Do you like writing?  Are you going to college?  Do you want to learn how to be a more

EFFECTIVE writer?  Have you ever watched a video or read something about a topic that

FASCINATED you?  Have you ever done a deep-dive into a subject of YOUR CHOICE by

watching videos, reading Wikipedia articles, or going down a social media rabbit hole? 

If you have, then this class is for you!

Ideally, before you begin this class, you have written a 5-paragraph paper, understand thesis

statements, conclusion statements, and body paragraphs, and have conducted outside research. 

The outside research can be falling down rabbit holes to further your understanding on a topic

that interests you! 

The entire year will be split into two semesters, mirroring collegiate-level English composition

classes.  Composition I consists of research papers and different argumentative style papers

whereas Composition II takes the research and argumentative skills and allows you to begin

analyzing literature and other texts. 

The first semester:

• Learning, reviewing, and fine-tuning MLA formatting and guidelines (including in-text

citations, headers, and the works cited page)

• Learning to write at the collegiate level.  This will include discussing first and second

person pronouns in writing, limiting to-be verbs, strengthening thesis statements, and

incorporating sources into your writing.  

• We will read articles from professionals, professors, and authors on what makes writing

effective; and how to improve your skills

• We will write persuasive research papers, argumentative research papers, and a Rogerian

research paper.  For this semester, the final will be a research paper of your choice.

• If necessary, revisions will be allowed and accepted.  I believe the art of writing is

rewriting.  For this reason, the week prior to an essay deadline, we will have mandatory

peer-review workshops where students will gain feedback from one another.  This is part

of the overall grade for the essays. 

The second semester:

• Reading poetry, dramas, and short stories.  Instead of summarizing, which is a good skill

to have, we will begin to develop the tools of analyzing.  This will consist of many in-

class discussions where we are deep diving into what we believe the author wants us to

know but may not be explicitly telling readers.

• Learning how to properly cite different literary forms in MLA format. 

• Reading brief literary criticism articles about the works we read.  Then, we will discuss

as a group if we agree or disagree with the interpretation the author of the literary

criticism argued.  For one assignment, the students will be expected to write their own literary criticism on whichever work they choose.  This will be about 2-3 pages.