Advanced-essay writing
If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing.--Ben Franklin
In imitation of the spirit of Franklin's quote, this class aims to equip young minds to write in a manner that warrants being read. The curriculum will center on three key emphases: writing with style and concision; perfecting coherent structure; and mastery of a time-proven essay form.
To register for this class, a student must have completed the Writing the Essay class. Exceptions to this rule are rarely made and applications for students new to Alexandria Tutorials are examined on a case-by-case basis. For those students who have completed the prerequisite, to register you may follow this link. After e-mail confirmation of registration, a $50 deposit (which is non-refundable, but which counts towards the Fall tuition) can be sent to:
Matthew Turnbull/ Alexandria Tutorials/ 248 Benton/ Leavenworth, WA 98826
The cost for the tutorial is $310 per semester. Registration deadline is August 28th. Payment of the balance of Fall tuition is due the second week of class. Payment for second semester is due by February 5th. Meetings will take place on Tuesdays from 8:00 a.m.-9:30 a.m., Pacific time.
Set up information can be found here.
ASSIGNMENTS
Writing will be assigned nearly every week. Many assignments will be sent to me for critique. I endeavor to provide written feedback on them within a week's time. Some assignments are to be read by the writer to the class. The tutor and the class will provide feedback at the time of the reading. (This is great practice that allows students to gain confidence in reading their work to a live audience.) Some assignments will be sent to a fellow student for critique; and some will be submitted to mom or dad for feedback. Please order the texts we will be reading so you can be completely prepared on class day.
COURSE SCHEDULE
This course will begin in early September. We will break for Thanksgiving Day, and we will break for Christmas after class in mid-December. Class will resume in early January, and end on the last week of May, with a break for a week in late March or early April. This schedule allows for approximately 34 class periods. Generally, the tutor is able to meet each week, although there are very occasional exceptions due to illness or family emergencies. Please let the tutor know by e-mail if you need to miss a class. All classes are recorded so that students who must miss a class can watch the recording to stay current with the instruction. We will have our first semester exam in mid-January. The final exam will take place the last week of the course. This is a year-long class. Please do not register for the class if you are not able to complete both semesters. A withdrawal fee will be assessed for students who withdraw in the middle of the year.
If you will take my advice you will think very little of Socrates, and much more of the truth. –Socrates, “The Phaedo”
Please purchase these texts prior to our discussion of them in class. The tutor will announce the order of the books as the year progresses. These versions have been chosen for economy as well as quality. It is recommended that the student purchase these particular versions of the texts in order to better facilitate ease of class discussion. Please click on the text title to go to the ordering page.
To order these books as a bundle , please click here. Please Note, the book list has changed since last year. The bundle from Exodus Books may include two books we will not be using this year (Henry V and The Lively Art of Writing) and it may not yet include this year's new book, They Say, I Say. Eli and his fellow bookmasters are working on updating the bundle. We will not begin our first book, How to Read a Book, until the fourth week of September which allows for some time before needing to order. Updated, August 10, 2016.