RobinL in Canada Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 (I posted this on the regular K-8 board but got little response; would still appreciate more insight re comparing WWS and CW--thanks.) I bought Classical Writing Diogenes to use next year with my son who will be 13/gr 8 next academic year and is advanced in writing, but after looking it over today, I felt rather overwhelmed by the formality and dryness of it all. Has anyone used it with success? Is it truly helpful to learn how to write about maxims or in praise of a virtue? When I taught my older sons, I used IEW and my own adaptations of it, and they have done extremely well in writing, all attending school for grade 12 and a couple already gone on to university. Perhaps they could not write exactly in the style presented in CW, but I'm wondering how much of a drawback that is in the modern/ postmodern world ; ) Meanwhile, I've also looked at some of the online sample of WWS and I'm still scratching my head over whether or not my youngest son really needs what that covers. He already does an excellent job at summarizing and writing from source texts (for history and geography), though I've never explicitly taught him such things as "chronological" writing. What I *really* wish is that the next level of WWS were available now, as I think that ls where he'd fit best. If anyone could offer a comparison of WWS and CW, or any experience in switching from one to the other, I would appreciate it. Thanks. In case this helps, here's an excerpt from something he wrote today: Crowning a 650 metre hill, Krak des Chevlaiers, a towering fortress, is considered to be one of the greatest medieval castles in the world. Christians at that time erected a series of castles to strengthen their grip on lands in and around Jerusalem. One of these strongholds, Krak des Chevaliers defends the Homs Pass. Nicknamed the 'fortress of knights,' this stronghold housed thousands of Crusaders. Because of its mountainous location and tenacious fortifications, Krak. des C. proved to be nearly invulnerable to attack. ... Although it was just one castle, Krak des C. was massive, and communication from one side of the castle to another required the use of carrier pigeons. This technique, which was borrowed from the Arabs, was very useful. ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 (I would still appreciate more insight re comparing WWS and CW--thanks.) I'm working on an in-depth comparison of these, but it won't be ready for a few days (I'm reading Herodotus this weekend). But given your son's writing skill, have you considered Lost Tools of Writing (LToW)? Not progymnasmata like CW and more focused on Rhetoric than WWS. Ruth in NZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinL in Canada Posted February 25, 2012 Author Share Posted February 25, 2012 Funny you should ask--I actually have on my shelf the frist three editions (!) of LToW, purchased when the program first came out, but I was never able to figure out how to implement this program. The CDs , as far as I recall, explained some basics about how to do Invention for a persuasive/ argumentative paper (ie, "Should Edmund have followed the White Witch?") but I never had a clear sense of how to use it to teach writing in general. Any ideas on that? The suggested lessons seemed too abstract to me, even tough I have taught writing classes for years. Perhaps the current edition is more "user-friendly"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 Funny you should ask--I actually have on my shelf the frist three editions (!) of LToW, purchased when the program first came out, but I was never able to figure out how to implement this program. The CDs , as far as I recall, explained some basics about how to do Invention for a persuasive/ argumentative paper (ie, "Should Edmund have followed the White Witch?") but I never had a clear sense of how to use it to teach writing in general. Any ideas on that? The suggested lessons seemed too abstract to me, even tough I have taught writing classes for years. Perhaps the current edition is more "user-friendly"? I have never seen the older versions, but I have heard that they were very difficult to understand. The new version is clear (to me at least). There is A LOT on the website to read through, specifically the lesson guides. Also, if you search on Demo you can get the beginning of the teacher and student books. It is more like IEW in that the teacher is taught with the program and then teaches the students, rather than like WWS or CW which are writing techniques explicitly described in text and written to the student. LToW teaching you how to guide a student's thinking through formulaic discussions, and once you "get it" you could leave the syllabus behind and lead your own discussions (which is what I plan to do). LToW takes the material of Corbett's Rhetoric text and describes how to implement it. Also, there might be a deal to "upgrade" to the current versions. I would definitely ask. Ruth in NZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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