In a nutshell, the Humanities Midterm asks you to explain and reflect on where the knowledge and skills you have gained, so far, have taken you.
What interesting ideas, questions, and insights have you gained and grappled with from studying creative, imaginative, and philosophical interpretations of life and the human condition?
Objectives:
Show the breadth and growth of your understandings and critical skills over time, from the start of the class into Week 8 of the course.
Show your willingness to critically analyze and consider alternative views about questions of value.
Explain how arts and ideas we covered can reveal things about the world, the times, humanity, and/or our sense of self. What, specifically, inspired you or made you think? What aspects of the content have you found challenging?
What do you hope to improve on and accomplish during the second half of the course?
Midterm Reflection Summary. Pull together your thoughts, questions, and insights into an essay about where the knowledge you gained from our studies and activities have taken you, so far (See the Midterm Introduction for Assignment Objectives). Earn up to 30 pts.
Getting Started. Take a breath and review in your mind the topics we've explored. Jot down some notes what you have found important, interesting, revealing, appealing, useful, or challenging, about them. Find specific, key examples from our studies and activities from Weeks 1 through 8 to support your points.
Writing Tips. Start anywhere you can. Put off the introduction till after you've done your first draft and you know what you're writing about. Then, shape your content into a well-organized, informed, critically aware essay, with a beginning, middle, and end. Plan on ~ 3 double-spaced pages (~1000-1200 words).
• In your introduction, lay out what you plan to discuss. In the body, discuss three or more points and examples in depth. Please apply your skills to go beyond obvious, everyday thinking: explain deeper understandings and how you grappled with complex or ambiguous material.
• Choose and discuss examples and brief quotations from different areas of study to help illustrate and support your points. How are creative works compelling in themselves? How do they portray philosophical and social outlooks, or illuminate human experiences and issues?
• Support your points with evidence from our studies, homework, discussions, your own experiences and applications. Please use your critical thinking skills and write in your own words. (Imagine writing to someone who is intelligent and interested, but who might not know what you mean right away, nor necessarily agree with you).
• In your conclusion, explain your insights and questions you are you left with, so far. Indicate what you hope to learn and accomplish during the second half of the course.