Beyond the Five-Paragraph Essay: Advanced Essay Writing Techniques

In this class, students will learn to break away from the five-paragraph essay and learn to write though-provoking, engaging, and eloquent essays. The five-paragraph essay is a tool to teach basic writing skills, but once students are in high school and college, sticking to the rigid format promotes boring summary, predictable and uninteresting conclusions, and poor persuasion. In this class, students will learn to organize essays around one purpose. They will learn to recognize when to start new paragraphs, based on their ideas and flow, not on arbitrary rules. Students will learn techniques to make their writing interesting, from coming up with good ideas to avoiding the passive voice. Students will be able to pick a topic that interests them and be encouraged to use the tools they learn to write what they want to write. This class will be interactive and include interactions between the students and each other and the students and instructor. Lectures include fun video clips, memes, and high energy discussion. Students will participate in each class through writing challenges, peer review, discussion, and in-class practice.

Class 1: What makes a good essay?
-Students will learn what makes good writing
-Students will learn good brainstorming techniques
-Students will select a pertinent topic based on their own interests and passions

Class 2: Finding a Point
-Students will learn how to write through writer’s block
-Students will learn strategies to develop their ideas into purposeful statements
-Students will begin writing their essay

Class 3: Writing strong Introductions
-Students will practice writing and reading strong introductions
-Students will peer review one another’s essays
-Students will submit an essay draft to the instructor

Class 4: Writing Strong Conclusions
-Students will learn to break away from conclusions that are purely summary
-Students will develop though-provoking conclusions

Class 5: Avoiding the Passive Voice
-Student will learn the difference between the active and passive voice
-Students will participate in interactive games to work on this skill
-Students will edit their own essays

Class 6: Reorganizing ideas and Editing
-Students will learn to take messy essays and organize them
-Students will learn what to cut out and what to keep
-Students will submit a final essay draft and receive feedback the following week