If sophomores didn’t read “Things Fall Apart” in Advanced English 2 classes, they wouldn’t make traditional African masks to demonstrate the themes of the book. Memorable projects completed sophomore year includecd reading about the tragic hero Okonkwo.
“I felt like this book was very interesting and nothing like I’d ever read before and definitely wouldn’t have picked up if it weren’t for this class,” Annalise White, 10, said. “My favorite part of the project was giving the mask lots of meaning from the book and it allowed us to be creative.”
“Things Fall Apart” teaches about the consequences of excessive pride and shows the pre-colonial lifestyle in Igboland.
“It was a pretty sad book at the end. Okonkwo, the main character, took his own life after Europeans tried to take his native land,” Easton Wood, 10, said. “It was a good book and a fun read.”
Sophomores also read their choice of a memoir in Advanced English 2 classes. Memoir options included “I Will Always Write Back” by Caitlin Alifirenka, Liz Welch and Martin Ganda, “It’s Trevor Noah: Born a Crime” by Trevor Noah, “Funny in Farsi” by Firoozeh Dumas, “How Dare the Sun Rise” by Abigail Pesta and Sandra Uwiringiyimana and “Night” by Elie Wiesel. Georgia Topp, 10, chose to read “Night.”
“I remember reading Night by Elie Wiesel,” Topp said. “I really liked the book. It was so interesting and eye-opening to see the author’s point of view during the holocaust.”
Other memorable projects from sophomore year included the AP World History pumpkin project where students made historical figures from world history into pumpkins and the Advanced Algebra 2 birthday polynomial extra credit project where students used their birthday to graph and analyze polynomial functions.
“My favorite part [of the polynomial project] was getting a vision for how I wanted it to turn out and actually putting my ideas on paper,” Wood said. “It was pretty cool to see my creativity come to life.”
Students have different memorable projects. Wood’s favorite completed is the birthday polynomial project in Mrs. Gross’ class, and Topp worked on her Mansa Musa pumpkin project for Ms. Marion’s class.
“My favorite part of the project was getting to decorate the pumpkin because I got to be creative,” Topp said. “We had to research a person from history and then decorate a pumpkin like them.”
Researching and putting together the information into various projects helped students further their understanding of different topics.
“Things Fall Apart made me have a lot more understanding for other cultures and more respect,” White said. “I remember the project being really interesting because of the different characters in the book that were really different from traditional characters we see in more English literature.”
