Moving from the five-paragraph essay to a 10-page college essay may be intimidating to many students. Sitting in a college classroom is much different than sitting in a high school classroom. In this class, students will spend the semester practicing college-level writing by completing assignments they can expect to see in College English 101. 

This class is not for students that struggle with basic essays. Students will be working on writing essays that are in-depth, requiring the students to write lengthy essays with several sources (at least 4+ pages and sources).

Throughout this course, students will learn:
- Research and notetaking
- How to avoid plagiarism 
- Writing a thesis without stating the obvious
- How to complete the different phases of writing
- Revision and editing
- MLA format
- Citing sources

Students will complete four essays:  Argumentative, Problem and Solution, Literary Analysis and Research.
Students will need to turn in outlines and rough drafts for each essay to receive feedback. Feedback will be in-depth. Students can expect to do extensive revisions to improve their writing. 

Class 1: Problem and Solution
Writing warm-up activity
Introduction to class 
What is a problem/solution essay?
Coming up with a unique topic
Activity: Brainstorm ideas for problem/solution topics
How to research - Explore scholarly sources
HOMEWORK: Choose a topic for a problem/solution essay. Find sources.

Class 2:
Writing warm-up activity
How to add length to your essays (sources, details)
Activity - Practice adding length to essays
Importance of creating an outline
Work on outlines
HOMEWORK: Create the outline and the rough draft of your essay.

Class 3:
Writing warm-up activity
The difference between revision and editing
Revision skills - adding detail
Activity - Revise an essay together in class (not a student essay)
Editing skills - active/passive voice, commas, unnecessary words
Activity - Edit an essay together in class (not a student essay)
HOMEWORK: Revise and edit the problem/solution essay.


Class 4:
Writing warm-up activity
Introduce the argumentative essay
How to come up with a unique/creative topic
How to strengthen your argument (types of evidence, ethos/logos/pathos)
Mapping out your argument and counter argument
Activity - Brainstorm unique topics and map out the argument
HOMEWORK: Research for your essay and create an outline.

Class 5:
Writing warm-up activity
How to write a strong thesis statement
Activity - Practice writing thesis statements
HOMEWORK: Write the rough draft of the argumentative essay. Read "The Masque of the Red Death," by Edgar Allan Poe.

Class 6:
Writing warm-up activity
Guided discussion on the short story
Introduce literary analysis
Practice writing summaries
Class discussion: Brainstorm topics for a literary analysis
HOMEWORK: Choose your own short story. Brainstorm ideas for a literary analysis on your story.

Class 7:
Writing warm-up activity
How to write short story summaries
Work on writing introductions
Important elements of the body paragraphs
HOMEWORK: Write the rough draft of your literary analysis.

Class 8:
Writing warm-up activity
Introduce the research essay
Types of research essays
How to narrow down the focus and choose a claim
Activity - Practice note taking on sources
HOMEWORK: Pick a research topic and start doing research.

Class 9:
Writing warm-up activity
Examine research and look for holes
Work on organizing 
Work on writing the outline
HOMEWORK: Write the rough draft of the research essay.