LTW II: Film as Literature: 12 Angry Men old version, Home Alone 1 & 2, Harry Potter, Second Hand Lions, Lord of the Rings

Who did it? How did they do it? Should they receive a consequence for their action? Who's to judge? Which laws and standards ought to be applied? What if nothing is done? These questions lead students to contemplate right action as well as right consequence. Students who have had two years of LTW I, or have mastered the persuasive essay elements through LTW 1 Lesson 8, will be ready to increase their thinking skills and hone the deliberative address by refining previous elements such as the narratio, exordium, amplification, and refutation, as well as learn about character bias, applying laws and norms, practicing complex sentences, citations, and more elocution elements to liven their prose, all while attending to the cinematography, sound, light, and plot of tried and true films.

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 paragraph deliberative essay that utilizes thesis-building, character bias and evidence substantiation, proofs with terminating sentences, refutation with a counter argument, and language devices such as schemes and tropes. This is not a writing and editing course though it does address complex sentence usage, students will need to already be proficient in understanding and constructing complete sentences, verb tenses, understanding and utilizing parallelism, strong editing and formatting. Parents are encouraged to help with editing and formatting.
Course Prerequisites: Students should have: Completed LTW LI two times or show they have a strong working knowledge of Lessons' 1-8 components -
Submit an LTW I Essay 8 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.-
Students can prepare for this course by taking or re-taking LTW I.
Films to watch for discussion and writing throughout the year:
12 Angry Men, 1957, Director: Sidney Lumet
Home Alone 1, 1990, Director: Chris Columbus
Home Alone 2,1992, Director: Chris Columbus
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 2001, Director: Chris Columbus
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, 2002, Director: ibib
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, 2004, Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Fantastic Mr. Fox, 2009, Director: Wes Andersen
Second Hand Lions, 2003, Director: Tim McCanlies
Lord of the Rings, movies 1-3, Director: Peter Jackson
Course Objectives:
Practice with Special Topics of Invention1.
Practice arrangement of the formal elements of a deliberative essay1.
Practice using schemes and tropes1.
Write deliberative essays1.
Practice rhetorical thinking skills1.
Learn how to read good films1.

Curriculum Texts:
Lost Tools of Writing Level II, 2nd edition CiRCE Institute-
Film notation hand-outs given in class