Level: Form III (7th–9th grades), Form IV (10th–12th grades)
Subject(s): Communication, English
Description:
This class is designed to help students who have mastered the basic essay take their writing to the next level. Students will learn a five-step process for developing a thoughtful thesis statement that interacts with the great conversation of ideas. By attending to sources and engaging in group discussion, students will be able to find their own voice as they search for the truth through their reading and writing.
In addition to reviewing sentence structure and stylistic elements, returning students will also read essays by master writers, analyzing and imitating their respective styles in a series of response essays of their own. Studying an array of the best American essays from the past century, students will gain exposure to different essay structures and themes ranging from opinion piece to social appeal, from personal essay to literary theodicy.
The skill and insight of great authors serve as inspiration for students who are finding their own individual voices. By imitating the sentence structures and essay organization of great authors, students can be empowered to compose their own beautiful, powerful work as they join the larger conversation. This advanced essay course makes a direct bridge for the student between imitating great writing and composing beautiful writing in their own words. Students will also gain practice with the revision and critique process.
We will also make time for some creative writing projects as well. Students will study poetic form and style as well as short fiction, and will imitate master authors through creative compositions of their own.
In addition to weekly class sessions, students should plan to spend another two to three hours each week completing assignments at home.
Note: This course is offered on rotation every two or three years and will be offered in 2025–26.
Materials:
Families purchase the following required supplies: (Except for text/workbooks, linked brands for items are suggestions.)
- Previous BHSC Writing students should plan to reuse their dedicated, 3-ring notebook binder. New students will be issued a binder and dividers on the first day of class.
- Composition notebook
- Pens, black ink, 2 or more
- Pencils, 3 or more, pre-sharpened and ready to use
- Colored pencils, erasable, including red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, and brown
- Erasers
- Three-hole punch and stapler (kept at home; used by students to prepare assignments for submission)
- Dictionary & Thesaurus—for home use. Consider apps such as the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus.
- Jensen’s Punctuation ISBN: 9780890519943
- Strongly Recommended:
- EITHER (for Form 3 students) Wordly Wise 3000 Fourth Edition, Student Book 9 and Answer Key.
- OR (for Form 4 students) Wordly Wise 3000 Third Edition, Student Book 11 and Answer Key.
- Recommended/Optional: Reinforcing stickers for strengthening/repairing holes in notebook paper and handouts
Students must also have a public library card and access to the library as they may be required to secure and read library books and research articles.
Finally, students will need to be able to type, print, and email assignments using a sharable word processing program compatible with Microsoft Word.
