Unearthing the Past, Writing the Future
- Bishop O'Dowd High School
- 12 minutes ago
- 6 min read
Inside O’Dowd’s Gilded Age Project
What does it mean to write with purpose — to use language that shapes a moment and moves an audience? For students in O’Dowd’s AP Language and Composition course, these questions fuel a dynamic project that blends historical research and original storytelling.
“The primary skill for AP Language & Composition is rhetorical analysis,” explains Lindsey Ashlock, a seasoned educator who joined O’Dowd in 2019. “It’s about understanding that every writer — every speaker — is making choices to persuade. We teach students to ask: Who’s the audience? What’s the context? What strategies are being used?”
In the Gilded Age Project, students move from analysis to authorship. Developed by Lindsey, the unit challenges them to write historically grounded creative nonfiction inspired by the muckraking spirit of the late 19th century. Each student selects a figure or population — from factory workers to financiers — and crafts a narrative that reveals the human truths behind the era’s glittering surface.
“This was a time when journalists worked to expose the underbelly of society,” Lindsey says. “Our students are doing something similar — using rhetoric to spotlight what history often hides.”
The project mirrors the course’s broader goal: preparing students for college-level thinking and writing. “They’re not just learning to pass a test,” Lindsey says. “They’re learning to think critically, argue effectively, and write with voice. O’Dowd’s 100% AP pass rate isn’t the point — it’s the result.”
That success is also fueled by creativity. “Students take risks, experiment, and connect emotionally with their work,” she adds. “That blend of critical thinking and creative exploration — that’s where real learning happens.”
Student Projects
A Gilding of Dust
Hannah ’26
This was my favorite English project because it combined creativity and deep research. I chose Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle (1906) after reading Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962) — I was interested in how writers exposed dangerous industries. I read statistics on worker deaths and building conditions, but the hardest part was editing. I had to cut creative ideas to focus on one moment in Sinclair’s life. That discipline reminded me of dramaturgy, where you research the context of a play. I used some of those same skills during O’Dowd’s production of All My Sons — and I hope to keep building on them in college.
"Upton kept his head down in case someone doubted his fib as a worker. The ground was covered with layers of dust, paper scraps, and haphazardly paved cement. Adjusting his blood stained white coat, borrowed from a striking worker, he staggered forward with the rest of the men, stern and fatigued by daily labor, towards the gated entry of the building."
Inked: A Shout for Justice
Mason ’26
I chose to research Ida B. Wells because I wanted to lift up someone who inspired change through writing. Looking at historical documents — even original letters she wrote to her attorney — helped me imagine her experience. The challenge was turning all that research into a first-person story. As someone who gravitates toward math, tech, and engineering, this really pushed me creatively. I used the image of her pen as a symbol of power: Wells put her pen to paper and used her ink to shout out against a system that had long suffocated the country.
This project taught me how important it is to preserve and uplift stories from the past — to make sure history isn’t erased or forgotten. If I become an engineer, I know creativity will help me think in new ways and solve problems that matter.
The Robber Baron and the Railroad
Tucker ’26
As a baseball player, I was first drawn to Cornelius Vanderbilt because Vanderbilt University has one of the top baseball programs in the country. I learned the term “robber baron” was first used for him, and I especially enjoyed the research. Every issue of The New York Times is digitized, and it was incredible to scroll through articles, photos, and political cartoons from that era.
One day, as Vanderbilt flipped through his newspaper, he was confronted with a sombering sight. Sitting atop the eighth page was a photo of three kids, nestling together over a grate in one of New York City’s back alleyways. In the photo, the black underbelly of America’s obsession with profit, even at the cost of human life, reared its ugly head, and even Vanderbilt was not immune to its effects.
I want to be a neurosurgeon someday — and this class taught me how I could write medical nonfiction that draws people in and makes them care.
Death of the White Castle
Braelynn ’26
I love creative writing, so this project gave me space to spread my wings. I brought in ideas from AP U.S. History and AP African-American Studies to shape my topic. I chose Mary Ellen Pleasant because I wanted to explore how this era might have felt for a Black woman in San Francisco. She purposely lived in mystery, so I had to find primary sources to imagine her experience.
As Pleasant walked into the courtroom veiled in emeralds, women yelled, ‘bad egg’ and ‘bladder dash.’ The audience filled with a sense of betrayal for the black woman they once knew as their white counterpart.
The Gilded Age brought big advances — but also hard ethical questions. With Artificial Intelligence and SpaceX, we’re asking those questions again today. In the future, I want to study international law and how different cultures define right and wrong.
“Kill the Indian, Save the Man”: America’s Cultural Genocide
Val ’26
As a Mexican-American with indigenous roots, I’m passionate about preserving indigenous culture. I chose Hastiin To’Haali, a Navajo man who became the poster child for the Carlisle Indian Boarding School, because I saw myself and my lineage in his story.
My research led me to the Indigenous Research Center at UC Davis. Reading firsthand accounts from 1882 — children denied food, locked in cells for 30 days — was devastating. Photos of students wearing “civilized” names on wooden plaques around their necks showed how dehumanization happened.
A staff member firmly grabs hold of a disoriented Hastiin, looming over him. The shouting of unfamiliar, foreign commands penetrates his ears. The sudden flash of steel scissors flash across his eyes. Black strands of luscious hair, once contently perched upon his shoulders, fall lifelessly to his feet.
We like to say “that was long ago,” but the last Indian Boarding Schools closed in the 1970s. I want to study political science — and build better systems, rooted in justice.
In the Stacks: Scholarly Research, Lifelong Skills
When students begin their Gilded Age project, they’re not just searching — they’re investigating. And until her retirement this past spring, longtime librarian Annette Counts was their guide, helping them think like historians: follow clues, trace language, and uncover meaning from primary sources.
“Students are stepping into a time period with different vocabulary, values, and ways of seeing the world,” Annette explained. “To research effectively, they have to speak the language of the era — whether they’re exploring mental health, immigration, or poverty.”
With degrees from Stanford and San Jose State, Annette shaped O’Dowd’s research instruction for two decades. She equipped students with powerful tools and taught them to work like scholars — tracing names, analyzing headlines, and letting one discovery lead to the next.
Research Tools at a Glance:
ProQuest: Historical newspapers
Gale: Topic overviews + primary sources
ABC-CLIO: Curricular essays & nonfiction
Oxford Reference: Scholarly definitions & timelines
NewsBank: Archived/global news
Sometimes students do more than find sources — they expand the archive. One student reached out to a college about a changemaker’s letters, prompting the school to digitize them. “Our students are not just consuming knowledge,” Annette says. “They’re helping preserve it.”
