competency

Competency

Formulate, express, and support individual perspectives on diverse works and issues.

Instructions

You will act as a critic for some of the main subjects covered in the humanities. You will conduct a series of short, evaluative critiques of film, philosophy, literature, music, and myth. You will respond to five different prompts, and each response should include an analysis of the topics using terminology unique to that subject area and should include an evaluation as to why the topic stands the test of time. The five prompts are as follows:

1. Choose a film and offer an analysis of why it is an important film, and discuss it in terms of film as art. Your response should be more than a summary of the film.
2. Imagine you had known Plato and Aristotle and you had a conversation about how we fall in love. Provide an overview of how Plato would explain falling in love, and then provide an overview of how Aristotle might explain falling in love.
3. Compare and contrast the two poems below:

LOVE’S INCONSISTENCY

I find no peace, and all my war is done;
I fear and hope, I burn and freeze likewise
I fly above the wind, yet cannot rise;
And nought I have, yet all the world I seize on;
That looseth, nor locketh, holdeth me in prison, And holds me not, yet can I ’scape no wise;
Nor lets me live, nor die, at my devise,
And yet of death it giveth none occasion.
Without eyes I see, and without tongue I plain;
I wish to perish, yet I ask for health;
I love another, and yet I hate myself;
I feed in sorrow, and laugh in all my pain;
Lo, thus displeaseth me both death and life,
And my delight is causer of my grief.

Petrarch

After great pain a formal feeling comes—
The nerves sit ceremonious like tombs;
The stiff Heart questions—was it He that bore?
And yesterday—or centuries before?

The feet mechanical go round
A wooden way
Of ground or air or ought
Regardless grown,
A quartz contentment like a stone.

This is the hour of lead
Remembered if outlived
As freezing persons recollect
The snow—
First chill, then stupor, then
The letting go

Emily Dickinson

1. Compare and contrast these two pieces of music:
   
   Beethoven’s Violin Romance No. 2
   Scott Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag


2. Explain in classical terms why a modern character is a hero. Choose from either Luke Skywalker, Indiana Jones, Bilbo Baggins, Harry Potter, Katniss Everdeen, or Ender Wiggins.

Grading Rubric

0

1

2

3

4

Category

Not Submitted

No pass

Competence

Proficiency

Mastery

Analysis

Not Submitted

Provides an explanation of the topic but doesn't use terminology common to the subject.

Provides an explanation of the topic using terminology common to the subject.

Provides a detailed explanation of the topic using terminology common to the subject.

Explains in great detail the topic using terminology common to the subject and references other ideas/works in that subject.

Evaluation

Not Submitted

Provides an evaluation of the topic, but offers no explanation and doesn't explain why it is still relevant today;

Provides an evaluation of the topic, explaining why it is still relevant today.

Provides a detailed evaluation of the topic, explaining why it is still relevant today.

Explains in great detail an evaluation of the topic, explaining why it and other famous examples are still relevant today.

Justification

Not Submitted

Does not identify the topic/piece as an important example of the subject.

Explains why the topic/piece as an important example of the subject.

Explains in detail why topic/piece as an important example of the subject.

Explains in great detail why topic/piece as an important example of the subject.

Coverage

No pieces discussed.

Pieces discussed, but not enough detail provided.

Pieces discussed, and details provided.

Pieces thoroughly discussed, and insightful details provided.

Pieces thoroughly discussed, and insightful details provided, making reference to additional works.