Junior Academic Writing
These courses prepare students to become critical readers and apply fundamental strategies to their own writing. While there is a strong emphasis on the development of writing skills, students will also be introduced to analytical strategies and work toward applying different theoretical approaches to the study of literature. All classes use reading material from the BC high school curriculum, ensuring relevance to what students are learning in their English classes.
Grades 8/9
Students will learn and apply the fundamental concepts of critical reading and theme analysis, structured outlining, and the academic essay. At this level, we focus on developing structured writing: students are taught to use writing techniques, make use of formulas, keywords, and appropriate quotations to create an essay that falls under the “Exceeds Expectation” BC Performance Standards.
Grade 10
This class enables students to refine their existing knowledge by focusing on analysis that requires a high degree of depth and control of relatively complex ideas. It also manipulates previously learned writing structures so that they appear natural and spontaneous, organization becomes smooth and logical, and word choice creates voice and appropriate tone. Provincial exam preparation is also a part of this course.
Senior Academic Writing
These demanding courses enable students to refine the tools of analysis, construct arguments about literature, and use critical and theoretical sources. Students will use a variety of thematic concepts and approaches that they can apply to their study of literature. Students will also study a variety of essay forms, including the analytical synthesis essay, culminating with the development of a longer research-style essay used in university. A section examining the Provincial Exam is included at the grade 12 level.
Grade 11
This class prepares students for the more rigorous demands of senior-level academic writing by enabling them to approach their assignments with passion and purpose. Analytical skills are key in this class as students will demonstrate a level of analysis that shows complex ideas and has intellectual appeal. Students will learn to express their ideas with more sophisticated vocabulary and literary devices.
Grade 12
The goal of this class is to enable students to develop adult-level insight which results in a clear and stimulating essay. Students are encouraged to take risks and manipulate previously learned formulas to show originality and inventiveness. There is a strong emphasis on learning a variety of techniques that will be measured on the provincial exam as well as introducing university-level research methods, analysis, and writing. Provincial exam preparation is also a part of this course.
ONLINE WRITING COURSES
English Provincial Exam Preparation
This is a highly rigorous and condensed course that reveals the underlying themes and concepts that run through the last 15 years of Provincial Exams. The course exposes the specialized writing principles that exam evaluators are looking for, thereby giving students an enormous advantage. The course is designed to be completed in eight lessons that include specialized instruction, written assignments, and practice exams. Students will receive thorough, personalized feedback for each assignment and practice exam.
University Writing
This intensive course focuses specifically on the research genres, and the expectations students must meet as writers at university. Accordingly, the course enables students to read and master complex, and often lengthy, scholarly materials from a variety of disciplines, and to concentrate on developing their own ability to compose rigorous scholarly argument.
