Essay Writing: Zero to Sixty in a Semester (Online)

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"She seems to be gaining confidence in her essay writing skills, and we are seeing her attack the assignments with much more self-assurance... She is enjoying the class and is learning much. We are so very grateful to you for the class. She is soaking this all up! I am thrilled."

"All the feedback Mr. Vogel gave to me was extremely helpful for all the papers we had to prepare. I learned that there are plenty of ways which would help me improve my writing. Not only did I learn a lot in the classes, I also bumped my grades up at home."

"Although he would still say he doesn't like to write, he is enjoying your class and admits that writing is not that bad. This is a huge step in the right direction."

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The ability to craft a solid essay is one of the most important academic skills a student can develop. From high school writing assignments to the SAT, college applications, and of course, university classes, the benefits of writing well cannot be exaggerated. Unfortunately, for many homeschool parents it's also one of the most frustrating subjects to teach. Essay writing can be hard to explain and hard to grade, while students rebel against assignments that may appear boring and pointless.

Essay Writing: Zero to Sixty in a Semester combines two of Living the Answer's most popular classes--Intro to Essays and Essays II--to replace confusion with confidence and smooth the transition into essay writing by providing students and parents with the tools necessary for continued development. Because of the individualized comments that each student receives on his or her assignments, students ranging from 10-year-olds without any essay-writing experience to 18-year-olds looking for a last refresher before college have benefited from and enjoyed these classes.

Drawing on classical rhetoric's canons of Invention, Arrangment, and Style, Essay Writing: Zero to Sixty in a Semester covers:

• Invention (coming up with ideas): For many students, the first step is the hardest. They'll learn basic brainstorming techniques, then delve deeper using the rhetorical Topics to discover interesting, persuasive ideas to discuss.
  
  
• Arrangment (putting ideas in order): Good ideas are useless if you don't know what do to with them. Students will become comfortable with the different elements of the five-paragraph essay, learning about introductions, thesis statements, body paragraphs, and conclusions. As always, our goal isn't just rote learning, but comprehension. We'll discuss not just the "how" but the "why" of the five-paragraph essay structure, helping students appreciate and better understand essay organization.
  
  
• Style (presenting ideas winsomely): It's easy to disregard stylistic concerns as mere fluff, but it's actually style that turns good writing into great writing. Students will learn to write with a style that grows naturally out of their own personality and ideas, communicating with passion, clarity, and even beauty.

Students will listen to weekly 75 minute lectures online, using software that provides a live, interactive experience. Afterward they will work on weekly writing assignments, approximately half of which will be full, five-paragraph essays. All assignments will be posted on the private class forum, where each one will receive a detailed, individualized critique with suggestions for future improvement.

"I enrolled her in the class because I wanted her to get feedback on her writing from someone besides me. The time you took to read the essays and give specific pointers on how to improve the writing was greatly beneficial for us... I was very pleased with the academic level of the class. She was motivated to work to her potential and made a good step forward in improving her writing. It was encouraging to see her excited to do a good job on her essays and to want to put forth the effort needed to make them better. She now has a good understanding of what good writing looks like so that she is able to evaluate her writing and determine where it needs improvement and how to accomplish it."