HUMANITIES

FINDING YOUR VOICE

Course Description and Expectations: The eighth grade Humanities course is an exploration of the growth of individuals who are searching for identity, place and meaning. Students will investigate various genres of literature to better understand how the individual must struggle with their society and forming their own identity. Students will become familiar with archetypes in literature, as well as how contemporary authors are breaking those archetypes to create new ones. In their own writing, students will experiment with the different genres and ideas of the course. The course will strongly emphasize writing, reading and critical thinking skills. Students will continue their analysis of texts for both literature and history.  They will be challenged to develop and defend their ideas and opinions, as well as work on drafting and revising their writing. Students are expected to complete all assignments and meet the standards of all homework, projects and graduation requirements. To demonstrate students’ readiness for high school, this course culminates in a panel presentation  of students’ original ideas about a piece of literature or a topic in history, known as a Performance-Based Assessment Task (PBAT).