This course is intended to work on student skills from several angles, especially improving the power of expression through both written and oral communication. Students will examine literature from various times and places to find the reason why universal themes exist and why great works can cross those time and place boundaries. Students will gain skill in both mechanics of writing as well as an understanding of rhetorical, persuasive, and poetic devices to build confidence in decoding tough texts and analyzing the meaning in a variety of genres. Students will gain perspective by studying writers of other origins and via researching contemporary issues. By the end of the class, students will have written and filmed a script, written two short stories, composed and analyzed various poems, researched and documented using MLA format, practiced multiple analysis essays using the SAT standards and participated in the social issues debate (a culminating project which demands oral communication, written communication, critical thinking and analysis). Students will emerge from this class as better writers and thinkers.
- Teacher: Sarah Frase
- Teacher: Amber West