Other Essays

Collected here are essays written at the end of senior year. A few were part of the student's Senior Talk. Others may have been written as enrichment, or as part of a separate research-driven process. They were all written through the universal writing process linked below.

Note: Many students discussed and wrote about the concept of literary merit, which we study from the start of the year. The governing concept in a Humanities space is that literature is the best tool we have for developing empathy and a sense of ourselves. As articulated in this video, "Literature deserves its prestige for one reason above all others: because it’s a tool to help us live and die with a little more wisdom, goodness, and sanity."

Some students chose to argue for the literary merit of atypical narratives. Two of the most interesting arguments are for One Piece, a long-running manga, and Skyrim, an open-world video game.

  • Jimmy Blue Nickerson — Autism Acceptance

    • Jimmy's essay is separated a bit because it is a work in progress. That progress is exceptional, however, and the message is strong enough that it deserves to be showcased here. This was a months-long process of research, discussion, and writing; Jimmy plans to continue with sections on Awareness vs Acceptance, Symbolism, and Hyperfixations, among many others.