Let’s be honest, Mod A can feel overwhelming.
Two texts. Two contexts. A question about “textual conversations.” And suddenly you’re trying to sound intelligent while not losing the thread of your argument.
What actually makes a Mod A essay Band 6 isn’t vocabulary. It isn’t memorising 20 quotes. It’s conceptual control. It’s knowing what your argument is and sustaining it!
Below is my Band 6 essay response so you can see what a strong essay looks like.
The Essay Question
Through textual conversations, composers are able to reimagine enduring concerns in new contexts.
Analyse this statement with close reference to your prescribed texts.
The capacity for storytelling to illuminate universal truths yields an ongoing continuum of conversation, whereby texts are vehicles that reimagine the ideas and conventions of their predecessors. Virginia Woolf’s modernist novel Mrs Dalloway (1925) examines how the values and attitudes of a post-war society, and the institutional powers that are yielded from this, impedes the process of self-actualisation. Stephen Daldry’s postmodernist film The Hours (2002) employs a triptych form to reimagine this universal notion through the lens of three distinct women across different eras, demonstrating the perennial nature of the individual’s struggle with the human condition.
✅ Strong thesis that answers “reimagine enduring concerns.” The idea of “self-actualisation” and “the human condition” establishes the enduring concern, while “post-war society” and “postmodernist film” foreground new contexts, precisely what the question demands.
Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway illustrates how patriarchal dominance marginalises women, reducing their identities and aspirations to a state of futility. Clarissa Dalloway outwardly embodies the Victorian feminine ideal through her poise, altruism and marriage to politician Richard Dalloway, causing Peter Walsh to critically characterise her as the “perfect hostess,” as her value as a woman is tied to her ability to serve others. The omniscient narrator employs parentheses to reveal that “she had cried over it in her bedroom,” exposing her private anguish and inward desire to escape patriarchal submission. Her dissatisfaction is reinforced by the tripartite structure of “this being Mrs. Dalloway; not even Clarissa any more; this being Mrs. Richard Dalloway,” within the stream of consciousness narration, metaphorically erasing her identity, and emphasising how she is defined by her husband - externalised through her name - which forces her to adopt a performative public persona. The anaphora, “how different, how incompatible,” highlights the stark contrast between Clarissa’s exterior and interior as she is unable to embrace her free self outside the private realm of her attic. Through this realisation, Woolf exposes the vanity of life under oppressive patriarchal values.
✅ Nuanced interpretation. Rather than stating “Clarissa is oppressed,” the response shows the tension between her exterior performance and interior consciousness, this sophistication is what elevates the paragraph into Band 6 territory.
When examined alongside The Hours, Woolf’s critique of repressive societal roles is amplified by Daldry’s contemporary feminist lens, which utilises a triptych form to convey women’s ongoing dissatisfaction under enduring patriarchal values. Daldry recontextualises Woolf’s depiction of female disempowerment through Laura Brown, whose claustrophobia in 1950’s suburbia manifests in her anxiety to face the day, as revealed through the lingering camera shot, capturing her look of dread as she is cocooned in bed. Her frustration with domestic confinement culminates in an eerily symmetrical medium-shot of her sitting rigidly in a sepia-washed hotel room, encapsulating the disjunct between her agonised expression and her surroundings. This is followed by the overhead shot of Laura lying on the bed as water fills the room, a symbol of her overwhelming entrapment within her domestic existence, leading to her contemplation of suicide. Yet, upon reading Mrs Dalloway, her ability to resonate with Woolf’s protagonist reframes choosing life as empowering, conveying literature’s transformative power. This sentiment is simultaneously reframed by Clarissa Vaughn, who leads a seemingly liberating life in early 2000’s New York. However, Louis’ visit unravels her facade as the camera shifts from a full-body shot to a medium-shot of Clarissa in domestic attire, framing her collapse into the kitchen corner in anguish, recalling Richard’s words, “Mrs Dalloway.” This intertextuality conveys women’s perpetual struggle for self-definition, despite societal progress. Daldry’s recontextualisation of female restriction stimulates insightful discussions on the ongoing subjugation of women under patriarchal doctrines.
✅ Clear demonstration of reimagining. The enduring concern (female restriction) is shown evolving from 1920s England to 1950s suburbia to early 2000s New York; this layered contextual movement answers the question explicitly.
Woolf interrogates the debilitating effects of alienation on the psyche in post-World War I society, where evolving perceptions of mental health are revealed by the medical institution's inability to support shell shocked victims. Septimus epitomises this struggle; his “pale-faced” appearance and “hazel eyes… of apprehension,” outwardly reflect the inner turmoil he suffers as a wartime casualty, hindering his reintegration into civilian life. His shell shock is conveyed as he cries, he is “falling down, down into the flames!,” an allusion to Dante’s Inferno, illustrating his sense of eternal suffering as battlefield memories engulf him, mirroring the existential dread of the post-bellum era. Further, he views himself as the “last relic straying on the edge of the world,” metaphorically capturing his inability to reconcile war horrors with frenetic post-war London. Despite his torment, he insists, “he did not want to die,” the truncated sentence underscoring his will to live. Yet, his detachment from reality emerges in his characterisation of Dr. Holmes as a “repulsive brute,” catalysing his decision to assert his agency by jumping out of the window, illustrating a fascination with mortality as both defiance and liberation in the post-war experience.
✅ Intertextual sophistication. The Dante allusion shows awareness of layered literary conversation, mirroring the essay’s own conceptual framework.
Daldry pays homage to Woolf, extending our understanding of the crippling effects of mental health on the individual. The film opens with Virginia entering a river to commit suicide, the motif of water symbolising the liberation of death as an escape from the suffocating nature of life and a vehicle to achieve a state of freedom. The close-up shot of Virginia writing the opening line of her novel, “Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself,” illustrates her momentary sense of purpose derived from writing, reframing the novel as a creative outlet for expressing her inner concerns. Her affliction is epitomised when, in despair over her medically-advised relocation to Richmond, she laments to Leonard at the train station that her “life has been stolen,” and that she has “endured this custody,” the connotations of imprisonment capturing her soul’s agony, similar to that of Septimus’, due to the early 20th-century medical institution’s failures. Daldry finalises the film with Virginia’s death, employing a bookend technique to underscore the cyclical nature of despair that individuals experience as they navigate a world often indifferent to their inner turmoil. Daldry’s stylistic choices enhance the enduring relevance of Mrs Dalloway, showcasing literature’s ability to transcend time and shape its readers through newer forms.
✅ Clear articulation of enduring concern: psychological despair and institutional constraint persist across contexts.
✅ Strong synthesis. The paragraph closes by explicitly linking stylistic choice to enduring relevance, ensuring the argument never drifts from the question.
In conclusion, Woolf’s conversations surrounding the imprisonment of the psyche under patriarchal values and cerebral causes is mirrored and reimagined by Daldry to enrich audiences’ understanding and appreciation of these universal matters.
Check out more of our HSC English guides below!
Manoj Arachige
Manoj Arachige
KIS Academics
FAQs
Where can I find more Band 6 Module A Exemplar Essays
Check out more of our HSC English Study guides here and find more HSC English Exemplar Essays written by our top scoring tutors!
What makes a Module A Textual Conversations Essay Band 6?
A Band 6 essay sustains a conceptual argument about textual conversation, integrates context meaningfully, analyses form (not just content), and demonstrates how composers reimagine enduring concerns.
How many words should I aim for a Module A Textual Conversations Essay?
- In 40 minutes, aim for 800–1200 words depending on your writing speed. Focus on clarity and quality over length
How much context should I include in my HSC English Essays
How much context you should include is dependent on whether or not it is important in shaping meaning. Context should function as a catalyst for reinterpretation, not a history lesson.
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