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Night at the Library
Painting by Patricia Tamirez
1. Quest: Who are you? What makes you unique? What are your dreams for the future?
Years from now when Bryn Mawr girls look at the book you create tonight, they will be curious about you. What do you want them to know? Who and what are important to you?
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Athena Mourning -Located in the entryway to the Howell Building, in commemoration of September 11.
Athena is the archetype of the invincible wise warrior. But even the cool and brilliant Athena can be seen mourning the loss of her people killed in battle. The famous original is in the Acropolis Museum in Athens.
In Greek mythology, Athena was the goddess of wisdom, of warfare, and of crafts. She ranked as Zeus's favorite child and one of the most powerful of the 12 Olympian gods. Although Athena was worshiped in many cities, the Athenians considered her to be their special protector and named their city after her. Many rulers sought her wisdom in both government and military matters. The Romans called her Minerva.
Athena-Encyclopedia Britannica
2. Quest: Pretend you are the Goddess Athena. What do you want to tell future generations about war? What will you say about victory and consequence? Write a speech to tell them. Find a group of people to whom you can deliver your speech tonight. Remember, you are the goddess of war and wisdom!
If you want to read more about Athena:
Athena - Greek goddess of wisdom and war
Athena-Encyclopedia Britannica
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1950 Campus Map
This lovely drawing of the campus was done by Elsie Kemp, BMS Class of 1950 and was used as the inside cover of the "Bryn Mawrtyr" for several years.
3. Super Quest: "Virtual" learning is dramatically changing how and where teachers teach and students learn. Design a map that illustrates how you envision the Bryn Mawr Campus ten years from now. Will students still be coming to campus every day, or will they be learning wherever they wish? What new buildings will we need on campus? What buildings will be eliminated or modified ? What learning will take place on campus? What about athletics? As you design this new campus, think about what the average student's school day will be like in the year 2022.
Next, draft a proposal to submit to the Administrative Board at Bryn Mawr selling them on your ideas for the future campus. Include recommendations and, of course, your map. The members of your team must work on this quest together.
You might want to look at this webpage or others to get ideas about how to structure your proposal.
What is a Proposal? - Purdue University
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Be Positive!
4. Quest: PICTURE THE BEST DAY EVER: Imagine it is one year in the future - for example, October 28th, 2012. You are writing the journal entry for the most exciting, most interesting, or most rewarding day you've ever lived. What happened today? As you write, think about what you can do today, in 2011, to make the best day of 2012 a reality. Come up with one step you could take tomorrow to make your best day more likely, one step you could take in the next month, and one step you could take in the next six months. Whether you actually take them or not is up to you!
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Edith Hamilton Library circa 1972
5. Super Quest: Design the new Edith Hamilton Library
Libraries are being used very differently than they were just a few years ago. Students want to collaborate, have access to state of the art technology, conduct research and create while still having a quiet place to read and study.Your quest is to design the Edith Hamilton Library of the future. The members of your team may draw, write or choose another medium to share your thoughts and ideas. Your final project will be submitted to the Board of Trustees.
You might find it helpful to read;
Goucher College: The Athenaeum
The Future of Libraries: Interview with Thomas Frey | American
News: Libraries of the Future - Inside Higher Ed
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Mark Twain- Copy of Twain’s Tom Sawyer.
Few American writers are as well known as Samuel Langhorne Clemens, whose pseudonym "Mark Twain," is one of the most famous in literature. Two of his novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, long ago established themselves as American classics, and Tom and Huck, the boy heroes of those books, are among the best-known fictional characters of the nineteenth century.
Besides his famous novels, Mark Twain wrote short stories and tales, humorous sketches, essays, speeches, his autobiography, and a great many letters. Many of these, along with his notebooks and journals, have been published, though others still remain unpublished. (Writers for Young Adults. 3 vols. Ted Hipple, editor. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1997).
6. Quest: Author Mark Twain said “A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read”. At Bryn Mawr the love of reading and literature is deeply valued and nurtured from Kindergarten through 12th grade. Write a letter to the first grade class telling them about the importance of reading. Tell them about one of your favorite authors and how his or her writing has inspired you. Did you have a favorite book when you were young? Are there any connections between your favorite book or author now and your favorite book or author when you were young? Share the connections with your readers, but remember they're only six!
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Yearbooks
"Day's Eye" was the first attempt at a school publication at Bryn Mawr, but was short lived and succeeded by the "Bryn Mawrtyr". This began as a literary magazine with occasional bits of news about the school and alumnae. We know that the highly decorative plates for the cover were destroyed in the fire of 1904 when the printer's offices burned. The first true yearbook was printed in 1907, not produced in 1908, and has enjoyed a successful run since.
7. Quest: Design the yearbook of the future. When we look at class yearbooks we usually focus on the past. What will the yearbook of 2025 look like? What elements will remain? What will the format be? How will we view the yearbook? You may describe or design the yearbook using whatever resources you wish. You might want to take a look at Publishing in 2025, Part 1 and Publishing in 2025, Part 2 just for fun. Here's a quotation from Rahim Hirji, Director of Corporate Development at 5th Estate Publishing. " There will be no books in 2025 – well, not in the form that we know them today. With time scarce and technology advancing at a speed faster than a pandemic outbreak, we will see a merging of content across all media."
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Mrs. Browning's Poems and The Collected works of Robert Browning published circa 1872.
According to poets.org Elizabeth and Robert, who was six years her junior, exchanged 574 letters over twenty months. Immortalized in 1930 in the play The Barretts of Wimpole Street, by Rudolf Besier (1878-1942), their romance was bitterly opposed by her father, who did not want any of his children to marry. In 1846, the couple eloped and settled in Florence, Italy, where Elizabeth's health improved and she bore a son, Robert Wideman Browning. Her father never spoke to her again. Elizabeth's Sonnets from the Portuguese, dedicated to her husband and written in secret before her marriage, was published in 1850. Critics generally consider the Sonnets—one of the most widely known collections of love lyrics in English—to be her best work. Admirers have compared her imagery to Shakespeare and her use of the Italian form to Petrarch.
In 1845, Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote the following sonnet to her husband Robert:
8. Quest: Write a sonnet for the 21st Century. You can write a love poem, a poem about friendship, one that reflects how you feel about the future, or something entirely different that inspires you.
Here is some information on the poetic form of the sonnet from poets.org and The Norton Anthology of Poetry.
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Tiffany Window Reproduction
Tiffany Studios Window - From a plaque in the Edith Hamilton Library: "This stained glass window, attributed to the Tiffany Studios, was rescued from the original Bryn Mawr School building at Cathedral and Preston Streets by a collector, purchased for the school by the class of 1932 on the occasion of its 50th reunion, and restored in 1996 thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor. The school is grateful to all who played a part in giving Bryn Mawr a piece of its history."
Bryn Mawr girls passed by this stained glass window in the Bryn Mawr School building at Cathedral and Preston Streets from 1890 to 1933. It was later purchased by the Class of 1932 and restored to hang here on our campus.
9. Quest: What do you see when you look at Bryn Mawr through this window? How is your Bryn Mawr world different from what those earlier students would see? Design a companion piece that reflects what you see.
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Edith Hamilton Portrait - This renowned author, for whom our library is named, wrote such famous books as The Roman Way and The Greek Way. But before writing anything but school reports, she served as Headmistress of Bryn Mawr from 1896 - 1922.
Meet Edith Hamilton
10. BRYN MAWR TRADITION QUEST: Every September the Kindergarten teachers at Bryn Mawr bring their classes to the Edith Hamilton Library to "meet" Edith Hamilton. The students learn about her life and ask her questions. If you could really meet Edith Hamilton what questions would you ask her and why? What would you want to tell her about how she has influenced your life? Include your thoughts in a journal entry that begins: Today I met Edith Hamilton.
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Vergil or Virgil
He was considered Rome's greatest poet. He wrote epic poetry. One of his most famous works is the Aeneid, where there is a search for a new homeland and the efforts in founding a new city. For more information see BBC History
Epic Poetry: A lengthy narrative poem ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation.
11. Quest: Create an epic poem about the culture of Bryn Mawr. Make it playful - it need not be as serious as a war to found a new homeland. What would be the significant events? The heroic deeds? The adventure? You may recite it, write it out, act it out etc. The reading of these poems were great events! If you recite it or act it out, make sure you document it somehow.
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Volksliederbuch fur Deutche Jugend
German Song
This is a German folk song and round. It is not in the Hochdeutsch of today, but rather in a southern dialect spoken in the region of the city mentioned in the song, Lauterbach. Until long into the 20th century, Germany was filled with a variety of dialects. Within each region there were a multitude of variations on the regional dialect. This was largely due to a lack of nationalism and several hundred years of regional isolation following the Thirty Years War. A dialect is then a thread of a region’s or area’s culture that is presented through speech. Most often the spelling of words in a dialect is very phonetic; it is very much how the words are pronounced with the region’s accent. For example, in the song, the word leg is spelled Boan, but in Hochdeutch, proper German, it is spelled Bein.
A dialect is defined as:
12. Super Quest: Baltimore has both a dialect and an accent. If Bryn Mawr had a dialect, what would it look like, or sound like? What cultural specialties would be reflected in that dialect? Write a play about some aspect of Bryn Mawr with elements of a Bryn Mawr dialect. If time permits, use the flip camera to film yourselves performing it! Remember, a dialect would have special words that others don’t have, words used in that culture. It would also have special spellings of words used by other cultures, because it would be spoken differently. It might even have different grammar! You should work on this quest with the members of your team.
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Ex Solo Ad Solem: A History of The Bryn Mawr School, by Ms. Elizabeth Di Cataldo
"Ex Solo Ad Solem: A History of The Bryn Mawr School is a fascinating tale of the women’s education movement in the late 19th century as well as a testament to the courage and vision of Bryn Mawr’s founders. They combined the forces of idealistic dreaming, extraordinary will, and the resources necessary to start a revolution in girls’ education, and their legacy is thriving today." To read more about Mrs. Di Cataldo's book check The Bryn Mawr Website.
13. Quest: In Elizabeth Di Cataldo's book she quotes Mary Cadwallader, class of 1934, on Bryn Mawr, "No child could walk through that heavy, iron-studded gate (which clicked with a swuush) without sensing that the building stood for something".
What did Bryn Mawr stand for in 1885? What does Bryn Mawr stand for today? What values do you embrace? Which would you change? Imagine that that one day you have a daughter who attends Bryn Mawr. What values do you know in your heart will remain for your daughter? What would you tell her about Bryn Mawr's uniqueness? You can tell her in a letter, story or another way of your choosing.
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Kelmscott Chaucer
Read about the Kelmscott Chaucer at The British Library Online Gallery
The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century. The tales (mostly in verse, although some are in prose) are told as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The prize for this contest is a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark on their return.
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith.
A pilgrimage is a ritual journey with a hallowed purpose. Every step along the way has meaning. The pilgrim knows that life giving challenges will emerge. A pilgrimage is not a vacation; it is a transformational journey during which significant change takes place. New insights are given. Deeper understanding is attained. (From Illuminated Journeys Website)
14. Super Quest: The three of you must plan your own pilgrimage. Decide where you are going and why. Show us your pilgrimage and the story of the journey in some way. Include elements from the two definitions above:
A journey
A search of great significance
A journey to a location of importance
A journey with a purpose
A journey with meaning
A journey with challenges
A transformational journey
What would your journey look like? What places would you travel to? What experiences might you have on your journey? How might you be challenged? What would your purpose be? Write a magazine article to inform others about the details of your pilgrimage. Don't forget to include illustrations and interviews from your fellow travelers!
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One Day I will Fly
15. Quest: How Does Art Challenge Us? Write about a work of art, music, literature or poetry that challenges you, or create a piece that represents your challenges. Use whatever medium you wish.
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Laser Disk Collection
Have you ever wondered why we have an LP collection in the Library? They aren't LPs-- they're laser disks! Ours were donated to the Edith Hamilton Library by Mr. Josh Shoemaker in 2009.
Before Blu-ray, high-definition (HD) or standard DVDs, movie enthusiasts could watch movies on a disc known as the laser disc. These large discs were more than double the size of a standard DVD, but they offered many of the same options and features that can be found on a DVD. Although they never took off in the mainstream market, laser disc collectors still hold on to and look for these rarities today.
Read more: Laser Disc History
Laser Disks:The wave of the Future? Watch YouTube segment
16. Quest: Design and describe the technology we will use ten years from now to watch movies. Create an ad that introduces the product to the market.
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Nature Quest: Go North
Nature writing is generally defined as nonfiction prose writing about the natural environment. Nature writing often draws heavily on scientific information and facts about the natural world; at the same time, it is frequently written in the first person and incorporates personal observations of and philosophical reflections upon nature.
In This Incomperable Lande: A Book of American Nature Writing, Thomas Lyon suggests that nature writing encompasses a spectrum of different types of works, ranging from those that place primary emphasis on natural history facts (such as field guides) to those in which philosophical interpretations predominate. Some of the subcategories he identifies include natural history essays, , essays of solitude or escape, and travel and adventure writing.
Modern nature writing traces its rambles roots to the works of natural history that were popular in the second half of the 18th century and throughout the 19th, including works by Gilbert White, William Bartram, John James Audubon, Charles Darwin,Richard Jefferies, and other explorers, collectors, and naturalists. Henry David Thoreau is often considered the father of modern American nature writing. Other canonical figures in the genre include Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Burroughs, John Muir, Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, M. Krishnan, and Edward Abbey (although he rejected the term for himself).
17. QUEST: Using the first person form, do a nature writing from the perspective of one of the members of the natural world, like the goose. How would this change the format, style or approach to writing about nature? Can you mimic some of the classic writings on nature while “turning the tables”?
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Quest: Choreograph a Gym Drill dance
Gym Drill is a long-standing tradition at Bryn Mawr that has evolved over the years. Bryn Mawr students practiced with their clubs (or glass milk bottles at home) to perfect their talents for the gymnastics exercise, as you can see them perform in this photo from about 1927. Today's Gym Drill begins with exercises, but focuses instead on the dances of many different countries and cultures.
18. Super Quest: Choreograph a Gym Drill dance for your class to perform as seniors. What kind of music would you base it on, and what would your costumes look like? Take into account the varying ability of your dancers, and what would best suit the occasion. You should work on this quest with the other members of your group. Film the dance if you have time.
For information and ideas on how to choreograph, see wikiHow and Social Dance
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Ballad Book
Ballad Books:
In the 1930s and 1940s, Bryn Mawr girls worked on Ballad Books in their English classes. Each girl would write her own ballad and illustrate it in the style of Medieval manuscripts, and they would then be bound into a book. The Cultural Dictionary of American Heritage defines ballads as: A simple narrative song, or a narrative poem suitable for singing. The ballad usually has a short stanza, such as:
There are twelve months in all the year,
As I hear many men say,
But the merriest month in all the year
Is the merry month of May.
According to the Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, Ballads are normally composed in quatrains with alternating four‐stress and three‐stress lines, the second and fourth lines rhyming; but some ballads are in couplet form, and some others have six‐line stanzas.
19. Quest: Write and illustrate your own ballad to include in our book. Find a group of people for whom to perform your ballad and film it!
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Mr. David Little's skull painting reminds us that it's almost Halloween!
Halloween, Oct. 31, the eve of All Saints' Day, observed with traditional games and customs. The word comes from medieval England's All Hallows' eve (Old Eng. hallow=“saint”). However, many of these customs predate Christianity, going back to Celtic practices associated with Nov. 1, which was Samhain (sä'win) [key], the beginning of winter and the Celtic new year. Witches and other evil spirits were believed to roam the earth on this evening, playing tricks on human beings to mark the season of diminishing sunlight. Bonfires were lit, offerings were made of dainty foods and sweets, and people would disguise themselves as one of the roaming spirits, to avoid demonic persecution. Survivals of these early practices can be found in countries of Celtic influence today, such as the United States where children go from door to door in costumes demanding “trick or treat.”
See N. Rogers, Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night (2002), D. J. Skal, Death Makes a Holiday: A Cultural History of Halloween (2002).
20. Super Quest: Bryn Mawr has many wonderful traditions, including celebrating Halloween! Write a scary story to share at a Bryn Mawr Scary Storytelling. Before the night is over hold a scary storytelling! Read or tell your story to a group of students. The three of you must work together on this quest.
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Edith Hamilton in Greece Gordon Building
Edith Hamilton made education her life's work, but her life's passion was studying the classics. She was a legendary teacher because she taught what she loved and helped her students to develop a love of learning. What is your life's passion? What do you never grow tired of learning about? What would you study and research even if no one asked you to?
21. Quest: For this quest, design your own Bryn Mawr diploma. Tell us about your passion and then imagine some courses you would enjoy taking on the subject. Plan out a four year curriculum. Which classes would be your "entry-level" ones? Which classes would you save for senior year? You get to be the dean of your own education! Create the names of the courses and a brief course description for each.
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Do You Like My Dress?-Frank Leslie's Lady's Magazine and Gazette of Fashion, January, 1867
This beautiful plate illustrates the latest fashions of 1867. Underskirts, overdresses and bonnets of silk and velvet in brilliant colors were in vogue.
Frank Leslie's Lady's Magazine and Gazette of Fashion, January, 1867 Library Case
See the following links for more information:
1860s in fashion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
22. Quest: Design your prom gown. Throughout history, how we dress has made a statement about who we are. Design a prom gown that symbolizes who you are. Each choice of color, pattern, cut, length, ornamentation, jewelry and hair should be about you. You may create or describe the gown using any materials or format you wish. Be sure to reveal what everything symbolizes in your description. Use the Dictionary of Symbols to get ideas. You might also want to consider literary characters. Remember Katniss? How about the characters in the Great Gatsby or Marie Antoinette in Abundance?
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Looking in Looking Out
This mirror was created on Diversity Day, 2007. After a morning of sharing ideas and feelings about who we are as a Community, Bryn Mawr students and faculty looked outward to explore what our role is in the greater Baltimore Community. Each member of the Upper School was invited to help design this mirror.
23. Looking In Looking Out, or Through the Looking Glass Two
Super Quest: Congratulations! Your team has just signed a contract with Scholastic Publishing to write the third book in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass series. Your publisher wants you to introduce five new characters into the series. Create a storyboard introducing the characters to submit to your editors at Scholastic. Your inspiration for these characters must come from the faculty and staff at Bryn Mawr! If you need ideas, find The Annotated Alice in the library stacks. There are lots of sample storyboards on the web. Yours should include both images and text.
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Senior Room 1981
The Senior Room is a rite of passage, an honor bestowed on the seniors as they work their way through college applications, academics, convocation, and a myriad of leadership roles. The theme is carefully planned each year and decorated in the days before their last year as Mawrtians begins.
24. Quest: Last year, when some alums came to visit campus, our seniors took them on a tour. As they passed the senior room, one alum asked if the seniors were still allowed to smoke in there. The tour guide was flabbergasted! Things change a lot in forty years!
For this quest, imagine that it is the year 2052 and that you are returning for a tour of Bryn Mawr as part of your class reunion. Now, think about the daily habits and routines of you and your classmates today. Consider the way you dress, what you eat and drink, the ways that you communicate with your friends and teachers, and the things that are important to you. What questions will you ask, or anecdotes will you tell the class of 2052 that they will find incredibly strange, humorous, tacky or just plain dangerous? Create a document that you can come back to Bryn Mawr and check in the year 2052. Don't forget! It might be fun to work on this quest with the other members of your team.
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Nike Earrings
Victory of Samothrace (reduction) - Also known as "Nike" (Greek for "victory") In the library, this is located on top of the Mac hub. Original, Louvre Museum.
This Winged Goddess of Victory stands on the prow of a marble sculpted ship, that overlooked the sanctuary on the island of Samothrace (northwest of the Aegean Sea). It is thought that this statue was to commemorate a naval victory in the early second century BC. This is a Hellenistic sculpture with references to Classical features from the Peragemen sculptors. The spiralling effect is theatrical, offering emotion, using the oblique angles of the wings. This Ancient Greek sculpture carries a Rhodian influence that prefigures the Pergamene school (180-160BC) Source: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
Nike earrings: According to the Getty Museum, “Nike earrings were most popular in the period from the late 300s to early 200s B.C. Stylistic and technical features of this pair, however, indicate that they were made in the late 200s or early 100s B.C.” Isn’t it interesting that for several hundred years Hellenistic women chose to wear as jewelry the goddess who symbolizes victory, strength, and speed?
25. Quest: Design or describe a piece of jewelry that you would like to wear as a symbol of something that you feel strongly about. Would it refer to a goddess, to a relative, to someone you admire, or perhaps to an ideal, a value, a personal experience? Would you wear it publicly or privately, perhaps tucked under your clothing and if so, why? What materials would you want it made from?
Nike Swoop-If You Let Me Play
Victory of Samothrace (reduction) - Also known as "Nike" (Greek for "victory") In the library, this is located on top of the Mac hub. Original, Louvre Museum.
This Winged Goddess of Victory stands on the prow of a marble sculpted ship, that overlooked the sanctuary on the island of Samothrace (northwest of the Aegean Sea). It is thought that this statue was to commemorate a naval victory in the early second century BC. This is a Hellenistic sculpture with references to Classical features from the Peragemen sculptors. The spiralling effect is theatrical, offering emotion, using the oblique angles of the wings. This Ancient Greek sculpture carries a Rhodian influence that prefigures the Pergamene school (180-160BC) Source: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
Nike: At Bryn Mawr we often think of Athena, “the Greek goddess of wisdom, war, the arts, industry, justice and skill” (according to the Encyclopedia Mythica at www.parthenon.org ) and her owl, but she is also associated with the goddess Nike, who personifies victory, strength and speed. Many Bryn Mawr girls wear sneakers or cleats with a swoop that represents Nike’s wing. In the 1990's the Nike Company altered their marketing plan by focusing on women, kicking off a famous ad campaign called “If You Let Me Play” that influenced how girls and women saw themselves. It was brilliant. Here’s a sample:
26. Super Quest: Take a look at a few of these ads from Nike.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ_XSHpIbZE 1995
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLi3taWNmus&NR=1 2007
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y65qn4L2o10&feature=related 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoE4AD-J77k&feature=related 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoD4ySsZNE8 2011 A Public Service Announcement for M Music based on the Let Me Play ads.
As a team, create an advertisement to convince people about something that would change girls' lives. You must decide together what the advertisement will be about and who your target audience is. Then write the script for the advertisement. Who will be in the ad? Don't forget to come up with a slogan too! If you have time, film your ad.
(If you’d like to read more about Nike's ad campaign, there’s a great article entitled Selling Truth: How Nike's Advertising to Women Claimed a Contested Reality available at http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/asr/v007/7.2grow_wolburg.html that provides insight into the campaign as “the story of how the creative team produced advertising that challenged the media norms affecting the roles of women associated with the institution of sports.")
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Miss Garrett's Plasters
Plasters: At Bryn Mawr you are surrounded by plaster casts. Most are modern reproductions, purchased as a gift from an alumna in honor of the hundreds of casts that Mary Elizabeth Garrett bought in London in 1889 for the school and had shipped to Baltimore. In this photograph you can see the girls sitting in the Silent Study Hall (about 1900) with the full size replica of the Parthenon frieze hanging above statues of famous philosophers and world leaders as well as reproductions of famous paintings.
Miss Garrett spent a small fortune on artwork to inspire the students’ curiosity and imagination about the world which was not available to them as the internet brings it to you.
27. Super Quest: If you were the founders of a school for girls today, what would you choose to surround them with to inspire them to think of the larger world and their role in its future? First, draw and/or describe what you think would have meaning to them and the values or ideals that you would want them to think about. Secondly, collaborate to write a mission statement for your new school. You might want to look at Bryn Mawr's mission statement as well as the mission statements of some other schools. Finally, come up with a school motto that reflects the mission and values of your new school.
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Bryn Mawr Upper School Faculty 2011
28. Quest: Write an open letter to someone who changed the way you think. (An open letter is addressed to someone but published so that anyone can read it.) The person to whom you write can be dead or alive, a friend, stranger or teacher. What would you tell them about how they influenced you-and how they will continue to inspire you in the future?
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Sacred texts: Lutrell Psalter facsimile (Reference area of the library) and Sultan Baybars' Qur'an
To read about the Lutrell Psalter and Sultan Baybars' Qur'an, go to the Online Gallery at the British Library
Lutrell Psalter
"The Psalms are 150 ancient songs, grouped together to form one of the Old Testament books of the Bible. In the Middle Ages (and down to the present day) they formed a fundamental part of Christian and Jewish worship, for ecclesiastics and lay-people alike; many people learned to read by being taught the Psalms. The Psalms were often written out separately from the rest of the Bible, preceded by a calendar of the Church’s feast-days, and followed by various types of prayers. Such a volume is known as a Psalter." (Online Gallery at the British Library)
"What makes the illustrations in the Luttrell Psalter so important is that they are the most detailed and realistic pictures of everyday life that have survived from the Middle Ages. The artist (we do not know his or her name) produced a range of pictures that has given historians vital information of what life must have been like for ordinary people in the 14th century."(Spartacus)
"Of all the British Library's collection of Qur'ans, this is the most magnificent. Each of its seven volumes is written in gold, and has a superb frontispiece combining intricate geometric patterns with ornamental script. It was made in Cairo between 1304 and 1306 (704-5 in the Islamic calendar) for a high-ranking court official called Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Jashnagir, who later became Baybars II, ruler of the Mamluk Sultanate. This manuscript – written, unusually, in the cursive script called thuluth – is the earliest dated Qur'an from the Mamluk period." (Online Gallery at the British Library)
The Qur'an is the central text of the Islamic faith. Islam takes its name from the Arabic word for 'submission' since believers must submit themselves to the will of God - in Arabic, Allah.
It is believed to be the actual word of Allah, as revealed by the archangel Gabriel to the Prophet Muhammad from around 610 CE until his death in 632. This marked the start of Islam. Muhammad is seen as last in a line of prophets stretching back to Abraham, from whom Judaism and Christianity also claim descent. (from the British Library description)
29. QUEST: These beautifully illuminated texts come from different religious traditions; one the Islamic, the other Judaic-Christian. But these Abrahamic Faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam have certain elements in common. All three faiths are monotheistic; maintain a tradition of revelation; and believe their scriptural texts are divinely inspired. All three express a particular world view as they address the elements of a meaningful life. If you were to write a book based on your own philosophy, values, or world view, what would a page from that “sacred text” look like? What objects or animals would embellish the borders? What is important to you? What would your manuscript say? Design your page using whatever resources you wish, or describe it in writing. Important note: This needn't be based on your religious practices or any organized religion.
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Digital Image is taken with permission from Cornell University Library. See Making of America.
Scientific American, is an American monthly magazine interpreting scientific developments to lay readers, and the most highly regarded of its genre. It was founded in New York City in 1845 by Rufus Porter, a New England inventor, as a weekly newspaper describing new inventions. He sold it in 1846 to another inventor, Alfred Ely Beach—who had worked on the New York Sun under his inventor-editor father, Moses Y. Beach—and to a friend, Orson Desaix Munn. The era was rife with invention, and out of the paper’s familiarity with patents and the problems of inventors grew a thriving patent agency giving advice on patent law and procedures to such inventors as Thomas Edison and Samuel F.B. Morse. This in turn strengthened Scientific American. By 1853 its circulation had reached 30,000, and it had begun to report on various sciences—e.g., astronomy and medicine—apart from inventions. The paper early advocated subway transportation and in 1870 actually constructed a pneumatically operated subway of Beach’s design under a section of Broadway. It was operated experimentally for a year. (from Encyclopedia Britannica Online)
The paper had used woodcut illustrations since its founding, and it was one of the first to use halftones in the 20th century. It turned increasingly to reporting and explaining science to a curious public. In 1921 it became a monthly journal. Its articles, solidly based on scholarly research, well written, and carefully edited, are accompanied by definitions of scientific terms and by illustrations. (from Encyclopedia Britannica Online)
You can read more at Rare and Early Newspapers.
30. Super Quest: In 1854 Scientific American's authors enthusiastically wrote about about a new seed planter and an improved cotton and hay press. Detailed illustrations were included. In 1967, Scientific American included articles on space exploration and the first heart transplant. The articles give us important information about what society was like during those time periods.
Imagine that you are the editors of a popular scientific newspaper. For this quest the three of you must create an issue of that newspaper. What are the important technological and scientific developments that you must write about? Include articles on prominent scientists, significant findings in science and technology, an editorial, a book review, images, and whatever else you decide together is important. You may wish to do a little research before beginning your quest!
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A Monarch butterfly and a butterfly clock
Did you know that Butterflies have amazing senses?
31. Quest: If you, like a butterfly, had one sense that was far greater than the others, which would it be and how would you use it? What would be the advantages and disadvantages? Imagine yourself in a future world where you are one of the few people with a super sense. Tell us about what you do with that powerful sense. What kind of life would you lead? You could write this as a part of of novel, where you take us into your world, or a journal entry, or an interview, or an obituary. Choose a format that inspires you, and take us to your world.
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Technology and Communication
The recent death of Steve Jobs has us all reflecting on his brilliant understanding of how people interact with technology and each other, and how to interpret that into practical functions that have changed our concept of communications. His Apple computers moved us from the black and white screen of DOS text commands to touch screen icons that bring us instant access to the world. We now expect newscasts simultaneously broadcasting live events and open communication channels that enable civil disobedience to promote sweeping reform and change.
32. QUEST: What will communications look and feel like twenty years from now? Brainstorm with your group and discuss ideas outlandish and sane, then consider the frustrations and limits that today’s technology still brings us in communicating with each other. Consider personal communications—phones, email, texts—as well as group and social means of dialog—Facebook, YouTube, podcasts--and electronic tools that bring strangers together--social flash mobs and political uprisings that happen via blogs, wikis, and all other means. How will we communicate in twenty years? What device will replace that smartphone you can’t live without now? Design and describe what it will look like, what it will do, and how it will change how we communicate.
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