For this course, students will build on their current foundations for reading works of literature

and writing about them in analytical essays. The reading portion of the course will include

classic short stories from literary masters of the genre like Chekhov, Poe, Hemingway, and

Salinger. It will also include stories from popular contemporary writers as well, including

Gaiman, Saunders, Lahiri, and Egan. This range of stories will provide students ample

opportunity to build their critical reading skills, both during class discussions and with writing

assignments they will submit weekly in the Google Classroom. The class periods will also

feature intense focus on the full range of writing skills, including all major rules of grammar and

composition as well as thesis formation, paragraph organization, and close textual analysis.

During class time students will work on these vitally important components of the writing

process with worksheets and exercises designed specifically for the course.

Critical Reading and Writing (5-7th)