this assignment is from my honors English II course from my sophomore year. it was a part of my final experience (this is what my school calls final projects because we’re modern and cool and different). the assignment was to create a manifesto for a fictional city we were simultaneously designing throughout each of our classes. the city was located in Argentina and named Puerto Deseado. through this manifesto I attempted to convey messages of modernity, empathy (for one another and the environment) and overall progressiveness.
We shall build a city of understanding and unity, empathizing with thy neighbor and being open with our emotions so that thy neighbor is able to empathize with oneself. The first step to doing this is understanding: to communicate our emotions, it is essential to be aware of them via proper emotional intelligence and education. Our schooling shall be focused on problem-solving and empathy, building a foundation of emotional understanding amongst citizens from a young age, and furthering it throughout their early adolescent years. This will allow the second step towards a truly empathetic society, communication, to occur naturally and effectively. This communication will deeply connect our community, teaching us that as citizens and humans we are inherently deeply intertwined and that this form of connection is the key to collective prosperity. Finally, a city of empathy will be established, and within it, a community of highly emotionally intelligent and communicative citizens will flourish.
As individuals, we shall be open and vulnerable with one another, ensuring an environment in which mistakes are accepted and emotions are analyzed from a young age. In order to build a community in which it is important to understand one another, we must begin with the understanding of the self. We shall each approach life with the mindset that there is an explanation for every situation, and that both negative and positive outcomes should be explored. This shall not encourage hesitancy, but promote analysis and responsible reasoning. On an individual level, we shall each build this sense of awareness within ourselves so that a deep examination of emotions becomes a natural reaction to mistakes or bad decisions. We will become a civilization of understanding, which begins at the individual level. In closing, we shall transform ourselves into a city that understands each other and connects via the human experience as well as remains unique on an individual level with analyzing specific emotions and situations.
this final project was probably my favorite out of each of those I have completed at the end of every year i’ve been at Trinity. I enjoyed the opportunity to write creatively, which I don’t often do, and overall attempt to express my own personal values through my own reflection onto the city we as a grade were creating. the project overall was a little complicated so I hope I explained it well!
<3,
blaire
blaire sheftel 