Garga Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 (edited) I'm in the middle of planning writing for my high schooler (he starts 9th grade next year.) As I'm researching, I'm realizing that there are many different kinds of writing and each curriculum covers a different type of writing. I am realizing that I'm honestly not sure of what types of writing we need to cover. And if I don't know what to cover, then I don't know what curriculum to buy. So far, the categories that I know I want to touch on at some point in high school are: Persuasive Essay---come up with a thesis and defend that thesis. Creative Writing--fiction that you make up. Research Paper--I'm really not sure exactly what a research paper really entails. It is like a persuasive essay, only you have to find sources that back you up? Or is it really a different kind of writing from persuasive? If so, how is it different? Literary Analysis--is this really a category of writing? Or is "literary analysis" just a heading for other styles of writing, such as "compare/contrast" or...well...what? What IS literary analysis? What kinds of papers does one write for that? I don't even know where to start with that one. There we will be reading a book and I'll want to assign a writing assignment and I'll tell my son to write...what? I don't even know! I need some guidance. What types of writing do I need to cover in high school? Once I know what kind of writing to teach, then I can narrow down which curriculum to buy. Edited April 12, 2016 by Garga_ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 That's what I like about IEW because they cover pretty much everything. Essays, creative, research papers, literary analysis, etc. Creative isn't typical in college unless someone majors in creative writing or takes a creative writing course. In addition it would be good to touch upon documentation styles. At least one style (typical choices are MLA, APA, Chicago, and CSE). You don't need to cover them all. In college they usually specify the one you need and you get a reference guide and just follow it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liza Q Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 I just want to mention that I never require/d my children to do any Creative Writing. Maybe they are less well-rounded for it, but there is/was plenty of other writing for them to do! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 I just want to mention that I never require/d my children to do any Creative Writing. Maybe they are less well-rounded for it, but there is/was plenty of other writing for them to do! I don't require it either. With the more creative writing sections of IEW I tell them alternatively they can just summarize stuff rather than create new stuff. Sometimes they do that and sometimes they choose to get creative. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxbridgeacademy Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 I like this pages descriptions I think of Research and Literary Analysis as broader categories that things like expository and persuasive (et al) fit into. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 Ds found there was more creative writing in some of his college classes than he expected. Oh, it isn't necessarily supposed to be creative writing, but there was a personal essay and an essay about a community service project for example. This type of writing uses skills learned in creative writing such as story telling and use of descriptive detail. OP, the list you gave is pretty much what we covered in high school. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amy58103 Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 I'm not a expert, but to me, the difference between an essay and a paper are a bit arbitrary. Essays tend to be shorter and may or may cite sources; a paper is longer and usually has several (or more) cited sources. Purdue has a really nice website for academic writing: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/. In particular, I would look at the Common Writing Assignments page and their descriptions of the different types of Essay Writing. "Literary Analysis" is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of Literature. A Literary Analysis Paper, is usually an expository or argumentative essay exploring some aspect of Literature. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loesje22000 Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 Compare / Contrast Essay? Exploratory / Expository Essay? Not sure if these belongs to Highschool or 'before' Highschool, but I'd never heard so much writing terms as on these boards / during homeschooling! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janice in NJ Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 Apparently this one is out of print. We found it helpful. At the very least, you can check out the Table of Contents via the link: Amazon.com: Webster's New World Student Writing Handbook, Fifth Edition (9780470435397): Sharon Sorenson: Books http://www.amazon.com/Websters-World-Student-Writing-Handbook/dp/0470435399/ref=la_B001IR3E8Y_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1460549579&sr=1-2 Peace, Janice Enjoy your little people Enjoy your journey 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janice in NJ Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 I would also recommend these. Patterns for College Writing - Kirszner/Mandell http://ebooks.bfwpub.com/patterns12e.php?page=2 Try clicking on Part 2, Chapter 7, Description. (Chap 6-14 cover the patterns most used.) When you open the subheadings of the chapter, you can get a feel for the layout and you can explore samples of the book. They also have a book completely devoted to argument. (We used Patterns first.) The Table of Contents is available at the bottom of this page. Macmillan Learning: Practical Argument Second Edition by Laurie G. Kirszner; Stephen R. Mandell http://www.macmillanlearning.com/Catalog/product/practicalargument-secondedition-kirszner/tableofcontents#tab I like these texts because they offer more than "tell me"; they go on to "show me." PLEASE keep in mind that these are college-level texts. You should pre-read the selections to make sure everything is acceptable content for your children. Peace Janice Enjoy your little people Enjoy your journey 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted April 13, 2016 Author Share Posted April 13, 2016 (edited) Compare / Contrast Essay? Exploratory / Expository Essay? Not sure if these belongs to Highschool or 'before' Highschool, but I'd never heard so much writing terms as on these boards / during homeschooling! Ain't that the truth. I've been researching curric and in ONE thread alone, people suggested 27 different writing curricula. Twenty-seven. In one thread. That's why I decided that maybe I need to step back from looking at the curric and first make sure I know what type of writing I want to teach. Once I know what type to teach, then I can decide when to teach which and what curric will be best for that. (I'm thinking focusing a lot on "literary analysis" next year and saving "research papers" for 10th.). No clue yet for 11th and 12th. It's all still a bit foggy in my mind. We've done writing all along but my guy has been very weak at it. It's only this year that he's started to blossom, just a bit. So, I need to make sure I deliberately touch on every kind of writing over the next four years now that he's developmentally ready to do it. Until now we've been spinning our wheels and I'm not sure how much has sunk in. We need to touch on all the kinds of writing again, deliberately and in depth, before college. Finding curricula is like ironing balled up clothes. First, you have to untangle the balled up clothes and see what's there, and then you pick up the clothes, piece by piece, and iron out all the wrinkles, and then you put all the clothes away for later except for the shirt you're going to wear that day. That's what this "planning for writing in high school" feels like. I think I've finally separated all the clothes and now I need to iron them one by one until I pick the shirt we're wearing for 9th. Edited April 13, 2016 by Garga 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 I'm just pretty much going with whatever WWS says to do, plus TCW. I trust that SWB is covering enough. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.