Senior Course (14 yrs and up), $335, 14 week course – Prerequisite: Intro to High School Writing
(If an interested student can demonstrate sufficient writing ability at a high school level, they can contact Nicole Noster, nicole@wisdomhomeschooling.com, for a possible exemption from the prerequisite.)
(Extra Evaluation Version available - see below)
Sharpen the sword of your thought and make it clear, strategic, and effective! Writing an essay is so much more than cover pages and footnotes – it's the process of bringing truth to life in ink on the page! This hands-on course demystifies the essay-writing process, walking students through the mechanics of writing argumentative, research, personal, and literary essays in a practical way. Students complete a writing assignment every week and study stellar examples of great writing to inspire their own work. They meet in class with other students to discuss the writing process, and receive a short private tutorial time weekly with the tutor. This is WISDOM's most challenging writing course, and students will gain valuable writing skills if they are strongly committed to the process of their study.
Extra private 30 minute tutorials are available upon request. (Cost: $25/tutorial)
Please contact Nicole Noster to receive more information or to book additional tutorials: nicole@wisdomhomeschooling.com
All readings and course material will be provided to students in an online format.
The course outline covers the following concepts:
- Strong Thesis Statements
- Outlines & Specific Paragraph Characterization
- Research & Citation
- Essay Types: Compare/Contrast, Expository, Cause & Effect, Personal
- Essay Revision
- Essay Synthesis
Sample Lesson:
Week 4: The Compare & Contrast Essay (Write a compare & contrast essay with an interesting title)
- Lesson: The Compare & Contrast Essay
- Readings:This week you must read two accounts of King Arthur's death. The situation is this – Mordred, King Arthur's villainous son, has come to challenge his father in battle with a great army.
- Le Morte d'Arthur: The Death of Arthur (Thomas Malory)
- Idylls of the King: The Death of Arthur (Alfred, Lord Tennyson)
- Comparing and Contrasting (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Centre)
- MLA style (Purdue OWL) Please look over the "in text citation" section and the "bibliography" section before class.
Extra Evaluation Information
Students interested in taking the extra evaluated version of this course can find more information and a grade breakdown on our Mastering the Essay fact sheet. This version partially fulfills the admission requirements for the WISDOM/Augustana University Partnership. It may also be taken by students not pursuing the Augustana application but who desire more rigorous assessment.