In Scriptorium Writing Level Two, students are given a quick refresher of Level I, before diving deeper into those same topics of invention, while adding new ones. The course is designed to be accessible to students returning or those just beginning. They will learn how to write – not formulaically – but through hearing and imitating authors like Plutarch, Kipling, or Dickens, as is fitting to their age. Prior to every reading, the tropes, figures, and vocabulary within will be studied. After verbally narrating ('telling back') these well-crafted stories, the student will both a) make the tale their "own" in the process of narrating, and b) have a feel for the style and language. The last step of the 90-minute process is practicing writing a similar story, with descriptive feedback from the teacher and ongoing editing versus a finished product.

Scriptorium Level II utilizes Benjamin Lydda's curriculum – a rare resource that makes the pithy progymnasmata intelligible to children, while still using accessible English terms. Students will need their own Level II "workbook," which will be used as the source material for both in class work and assignments. All exercises and assignments will be introduced or started in class, with the remainder of writing completed at home. Students will spend approximately 2-3 hours outside of class writing, depending on speed, and will read aloud in class or submit their work for editing, depending on the assignment.
(Please note that the start time for this class is 8/27, due to a scheduling conflict; it will differ slightly from the traditional Kepler schedule. An orientation will be offered to offset this.)

Course Objectives

1. Learn vocabulary and literary devices (imagery, simile, metaphor, alliteration, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, and allusion) through pictures & stories.
2. Learn to avoid wordiness, practice transitions, and utilize both prepositional phrases and participle phrases stylistically.
3. Learn to persuasively imitate classic authors through the exercises of narration, fable, description, anecdote, proverb, encomium, and invective.
4. Learn the language of virtues and vices, and understand the topics of thesis, definition, opposite, appeal, paraphrase, analogy, and testimony.

“...The academic essay is not developmentally appropriate for younger students who ought to be learning to enjoy writing in all its varieties. The solution, rather, is teaching narration and then the progymnasmata through eighth grade. ​ The primary exercises in the following pages train children in topics of invention, the critical though forgotten tools useful for helping answer the perennial question, “What do I write?” Once mastered, the skills acquired through Scriptorium Writing will better prepare students for writing in high school and beyond.
We become what we behold. If we ask our children to spend hours looking at images or words, we want to be certain that those images and words are worth their time. We want them to learn to love the best things and conform their heart to things worthy of their care. ​ Therefore, the Scriptorium Writing program includes images of art created by the masters, instead of cartoons or thoughtless illustrations. Occasionally, students are asked to interact with the paintings, but most of the art herein is present simply because it is beautiful. In addition, stories, poems, essays, and excerpts have been selected, not only for their relevance to the lesson, but also for their authors’ winsome use of words.”

– Benjamin Lydda