1.

Self-Analysis of House Essay (25 points)

Read through your House Essay from first quarter. Pay attention to what strikes you as
true as well as what no longer seems valid. After reading through it several times begin
writing a short (1-2 typed, double-spaced pages) analysis of it. Your analysis should
cover the following:

1. What needs to be changed and/or refined in your metaphor?

2. What elements strike you as still true and valid nine months later?
3. What has happened over the course of the past nine months to
change as well as to confirm your perspective?
4. Based on your first three observations where do you imagine this
metaphor undergoing revision five years from now?

2. Personal Interview (25 pts)

I would like you to interview three different people and take notes. So who do you
interview and what do you ask them? I would like you to interview a parent, a relative,
and an adult mentor or friend. I want you to ask them three clear, specific questions (all
questions are about them) :
a. what do you remember most about being 17-19?
b. what do you regret or what would you do differently?
c. what has life taught you that cannot be learned in school or from a book?
After your interview “cook” your notes by reading them and reflecting on them.
What strikes you? What is of value to you? What isn’t? How do you think you will
answer these questions in 10 to 20 years from graduation? Write a short 1-2 page
response of your reflection. Include your interviews when you turn it in.

3. Personal Time Line (25 pts)

Understanding your self requires locating that self in time, in the context of important
events. Mapping out the defining events/moments in your life allows you to see them as
a whole and consider their influence more fully.

Directions: Create a visual that plots out or diagrams the defining experiences/moments/
events of your life and places them in some relationship to each other. There is not a best
way to complete this section. However, there are some basic elements you should shoot
for:

-Events can be viewed in a single glance

-Clarity and ease of viewing
-Cross-section events over the span of your life (shoot for a total 12-15)
-Events go beyond highlights of kidsports championships and instead show a
consideration of influence on the development of your self.
Below is ONE way but not THE way of doing this:

Draw a horizontal line across the middle of a sheet of paper, bisecting it into two parts:
upper and lower. Leave equal space between. The end points of the line will mark your
birth on one end, and the present time on the other. Mark off each year of your life along
the line with a dot or line. Think of the top half as the Positive Experiences and the lower
half as the Negative Experiences. The closer the event is placed toward the top or the
bottom of the page the more positive or negative the experience. Events placed near the
middle may be significant but harder to characterize as simply positive or negative.

As you plot out the significant events of your life, place them on the horizontal axis
according to when they occurred and on the vertical axis according to their positive or
negative value. Label each event with some small symbol and a word or two; then, once
you've finished, connect all the events with a line showing their progression. Figure
12-15 experiences total.

4. Cento (100 pts)

The journey of the soul is a solitary experience but we do not go through uncharted
waters. Poets, writers, musicians, artists, philosophers, and prophets have been there
before us and have left a record for us to hold up as a kind of fun-house mirror to our own
experience.

A cento is a work of literature where the author borrows heavily from a work(s) of
literature to create a new expression.

Your work of literature will follow the format of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. You will
assume three different pilgrim identities. Each pilgrim will reflect and represent your
personal experience and understanding of the the three themes: self-knowledge, self and
other, and self and society. It does not need to be in iambic pentameter nor does it need
to rhyme.

Start with a general prologue that outlines the setting and scenario as well as introducing
briefly each pilgrim’s dominant characteristics. Have each pilgrim tell a different tale
that reflects your experiences and conclusions related to a theme. Incorporate quotes and
references to some of the works we have studied this year as well as reference to specific
events from your timeline. You are also free to incorporate any other references that are
meaningful and helpful.

It should be typed and please include all your draft work. Mechanics will figure into your
grade so make sure you proofread carefully. While I am not giving you a specific length,
I will be considering the level and depth of your thinking as well as how well crafted
your dialogue is. Finally, include some form of reader notes at the end of your cento that
guide the reader and explain your work’s structure and its references