The Humanities course at Mass Academy uses literary, historical, and cultural readings, along with essay writing, group projects, and class discussions, to explore the essential question: “What does it mean to be human?” We investigate how the concept of humanity has evolved across time and cultures, focusing on themes such as ethics, identity, emotion, and society. Through a multi-perspective approach, we analyze key texts and ideas to understand the forces that shape human behavior and societal structures. By the end of the course, we develop critical thinking and communication skills while forming our own perspectives on what it means to live a meaningful life.
Every year, the Junior class at Mass Academy goes to a retreat at Bournedale. We spent a few days there, and one of the things we did while we were there was perform a skit based on the book we read over the summer "Walden" by Henry David Thoreau. My group did a skit that portrayed Thoreau's hypocrisy. For example, he would often idealize one thing and then do the opposite. We showed this by having him go on a Mr. Beast video where he would have to stay in the woods, which he did in the book, but ultimately failed because he could not resist going to the village to talk to the villagers although he did not approve of gossip as he stated.
For my humanities assignment, I created a satire focused on the exaggerated behaviors and attitudes of vegans, particularly those who can come across as pretentious and overly moralistic. I chose to set the skit at a Thanksgiving dinner where the only vegan, Tori Tofu, constantly critiques her family's traditional food choices. Through humor, hyperbole, and irony, the skit mocks the contradictions and self-righteous attitudes of vegans who push their ideals on others, while also highlighting their own hypocrisies. The aim of this satire is to subtly expose how these attitudes can be seen as self-important, making vegans reflect on how they present their beliefs in social settings.