What should Frodo do? What are the classical four causes and how should they apply to a decision? Where does formal logical progression play a part in crafting a rhetorical address? These questions prompt students to reflect on decision-making. Students who have completed LTW II, mastering the canon elements, will be ready to deepen their thinking skills and hone a deliberative address by refining previous elements and adding an understanding of the four causes and formal logic. They will also practice paragraph cohesion, more schemes and tropes, and attend to the literary aspects of film plot. This course can count as 1 credit in English or Rhetoric, .5 credit in Logic, and .5 credit in Film Appreciation.

WHAT TO EXPECT:
Through this course, your student will continue working through the first three canons of rhetoric: Invention, Arrangement, and Elocution. They will ultimately craft a 10-12 paragraph deliberative essay through the application of CiRCE Institute's Lost Tools of Writing Level Three Rhetoric course. While this level course will address refining composition, it is not a writing and editing course. This is a course in thinking rhetorically and practicing the skills associated with deliberating a present decision.

This course takes two weeks to discuss the plot of a film and its moral implications. Your student spends time learning about and practicing the observation skills of mapping the plot, recognizing 7 key film elements that function as literary elements, and then contemplating the themes through virtue, self-application, and question development.

This course will also take time to directly address the logical elements required to practice the course essay skills.

Students will need to be proficient in understanding and applying all the LTW I and II canon elements, and have some familiarity with logic.


Students will need enough time in their schedules to:

• watch the films multiple times
• take notes
• complete film forms
• complete weekly writing lessons within an 8-day cycle.
• spend about the same time they would spend reading a high school literary assignment
• complete 1 LTW Level 3 lesson per week.

Course Objectives:

1. Practice considering a necessary question and perspective
2. Practice the arrangement of formal elements in a deliberative essay
3. Practice using schemes and tropes
4. Write deliberative essays
5. Practice with logical elements in rhetorical composition
6. Learn how to "read" good films
7. Learn how to analyze plot points, themes, and character choices from good films

Course Set-up: Students have 4 days to turn in their first draft. I offer corrections within 48 hours. They have until midnight the day of the next class to submit their final corrections. Once an assignment is closed, work will not be accepted. I offer 20 points per lesson. 2 points off for late work, 5 points off for each element not included, and 1-3 points off for items not corrected before the assignment closes. LATE WORK IS NOT ASSESSED.

Course Prerequisites:
Students must have:

• Completed LTW 2 showing they have a strong working knowledge of Lessons' Invention and Arrangement components
• Submit an LTW II Essay 7 composition for class acceptance
• A strong understanding of parallelism
• The ability to edit their work for mechanics (commons, capitals, punctuation, spelling, formatting), verb tense and agreement, weak verbs and passive voice.
• Love movie-watching and stories!

Films your student will watch for discussion and writing throughout the year:
Semester 1

• 12 Angry Men (1957)
• Director: Sidney Lumet
• The Sandlot (1993)
• Director: David Mickey Evans
• Holes (2003)
• Director: Andrew Davis
• Home Alone (1990)
• Director: Chris Columbus
• Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
• Director: Wes Anderson
• Rise of the Guardians (2012)
• Director: Peter Ramsey

Semester 2

• The Karate Kid (1984)
• Director: John G. Avildsen
• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
• Director: Peter Jackson
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
• Director: Peter Jackson
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
• Director: Peter Jackson
• Secondhand Lions (2003)
• Director: Tim McCanlies
• October Sky (1999)
• Director: Joe Johnston

**All films are selected for narrative clarity, moral seriousness, and suitability for discussion in a Christian classical rhetoric context. Some films may contain content that your family is not personally comfortable with. Families are encouraged to review films in advance using their preferred resources for critique and disclosure. Neither Kepler Education nor Cheryl Floyd is responsible for individual family viewing decisions, which remain under parental authority and discernment. Films cannot be substituted.

Curriculum Texts:

• https://circeinstitute.org/product/ltw-3-complete-set/
• Film notation hand-outs given in class