Get the writing edge and go beyond the five-paragraph essay to mastering the secrets of advanced essay writing, including different essay types, advanced brainstorming techniques, using parallelism, cohesive writing, bookending, and more. These must-have essay skills apply to all high school and college courses. Take the 9-3 course with this course to gain a full semester’s credit for writing.

Total Classes: 8

Class Dates and Starting Times:

Tuesdays, February 25 to April 22, 2025. No class April 15 (Holy Week)

2:30 PM Eastern (1:30 Central; 12:30 Mountain; 11:30 Pacific)

Prerequisite: Required, Writing Essentials 1: Essential Punctuation and Grammar I (HS 9-1); High School Simplified Writing 1: Strong Foundational Writing Skills (HS 9-2); High School Writing Essentials 2: Excellent Paragraphs & Essay Writing (HS 9-3). This is the fourth and final course in the series of four (4) courses.

Because courses in the program are sequential and build one upon another, for your student’s success, it is required that your student take the 9-1, 9-2, and 9-3 courses before enrolling in this course. Students are held accountable for all content taught in the previous courses. If your student cannot take the previous courses LIVE, then at a minimum, watch the recordings on Unlimited Access before taking this course. An alternative to the prerequisite is a passing assessment from the Aquinas Writing Advantage Assessment service. Please contact homeschoolconnections@gmail.com for any questions on permissions.

Suggested grade level: 9th grade; however, 10-11th level students also enroll in this course, and all high school students are welcome.

Suggested credit: One-half (½) of a semester’s credit for Writing or English.

Combine with High School Writing Essentials 2: Excellent Paragraphs & Essay Writing (HS 9-3) for one (1) full semester credit. When combined with the 9-3 course, this course is worth one (1) full semester’s credit for writing.

Instructor: Sara Keefe, BA

Course Description: The Five-Paragraph Essay has been the standard for essay writing for years — and in this course, your student will understand that there is so much more that is necessary to be a competent writer and go beyond the "typical form," to learning what makes an essay exceptional. Students will learn advanced essay writing concepts, craft essay assignments, and practice becoming comfortable with thinking quickly in creating, drafting, and polishing essays. Special attention will be paid to how to write essays that capture the reader's attention and create flow from beginning to end, with meaning.

Course Outline: 

• Class 1: Essay types and differences, and where you’ll write them, reading multi-step instructions carefully

• Class 2: The traditional five-paragraph essay; a focus on supporting ideas with examples and evidence

• Class 3: What makes an essay great: research an essay and brainstorming with the “then what?” question; taking your thoughts “to the end of the line” (with in-class practice)

• Class 4: What makes an essay great: writing an essay and examples and analysis of form, parallelism, and rhythm

• Class 5: What makes an essay great: transitional tricks, answering the reader’s questions, making cohesive decisions, and bookending

• Class 6: What makes an essay great: storytelling and creative elements

• Class 7: What makes an essay great: quality research and analyzing three essays

• Class 8: Revising and editing your essays

Course materials: Simplified Writing 101: Top Secrets for College Success, by Erin Brown Conroy: Buy the hard copy of the book here:  http://amzn.to/2FMCose OR, buy the Kindle version of the book here (Download the FREE Kindle app to easily read on your computer, tablet, or mobile device): www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00B7AB90W/catholictreas-20

Microsoft Word or the ability to convert a document to a Word-compatible document is required. If you do not own Microsoft Word, you can use a system such as Google Docs that converts to Word documents FREE. It is highly recommended that students purchase/own Microsoft Word for all high school courses.

Homework: LIVE and Instructor Access (recorded course) students will have weekly writing assignments with grading and direct feedback from the instructor (parents will grade Recorded students’ work. Expect an estimated two (2) to four (4) hours per week for homework outside of class time, depending on the student’s ability; homework includes reading, writing, and responding to feedback.

Fee: For all 8 classes: $199 if you register on or before November 15. $219 after Nov. 15 for all 8 classes. (Registration closes one week before the first day of class. After that date, registrations are not guaranteed. There is a $20 surcharge for late enrollments after the course is closed.)

©2016-2024 Homeschool Connections and Erin M. Brown, aka EB Conroy/Erin Brown Conroy. All rights reserved. This course is designed by Erin M. Brown, MA, MFA. This material is only to be used for its intended purpose by active subscribers of Homeschool Connections. Any other use without explicit permission is in violation of the seventh commandment (yes, the 7th commandment) and in violation of US and International copyright laws. You may print or download to local hard disk extracts for your personal homeschool and non-commercial use only. This is not to be used for homeschool co-ops without express written permission from Homeschool Connections. Technical Help: If you experience technical difficulty with watching the recorded classes or have a question about course content, please email us at homeschoolconnections@gmail.com. ZOOM Technical Support: FOR TECHNICAL ISSUES, please contact Zoom at US: +1.888.799.9666 ext 2. Technical Help: If you have any technical trouble or questions about course content, please email us at homeschoolconnections@gmail.com.