Hey everyone!
I go to Macrob (one of the four selective highschools in Victoria) and am willing to sell English resources. I have an annotated copy of 'Memory Police' ($20) and an annotated copy of 'New and Selected Poems' by Mary Oliver ($25). I’ve also compiled full sets of notes for both texts that make VCE 3/4 English much easier to navigate throughout the year.
Why are my resources different?
Usually, company text guides are written by university tutors who provide generic, surface-level commentary but, I can assure you that my notes are much more comprehensive, easy to understand and have more thematic depth.
My notes are:
✔ Written directly for VCE 3/4 exam criteria
✔ Packed with metalanguage, close analysis, and authorial intent
✔ Organised into themes, quotes, essays, sample paragraphs, vocab & sentence starters
✔ Extremely detailed, easy to follow, and teacher-verified
✔ Designed to save HOURS of class prep and SAC revision
📘 MARY OLIVER – Full Analysis Guide ($30)
Includes:
Variety of poems that are fully annotated
Themes, big ideas, structure, and contextual notes
Quote breakdowns for every major poem
20+ pages of in-depth analysis
Sample paragraphs
Two high-scoring essays
VCE-ready vocab + elevated phrases
20+ practice prompts with planning
Sentence starters for introductions, topic sentences & conclusions
📕 THE MEMORY POLICE – Full Analysis Guide ($30)
Includes:
Theme-organised quote banks
2 A+ essays and multiple model paragraphs
Symbolism, authorial intent & dystopian conventions
Sentence starters + essay planning templates
Sample analysis
10+ practice prompts
A bit of a sneak peak into analysis~
Mary Oliver
Poem Name: First snow
Big Ideas:
Humanity’s inability to express the sublimity of nature
Nature is splendorous
Those who seek nature’s connection will find answers
Context:
Through the lens of a snowfall, Oliver explores the profound impacts of nature, provoking individuals to contemplate its beauty, mystery and existence
Emphasises the experience of observing and being affected by the transformed landscape
Themes:
Transformation
Abundance of nature’s positivity during struggles
Wealth of beauty
Comforting
Structure:
1 stanza
Free verse- Through free verse, Oliver removes structural constraints to depict snow as a universal, ever-present entity that settles equally upon all beings.
Analysis:
The snow is described as akin to a “million candles” held by the “heavens”. This religious imagery imbues the cold snow with splendour, warmth and comfort akin to that of heaven, thereby portraying it as a luminous source of spiritual guidance. In this way, the speaker reveals snow as illuminating the path towards healing.
Planning
Prompt: In Oliver’s poetry, hardship is not an obstacle but a catalyst for growth. To what extent do you agree?
BP1:
Lauding the resplendence of nature, Oliver evinces hardships to encourage individuals to connect with nature that guides them towards healing and find their path of growth
Poems:
Morning poem
First snow
BP 2: While hardships initial seem as an obstacle, they work to teach one resilience, catalysing growth
Poems:
Crossing the swamps
Egrets
BP 3: However, the struggles caused by oppressive relationships can reduce one’s capacity to grow and live life meaningfully
The journey
Memory Police
Themes:
Oppression
Love
Pain
Humanity
Passivity/ Acquiescence
Memories
Identity
Resistance
Story telling
Hope
Analysis:
“Like a cave floating in the sky”
The metaphorical disconnection of the hiding place to the ground reveals the fragility of memories but also the vulnerable position of those who try and resist and preserve their identities
Shows how they have very unstable lives
"Needless to say, not a single flower was left in the rose garden. The bare stalks, reduced to leaves and thorns, were thrust into the slope like brittle bones"
Metaphorically alludes to society losing its beauty and what adds value to society.
The presence of only thorns remaining shows how when we lose memories, only the negative consequences are prevalent
"trudge", "lost in thought"
Ogawa’s depiction of the Islanders who “trudge” rather than walk reveals how their acquiescence under authoritarian rule crystallises their identities, gradually dehumanising them. By aligning their movement with that of “animals”, Ogawa suggests that passive compliance reduces individuals to a primal, instinct-driven state, stripping away the complexity that defines human identity. Yet, the Narrator’s observation that they remain “lost in thought” re-asserts a distinctly human quality, implying that fragments of autonomy and selfhood still persist beneath the veneer of resignation. In illustrating this tension between animalistic compliance and lingering humanity, Ogawa cautions contemporary society against passive acclimatisation to oppression, warning that sustained submission erodes identity itself and ultimately destabilises the social fabric.
Planning
Any topic related to oppression
BP1: The Memory Police’s regime of systemic oppression indoctrinates fear so deeply that it fractures communal trust, compelling individuals to disconnect and prioritise self-preservation over empathy.
"Trap"
“Disturbance, disapprovingly” “more and more brutal” “invade houses”
BP2: By conditioning individuals to accept disappearances as a routine part of life, the Memory Police distort their perception of reality, leading them to appreciate loss as convenience rather than mourn its consequences.
"Arthritis"
"Good riddance"
BP3: Yet, the islanders’ own passivity sustains the regime’s power, revealing how fear and desensitisation foster complicity that enables ongoing oppression.
"It’s disturbing to see the disappeared objects and so we have no choice but to burn them, bury them or float them down the river"
"Surrendering to each disappearance. Move along quite naturally. A new sense of rhythm."
To summarise!
What I’ve shown above is only a small sample. The full documents include deeper analysis, more quotes, more poems, and full A+ example essays. It also contains key tips about my English journey and things I would definitely recommend and not recommend for your VCE English 3/4 journey.
You won’t need to waste hours sorting notes or re-reading texts before SACs or the exam — everything is organised and ready to use. I've got it all here for you!
Both 'Memory Police' and 'New and Selected Poems' by Mary Oliver are annotated.
Prices:
'Memory Police' by Yoko Ogawa (hardcopy)- $23
'New and Selected Poems' by Mary Oliver (hardcopy)- $25
Analysis for 'New and Selected Poems' by Mary Oliver - $30
Analysis for 'Memory Police' by Yoko Ogawa - $30
These affordable prices make it easier for you to access high-quality resources that will help you excel in your SACs and exams. The notes contain a wide range of ideas, prompts, suggestions, and exam strategies that I have carefully compiled over my years at Macrob, a school known for its challenging SACs, rigorous marking, and highly competitive cohort.
Please email me at resources518@gmail.com to purchase🙂
