Writing Program Overview
Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.
— Gene Fowler
There’s an old joke among musicians: Q: "How do I get to Carnegie Hall?" A: "Practice, practice, practice."
To be a writer, a good writer, you must also practice, practice, practice. Many students assume that speaking a language fluently means that writing papers, essays, stories, and so forth in that language will come naturally and easily when needed – usually during an all-night paper-writing session. That assumption does not hold true any more than being able to drive a car makes you a mechanic, or being able to walk makes you a marathoner.
Fortunately, you can learn to write well by practicing. That is why the Scholars Online writing curriculum is based on practice. The courses encourage you to look at your own writing critically. We teach you the skill of writing by using the discipline of re-writing. We also teach you how to apply peer reviews and instructor’s edits without becoming defensive.
… Then anyone who leaves behind him a written manual, and likewise anyone who receives it, in the belief that such writing will be clear and certain, must be exceedingly simple-minded…
— Plato
No matter what field of study you intend to pursue, you will be required to write. Outstanding writing will set you apart as an outstanding student or worker — even in Math class, or as a professional engineer. Any discipline requires you to organize your thoughts; writing helps you to visualize the thoughts and present them clearly for others to understand or apply.
Our goal is to help you to present your thoughts plainly and concisely, but also understand and respect the conventions of scholarly and professional writing.
Individual courses
Writing for the College-Bound and Writing Workshop are especially suitable as composition components for Scholars Online literature courses, with topic options coordinated to course content. Note that Writing Workshop II for 2007 is offered SPRING of 2007 and is part of the 2007/2008 academic year. It is currently for enrollment.
We are working with teachers to determine course offerings for 2008. If you would like to see a couse not yet listed, please let the current teacher know, or use the EMAIL US link below to contact Scholars Online Administration with your course request.
After April 1, 2008, course information for 2006 will no longer appear on these pages, but will be available from the student's unofficial transcript, which can be reached from your Account Management Center.
To see details about an individual course, click on the black triangle to the left of the course name
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Molding Your Style • 2007 listing - for reference only • Grade 10 or above • [Summer course]
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Primary Instructor
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Sections
[Enrolled students will be notified if teacher schedules change between course posting in April and start of classes in September. Please see Tuition and Fees for refund policy.]
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| | Section 1 Instructor: Bruce McMenomyClasses meet from June 14, 2007 to August 9, 2007Thursday 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM ETTuition: $200.00
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Website
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Description
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| | "Molding Your Style" introduces students to the almost inexhaustible range of possibilities for stylistic manipulation, by recasting a given source passage (about a page) into the style of one or another of the great stylists of the English language. Along the way they learn some of the tools of stylistic analysis and criticism, as well as ways of recasting their writing to create different moods and effects. The course is accordingly good preparation for both writing and critical literary study.
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Meetings
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| | This course meets once a week for discussion and review of assigned homework.
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Homework
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| | At the beginning of the summer, each student selects one source passage from a list provided; each week he or she recasts that passage in the style of the author of the week, and posts the resulting exercise to the bulletin board for the class. Students write extended critiques of each other's work throughout the summer; depending on the size of the class, students may be asked to write on all the other students' work, or just one or two.
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Prerequisites
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| | No formal prerequisite, but some awareness of prose style as a deliberate and controlled phenomenon is essential. It is highly recommended that the student have taken at least some literature course.
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Recommended background
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| | Builds naturally on "Molding Your Prose" and "Molding Your Argument"; almost any background in literary reading and writing is likely to prove beneficial, and it is probably particularly suitable to those who are pursuing creative writing generally. Students have taken the course several times with profit.
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Instructor's Notes
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| | No external materials required.
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Textbooks and Materials
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There are no textbook or materials currently required for this course.
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| | Check instructor's notes above for additional information, or contact the instructor.
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Molding Your Argument • 2007 listing - for reference only • Grade 8 or above • [Summer course]
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Primary Instructor
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Sections
[Enrolled students will be notified if teacher schedules change between course posting in April and start of classes in September. Please see Tuition and Fees for refund policy.]
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| | Section 1 Instructor: Bruce McMenomyClasses meet from June 14, 2007 to August 9, 2007Thursday 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM ETTuition: $200.00
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Website
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| | There is currently no teacher website for this course.
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Description
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| | Modeled on "Molding Your Prose", this course involves developing a sequence of arguments from the same topics by varying their structure to correspond to a range of pre-defined forms, from simple thesis statements and simple paragraphs, through the five-paragraph essay, the Thomistic scholastic model, and the Roman rhetorical outline applied by Cicero and his contemporaries.
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Meetings
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| | This course meets once a week for discussion and review of assigned homework.
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Homework
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| | At the beginning of the summer, each student selects a controversial position on which he or she will be willing to argue both sides. We therefore tend to exclude morally volatile issues.
Each week, students present their arguments from one side or another of the question, according to the formula for that week, and post them on the class bulletin board. They then prepare critiques of each other's work in round-robin fashion, and discuss how each work fulfills the demands of the form.
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Prerequisites
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| | None, though this course naturally builds on "Molding Your Prose". The course may be re-taken with profit.
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Recommended background
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| | Some familiarity with writing about expository matters is useful, but not required.
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Instructor's Notes
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| | No materials are required for this course. The course has been offered to enthusiastic classes for three years previously.
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Textbooks and Materials
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There are no textbook or materials currently required for this course.
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| | Check instructor's notes above for additional information, or contact the instructor.
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Molding Your Prose • 2007 listing - for reference only • Grade 7 or above • [Summer course]
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Primary Instructor
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Sections
[Enrolled students will be notified if teacher schedules change between course posting in April and start of classes in September. Please see Tuition and Fees for refund policy.]
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| | Section 1 Instructor: Bruce McMenomyClasses meet from June 12, 2007 to August 7, 2007Tuesday 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM ETTuition: $200.00
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Website
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| | There is currently no teacher website for this course.
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Description
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| | This course fosters familiarity with the writing process by asking the student to write a sequence of exercises based on the same basic narrative material. Along the way, students learn that written material does not steer itself: it can be adapted almost infinitely to a variety of forms and requirements. In this respect, it is an introduction to both other writing courses and to literary study.
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Meetings
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| | This course meets once a week for discussion and review of assigned homework.
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Homework
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| | At the beginning of the summer, each student chooses a simple story, like a fairy tale or a classic fable. Each week throughout the course, he or she rewrites the story according to a different set of criteria, and posts it to the bulletin board for the course. Students are assigned one other student's story each week to review for the next week's discussion in class, on a round-robin basis so that, over the course of the summer, most students have reviewed most other students' work.
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Prerequisites
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Recommended background
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| | Any previous writing experience would be helpful, though advanced writers might profit more from another course in the "Molding Your..." sequence
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Instructor's Notes
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| | "Molding Your Prose" has served as an introductory writing course, and an introduction to Dr. McMenomy's courses for the last ten years.
No materials are required for this course.
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Textbooks and Materials
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There are no textbook or materials currently required for this course.
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| | Check instructor's notes above for additional information, or contact the instructor.
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Writing Workshop • 2007 listing - for reference only • Grade 7 or above
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Primary Instructor
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Sections
[Enrolled students will be notified if teacher schedules change between course posting in April and start of classes in September. Please see Tuition and Fees for refund policy.]
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| | Section 1 Instructor: Jill ByingtonClasses meet from September 4, 2007 to January 31, 2008Dates and times to be arranged with enrolled students.Tuition: $150.00
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Website
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| | There is currently no teacher website for this course.
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Description
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| | The writing workshop is a place where students can get unbiased opinions to answer the burning questions: "Is this piece of writing good?" and "How do I make it better?" Students post writing projects and receive helpful suggestions from the instructor and other students about ways to improve their work. The work the students post can be fiction or non-fiction and the source of the writing can be assignments from other classes, topics based on materials from Scholars Online literature courses, or writing the student is doing on his or her own. There are links to ideas for new writing projects if the student does not have anything currently in work.
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Meetings
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| | Please contact instructor for information on how often the course will meet online in chat.
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Homework
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| | Students will post work once per month, and do at least two assessments of others' work once per month (depending on the number of students in the class). The work is posted anonymously. The work can be a different piece each month, revised versions of the same piece, or part of a large piece. Students will be limited to posting 10 pages per month -- no posting an entire novel at once!
Students are expected to read posted information about the basics of various genres in order to give intelligent critiques of the variety of writing that will be posted. Students can do this reading at the time they critique a piece in a specific genre.
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Prerequisites
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Recommended background
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| | No special background required.
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Instructor's Notes
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| | Students will sign up for the workshop on a half-yearly basis (September through the end of January; then February through the beginning of June)
Students are expected to follow the course's guidelines for peer reviews. Students should also be willing to give and take recommendations with grace.
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Textbooks and Materials
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There are no textbook or materials currently required for this course.
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| | Check instructor's notes above for additional information, or contact the instructor.
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Briefly Said.... • 2007 listing - for reference only • Grade 7 or above • [Summer course]
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Primary Instructor
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Sections
[Enrolled students will be notified if teacher schedules change between course posting in April and start of classes in September. Please see Tuition and Fees for refund policy.]
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| | Section 1 Instructor: Jill ByingtonClasses meet from June 27, 2007 to August 8, 2007Wednesday 8:30 PM to 10:00 PM ETTuition: $200.00
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Website
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| | There is currently no teacher website for this course.
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Description
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| | A short course about writing short pieces such as haiku, summaries, and flash fiction (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_fiction).
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Meetings
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| | This course meets once a week for discussion and review of assigned homework.
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Homework
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| | One to two pieces of writing due each week. Anonymous peer reviews.
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Prerequisites
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Recommended background
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| | A basic understanding of standard written English.
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Instructor's Notes
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| | Class will not meet on Wednesday, July 11.
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Textbooks and Materials
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There are no textbook or materials currently required for this course.
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| | Check instructor's notes above for additional information, or contact the instructor.
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Rhetoric, Grammar, and Style • 2007 listing - for reference only • Grade 7 or above
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Primary Instructor
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Sections
[Enrolled students will be notified if teacher schedules change between course posting in April and start of classes in September. Please see Tuition and Fees for refund policy.]
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| | Section 1 Instructor: Jill ByingtonClasses meet from September 10, 2007 to June 2, 2008Monday 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM ETTuition: $400.00
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Website
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| | There is currently no teacher website for this course.
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Description
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| | This class focuses on the elements of the craft of writing: rhetoric, grammar, and style. Students will study how to meet a rhetorical end through the effective use of words and their structural relationships (grammar), and through pleasing and clear arragements of those words (style).
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Meetings
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| | This course meets once a week for discussion and review of assigned homework.
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Homework
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| | This course will include weekly reading and assignments such as exercises/lessons, quizzes, stylistic analyses of classic works, and some writing.
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Prerequisites
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Recommended background
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| | The text for this course requires advanced reading skills. Sutdents in grades 7, 8, and 9 may enroll only with the instructor's permission.
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Textbooks and Materials
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Rhetorical Grammar: Grammatical Choices, Rhetorical Effects (Edition: 5)
Martha J. Kolln
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| | This text is required.
ISBN: 0321397231
Best sources: Scholars Online Bookstore
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Creative Writing I • 2007 listing - for reference only • Grade 7 or above
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Primary Instructor
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Sections
[Enrolled students will be notified if teacher schedules change between course posting in April and start of classes in September. Please see Tuition and Fees for refund policy.]
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| | Section 1 Instructor: Jill ByingtonClasses meet from September 7, 2007 to June 6, 2008Friday 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM ETTuition: $420.00
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Website
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| | There is currently no teacher website for this course.
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Description
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| | This course gives an overview of the basics of writing short fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction. The course includes:
- Feedback from your instructor and fellow students in a supportive environment.
- Ideas for bringing your words to life on the page.
- Guidance for finding your voice.
- Exposure to a range of writers and types of creative writing.
- Cultivation of good writing habits.
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Meetings
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| | This course meets once a week for discussion and review of assigned homework.
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Homework
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| | - Weekly reading and exercises.
- Writing assignments (due weekly or monthly, depending on the genre).
- Feedback to peers.
- Book reports (two over the course of the school year)
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Prerequisites
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Recommended background
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| | Basic understanding of standard written English.
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Textbooks and Materials
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Fiction Writer's Workshop
Josip Novakovich
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| | This text is required.
ISBN: 1884910394
Best sources: Scholars Online Bookstore
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Writing Creative Nonfiction: Instruction and Insights from Teachers of the Associated Writing Programs
Philip Gerard (Editor), Carolyn Forche (Editor), Associated Writing Programs (Corporate Author)
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| | This text is required.
ISBN: 1884910505
Best sources: Scholars Online Bookstore
Other information: There is another book called "Writing Creative Nonfiction" by Cheney. It is a good book, but it is NOT the correct book for this course.
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Writing Poetry
Shelley Tucker
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| | This text is required.
ISBN: 1596470933
Best sources: Scholars Online Bookstore
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Practical Grammar • 2007 listing - for reference only • Grade 7 or above • [Summer course]
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Primary Instructor
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Sections
[Enrolled students will be notified if teacher schedules change between course posting in April and start of classes in September. Please see Tuition and Fees for refund policy.]
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| | Section 1 Instructor: Jill ByingtonClasses meet from June 25, 2007 to August 6, 2007Monday 8:30 PM to 10:00 PM ETTuition: $200.00
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Website
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| | There is currently no teacher website for this course.
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Description
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| | Review the rules of standard written English by revising your own work. By the end of the course students will be able to write with more confidence.
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Meetings
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| | This course meets once a week for discussion and review of assigned homework.
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Homework
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| | Weekly readings on the parts of speech, sentence structure, spelling, vocabulary, and punctuation. Weekly assignments: lessons, quizzes, self-editing, or editing instructor-assigned examples.
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Prerequisites
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| | Two or three essays or other of your own non-fiction writing, 400 to 500 words each, that you can bring to the course.
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Recommended background
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Instructor's Notes
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| | Class will not meet on Monday, July 9.
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Textbooks and Materials
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Painless Grammar
Rebecca Elliott, Ph.D.
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| | This text is required.
ISBN: 0812097815
Best sources: Scholars Online Bookstore
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Writing for the College-bound • 2007 listing - for reference only • Grade 7 or above
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Primary Instructor
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Sections
[Enrolled students will be notified if teacher schedules change between course posting in April and start of classes in September. Please see Tuition and Fees for refund policy.]
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| | Section 1 Instructor: Jill ByingtonClasses meet from September 10, 2007 to June 2, 2008Monday 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM ETTuition: $420.00
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Website
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| | There is currently no teacher website for this course.
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Description
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| | In this introduction to dialectic writing course you will:
- Write short articles and essays in various non-fiction forms such as exposition, argument, description, narration, memoir, and scientific/technical writing.
- Gain knowledge by editing your own and others' work, receiving feedback from the instructor, and reading authors who are masters of the various forms.
- Learn the essentials of non-fiction writing: Voice, thesis, organization, development, semantics, and logic.
- Revise, revise, revise!
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Meetings
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| | This course meets once a week for discussion and review of assigned homework.
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Homework
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| | One to two essays per month; two peer evaluations of each assigned essay; weekly readings; weekly lessons or quizzes; class meetings once a week. For each type of paper students receive a suggested list of topics. For many papers, students may choose an alternate but related topic that coordinates with Dr. McMenomy's literature classes.
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Prerequisites
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Recommended background
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| | Familiarity with basic English grammar.
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Instructor's Notes
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| | The focus this year will be different enough from the focus last year that students may re-take this course and learn new information.
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Textbooks and Materials
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The Elements of Style
William Strunk, Jr., E.B. White
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| | This text is required.
ISBN: 020530902X
Best sources: Scholars Online Bookstore
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The Norton Field Guide to Writing
Richard Bullock
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| | This text is required.
ISBN: 0393977765
Best sources: Scholars Online Bookstore
Other information: This is also referred to as "Package edition (September 18, 2005)." The Norton Field Guide to Writing With Readings is not required for this course.
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Writing Workshop II • 2007 listing - for reference only • Grade 7 or above
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Primary Instructor
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Sections
[Enrolled students will be notified if teacher schedules change between course posting in April and start of classes in September. Please see Tuition and Fees for refund policy.]
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| | Section 1 Instructor: Jill ByingtonClasses meet from February 1, 2008 to June 7, 2008Dates and times to be arranged with enrolled students.Tuition: $120.00
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Website
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| | There is currently no teacher website for this course.
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Description
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| | The writing workshop is a place where students can get unbiased opinions to answer the burning questions: "Is this piece of writing good?" and "How do I make it better?" Students post writing projects and receive helpful suggestions from the instructor and other students about ways to improve their work. The work the students post can be fiction or non-fiction and the source of the writing can be assignments from other classes, topics based on materials from Scholars Online literature courses, or writing the student is doing on his or her own. There are links to ideas for new writing projects if the student does not have anything currently in work.
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Meetings
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| | Please contact instructor for information on how often the course will meet online in chat.
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Homework
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| | Students will post work once per month, and do at least two assessments of others' work once per month (depending on the number of students in the class). The work is posted anonymously. The work can be a different piece each month, revised versions of the same piece, or part of a large piece. Students will be limited to posting 10 pages per month -- no posting an entire novel at once! Students are expected to read posted information about the basics of various genres in order to give intelligent critiques of the variety of writing that will be posted. Students can do this reading at the time they critique a piece in a specific genre.
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Prerequisites
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| | No special background required.
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Recommended background
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| | No special background required.
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Instructor's Notes
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| | Students will sign up for the workshop on a half-yearly basis (September through the end of January; then February through the beginning of June) Students are expected to follow the course's guidelines for peer reviews. Students should also be willing to give and take recommendations with grace.
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Textbooks and Materials
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There are no textbook or materials currently required for this course.
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| | Check instructor's notes above for additional information, or contact the instructor.
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Introduction to Playwriting • 2007 listing - for reference only • Grade 9 or above
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Primary Instructor
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Sections
[Enrolled students will be notified if teacher schedules change between course posting in April and start of classes in September. Please see Tuition and Fees for refund policy.]
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| | Section 1 Instructor: Jill ByingtonClasses meet from September 7, 2007 to May 30, 2008Friday 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM ETTuition: $420.00
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Website
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| | There is currently no teacher website for this course.
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Description
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| | The class begins with writing short pieces such as skits, and progresses to longer pieces such as one-act plays or full-length plays. Students also read scripts of classic and modern plays, watch them on DVD or video, write reviews, and compare notes with classmates. For extra credit students can recruit actors and direct and film one skit; recruit enough actors (friends/relatives) to do a reading of the short one-act play and revise the play based on the reading; or attend a live play and write a review of the play. By the end of the year students will have a grasp of basic playwriting, a working knowledge of some classic and modern plays, and an appreciation for the potential of drama as ministry.
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Meetings
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| | This course meets once a week for discussion and review of assigned homework.
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Homework
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| | Weekly writing and reading assignments that will lead to completing progressively longer pieces. Monthly play-reading/play-watching assignments and written reviews. Weekly meetings with classmates and teacher.
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Prerequisites
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Recommended background
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| | No special background required.
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Instructor's Notes
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| | Students should have access to a video or DVD player, and a good source for videos or DVDs that you're not likely to find in the average video store. Students should also have a source for a variety of scripts -- they will have a long list of choices for doing their monthly reviews. I recommend Netflix and a good library.
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Textbooks and Materials
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The Art and Craft of Playwriting
Jeffrey Hatcher
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| | This text is required.
ISBN: 1884910467
Best sources: Scholars Online Bookstore; amazon.com
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Molding Your Style • Offering for 2008 • Grade 10 or above • [Summer course]
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Primary Instructor
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Sections
[Enrolled students will be notified if teacher schedules change between course posting in April and start of classes in September. Please see Tuition and Fees for refund policy.]
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| | Section 1 Instructor: Bruce McMenomyClasses meet from June 12, 2008 to August 7, 2008Thursday 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM ETTuition: $200.00
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Website
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Description
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| | "Molding Your Style" introduces students to the almost inexhaustible range of possibilities for stylistic manipulation, by recasting a given source passage (about a page) into the style of one or another of the great stylists of the English language. Along the way they learn some of the tools of stylistic analysis and criticism, as well as ways of recasting their writing to create different moods and effects. The course is accordingly good preparation for both writing and critical literary study.
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Meetings
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| | This course meets once a week for discussion and review of assigned homework.
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Homework
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| | At the beginning of the summer, each student selects one source passage from a list provided; each week he or she recasts that passage in the style of the author of the week, and posts the resulting exercise to the bulletin board for the class. Students write extended critiques of each other's work throughout the summer; depending on the size of the class, students may be asked to write on all the other students' work, or just one or two.
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Prerequisites
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| | No formal prerequisite, but some awareness of prose style as a deliberate and controlled phenomenon is essential. It is highly recommended that the student have taken at least some literature course.
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Recommended background
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| | Builds naturally on "Molding Your Prose" and "Molding Your Argument"; almost any background in literary reading and writing is likely to prove beneficial, and it is probably particularly suitable to those who are pursuing creative writing generally. Students have taken the course several times with profit.
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Instructor's Notes
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| | No external materials required.
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Textbooks and Materials
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There are no textbook or materials currently required for this course.
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| | Check instructor's notes above for additional information, or contact the instructor.
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Molding Your Argument • Offering for 2008 • Grade 8 or above • [Summer course]
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Primary Instructor
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Sections
[Enrolled students will be notified if teacher schedules change between course posting in April and start of classes in September. Please see Tuition and Fees for refund policy.]
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| | Section 1 Instructor: Bruce McMenomyClasses meet from June 12, 2008 to August 7, 2008Thursday 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM ETTuition: $200.00
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Website
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| | There is currently no teacher website for this course.
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Description
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| | Modeled on "Molding Your Prose", this course involves developing a sequence of arguments from the same topics by varying their structure to correspond to a range of pre-defined forms, from simple thesis statements and simple paragraphs, through the five-paragraph essay, the Thomistic scholastic model, and the Roman rhetorical outline applied by Cicero and his contemporaries.
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Meetings
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| | This course meets once a week for discussion and review of assigned homework.
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Homework
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| | At the beginning of the summer, each student selects a controversial position on which he or she will be willing to argue both sides. We therefore tend to exclude morally volatile issues.
Each week, students present their arguments from one side or another of the question, according to the formula for that week, and post them on the class bulletin board. They then prepare critiques of each other's work in round-robin fashion, and discuss how each work fulfills the demands of the form.
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Prerequisites
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| | None, though this course naturally builds on "Molding Your Prose". The course may be re-taken with profit.
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Recommended background
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| | Some familiarity with writing about expository matters is useful, but not required.
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Instructor's Notes
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| | No materials are required for this course. The course has been offered to enthusiastic classes for three years previously.
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Textbooks and Materials
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There are no textbook or materials currently required for this course.
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| | Check instructor's notes above for additional information, or contact the instructor.
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Molding Your Prose • Offering for 2008 • Grade 7 or above • [Summer course]
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Primary Instructor
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Sections
[Enrolled students will be notified if teacher schedules change between course posting in April and start of classes in September. Please see Tuition and Fees for refund policy.]
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| | Section 1 Instructor: Bruce McMenomyClasses meet from June 10, 2008 to August 5, 2008Tuesday 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM ETTuition: $200.00
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Website
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| | There is currently no teacher website for this course.
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Description
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| | This course fosters familiarity with the writing process by asking the student to write a sequence of exercises based on the same basic narrative material. Along the way, students learn that written material does not steer itself: it can be adapted almost infinitely to a variety of forms and requirements. In this respect, it is an introduction to both other writing courses and to literary study.
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Meetings
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| | This course meets once a week for discussion and review of assigned homework.
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Homework
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| | At the beginning of the summer, each student chooses a simple story, like a fairy tale or a classic fable. Each week throughout the course, he or she rewrites the story according to a different set of criteria, and posts it to the bulletin board for the course. Students are assigned one other student's story each week to review for the next week's discussion in class, on a round-robin basis so that, over the course of the summer, most students have reviewed most other students' work.
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Prerequisites
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Recommended background
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