This course offers a critical-creative reading and annotating path to good composing practices at upper secondary and tertiary stages of learning. It aims to support your development of rhetorical strategies, literary analysis and critical composing practices.
You will learn the kinds of critical thinking needed to make choices – choices of creative purpose and the diction, detail, imagery, and syntax to fulfill it. You will learn the questions to ask to develop a research question and a tenable thesis statement. You will be given sources to support your learning to summarize, quote, cite and reference properly. You will read different types of critical essays that offer various types of claims and well-supported arguments, all to support your understanding of how you may shape your essay. You will increase your vocabulary, understanding of logical, ethical and emotional fallacies to avoid and your confidence in your capacity to essay various types of critical tasks.
Though the focus of the class will be on composing various types of essays required by AP and IB Diploma Programs, several of those types pertain to SAT essay writing, such as the AP rhetorical analysis essay and IB literary commentary. Preparation for those, including annotating text and various pre-writing approaches can support SAT test takers to prepare for writing and essay well.
Each Essay Level and Grammar has two years worth of skill content. A student can take this level for two years without repeating content!
Student Grammar/Workbooks for Essay 2A:
1. Elements of Style & Workbook
2. From Inquiry to Academic Writing: A text and reader fourth edition by Stuart Greene
We may also use the following textbooks as a reference in class:
1. Patterns for College Writing: A Rhetorical Reader and Guide by Laurie G. Kirszner (Author)
2. Various SAT Grammar practices
Books in PDF will be uploaded to the students' class page before the term starts. You may also borrow a hard copy of the textbooks from Sunshine whenever it's still available.
Instructor:
Julie Hlad
