Advanced Writing

 This high school level course is designed to equip students with the skills, techniques, and confidence to write a variety of expository and persuasive essays to ensure competency for college level writing. The text for this class, The Power in Your Hands: Writing Nonfiction in High School, by Sharon Watson. It features a variety of essay assignments at the beginners, intermediate and advanced high school level. We will focus on a different rhetorical device each week using The Writer’s Toolbox: Using Rhetorical Devices to Improve Communication by Patricia Samuelsen with Megan Samuelsen. Students will be able to identify as well as include these devices in their writing assignments. The Advanced Writing class is appropriate for the intermediate and advance (honors) level high school writer who has had a solid year or background in writing five paragraph minimum essays and is ready to write more in-depth papers of 350 to 1500+ (honors up to 3000+) word minimum and multi-paragraph/ page papers. Each lesson offers specific step by step directions which go beyond surface formatting and stylistic techniques. Although these are important and will be required, this class will address essay clarity, unity, cohesiveness, and rhetorical appeals. Students will be asked purposeful questions so they can write with more depth and critical thinking. MLA and APA style and research methods will be included in each assignment. Students will also read essays, speeches, and articles as source documents for assignments.  Various opportunities for presentations and writing "Fun" essays are provided. This class will include grammar and sentence structure assignments throughout the year. The class comprises a full high school English class and English Credit. There are sufficient assignments for 4 more hours of class work per week. 

Essay / Topics

• Opinion Essay
• Persuasive Essays
• MLA & APA format
• Using Appeals & Identifying Fallacies
• Logical Paper
• Moral / Ethical Paper
• Problem-Solution Essay
• Position Paper
• Argumentation  
• Personal Testimony Essay
• College Admission Essay
• Descriptive Essay
• Bias in the Media Project
• Study & Analysis of Rhetorical Devices 
• Avoiding Fallacies  
• Persuasive Techniques

Prerequisites:  Intermediate Writing, Level II or Essay Writing class, or a full understanding of writing the basic 5-paragraph essay as well as basic understanding of grammar, sentence structure, or prior writing experience through a love of writing or a prior writing curriculum.

High School Credit: 1- English Credit 

Required Texts:  

• The Power in Your Hands: Writing Nonfiction in High School, by Sharon Watson; 
• Elements of Style by Strunk and White; 
• The Writer’s Toolbox: Using Rhetorical Devices to Improve Communication by Patricia Samuelsen with Megan Samuelsen. 
• Synonym Finder by J.I. Rodale

Tuition Cost: $620.00 per year for first child, $570.00 if paid in full on or before the first day of class or monthly payment of $65.00. Sibling Discount Available. 

Location:  

                      Monday    My Home in Indian Trail     12:00 pm – 1:00 pm