This course is designed to help students become skilled readers and writers through engagement with the following course requirements:

• Composing in several forms (e.g., narrative, expository, analytical, and argumentative essays) about a variety of subjects
• Writing that proceeds through several stages or drafts, with revision aided by teacher and peers
• Writing informally (e.g., imitation exercises, journal keeping, collaborative writing), which helps students become aware of themselves as writers and the techniques employed by other writers
• Writing expository, analytical, and argumentative compositions based on readings representing a variety of prose styles and genres
• Reading nonfiction (e.g., essays, journalism, science writing, autobiographies, criticism)
• Analyzing graphics and visual images both in relation to written texts and as alternative forms of text themselves
• Developing research skills and the ability to evaluate, use, and cite primary and secondary sources
• Conducting research and writing argument papers in which students present an argument of their own that includes the analysis and synthesis of ideas from an array of sources
• Citing sources using a recognized editorial style (e.g., Modern Language Association, The Chicago Manual of Style)
• Revising work to develop:
  • A wide-ranging vocabulary used appropriately and effectively;
  • A variety of sentence structures, including appropriate use of subordination and coordination;
  • Logical organization, enhanced by techniques such as repetition, transitions, and emphasis;
  • A balance of generalization and specific, illustrative detail; and
  • An effective use of rhetoric, including tone, voice, diction, and sentence structure.

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