This seminar introduces students in grades 7-12 to essential tools for understanding and analyzing literary texts and making insightful, compelling arguments about them. At the same time, it functions as an intensive writing workshop, helping students to develop their writing not only at the level of argumentation but also at the level of grammar, style, citation, and formatting. The overall aim of the seminar is to provide students with the necessary skills to produce essays that immediately stand out in secondary school courses because their clarity, precision, professionalism, and originality are closer to college-level work.
What the course asks of students in general terms is first and foremost an interest in poetry or fiction, but also dedication, openness, curiosity, the belief that they have something unique and original to say about literature, and an active willingness to argue for that perspective in the classroom and in essays.
Classes are held in a live online classroom, for four one-hour sessions each week. There are sixteen total classroom hours, as well as teacher availability outside of class.
This is a non-graded seminar, but students will receive extensive feedback on each piece of written work and a detailed written evaluation of their progress at the end of the course.
The seminar has two sections: one for students entering grades 7-9, and one for students entering grades 10-12.