One of the main projects I did in English 9 was my Independent Novel Study. In this project each student had to first chose and read a novel that was approved by the teacher. Then we were given a list of Core Competencies and instructed to identify them in various ways relating to the characters in our novels. The four ways we had to identify the competencies were: Competencies the characters in our novel demonstrate, competencies both ourselves and the characters in our novel demonstrate, competencies both someone we know and the characters in our novel demonstrate, and competencies both characters from other media and the characters in our novel demonstrate. After identifying the competencies demonstrated by the characters or real people we had to elaborate on why we believe that they demonstrate these competencies. To do this we would further explain our thoughts and use quotes or state events that has happened to support our points. For the latter three we had to additionally state who demonstrates the competencies better.

I think like most people the higher quality my work is the more proud of it I will be. As stated in a previous post (See referenced post here), the quality of my work and my enjoyment often go hand in hand, which is one of the main reasons why I am proud of this project. Personally I like to watch analyses of characters or even analyze characters myself already. In doing so I can see any nuances that the creators put into the characters which I missed at first glance. So naturally doing this project was quite fun for me. Also I got to choose my own book, work on the project in my own time in the span of a few months, and choose from a large group of characters to analyze and compare. In other words this project gave me a lot of freedom, which I believe improved the quality of work I was able to provide as well.

Below is an example of one of my entries for this project:

—

Fourth entry – Valuing diversity 

(They can explain when something is unfair) 

Zélie Adebola, the protagonist of the story can explain when something is unfair. Being a part of a marginalized group, it is no wonder that she empathizes with those who are similarly in unfortunate situations or are discriminated against. One instance in which she shows this behavior is when Tomi Adeyemi writes, “‘We can afford it,’…’But they can’t!’ She points at the laborers” (199). Despite not being personally affected by the ridiculous amount of money charged for only one cup of water, Zélie is visibly upset on behalf of the people who are affected, and she is not afraid of voicing her opinions. She then proceeds to show through her actions that she truly cares and would not stand for this injustice when Tomi Adeyemi writes, “…she passes the canteen down to the divîner shackled in front of her”(200). It is important that Zélie demonstrates this competency, as it is her dislike of inequity that drives her to fight against the monarchy and their corruption. Ergo it should come as no surprise when one says that Zélie Adebola can explain when something is unfair.