Project Exchange

Humanities Essay: Am I My Brother or Sister's Keeper?

By Kyle Hartung, Danielle Johnson | City Arts and Tech High School

Driving Question  What's this?

Am I My Brother or Sister's Keeper?

This is an Integrated Essay Project the students produced for their World History and English Language Arts courses.

Students were asked to consider: How can the examination of the past inform us about our present lives and what our responsibility is toward one another?

They were given the following prompt:

For the last two months you have been examining the tragic events of the Holocaust and their effect on all of humanity. You have spent time studying the historical and social circumstances, as well as personal accounts of experiences surrounding the Holocaust, and have made personal connections through activities, writing and discussion.

You will utilize all of these experiences to write an essay that responds to the central question using historical and literary documents as evidence. To do this you will identify the themes (examples include: Dehumanization, Resistance, Choice, Faith, Hope, Social Responsibility, Identity, Relationships, etc…) that you feel are most worth exploring in greater depth and examines them in detail. Finally, you will take your study one step further and discuss how your study of this theme has informed your thinking about what our responsibility is to one another in this world: are you your brothers’/sisters’ keeper?

 

Subject Area(s): Language Arts, Social Studies

 

Teaching Days to Complete: 2 weeks

 

Keywords  What's this?

Humanities, Essay, Writing Process, Drafting, Holocaust, Night, Nazi Germany, Wiesel, World War II, Literary Analysis, Historical Analysis

 

Outcomes  What's this?

 

21st Century Leadership Skills  What's this?

Communicate Effectively and Persuasively, Manage Projects Effectively, Think Critically

 

Graduation Portfolio Tasks  What's this?

History/Social Science Investigation, Literary Analysis


Conclusions
Kyle Hartung

Crafting the Conclusion
Humanities Essay: Am I My Brother or Sister's Keeper?
MS Word

Developing Analysis Points
Kyle Hartung

Developing Analysis Points
Humanities Essay: Am I My Brother or Sister's Keeper?
MS Word

Drafting Benchmarks
Kyle Hartung

The Drafting Process and Benchmarks
Humanities Essay: Am I My Brother or Sister's Keeper?
MS Word

Essay Assignment Overview
Kyle Hartung

Humanities Essay
Humanities Essay: Am I My Brother or Sister's Keeper?
MS Word

Essay Assignment PPT
Kyle Hartung

Humanities Essay
Humanities Essay: Am I My Brother or Sister's Keeper?
MS Powerpoint

Essay Diagram
Kyle Hartung

Humanities Essay
Humanities Essay: Am I My Brother or Sister's Keeper?
PDF

Final Assessment Rubric
Kyle Hartung

Humanities Essay
Humanities Essay: Am I My Brother or Sister's Keeper?
MS Word

Final Product Exemplar
Kyle Hartung

Humanities Essay
Humanities Essay: Am I My Brother or Sister's Keeper?
MS Word

How to write a Bibliography
Kyle Hartung

Writing the Bibliography
Humanities Essay: Am I My Brother or Sister's Keeper?
MS Word

Outling the Essay Presentation
Kyle Hartung

Outlining the Evidence and Analysis
Humanities Essay: Am I My Brother or Sister's Keeper?
MS Powerpoint

Outlining Template
Kyle Hartung

Outlining the Evidence and Analysis
Humanities Essay: Am I My Brother or Sister's Keeper?
MS Word

Outlining the Essay Process
Kyle Hartung

Outlining the Evidence and Analysis
Humanities Essay: Am I My Brother or Sister's Keeper?
MS Word

Writing Introductions Handout
Kyle Hartung

Crafting the Introduction
Humanities Essay: Am I My Brother or Sister's Keeper?
MS Word

Writing Introductions Presentation
Kyle Hartung

Crafting the Introduction
Humanities Essay: Am I My Brother or Sister's Keeper?
MS Powerpoint