Lost Tools of Writing 2: Little Britches Books 3-5

In the Lost Tools of Writing II, we will begin by tilling the soil of Ralph Moody’s autobiography: The Home Ranch, Mary Emma & Company, and The Fields of Home. We will shake the layers of critical thinking to plant seeds of evaluation and understanding. Through the process of layered reading, we will ask good questions, analyze decisions, and gain a keen understanding of the text in order to rightly order thoughts and judgments. After careful observation of both argument and evidence, we will express those judgments firmly, respectfully, and wisely through the spoken and written word. Ultimately, our end is to harvest truth.

We will be challenged to contemplate and share our discoveries in class. We will be challenged to, albeit with respect and in love, pass judgement and defend our position or humbly acknowledge another point of view. This is imperative because the Lost Tools of Writing II is not just a writing program, it is a thinking and rhetoric program that readies a student to decide the rightness of their own actions and the actions of others.Through this process students will begin to learn how to judge based on wisdom, logic, and information, while communicating it with conviction, persuasion, and compassion. By using part of Ralph Moody's autobiography as our sources of judgement, students will allow themselves the freedom to exercise the tools of judgement without a personal stake in the outcome.

In the Lost Tools of Writing II, we will ask the fundamental question, “should an individual be admonished for have done something”. This is an important question. How many times in our lives do we assess an action we, or someone close to us, has taken and are compelled to contemplate whether it was deserving of admonishment? We gather information and we weigh the reasons why and why not. We come to a conclusion. And finally, we must stand firm in our convictions, express our thoughts wisely, and, if necessary, accept a reprimand humbly. With guidance, our students will sharpen the assessment of their own actions, as well as the actions of other's. Necessarily, they will increase in their ability to take responsibility for their own actions and, in self-governance, become free men.

2 Corinthians 5:10 explains:

"For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil."

In Paradiso, Dante states:

“Much worse than uselessly particular he leaves the shore, more full of error than he was before, who fishes for the truth, but lacks the art.”

At the end of this course, our students will be able to write a 10-paragraph judicial address that will include: exordium, narratio, thesis, counter-thesis, division, a case with arguments, a refutation with counter-arguments, and conclusion with amplification.

Course Objectives

• Think strategically
• Judge wisely
• Defend firmly
• Discover truth
• Self-govern
• Write a Judicial Address