AP Literature students ponder their existence
WHO AM I? Existential questions are an encouraged topic of choice for the project. Students are free to creatively devise what branch of the human condition they wish to research. Past AP Literature alums have often included personal anecdotes in their work. “I am thinking about centering my research around classical music. It is something that I feel is often misunderstood as aloof and unclear when it is just the opposite. Each piece tells a story, and I would love to communicate that through analyzing our connection to it as humans,” said Keren Idelman, 12.
Adolescence marks a prime time for questioning. In this transitional age, a purgatorial bridge between childhood and adulthood, it is not uncommon for students to wonder why humans are the way we are, what it means to be human, what is the root of human conflict, and so on.
Through the human condition project information Mr. Tom Gaffigan’s AP Literature and Composition classes, students will attempt to tackle these questions.
The human condition encompasses the positive and negative aspects of being human.
“[The presentation] must be an original product or performance that demonstrates some aspect of the human condition,” Gaffigan said.
In class, Gaffigan shared previous projects from the past of all kinds of mediums from painting to film to performance art. These projects contemplated topics like human connectedness, attribution error, and optimism.
Senior Allison Fredette, a frequent reader of philosophy-based non-fiction novels, is in Gaffigan’s fifth bell class.
“This project is going to be insanely difficult because it encompasses what I think about on a daily basis. I am excited, but I do not even know where I want to begin!” Fredette said.
Students are due to present their projects right before AP exams begin.
