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Future Course: Academic Writing 400: Analyze This! (Literary Analytical Writing)

Future Course

This course repeats yearly in the spring semester.

Live webinars are normally held Mondays at 8 AM Pacific.

This course is a part of the Academic Writing series. 

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Offered By Instructor

Deborah Simon, M.Ed.
Content Level

High School – Grades 9-12
Course Length

16-Week Course

Description

First you crawl, then you walk, and then you run. Literature has a similar progression: first you read, then you analyze, and then you write about it.

If you’ve already learned how to read and the beginning steps of how to analyze, this class is for you. We’ll explore the finer points of end-stage analysis and learn how to shape that into an analytical essay.

First we’ll learn to understand the difference between a topic (main idea) and a theme. One-word topics are the beginning, but a real theme states what the author thinks about that topic. Using the understanding of this difference, we’ll examine a work to decide how the structure and literary elements it possesses illustrate its theme. Finally, we’ll shape the analysis we’ve done into a five-paragraph, analytical essay and prove our points.

You will be going through this process for a poem and then for a piece of prose, writing a complete essay for each. This semester-long course is a good stepping stone for upper level literature classes and is also excellent preparation the analysis and writing required in Athena’s Advanced Placement English Literature class.

Note from “Prof.” Deborah:

Writing is a process with several distinct stages, and I believe that much of the confusion and disinterest students (and adults!) feel about writing comes from teachers’ lack of involvement at each of those stages. Writing needs to be a conversation between student and teacher. Like navigating on the open sea, a degree or two change can make a huge difference in the destination. If I can help students make necessary course corrections along the way, they will be so much more confident in both their ability and their final product. So I spend quite a bit of time steering students’ essays from prewriting to drafting to revising/proofreading.

Note to parents: 

  • This class is meant to be a stepping stone between upper level literature analysis and Advanced Placement English Literature. We’ll be discussing how to find the theme of a work and how literary elements contribute to that theme. This is a next-level analysis from defining and finding a work’s theme and elements. Finally, we’ll talk about how to write a persuasive essay that expresses that analysis in an academic voice.
  • This course is one of Athena’s Upper Level Language Arts courses. Click for more information.

Offered by:

What to Expect

What to expect in the course: 

  • There are four essay assignments in this 16-week class—two on poetry analysis and two on fiction analysis.
    Each essay process has four steps:

    • Step 1: Pre-writing, gathered in a process outlined during our webinar. Students turn in the pre-writing and receive feedback from the instructor before proceeding with a first draft.
    • Step 2: Self-review
    • Step 3: Peer Review – Students review each other’s essays leaving feedback and comments for improvement. The teacher will also leave feedback and comments.
    • Step 4: Final draft. Students receive extensive feedback from the instructor.
  • At any time in the process, students (especially those who are attending asynchronously) are welcome and encouraged to set up Office Hours with the instructor to work one-on-one through any issues or questions that arise.
  • There are two essay assignments in this 16-week class—two on poetry analysis and two on fiction analysis.

What to expect in the Required section in the classroom each week:

  • Respond to forum prompts.
  • Respond with positive and encouraging comments on their classmates’ posts in the classroom forums.
  • Essay drafts to be completed for the specific literary focus and analysis.
  • Occasional Study.com assignments will be provided at no extra cost. These should be completed in preparation for the following week.

What to expect in the Highly Suggested & Optional sections in the classroom each week:

  • Because of the nature of this class, all sections in the classroom are either required for the current webinar or required in preparation for the following week’s topic.

What to expect during the weekly webinar:

  • Weekly webinars are 50 minutes long. Webinars are recorded and are available for students with schedule conflicts.
  • Active Participation (via the microphone and chat) in online class discussions.
  • Teacher instruction in the reading, writing, and/or literary analysis focus for the week.
  • Participation in discussions that demonstrate the student has read the material and done the preparatory work for that week’s topic.
  • This class is discussion based. Only students who are ready (or need minimal encouragement to become ready) to use the microphone in an online class should enroll.

Academic Writing 400: Analyze This Syllabus

Materials & More

Before taking this course, students should be able to: 

  • Students must have knowledge of the major literary elements—theme, setting, characterization, era, plot, figurative language, etc. This class will not instruct students in these elements; rather, it will assist students in finding these elements in both a piece of poetry and prose and how to develop that analysis into an analytical essay.
  • Write at a solid high school level.
  • Have previous experience in literary analysis.

Students should be willing to:

  • Be prepared for the webinar.
  • Actively participate (via the microphone and chat) in the class discussion.
  • Verbally participate in webinar discussions – this class is discussion based.
  • Encourage class discussion by adding their questions/ideas in the chat window during the webinar.
  • Respond with positive and encouraging comments on their classmates’ posts in the classroom forums.

Required books & materials:

  • None. All materials will be provided.
  • To focus on the analytical writing in a 16-week class, we’ll be limiting the length and breadth of reading material, omitting epic poetry and novels in favor of short & medium-sized poetry and short stories & novellas. The titles will change from session to session.

Enrollment Options

This course repeats yearly in the spring semester.

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