In this course taught by Mrs.Small, we explore the question of "What does it mean to be human?" by using a large variety of literary, historical, and cultural readings. The curriculum uses rigorous essay writing, collaborative group projects, and insightful class discussions. Our questioning spans across many eras, highlighting the evolution of definitions and perceptions surrounding the concept of "humanity" throughout history.
After we read a multitude of works spanning diverse time periods and perspectives related to the education system, each of us was either assigned a prompt or created our own in order to compose an argumentative synthesis essay expressing our individual stance on the state of education. I chose to formulate my own prompt and explored the effective of the U.S history course and the best ways for it to benefit. Being able to dive into a topic of our choice was a very fun experience that allowed us to express our opinions.
One piece of writing that was a semi-new experience was our first timed essay this year. We had read a group of poems from ancient egypt and discussed them in groups. We also watched a documentary about the people most frequently featured in the poems and in the end, we wrote an in class timed argumentative essay.