Portfolios are projects ILS students complete to showcase their learning. Students in the 7th and 8th grades complete one portfolio project each year. Beginning in the fall and extending through the academic year, students work through a nine-step process to reach their final result. Working individually with a single faculty member, students first must have their proposals approved, then develop a thesis statement and source list. Students spend much of the year in reading, studying, experimenting, and taking robust notes on their given topic. Faculty review and approve initial outlines, then students begin writing the first of three drafts. Their final products are diverse reflections of student personalities, interests, family backgrounds, and aptitudes.
Immanuel's faculty note that not all learning is best represented or imagined via written papers. However, the rigorous and creative process of working on a major project to completion guides students to value excellence and produce their best academic work. This honors the intellect and abilities of the individual student, pushing all to learn and grow, believing all are capable of such in depth work. While no student projects are ever perfect in the end, we celebrate each student's sense of wonder and delight, demonstrated through their dedicated efforts throughout the course of the year.
Literature Portfolio Project: Frankenstein (Parker, 8th grade)
Mary Shelley wrote her most famous novel, Frankenstein, in 1816, as a story of a man who finds the secret of life and creates a monster. But it is a story that also explores many deeper themes, including nature versus nurture, family relationships, and knowledge. Strongly influenced by Mary Shelley’s own life, Frankenstein is a character study clearly defined by Shelley’s thoughts on the role of nature versus nurture and the impact of those on the characters' emotions and behavior. Shelley herself had a very difficult and sad life, and those experiences had a strong impact on her characters and the development of the story. As the story unfolds it becomes clearer and clearer that Mary Shelley’s thoughts had a great impact on the characters traits and behaviors.
Summary: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is about a man named Victor Frankenstein who is fascinated with philosophy and science. Victor, while at his university, discovers “the secret of life.” Late one night he finishes his creation- a human being. Victor got the human parts from a nearby cemetery and put all the different bones together to make a human. Once Victor creates this human, Victor is scared and has a mental breakdown. All of humanity rejected the monster, as did his own creator. The monster is depressed by the fact that he is rejected by everyone, so he decides that he would take his anger out on his very own creator. The monster kills Victor's family, even his fiancee on their wedding night. Victor seeks vengeance on the monster, so he chases the monster down. When Victor finally finds the monster, the monster feels guilt and shame over what he did, so he kills himself.