Students will spend the first semester reviewing and honing the skills they learned in The Lost Tools of Writing Level One, as they consider actions taken by characters in the stories we read together. They will write about what was done and how, but they will spend most of their time contemplating why a character made a specific decision and whether that choice was a good choice. This will require them to read closely and think deeply. They will come to know what questions to ask, how to organize their thoughts, and how to play with rhetorical devices that will delight their readers even as they persuade those readers toward truth.

In the second semester, students will sharpen their powers of observation and practice a new type of composition through the Comparison Essay. New skills will be introduced each week, and students work toward mastery of those skills by practicing them throughout the course. They will be assigned weekly reading and pre-writing or essay homework and will make brief posts in class discussion threads. We will read portions of books in class and spend time conversing about these stories together. It is my hope that students will leave this class with a love of story and the ability to share with others the truths that exist in these tales.

Grade Range: 9th-11th grade

Learning Objectives:

• Students will increase their ability to read texts closely, comprehending the overall story.
• Students will hone the skill of attending to details in stories and in their writing.
• Students will write eight compositions, beginning with persuasive essays and ending with comparison essays.
• Students will regularly utilize the Five Common Topics of Invention as they consider what to write.
• Students will verbalize the purpose of the persuasive essay.
• Students will verbalize the purpose of the comparison essay.
• Students will organize their thoughts well in essay/address outlines during Arrangement.
• Students will master rhetorical schemes and tropes in Elocution.
• Students will leave class with a greater love of story.

Literature and Required Texts:

• The Lost Tools of Writing Level One Student Workbook
• The Lost Tools of Writing: Comparison Essay
• Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen ISBN 978-1586172633
• Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte ISBN 978-0486424491
• Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley ISBN 978-1586171384
• Leave It to Psmith, by P.G. Wodehouse ISBN 978-1684223039
• The Merchant of Venice, by Shakespeare (Folger Shakespeare Library) ISBN 978-0743477567
• I will provide links to any other short stories.