Lost Tools of Writing 1: Film as Literature: Karate Kid, Home Alone 1 & 2, Harry Potter, Second Hand Lions, Lord of the Rings

Should Edmund have followed the White Witch? Should Mr. Miyagi have trained Daniel? Should Harry have helped Hermione with the troll? Lost Tools Level I introduces students to the persuasive address. In this class students will practice using common topics to think about a decision a character made. They will construct an outline to gather and order their thoughts, craft an introduction, and expound upon their thesis in a conclusion. Specific formal elements of the persuasive essay will be practiced such as: Exordium, Narration, Refutation, and Amplification. Along with these rhetorical essentials, elocution elements will be added to practice eloquent prose such as: simile, antithesis, and assonance.

Through this course, your student will practice using the first three canons of rhetoric: Invention, Arrangement, and Elocution. They will ultimately craft a 10 paragraph persuasive essay that utilizes thesis-building, proofs and substantiation, refutation, and language devices such as schemes and tropes. This is not a writing and editing course though it does address weak and inconsistent verbs. Students will need to already be proficient understanding and constructing complete sentences, understanding and utilizing the eight parts of speech and basic editing and formatting. Parents are encouraged to help with editing and formatting.
Course Prerequisites: Students should: Have proficient knowledge of the eight parts of speech-
Be able to write complete sentences and paragraphs-
Be familiar with verb tenses-
Younger or inexperienced writers can prepare for this course by using IEW, or any basic writing course that teaches the parts of a sentence, the parts of speech, and practices preparing paragraphs.

A strong recommendation for Lost Tools progression is for the Level 1 course to be taken twice, before proceeding to Level II so that all of the foundational elements through Essay 8 are well known and easily applied in a student's composition.
Films to watch for discussion and writing:
Karate Kid, 1984, Director: John G. Avildsen
Home Alone 1, 1990, Director: Chris Columbus
Home Alone 2,1992, Director: Chris Columbus
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer'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 the five Topics of Invention1.
Practice arranging the formal elements of a persuasive essay1.
Practice using schemes and tropes1.
Write persuasive essays1.
Practice rhetorical thinking skills1.
Learn how to read good films1.

Curriculum Texts:
Lost Tools of Writing, 5th Edition, Student Workbook, published by the CiRCE Institute-
Film notation hand-outs given in class