This is our catalog of courses. We will occasionally adjust the course listing to reflect the addition of new courses and the retirement of others.
Get the writing edge and go beyond the five-paragraph essay to mastering the secrets of advanced essay writing, including different essay types, advanced brainstorming techniques, using parallelism, cohesive writing, bookending, and more. These must-have essay skills apply to all high school and college courses. Take the 9-3 course with this course to gain a full semester’s credit of writing.
Total classes: 8
Prerequisite: Required: Registered for High School Writing Essentials 1: Essential Punctuation & Grammar I (HS 9-1) and High School Simplified Writing 1: Strong Foundational Writing Skills (HS 9-2). Courses build on one another, and students will need to know the content of the 9-1 and 9-2 course to succeed in this course. The 9-3 course is also highly recommended. Prerequisites can be taken either LIVE or through Unlimited Access (recorded course). An alternative to the prerequisite: a passing assessment from the Aquinas Writing Advantage Assessment service, https://homeschoolconnectionsonline.com/writing-evaluations.
Suggested grade level: 9th grade; all grade levels accepted
Suggested credit: ½ semester Writing or English. Combine with High School Writing Essentials 2 for a full semester
Description
The Five-Paragraph Essay has been the standard for essay writing for years — and in this course, your student will understand that there is so much more that’s necessary to be a competent writer and go beyond the typical form to learning what makes an essay exceptional. Students will craft essay assignments and practice becoming comfortable with thinking quickly in creating, drafting, and polishing essays. Special attention will be paid to how to write essays that capture the attention and flow from beginning to end, with meaning.
Outline
Class 1: Essay types and differences, and where you’ll write them
Class 2: The traditional Five Paragraph Essay
Class 3: What makes an essay great: researching an essay and brainstorming with the “then what?” question; taking your thoughts “to the end of the line”
Class 4: What makes an essay great: examples and analysis of form, parallelism, and rhythm in an essay
Class 5: What makes an essay great: Transitional tricks, answering the reader’s questions, making cohesive decisions, and bookending
Class 6: What makes an essay great: Research, storytelling, and creative elements
Class 7: What makes an essay great: Analyzing three essays
Class 8: Revising and editing your essays
Materials and Homework
Course materials: All course materials are provided free. Word or the ability to convert a document to a Word-compatible document is required. If you do not own Microsoft Word, you can use a system such as Google Docs that converts to Word documents FREE.
Homework: Students will have weekly writing assignments with grading and direct feedback from the instructor. Estimated three to five hours per week for homework outside of class time, depending on the student’s ability.
