The Knight Times ∙ January 2022
Features ∙ Page 3
Independent Study: Knights preparing at the next level
Four seniors engaged in independent studies, a class in which they designed their own curriculum on a subject of their interest or passion. After a semester of work, including a final project, they now share their experiences and feelings with the EHS community about this program.
Kathryn Bragg: Gothic Fiction Marshall Owens: Baseball Stats KATE FREEMAN Staff Writer Kathryn Bragg’s independent study is a podcast on gothic fiction with a global focus called Gothic Goes Global. She reads books, reads about the books, and talks about how they relate to either the history of the genre or its expansion to other cultures in a way that makes it interesting and fun, “whether the listener is a mega English nerd or has no academic interest in the subject.” Kathryn decided her independent study topic by picking something about which she knew she wouldn’t get bored, which for her is reading. She loves spooky
stories and wasn’t really allowed to read them growing up. She’s always had an interest in global studies, foreign languages, and art and culture from around the world. The Gothic genre connects all these aspects in very fascinating and surprising ways. Her reasoning for choosing a podcast was because the aesthetic/ atmosphere is key to gothic styles, and audio is a much more engaging format than a paper. Kathryn’s independent study has solidified her passion for literature, and she wants to pursue English/comparative literature in college. If reading and talking about books is all she has to do for the rest of her life, she would honestly be very happy with that.
Hannah Wheless: ASD YANA SHARMA Staff Writer Hannah Wheless composed a study called the Impact of Environmental
are common in our environment and how they impact the brain, which link ASD in the preconception, gestational, and childhood periods of a child’s life. Her study explained how we can move
JAKE BERLIN Staff Writer Senior Marshall Owens has decided to base his independent study around
what is offered in the curriculum at EHS. During his first semester, Marshall wrote a report about topics such as “the shift,” lineup construction, starting pitching and bullpen usage, advanced statistics, and much more.
Marshall turned his interest in both statistics and baseball into a project discerning the factors around in-game strategy. Photo courtesy of Marshall Owens. baseball statistics and the math behind the decision-making process involved in baseball. Marshall expressed that he has always had an interest in statistics and that his independent study will allow him to further his knowledge on the subject. He hopes to use this opportunity to explore his special interests and go beyond
He plans to continue his study on similar topics this upcoming semester. When asked why he choose this topic for his study, Marshall said, “Baseball statistics have become a hobby of mine over the past several years. Now I finally have a time slot in my school day dedicated to learning more about this topic.”
Sophie Martin: Aortic Dissections CHRIS LAHOTI Editor-in-Chief For the past semester, Sophie Martin has pursued a study in aortic dissections in patients under 40 years old and their connection to several genetic disorders.
sheet’s almost 400 different codes, Sophie categorized the data into several charts based on genetic similarities to recognize statistical patterns and draw pre and post operation conclusions. Since seeing her sister’s heart condition treated at Texas Children’s, Sophie has
Hannah dove into a study regarding autistm spectrum disorder, culminating her research in a presesntation to EHS faculty. Photo courtesy of Hannah Wheless. Toxicants on the Development of Autism Spectrum Disorder for her Independent Study project. This study discussed autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and how it causes changes in the brain. It discussed the toxicants that
The National Institute of Health logo. Photo courtesy of me-pedia.org.
forward to alleviate the impacts of environmental toxicants on human health. Some of her sources included many health databases such as the National Institute of Health and Google to help her piece together unfamiliar terminology. She used a PowerPoint in order to organize her research and presented her PowerPoint to some of the faculty at Episcopal. After volunteering at Easter Seals (an organization that helps individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities), Hannah has been “fascinated with neurological disorders, so [she] wanted to dive deeper into how they can arise in people.” She plans to continue her journey in college in clinical research.
Sophie channeled her passion for medicine into a study about the implications of aortic dissections in patients under 40 years old. Photo courtesy of Sophie Martin. As part of her work, she teamed up with Texas Children’s Hospital lead cardiologist, Dr. Shaine Morris, to both sort and analyze the data spread sheets of every patient under the age of 40 who received an aortic dissection. Using each spread
taken it upon herself to learn more about genetic disorders. In addition to her yearly internship at Texas Children’s, she hopes to use the information she has attained through this study as a stepping stone in her biology and pre-med future.
Rebecca: A more improved, gothic version of Jane Eyre CLAIRE FORTNEY Guest Writer Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier is the perfect book for anyone who liked the idea of Jane Eyre but hated Jane Eyre. Now usually, I wouldn’t recommend a book that I read for school, specifically for Junior Research, but over a year after reading Rebecca and submitting my paper, I still think about the gothic novel all the time. It’s that good. The first thing that startles people about
Rebecca is the fact that the narrator has no name. She’s literally just referred to as “the narrator” and nothing else, which is something that I understand can make people frustrated or intrigued. Hopefully, a bit of both, because I believe that every good novel needs to make a reader a little upset. The second thing that startles people is the book’s plot. Simply put, Rebecca is about a young woman stuck with a lousy job as a prickly woman’s assistant who gets suddenly swept away to live a seemingly perfect life as the bride of a rich man twice her age. Her new and
well-off fiance, Maxim de Winter, is everything the narrator could have dreamed of, the only catch being that his previous wife died in a horrible accident, but the narrator doesn’t think much of it until they arrive at his estate, Manderley, and she realizes that Rebecca de Winter’s presence never actually left. There are a few more alarming secrets about his late wife that Maxim pointedly chose not to tell the narrator…but I’ll let you figure those out for yourself. Rebecca is a breath of fresh air for anyone who liked the idea of Jane Eyre but
hated Jane Eyre because it retells the novel’s story in a new, shorter light. Although published in 1938, nothing about Rebecca feels too old or confusing, and when I was reading it there was never a moment where I felt like the author was taking too much time describing what the scenery looked like. Everything about Rebecca is fast-paced and full of drama while still meeting the appeal of a traditional gothic novel. There is mystery, crime, love, and everything in between. It’s the perfect blend of a 19th-century plot with 21stcentury writing.
