2023-24 High School Classes (9-12th Grade)
Structure and Style: Year 1 Level C
(8th-12)
This curriculum leads students on a journey through the swashbuckling world of pirates, the wild world of apes, and the deep-sea wreckage of sunken ships while learning to write with the Structure and Style® writing method. Offering a full year of writing instruction, these lessons cover all nine IEW Units. Includes two novel studies: Julius Caesar, and Treasure Island.
Thursdays 1-2 p.m. PST
Meets online
Literature* & the Lost Tools of Writing
(8th-10th)
In this class, we will pair quality literature with analysis and persuasive essays. Every writer - no matter how old or experienced or published - has to come up with good ideas, organize those ideas clearly, and express them effectively. The three canons of classical rhetoric - Invention, Arrangement, Elocution - do this. Once the aspiring writer grasps how to employ these tools effectively the stresses and confusions that accompany writing begin to fade and with it the fear that often comes with writing assignments.
Choose from two options:
Tuesdays 1-2 p.m. PST (Meets in person)
Tuesdays 3-4 p.m. (Meets online)
Literature selections*:
Beorn the Proud
The Trumpeter of Krakow
Yung Fu of the Upper Yangtze
The King’s Fifth
Johnny Tremain
Treasure Island
Moccasin Trail
The Giver
*Some selections may contain distinctly Christian content
New offering! The Art of Classic Creative Writing
Why do we tell stories? What makes them so captivating? What makes a good story?
Nothing is so memorable as a great story. Jesus, the greatest Storyteller of all, knew this truth! In this class, we will focus on classic storytelling with redemptive themes. In addition to gleaning from Boris Fishman’s The Creative Writer series (Well-Trained Mind Press), each week we will examine well-crafted passages from enduring stories, modeling specific elements and literary devices in our writing.
Whether your students are in the middle of writing a work of fiction or just beginning the creative process, this is a class that will help them hone their writing and produce a story worth reading. For teens 13-19.
Text: The Creative Writer: Level Two, Boris Fishman
Wednesdays 1-2 p.m. PST online
Great Books of
British Literature*
(8th-12th)
Knights and Ladies, lords and citizens, men and...monsters?
Such characters and more come to life in the pages of British literature. These classics endure because of their timeless messages of the holiness of virtue, the selflessness of sacrifice, and the destructiveness of pride.
Literature selections:
Canterbury Tales
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Shakespeare: Macbeth
A Tale of Two Cities
Jane Eyre
Pride & Prejudice
Frankenstein
The Fellowship of the Ring
Great Books is an honors-level class that incorporates Bible, classic literature, and various essay writing skills. This is a gently challenging course for those who want a superior education focusing on the classics. Together, we will wrestle with the ideas contained in the Great Books that have shaped Western civilization and filter these ideas through the lens of Scripture. Socratic and Harkness discussions and thematic essays aid in revealing the truths – and errors – of these great works.
Equivalent to 1.5 credits for transcript.
Wednesdays, 10-11:30 a.m. PST
Meets online
*some selections contain distinctly Christian content