished for breaking herself free from the commonlyaccepted view of reality held by those in New Orleans. However, had her version of reality been accepted bysomebody such as Mitch her story may have ended quite differently. The example of Blanche serveshighlight the existence of multiple realities. The clash of realities between Stanley and Blanche underlies thesignificance of morals, values, experiences and beliefs in shaping and moulding our perspective of the world.Memories are unreliable; many fade over time but it is often memories of joy and pain that stick with us overour lifetime. Moments of great success or moments of great personal loss. It is the significance that thesemoments played in our lives that allow these memories to shape the person that we become. Yet whilememories shape us, we too shape our memories. The experiences that we gather over time inevitably alterthe original perspective that is originally associated with a memory. Memory is a reflection of our perception.The novel Spies highlights the role in which our ever-changing perspective shapes and modifies previousmoments in life. For Stephen, as a child the belief that Keith’s mother was a German spy was very real andyet looking back with the knowledge that she was not immediately changes Stephen’s perspective. At thetime the boy’s ‘mission’ was highly dangerous and secretive but again looking back with new experiencesand knowledge it is merely an example of ‘boys, being boys’. Blanche’s view of the past as well shaped herview of the way things ‘ought to be’ as did Stanley’s rough past forge his violent and aGgressive nature.Their reflections on the past led to their clash of realities and Blanche’s tragic end. Again, these examplesserve to highlight the ultimately subjective nature of reality. This subjective notice allows us to alter ourperception of previous events which in turn shape who we are in the present. This too can lead to theexistence of multiple realities and will continue to result in human beings having their own unique perspectiveof what is reality.An ‘objective reality’ will continue to evade us as human being while we remain trapped in our ownsubjectivity. This is what is argued by the Greek Philosopher Plato in his ‘Allegory of the Cave’. Within thestory prisoners are bound by chains on both their arms and legs so that all they see is the wall directly aheadof them. A flame behind provides light allowing the formation of shadows on the wall as people pass throughthe cave. This is what forms the prisoner’s reality, anything else is non-existent. While the prisoners neverleave the cave, does this make life outside the care any less real? Plato argues that we as humans are yet toreach the limits of our understanding as a result of our subjectivity. Who is to say that the universe does notexpand forever? From a religious perspective while we cannot physically see our God that does not meanthat there is neither a Heaven or a Hell. It is this subjectivity that will forever halt us from obtaining a certain‘truth’ or an ‘objective reality’. This is what leads to one event beings seem as a multitude of ways and for usas human beings to continue to hold our own unique perspective of what is reality.Reality is ultimately a subjective endeavour. This subjectivity leads itself into the possibility of the existenceof multiple realities serve to highlight the fragile and tenuous group that we have as a common reality. We[VCAA Examiners Reports 2012 – 2008 for Part B Writing in Context: collated by G. Marotous – Melbourne High School] 7

should always questions our reality in order to broaden, deepen and better our understanding of the worldand our place in it.Assessor comments• The opening is somewhat generic but becomes better in the second paragraph and beyond.• Insufficient development of ‘shared experience’.• Explores ideas about reality.• Sound use of texts that support and, to some degree, develop ideas of the Context and the prompt.• This is a mid-range response because it does not deal sufficiently with the prompt.Sample 2Nominated text: The PlayerDear Sir,David Kahane’s scathing comments in his article (The Age, 31 October) were, if not a call to arms, certainlya call to pen for me, a longtime lover of the film industry. His suggestion that people who sit in a cinema of aHollywood blockbuster share the same thought, feelings and emotions thanks to the clever manipulation ofHollywood producers, was, quite frankly, insulting. He reveals the eight ingredients which have been mixedtogether by Hollywood to provide audiences with a ‘shared experience’ – one that will be palatable to all.They are: sex, nudity, violence, hope, fear, suspense, laughter and happy endings. He deludes himself intothinking that he has blown the lid off some secret closely-guarded by money-hungry movie moguls. Hebelieves that these movies are manipulating the minds of the audiences around the globe and teaching us tothink the same way and share the same values. Well, Kahane, the shared experience of watching a moviedoes not mean that people see things the same way.Movies are, for me, something very personal. They provide two hours in which I can escape the realities ofmy world: the starvation in Africa, the war in Afghanistan, terrorism in Pakistan, the global financialmeltdown…I see my world through the eyes of the media and watch as Julia Gillard implements a carbontax, refugees wait behind bars for a chance of freedom. These are many of the sad realities of life and Iforget about them for two blissful hours in the world of Hollywood. It is a fantasy world constructed for me,where the perfect man does exist and good can defeat evil…However, I am not so simple minded that Isimply morph into Hollywood’s views and values. The minds of an audience do not merge into one. Moviesmean something different for everyone.I grew up with the magic of Hollywood. Movies have always been a part of my life. We were the first home onthe street with a colour television and overnight we became the most popular house in the neighbourhood.Their motivations were obvious, to admire the magic of colour and to join us on our great escape into theworld of Hollywood. My father loved movies…Gone With the Wind, a story of the sassy Scarlett O’Hara setamongst the backdrop of the Civil War’ They Died With Their Boots On, the last adventure of GeneralArmstrong Custer and my childhood favourite, The Wizard of Oz, a movie which saw Dorothy and Toto entera world ‘somewhere over the rainbow’. You see, my father was a child of the Great Depression. He escapedthe hard realities of his life – the hunger, the poverty, the suicide – by sitting in a darkened cinema whichilluminated hope and happiness. The movies they showed were beacons of hope for a generation darkenedby the despair of depression. I can only imagine what Kahane must think of these movies…Hollywood‘trash’, unrealistic and romanticised versions of reality. For me, they are a memory of my childhood and asymbol of support and hope.The power of movies extends beyond the silver-screen and into other art forms. Look at John Keats, forexample, a man who could ‘fly upon the viewless wings of poetry’ and soar into the world of his Fancy. Thiswas necessary for a man whose young life was shrouded by death’s threatening promise. Poetry was toKeats what movies were to my father: an escape route. When you read the glorious language of Keats youtoo, can fly beyond the realm of reality and into a constructed one. But does this mean that we see the samethings? Feel the same way? I highly doubt it. Art is a powerful thing. It was strong enough to lift Keats to ahigher world of eternal joy and beauty. It is also very personal and can affect people in an infinite numbers ofways. That’s the beauty of the human brain. It is so complex and we each carry a different one’ capable ofimagining, creating and experiencing different things.Of course as we get older our brains begin to mature and walls being to form. I am slightly jealous of my fiveyear-olddaughter’s amazing ability to dream and to imagine. Christmas morning is one time at my housewhen reality is dissolved and Santa’s illusionary magic infiltrates my home. It is a shared experience formyself, my husband and daughter – we wake up at 7am, open presents eat together and enjoy the magic ofChristmas together. However, my daughter sees it in an entirely different way to me and my husband. I[VCAA Examiners Reports 2012 – 2008 for Part B Writing in Context: collated by G. Marotous – Melbourne High School] 8

protect the secret of Santa ruthlessly just to see her look of charming incredulity at the sight of the half-eatencarrots and empty beer can. Her naivety is so beautiful. She readily accepts the reality the world has createdfor her as truth. Kahane must, too, believe that audiences of Hollywood blockbusters are like my five-year-olddaughter: ignorant, naïve and ready to believe anything. Unfortunately, I am older now and I can draw thelines reality that Hollywood has blurred. How can Kahane suggest that an entire cinema sees the samethings? We all watch the movie, yes, but we see it differently. I went to the movies only last week and wassitting in a cinema of young children, probably still believers is Santa Claus, and old people with white hair,the memory of the depression probably still lingering their minds.Do not generalise a Hollywood audience, Kahane. Movie executives and produces may target audiences butthey most certainly hit different spots.Yours,John SmithAssessor comments• A letter that is an imaginative response to the prompt and the ideas offered by it.• Authentic voice, used consistently throughout the piece of writing.• Clever use of The Player to explore the ideas of the prompt and the Context.• This is an upper-range response.Sample Responses from the 2010 Exam‘Sometimes people find themselves living in a world created by other people.’Sample 1Nominated text: The Player‘There is an objective reality out there but we view it through the spectacles of our beliefs attitudes andvalues.’ David G Myers.Hence reality is fickle and seldom consistent, just as similarities between the realities of others seldom arise.Our beliefs, attitudes, values and ideals all contribute to the individuals perspective and thus are thedetermining and constituent factors of one’s subjectivity. Our subjectivity, the specific and defining factor ofthe individual, is shaped by the individuals circumstances. Furthermore, the subjectivity of human experienceand emotion relate to this perspective of reality which is specific to the individual. Perspective alone howeveris not the only influence in the individuals version of reality, rather, the presentation of reality has an equalinfluence in contributing to the way in which that which is objective or impartially so continually elludes theindividual. Reality may be ‘constructed’ or manipulated to further detract from that which is real, andobjective and presented as a version reality.Hollywood exemplifies the ‘manipulation’ and ‘construction’ of reality and how the subsequent presentation ofthis ‘constructed world’ detracts from that which is objective. Hollywood presents a ‘constructed’ reality whichis reflective of the manipulation of the editors, directors, and film crews which construct it. Equally however,this version of reality is constructed in parallel with the dreams, fantasies and endeavours of the intendedaudience, as Hollywood seeks to gratify its audience with a version of reality deemed palatable andsatisfying. This ‘constructed’ world and indeed its ‘constructed’ characters embody perfection in the physicaland are often the object to which a viewer aspires yet for many it is a reality unattainable. The charactersembody the aspects at the viewers like in which the viewer is lacking. Hence, a Hollywood experience isfulfilling at this sense of lack, these insecurities which are ultimately instilled by Hollywood. As Hollywood’spresentation of reality is for many unattainable, the viewer lives vicariously, experiencing no through theirown perspective but rather through that of their idealised film star, the life which they wish to but are unableto lead.Just as Hollywood constructs reality and presents this to others, so to do facebook users who displaydoctored or visually enhanced images of themselves in a bid to be considered more appealing and moreattractive. Ultimately such users seek to alleviate the insecurities of their own imperfections which Hollywoodinstills, exploits and manipulates. The advocacy of these users to present a false version of reality, aconstructed visual person, is a by product of Hollywood’s portrayal of perfection. Indeed, such individualsinspire to embody the perfection which their idealised Hollywood stars do. In doing so, these individuals exist[VCAA Examiners Reports 2012 – 2008 for Part B Writing in Context: collated by G. Marotous – Melbourne High School] 9

in a created world, a world encouraged and integrated by that which Hollywood instigates.Robert Altman’s The Player, by way of its metafictional qualities blurs the line between reality and fiction.An example of this metafiction to ‘Hakeas Corpus’ ‘the film within a film’ which proves to be the constructedproduct of The Player, whereby presenting The Player itself as that which is objective, instead they areAltman’s constructed version of reality which is confused and undefined. Further exemplifying thismetafiction is the casting and characterisation, whereby actors play themselves alongside others who playcharacters. In essence those that play themselves are presented to be real and those playing characters;constructed. ‘The Player’ therefore, ironically analyses ‘Hollywood’ and displays the manner in which thisfilm presents the constructed world at ‘Hakeas Corpus’ as the product of yet another constructed reality;that of Griffin Mill.Griffin Mill through his behaviour portrays the way in which the human mind, just as Hollywood is capable,constructs a version of reality thoroughly detached from the truth, from that which is objective. Mill‘constructs’ David Kahane to be his stalker a fallacy which Mill was adiment to be truthful. This false beliefwas the product of anonymous postcards for which Mill believed Kahane was responsible. The psychologicalanamoly, his intense paranoia and pervase mistrust in those around him, was the result of these postcards,postcards which were indeed facilitating in Mills construction of a false reality. The anonymous individualresponsible for the postcards was directly attributable to Mills reality, hence those around us the reality whichthe present, our circumstances which contribute to our perspective, directly, influence one’s own version ofreality.Reality is fickle and seldom consistent, it is subject to constant manipulation, alteration in its presentation,and the filtering affect of the individuals subjectivity. Reality itself may be constructed but indeed such areality is not objective or impartially so. Such construction and manipulation of reality may be the directinfluence of those around us or those who like Hollywood present a version of reality. In essence howeverour version of reality is the product of our subjectivity.Assessor comments• Some interesting ideas about reality.• There is repetition of the ideas.• Very good use and development of text to support ideas about the Context.• Deals with the prompt indirectly.• Reasonably fluent, although there are some issues with spelling and, more particularly, punctuation.• Demonstrates a strong understanding of the breadth of the ideas associated with the context and clearlylinks this with the prompt – strong, intelligent opening.• The use of the text is both broad and conceptual, and uses specific detail.• This is an upper-mid-range piece.Sample 2Nominated text: The Shark NetIt’s different sunlight – one which imparts justice upon the world – that enters courtrooms, and it’s cuttingthrough the crumpling shadow of a man that is Eric Edgar Cooke. Ironically, it is almost an injustice that he isto commit the single murder alone - it is well known and widely accepted that he is responsible for six ofPerth’s murders over the past four years, possibly more. His gutless, bloody killings have shattered this city’sinnocence and culture. Our windows and doors are now locked, where as once we had the freedom ofopenness. Salty ocean mist would find no barrier to exploring the corners of our homes. No longer. The foulactions of one man have eaten away at our freedom. Our world has been forever changed.Everyone in the room is staring at him – at us. The accusing stares of the prosecution, the witnesses,the victims’ families not only center on him, but they also sear into me as if I, in some way am responsible forhis gruesome crimes – the crimes which have destroyed the Perth which they once knew. I feel guilty. I amguarding a murderer – one who has butchered their family and friends. One who doesn’t deserve theprivilege of someone protecting them.It is blight on the legal system that we must sit here and watch him have his moment in the sun, for hehas forever shaded ours. No more do we sleep on our verandas; the cool, even rushing of the waves fillingour ears has been replaced with gunfire and sirens. There is no need to put the families of the victimsthrough this ordeal – the man is a murderer and should be committed, and then be convicted of murder, thatmuch is certain. The voices of the prosecution and magistrate are dreary and drawn out. Surely everyonemust know that there is only one possible outcome to this farce. Even he seems to know it. He revels in it –[VCAA Examiners Reports 2012 – 2008 for Part B Writing in Context: collated by G. Marotous – Melbourne High School] 10

Sample Responses from the 2009 Exam‘We do not see things as they are. We see them as we are.’Sample 1Nominated text: Enduring LoveMusical Chairs‘Do you think it was a safe day to be out flying a balloon, Mr Gadd?’ the man asked, surveying though clearspectacles James Gadd, who was sitting at the front of the room.‘I – well, yes,’ Gadd replied, sweat shining off his forehead. ‘I mean, I knew there was a bit of wind, butobviously I didn’t expect – well, nobody expects something like that to happen to them.’‘And was the balloon in good working order?’ the man with the glasses inquired.‘Yes, absolutely,’ answered Gadd firmly. ‘I’ve been flying for years, I wouldn’t – I couldn’t – make amistake like that. It just all happened so quickly, and I tried to organise – but it was chaos…and then it wasjust Dr Logan hanging on …until he couldn’t hang on any longer.’ There was an audible sniff from theseated crowd, and a pale woman with dark hair pulled back blinked back tears. On either side of her, twosmall children watched their legs swinging under the bench. Forwards, backwards. Forward, backwards.‘Thank you, Mr Gadd,’ began the man with the glasses. ‘I would now like to hear from Harry Gadd,grandson of Mr Gadd.’A young boy made his way up to the seat at the front, replacing Gadd. He was accompanied by an olderwoman.‘Now,’ said the man with the glasses, adjusting the volume and pitch of his tone. ‘Can you tell me whatyou saw?’‘I was going for a balloon ride and it was fun but it didn’t stop and I was scared, and it kept going higherand I go t more scared…’‘Yes, yes, that’s how you felt,’ interrupted the man, ‘but what did you see?’‘Nothing…I was in the basket and I shut my eyes because there was so much screaming…’ he trailedoff, his voice choking with remembered terror. The woman next to him shushed him and rubbed his arm.‘Very well…you’ve been a very brave boy,’ sighed the man with the glasses automatically. The boy wasled back to his family, who were waiting to catch him with tissues and words of comfort. It was like a game ofmusical chairs, where nobody knew when to stop, and each time the music played, it was slightly different.In the front row a woman with startlingly green eyes held the hand of a man next to her.‘All I know is, if we’d sorted ourselves out and banded together, we might’ve been able to sort it out,’Greene said, running a hand distractedly through thinning grey hair. ‘But that Gadd pilot panicked, and onlyme and Lacey kept our heads together. Then people started to let go…not me!’ he added hastily. ‘But otherpeople were acting funny afterwards,’ he finished evasively.‘Can you please explain what you mean by –’‘Well he laughed!’ Greene exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at a man in the front row. ‘Joe Rose,he bloody well laughed! Now that’s odd, if you ask me. There’s Logan, hanging on for life, and he laughs!’Joe rose to speak, but the woman next to him placed her hand on him, wary caution in her emerald eyes.‘Please, Mr Rose, you will have your chance to speak shortly,’ stated the man with the glasses. ‘Is thereanything else, Mr Greene?’‘Well…no. I didn’t let go, but…no, that’s about it.’ And so the music died away, and another person wascalled to be the focus of the bespectacled man.‘It wasn’t like that!’ burst out Joe angrily.‘Very well. Please explain the, in your own words, what it was like.’‘There was no chance, no time…it was surreal, as if watching something in a cartoon. That’s the laugh.Adrenalin, danger…we all perceive and respond to these stimuli differently…and that was just…myresponse.’ There was a pause. ‘And I didn’t let go first,’ he said suddenly, looking out at the crowd as if forvalidation. But this was nothing new to them. That statement, ‘I didn’t let go first,’ was one of the fewelements consistent with each witness; even if, under the microscope of reason, it obviously could not holdtrue for them all.‘Please, need I remind you all, that this is an inquiry,’ began the man with the glasses, with someexasperation. ‘And the aim of an inquiry is to obtain an objective account of what happened. Free fromspeculation or innuendo, and removed from personal bias as far as possible. It is not, however, a goal toportion blame. Rather to conclude whether or not changes to current procedures are necessary in order toavoid accidents of a similar nature occurring.’And so the game continued. More players were called. A pair of lovers sang of a guilty affair, a professor[VCAA Examiners Reports 2012 – 2008 for Part B Writing in Context: collated by G. Marotous – Melbourne High School] 12

of aerodynamics hummed about laws of physics, and a meteorologist whistled about high pressure systems.All melodies combining, joining together in contrapuntal dissonance and harmony, to create a symphony oftruth, a synthesised reality, woven from many disparate threads to form a whole. This continued until theman with the glasses decided that the symphony was complete. And so the music ended.‘No single action brought about the death of Dr John Logan,’ he began. ‘His death was the result of aseries of events which regrettably culminated in the loss of a brave man.’ He paused, looking down at hismusical notation of the symphony. ‘But it is clear to me that some stops must be taken. Firstly, the flying ofa balloon in such dangerous conditions constitutes a severe lack of judgement on Mr James Gadd’s behalf.I therefore call for the revoking of his piloting license. Furthermore, it behoves to ensure…’On either side of their mother, two young children lost the rest of his words. The world of adults was aconfusing and painful place. Their attention was held by something much more interesting. Under thebench, their small legs continued to swing like pendulums. Forwards, backwards. Forwards, backwards.Assessor comments• As well as dealing neatly with the key idea of the prompt and exploring its ideas, there are many otherprofound ideas embedded within the story. There is a wonderful control of language, the piece iscolourfully decorated, has a nice use of metaphor and well-developed characters in relation to theContext and the prompt.• There are, however, some problems with its handling of the prompt. While different characters offerdifferent realities about the same situation, dependent on who the individual is, this idea is not explicitenough.Sample 2Nominated text: A Streetcar Named DesireThe grey car screeched to a halt, stuck in the rush-hour traffic of Melbourne on a drizzly, grey winterevening. In doing so the cd scratched, the music momentarily pausing before the street melody picked uponce again. As the soft piano chords and acoustic guitar filled the silence, I turned and remarked, ‘SalvadorDali once said that the only difference between him and a mad man was that he wasn’t mad.’ I laughed,thoroughly amused by the distinction.‘Oh yeah?’ the driver replied. ‘Well, the only difference between me and Salvador Dali is that I know thedefinition of mad.’Looking out the window at the myriad of cars surrounding me, all cloaked in darkness as the sun said itslast faint goodbyes, I wondered if the distinction could really be that easy.Salvador Dali, a master of the surrealist school, was a man who devoted his life to questioning andchallenging our perceptions of normality, of acceptability and most importantly of beauty. He took themundane, the ordinary, the simple and sometimes the rather ugly and he transformed it all into somethingwith meaning. Or after something that escapes our conventional understanding and forces us to lookbeyond what we expect and try and comprehend what is outside of ourselves. Maybe the man who turnedlobsters into a telephone or – as legend has it – saw the disintegration of time in the melting of cheese wasright in arguing that ‘what we christen to be reality may turn out to be a more elaborate illusion that the worldof our dreams.’As I stared out into the indiscernible darkness, humming the piano chords that had been accompanyingmy musing, I wondered just how much of my reality exists external to me. How much of what I know canactually exist and be comprehensible outside of my own experience?Blanche DuBois once said, ‘I want magic – yes that’s what I want, magic’. Tennessee Williams’ delicateheroine lived out ‘what reality should be’, But hers was a different experience to mine. Her life waspolarised between desire and death, love and money. Blanche has known sorry, death, love and sexualdesire beyond my limited experience. Hers was a reality once illuminated and then dimmed. If she were tospring out of the majestic literature of Williams and experience the reality of the modern world, would ourrealities be congruent? I think not. She and Dali are two souls that enable their emotions, desires andexperiences to manifest themselves within their realities to the point of distortion.They have both known death, Dali through the death of a young brother whom he tried to encapsulateand Blanche the death of a lover she could never replace. Both have known sexual desire; Dali paintedlamb shops hanging in equilibrium on his lover’s body to subdue his appetite whilst Blanche lost herself in‘intimacies with strangers’. Beyond this though, both have felt forces exerted upon their realities to change.Dali painted himself blue to explore who he thought he was inside, whilst Blanche clinging desperately towhat others perceived of her put on ‘pastel colours’ and tried to ‘glow’. And they have both encounteredconflicting realities; Dali’s isolation from the surrealist school and the overwhelming of Blanche’s glowing[VCAA Examiners Reports 2012 – 2008 for Part B Writing in Context: collated by G. Marotous – Melbourne High School] 13

pastels by Stanley’s discordant bold primary colours.Still humming the sweet melodic song to myself, the car lurched forward breaking away from the busynight streets of Melbourne and into the enveloping darkness of the suburbs. The question, I thought, wasnot only what I defined madness to be, but also – and maybe more importantly – how Dali’s reality definedmadness for him. For the collapse of Blanche’s external understanding into the dream-like reality within her,has long been viewed as one of the most beautiful disintegrations of literature. We all rely on the kindness ofstrangers in one way or the other to reaffirm our own belief in our realities. We must all know reality throughthe lenses of our experiences and our values. Blanche could not tolerate deliberate cruelty, whilst Stellahappily continued to live with a physically abusive husband. Whilst we may question Stella’s reality we cannever understand them for Stella’s reality is fixated upon the love she feels and not the pain.It is the role of artists such as Dali and female heroines such as Blanche and Stella not to simulate areality for me, but rather to enlarge my understanding of myself and my reality through my own interpretationas distinct from a movie adapted, an art critic and indeed the author itself. No I do believe, dear reader, thatyour understanding of the piece I have just written will be quite different from the experience I had writing it.The only difference between me and Salvador Dali is that...I am not Dali.Assessor comments• A wonderfully fluent piece of writing that unites outside material and pulls it neatly with a prescribed text.• Pleasant segues between the narrative and introspective reflection with no strain.• Very clever insights and excellent control of language.• A satisfying sense of completion.Sample 3Nominated text: The Shark NetMillions of years ago, we were nothing more than microscopic amoeba, floating in blissful thoughtlessnessover the surface of the earth. Eventually, we began to change. We grew gills, and we swam. We grewarms, legs, and began to walk. We stood up straight – and learned to walk all over again. Soon we evenbegan to resemble those incredible, terrible creatures that would one day create works of science and art –along with destruction on a grand scale.Or so an evolutionary scientist (along with many others) would have it. If you were, for example, anOrthodox Jew, last month would have, in fact, marked the five thousand, six thousand, six hundred andseventieth anniversary of God deciding it was just about time to switch the lights on. Sure, there’s lessscientific evidence backing up this version of events, but to this certain group, it is reality pure and simple.The Irish Modernist playwright and poet Samuel Beckett once wrote that ‘Life is habit. Or rather, life is asuccession of individuals; the world being a product of individual’s consciousness.’ While Beckett obviouslywasn’t the sunniest of personalities, this concept of individual, evolving realities is one that is particularly apt.While there may be a truly objective reality out there somewhere, humans view objective reality through theirown, intrinsically subjective filter. Take the recent arrest of celebrated director Roman Polanski intoconsideration. One might venture that the rape of a child is objectively and always wrong; yet RomanPolanski stands today under house arrest in Switzerland, and international petition bearing famoussignatures calling for his release. Interesting that this petition originated from and is signed by so many ofHollywood fame; for some, it seems, shared experience or affection can negate what we would normallyview as inherently evil. As Rousseau noted, ‘Nature never deceives us – it is we who deceive ourselves.’Indeed, self-deception is an extremely human way of coping with factors that we simply deem too difficult todeal with. Emotion can simply override reality, to influence our perception of it. Robert Drewe’s deep andunabiding guilt over the death of his mother permeates his memoir, The Shark Net. Though from anobjective standpoint it is clear that no murder was committed, Drewe goes so far as to feel there is somecomparison to be made between himself and Eric Cooke, the ‘Nedlands Monster’. Guilt guides hisresponses, and effectively builds within him a reality that is objectively incongruous; that he murdered hismother. Our emotions have enormous power over us. Dr Helen Fisher’s work in studying the chemicalscience of love shows us that, with enough dopamine, love is less an ephemeral, than a chemical reaction.Hence, our realities are informed not only by what we know intellectually to be real, but perhaps to a greaterextent by what we feel to be real.This in itself is problematic. Considering the subjective nature of reality, along with the social tendencies ofhumans, it is clear that various, generally accepted social realities are formed. What, then, when someone[VCAA Examiners Reports 2012 – 2008 for Part B Writing in Context: collated by G. Marotous – Melbourne High School] 14

eaks the norm? Caster Semenya, the South African woman runner recently outed on a global stage asintersex gives us some insight into how we react to alternate realities. From her competitors cruel snarlbefore she was even tested – ‘She’s not a woman just look at her’ – to the insensitive, blaring internationalheadlines – ‘Semenya found to have seven times a woman’s normal testosterone levels!’ – Caster wasimmediately relegated to the status of an outsider or a freak, her personal business public before she waseven aware of it.Caster has always identified as a woman. Openly rejected from her sex, and her reality of 18 yearsstanding, Caster broke down, and is still on suicide watch. As humans, we have a horror of theuncategorisable; we like to try and contain the world, messiness of life into neat little boxes. If we cannotunderstand something, our first impulse is to reject it. Sadly, when we reject an entire person’s reality, wereject the possibility to expand and augment our own. The person rejected, moreover, is consigned to acertain degree of unfulfillment. Rita Hayworth, star of the beloved Gilda bemoaned the fact that ‘men fall inlove with Gilda, and wake up with me.’ Though we many view people subjectively, if we do not to someextent acknowledge their own self-perception, we disallow for who they may, in reality, be.Sometimes, however, this self-perception can be so wildly distorted that it cannot be viewed as real byanyone but themselves. Eric Cooke’s ‘Joe Cool’ persona and ‘Saturday Night Boy’ behaviour are not onlypathetic in his attempts, a short, disfigured man, to chat up women he both wants and despises, but aremoreover disturbing in their desperate rejection of concrete reality. Despite his harelip, and his wife andchildren at home in bed, Cooke knows himself to be the smooth, sexy, single man that he tries sodesperately to create. He is not, however, as strong as the social reality that he denies. Darwin said that‘Ultimately, survival is dependent on an ability to change and evolve.’ Cooke, unable to change how helooks, or acts, is thus doomed to clash with the reality of his situation – and lose.Humans, in effect, need to feel purpose, and will construct a reality to effect this. Existentialist Frenchphilosopher Jean-Paul Satre contended that, ‘Life has no meaning once you lose the illusion of beingeternal’, and more often than not this is how we choose to act. We intellectually comprehend warnings aboutglobal warming, for example – yet when it comes to switching every plug off at the socket, or taking 3 minuteshowers, we so often fail to make the connection. Ultimately, the people we are, and the realities that weconstruct, as tangible as they may be to us, will never be more than a factor in how others perceive us, andthus how we are accepted into a wider reality. Considering the transience of our existence, we can nevertruly be remembered thought he reality we constructed, but rather in how we fit into the reality of tour times.Our perception of reality is effectually less pertinent than others’ perceptions of us. Roman Polanski willforever be remembered as a child rapist, Caster Semenya as a cheat, Eric Cooke as an inhumane monster.Whether or not this is fair, the way we perceive others, and the way others view us, create how our realitieswill be remembered. Thus in the worlds of Oscar Wilde, ‘Does biography lend to death a new terror.’Assessor comments• A contemplative dissertation using the text and external material in a thoughtful and supportive manner.• While there are some rambling sentences, there is nonetheless a control over the language and ideasand the piece grows and develops from the prompt.[VCAA Examiners Reports 2012 – 2008 for Part B Writing in Context: collated by G. Marotous – Melbourne High School] 15

Sample Responses from the 2008 Exam‘We can evade ‘reality’ but we cannot avoid the consequences of doing so.’The extract following is an example of a response that was considered too general and did not explore theprompt using the text:Reality isn’t a pleasant thing, we all love to picture the world as perfect and growing up and having that storybook life we had always wished for. Although that will never happen, because that’s reality. This is thereason most people become miserable and unhappy, because they need to get in the real world and facethe fact, reality isn’t a nice thing, its dangerous. While everyone is living in a superior world, building theirlives upon lies and ignoring the facts about what is really going on around us, when they finally get intoreality they cannot understand, they just cant handle the truth. The world is a beautiful place, but then againits also a very scary place. While people are worry about what new car they are buying next, ourunrenewable petrol supply is running out. Or how much money they are going to spend on their fairy-tailwedding, when half the world is suffering extreme poverty. This is the reason we are being bombarded withall this bad news, because we have been ignoring the truth and now were having to deal with theconsequences. We have come to the point were we have to change our ways, not because we chose to,there is no other choice. Which is pathetic, this world has grown to become dependent on money and greed.But does that really matter, when in a few years time our earth is destroyed. If everyone used their brainsand realised what was really important. Reality wouldn’t be that harsh, because we would be prepared for it.That’s the way it is, as much as you try and ignore it, reality is always waiting for you around the corner.Sample 1This sample works with the ideas of the prompt and presents a well thought-out conclusion, drawingevidence from two texts.In our quest to determine and shape our perceptions of the world, we as individuals are inevitably guided byour own self-interests and desire to see ourselves in a positive light. Consequently, we frequently immerseourselves in particular behaviours or construct facades to avoid the bleak and mere confronting aspects ofreality. Yet, in doing so, we create an alternate reality which can spark heated conflict with those around us,or risk plunging completely into a make-believe world which appears much more enticing and palatable thanrealism. Moreover, for those seeking to mask and bury a past riddled with pain and suffering, the heavyburden of guilt cannot be infinitely escaped. Thus, for those individuals who endeavour to avoid confrontingthe true nature of their actions by constructing a fantasy world, conflict is inevitably triggered with both thosearound us, and on an internal level.Following involvement in tragic and painful events, we frequently seek to avoid our exalting feelings ofremorse, but in the process, only heighten the turmoil we must endure. Guilt revealed and examined often inliterature as an emotion and sensation of such an unfathomable potency that it will inevitably defy our effortsto the contrary, and encroach on our present reality. In Enduring Love, Ian McEwan draws on the notion ofuncleanliness in describing Joe’s guilt after the traumatic ballooning incident, ‘like the feeling of not havingwashed.’ Without doubt, Joe’s ‘manic obsession with researching Jed’s condition can be seen by many,including Joe’s wife, Clarissa, as stemming from a desire to absolve his deep-seated remorse. Moreover, inMacbeth, Shakespeare draws on a similar motif of dirtiness in his portrayal of the heavy sense ofresponsibility plaguing Lady Macbeth for her role in Duncan’s murder. Despite having initially scorned herhusband’s softness, belittling Macbeth as ‘too full o’ the milk of human kindness,’ Lady Macbeth is quicklyreduced to a state of lunacy, feverishly scrubbing at invisible marks on her hands, crying ‘out, damned spot!’Blanche too, in A Streetcar Named Desire, attempts to avoid memories of her role in Allan’s death byfrequently indulging in the escapism of bathing. Yet, Stanley, who is presented in dialogue and appearanceas in binary opposition to Blanche, allows Williams to highlight how we cannot avoid haunting pastexperiences because they will be exposed by those around us. Therefore, the notion of uncleanliness as ametaphor for guilt encapsulates the extent to which processing our remorse is an unavoidable, if difficult,process. Knowledge of our past wrongdoing is so enduring that not even the most desperate actions willcleanse it from our minds, and failure to confront it can have disastrous repercussions.Often, in our relations with those around us, our attempts to avoid reality can undermine our ability to coexistharmoniously. By evading elements of the truth and creating false, deceptive facades, we can appearthreatening and even dangerous to those who possess divergent outlooks. Certainly, the famous declaration[VCAA Examiners Reports 2012 – 2008 for Part B Writing in Context: collated by G. Marotous – Melbourne High School] 16

made by T.S. Eliot in his poem ‘Burnt Norton’ that ‘human kind cannot bear very much reality,’ encapsulatesthe lack of tolerance within society for the existence of realities which deviate from our own. StanleyKowalski exemplifies those individuals in society who favour realism and factual evidence about all else inachieving vindication for their view point. By consequence, Blanche’s demure facade and false pretencesabout her innocence and purity, confessing, ‘I don’t want realism’ immediately come into conflict with Stanleywho revels in being as ‘common as dirt’. The rape at the culmination of the play allows Williams to convey tohis audience the suffering and pain inflicted upon individual who seek to avoid the dominant reality andimmerse themselves in a make-believe world. Indeed, Stanley’s conflict with Blanche is in many ways,reminiscent of the schism which emerges between Joe and Jed in Enduring Love. Paradoxically, both areconvinced that the other is evading reality, at the detriment to their personal growth and rationality. On onehand, Joe is convinced that Jed is crouched in ‘a cell of his own devising’, yet to Jed, it is Joe who is ‘trappedin a cage of reason’. The violence that erupts between the two men further typifies the conflict generated byindividuals who are convinced the other has abandoned reality. Thus, our efforts to escape an unpleasantperception or outlook are ultimately rendered futile, as they will be painfully shattered by those around us.In attempting to ease the suffering and turmoil that we experience within reality, we often draw upon fancifulillusions, yet simultaneously risk losing touch with reality altogether. Certainly, the figure of Blancheepitomises the dangers of dabbling too heavily in fantasy. Initially constructing an ‘incongruous’ appearanceto avoid descending to the squalor and poverty of Stanley and Stella’s lifestyle at Elysian Fields, Blanchequickly comes to rely so heavily on the illusions she creates that by the play’s end, her entire grasp of realityhas been corrupted, reduced to an almost comical, pathetic figure who is portrayed as ‘murmuring excitedly’to her ‘spectral admirers’. In a similar fashion, Jed Parry also loses the capability to discern the differencebetween fiction and the truth, even constructing evidence to validate his distorted view. ‘Great idea with thecurtains’, he congratulates a baffled Joe in his letter, creating physical symbols of their love to convincehimself of the truth in his obsession. Above all, Auden’s poignant, questioning words in his poem ‘September1, 1939’, ‘who can live for long in an euphoric dream’, illuminates the utter unsustainability of a fantasy world.Thus, despite the alluring nature of illusions, which offer an escape from realism, it is easy to become soreliant on their comforting presence that reality is completely and disastrously abandoned.Within our existences, haunting and traumatic experiences often have such a disturbing and unsettling effectthat we are tempted to bury them under a layer of illusion or directed through. Yet, in turning to fancifulconstructs, we render ourselves vulnerable to conflicts with others, who do not comprehend our internalturmoil and the reasoning behind our alternate reality. Moreover, we risk either spiralling completely out ofcontrol into a world of delusion or facing an even more potent sentiment of guilt and remorse than we wouldhave otherwise. Thus, our efforts to evade and escape reality are ultimately rendered both futile anddangerous, as we will be forced to face both external and internal retribution.Sample 2This sample uses the prompt to explore personal denial and consequences. It shows control in writing anddraws appropriately from A Streetcar Named Desire and The Shark Net.The other day as I sat completing one of those quizzes that promises to tell you what personality you haveand how your life will turn out, I was confronted with a question that truly perplexed me. Now, unsurprisinglyit was hardly the question itself that I found challenging but rather what it demanded of me; What is yourworst childhood memory? I sat dumbfounded, unable to think of a single memory. Now, don’t get me wrong,I’m sure I have encountered many experiences which would fit the bill here, I did have to survive as theyoungest in a family of karate kids mind you, (black belts nonetheless!). But despite racking my brains sodiligently that I was in desperate need of a panadol afterwards, the now overly blank page stared back at me.Why can’t I remember? Does it mean that I have no personality? That my life lacks meaning?These were the questions that plagued me long after the quiz-bearing trashy tabloid had been sent to therecycling heap so I sought out some trusted friends to help with my dilemma and discovered that suchlapses in memory, particularly with respect to difficult or unbearable circumstances are perfectly normal. Infact psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud discovered this tendency to evade difficult realities many years ago – it’scalled denial. Many literary texts and psychoanalytical journals have since dealt with the ideas whichunderpin such a desire to evade reality and examined the reasons behind this tendency. TennesseeWilliams’ A Streetcar Named Desire is one such literary text, wherein the romantic protagonist BlancheDuBois presents a falsified image of herself so as to create ‘magic’ and portray ‘what ought to be the truth’rather than truth itself. Blanche seeks to gloss over aspects of her past which she finds unappealing ordifficult to deal with, a practice that many psychologists believe to be not only natural but also a crucialaspect of our humanity, enabling us to overcome the challenges with which we are invariably presented and[VCAA Examiners Reports 2012 – 2008 for Part B Writing in Context: collated by G. Marotous – Melbourne High School] 17

persevere in life. We need to be able to withdraw from our reality sometimes, to regain our strength and tocling to the hope and optimism that the harsh external world threatens all too often. Uncertain of mind, feebleof body, our capacity to control, to some extent the reality in which we find ourselves, our opportunity forescapism may sometimes prove the only thing from which we are able to draw strength.But how far can this withdrawal from reality be taken before it represents our submitting to a fictionalexistence? How far can Blanche go in upholding her fraudulent portrayal before she begins to believe it andaccept it as her actual reality? For Blanche, a denial of reality leads her to spin a web of lies and deceit andthough she herself recognises the differences in her constructed and actual reality, acknowledging that sheis motivated in her actions by an innate desire to reignite the spotlight of love which she so suddenlydiscovered in her husband, and later, so tragically lost, does that make the trickery acceptable? How canothers recognise what aspects of a person’s character are genuine and which are fabricated when such ameticulously construed image is so diligently projected? Will reality invariably catch up with Blanche or is itactually possible to completely evade our true reality?Psychologists concur that to seek to completely reconstruct reality is a perilous endeavour and one whichwill invariably result in a cruel awakening. Even if a person is aware that they are misguiding others,psychologists argue, the disappointment which they will inevitably feel when those who they have sought todeceive discover that truth, is not something that this awareness prepares them for. Indeed this proves eerilytrue in Blanche’s case as her hopes are dashed when her brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski sees throughBlanche’s fragile veneer and conveys the truth of her past to his friend. But is Stanley right in his desire tocompletely destroy the reality which Blanche has created for herself and in doing so force her into the cruellybright light of truth? Is it true that the truth is always better?Indeed, where do we draw the line between fact and fiction? I am reminded in my musings here of anotherliterary text, Robert Drewe’s autobiographical memoir The Shark Net which attempts to reconstruct hischildhood experiences growing up in Perth at the time of the Nedland Killer, Eric Edgar Cooke. Drewebelieves that Cooke had denied his reality to such and extreme that he was leading a life of fiction, trying torepress the reality of his physical deformity and the pain of a life wherein he was constantly excluded fromsociety. The ramifications of this descent into denial are undeniably and starkly clear in Cooke’s case andlead him to wreak destruction and pain on others so as to alleviate his own feelings, but where does thisleave the rest of us?Perhaps the best that we can do is to seek to deny only the most difficult, the most painful memories,momentarily. When we allow ourselves to contemplate hardships, without allowing these hardships tooverwhelm us, we are left with a healthy balance and one which is constructive in contributing to our ability tomeet and overcome hurdles in our life. Following my contemplations of the way that we evade reality, Imyself proved able to recall difficult childhood experiences from the dark recesses of my mind and if youprove similarly able to demonstrate an awareness of the difficulties you have endured, you may find that youare able to look back and smile at your strength.Sample 3This sample includes highly effective writing. The shape and structure of the piece work to a conclusionthat clearly addresses the prompt and draws evocatively on the text A Streetcar Named Desire.The paper lantern cast a deep lavender silhouette across the room. Ruby sighed to herself as she took in herreflection, barely a shadow in the stage mirror. People would often ask why she preferred her make-up roomso dark but what did she care? She had make-up artists to do the job so why should she worry? Besides, itgave the room an atmosphere of mystery and intrigue.She looked to the wall and saw the framed newspaper cuttings of herself smiling her brilliant smile backat her with the title; ‘Lights! Camera! Action! Young, beautiful and talented Ruby Rouge takes the spotlight!’She had loved; she still loved the feeling of adrenaline pulsing though her as she entered the stage; theaudience waiting in hungry anticipation ready to devour every morsel of her body, her voice. And to think thatafter all these years no one suspected her of being over 30! (Well, she hadn’t put on an ounce in over 15years!)She stood up and watched her silhouette turn to the side. She examined her legs, her back and then herarms, carefully not to frown so as to preserve that beauty which she had maintained so well for over 50years. Still perfect, she thought.Sighing with satisfaction, she drew a key out of her purse and swiftly opened the bottom drawer of herdesk, searching for what she needed. It was her refuge, a retreat into a pool of memories; of youth, of younglove. She began to pour the whiskey into an unremarkable blue mug. She reminisced gleefully; the[VCAA Examiners Reports 2012 – 2008 for Part B Writing in Context: collated by G. Marotous – Melbourne High School] 18

sensation, the colourful and bright lights pouring in at you from all sides, until you were illuminated in lightand it was just you and the spotlight, you and your world. She would often delve far into the minds of hercharacters without a thought of ever surfacing. It was just one character to another; there just wasn’t time tobe ‘out of character’. She laughed lightly, now that was show business, she smiled.It was curious though, the act of performing. There was a definite sense of pretending, of fabricating lifeinto the world of the make-believe. Of drawing audience members in, the tale of the hero indulging their innermost passions and desires...Had life been a lie? Had we been lying or just telling little white lies to help us on our way? And if we werelying, who was it that we were rally lying to? The audience? Each other? Ourselves?She dismissed the topic abruptly and poured another mug of whiskey. She sipped it slowly, like sweetsyrup, soothing golden and light.The audience would never know she had drunk before the performance, they never did.She just felt safe in this world. She didn’t live for the outside world anymore, just the thrill of the past, thereal magic within. Being able to retreat back to the 50’s, the time of glamour, spotlights and fame. Her time.The drug would work quickly, lubricating her mind in the comforting liquid shield of her memories.Sometimes, it just helped to simply numb the pain; all the pain, of loss, of love...No. She wouldn’t think of that now. She hastily wiped away the signs of wetness before they smudgedher mascara and smiled in the mirror.‘I used to be Tennessee’s favourite,’ she said to the fading shadow.Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of something red hiding in the shadows. It was her first stage dress, rubyred with a lace bodice at the back. Why! She even had the same pearl necklace to wear!This dress had made her, had given her the name ‘Ruby Rouge’. She smiled a devilish smile and quicklyslipped into the red dress. It was a bold, dark flame, screaming sexuality and seduction.Clipping on her pearl necklace and sliding on a white feather boa, Ruby began to glide unevenly acrossthe room. ‘No, no please don’t stand up for me,’ she said to her admiring audience. ‘What? Roses, for me?Why, now that is extravagant.’She stumbled to the desk and this time picked up the whole bottle, tossing it down in one swig. Withfaintly hysterical humour she began to dance the two step, a quick rustle dance, tossing her feather boaaround her. Surrounding her was the chorus, her orchestra, her audience, cheering her, applauding; ‘Encore!Encore!’ they shouted.Around and around she spun, until all the colours of the room became one; a fusion of lilac and darkness.Laughing hysterically she danced, the bottle nearly slipping from her grasp. She raised the feather boaabove her head twirling it around in rhythmic movements as the world around became darker and darker.In a matter of moments Ruby fell, the scarf wrapping around the paper lantern and tearing it off, theviolent harsh light rippling through the lavender mist.Crippled by the sudden brightness, Ruby staggered to her desk. Grabbing hold of her mirror she hauledherself up to see an old woman, staring back, mascara smudged and streaming along her worn face.Suddenly this face was contorted with rage, as she threw herself against the horrifying image. For amoment glass hung, suspended in the air and glittering like fairy dust. And then, nothing. Clutching herbleeding hand she looked up at her broken reflection.[VCAA Examiners Reports 2012 – 2008 for Part B Writing in Context: collated by G. Marotous – Melbourne High School] 19