Humanities is taught by Ms. Small. This course explores literary, historical, and cultural texts alongside essay writing, group projects, and class discussions to investigate the essential question, “What does it mean to be human?” Through these activities, we analyze how ideas and definitions of humanity have evolved across different time periods.
This piece was written for an original satire assignment where we were asked to use humor, exaggeration, and irony to critique a real-world issue. The goal was to clearly identify a problem, mock it through an intentionally over-the-top perspective, and use specific rhetorical devices like understatement, hyperbole, imagery, and irony. In this satire, Sam and I focused on the Massachusetts RMV and the absurd process of getting a driver’s license as a teenager, based on our own experiences. By writing it as a timeline of events and exaggerating the frustration, waiting, and anxiety involved, we tried to make the piece funny while also pointing out how unnecessarily complicated and stressful the system really is.
This essay examined the role artificial intelligence programs such as ChatGPT should play in education. The task required synthesizing ideas from multiple sources that present differing perspectives on AI, rather than simply summarizing them, and developing a clear, defensible position supported by evidence. In this essay, I analyze arguments that warn against AI’s impact on originality and critical thinking alongside viewpoints that emphasize its potential to enhance learning and teaching. By placing these sources in conversation with one another, I ultimately argue for a balanced approach to AI in education—one that emphasizes ethical use and preparation for the modern workforce while guarding against overreliance.