Let’s look at a VCE English and EAL essay prompt for Oedipus The King!
Oedipus The King is one of the most popular VCE texts for Year 12s across Victoria, so much so it feels like every second student is tackling this Greek tragedy by Sophocles!
So let’s look at an essay prompt and unpack how students can tackle the question, and highlight some common traps that students might fall into.
Pride is ultimately to blame for the tragedy of Oedipus the King. Do you agree?
As I mentioned in an earlier post, ‘do you agree’-style questions will always have areas of grey, where an idea or issue can be debated. Students wanting to score well in Section A of the VCE English/EAL exam will need to find that grey area and discuss both sides before coming to a conclusion.
For this Oedipus essay prompt, the key phrase is ‘ultimately to blame’. It means that one thing is mostly, or completely, or totally, to blame. In this case, the question is whether pride is the most blame-worthy thing in the whole play.
Now, of course pride, or hubris, is a key factor for the tragedy that unfolds, but it is also undeniable that there was a prophecy that arguably led to the unravelling of Oedipus, Jocasta and Laius. Sophocles also makes clear that the Greek gods are powerful and involved beings in his play. So the question has no clear-cut answer!
A successful student must untangle this intricate web of personal responsibility, human agency and divine power in order to answer the question: is pride ultimately to blame for the tragedy? If not, then who or what should we blame instead? If yes, what about all the other things that contribute?
Whatever the conclusion, you should devote one paragraph to discussing a counterpoint to your contention. That means if you are going to conclude that pride is ultimately to blame, you should spend some time discussing another factor that contributes to the tragedy. If you are going to conclude that pride is not ultimately to blame, then you should spend some time discussing why pride is a contributing factor to the tragedy.
I hope this helps! Here’s our full video explainer on tackling this prompt:
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