Course: Writing for College (College Prep)
This course seeks to prepare students with the necessary background knowledge, perspective and skills to effectively write at the collegiate level.
Students will first expand on their foundational knowledge of style with an overview of three subtopics of style: diction/tone, syntax and rhetorical
devices. Students are provided with an in-depth overview of each subtopic, and then apply this knowledge to analyzing nonfiction and fiction through
style analyses. With a deeper understanding of style, students then seek to determine the underlining truths and objectives in satire, often discovering
the link between satire and reform. Next, students will seek to synthesize related texts and mediums into cohesive and summative ideas. Finally, the
students will review their own style as it has progressed over the course of their lives. Students will write style analyses of their own work, ultimately
synthesizing a truth about their own writing style and its progression over time.
Big Ideas and Enduring Understandings




Authors use style to create meaning and emphasize their overall purpose, assertion or main idea.
Satire is a vehicle through which change can occur.
Synthesis is an essential writing, reading, and researching skill.
An author’s style and technique can evolve or change over time.
Unit 1: Style
Approximate Time Frame: 8-10 Weeks
Standards
Essential Questions
Skills
Content
Vocabulary
RL.11-12.1-6, 10

Students will read and analyze various
pieces of fiction and non-fiction to
determine how an author’s style
contributes to their overall purpose,
assertion or main idea. Students will
also workshop their style analyses with
teacher conferencing, peer and selfediting.
Nonfiction
--“What Writing Is” by Steven King
--“Sorry Wrong In-Box” by Frank Bruni
--“Semi-Colons—A Love Story” by Ben Dolnik
--“Me Talk Pretty One Day” by David Sedaris
(Diction/Tone)
--“The Good Daughter” by Caroline Hwang
(Syntax)
--“Inaugural Speech” by John F. Kennedy (Syntax)
--“The Jacket” by Gary Soto (Rhetorical Devices)
Essential
--Style
--Diction
--Tone
--Syntax
--Figurative
Language
--Rhetorical
Devices
RI.11-12.1-6, 7,
10
W.11-12. 1-2, 4,
5
How does an
author use style
to create
meaning?
SL.11-12.1, 3, 4
L.11-12.1-6
In addition to informal written
responses, in-class activities and
homework….
Formative Assessments:
3 content quizzes
One each for
diction/tone, syntax,
--Various selections from released AP Language
and Composition exams for formal style analyses;
suggested texts:
-2010, Form B, Excerpt from Horizontal
World, Debra Marquart
-2008, Form B, Excerpt from “America
Additional
Formal vs.
Informal
Natural vs.
Artificial
rhetorical devices
3 group projects (suggested)
Diction/tone: working collaboratively,
students will select a ‘tone.’ They will
create a restaurant menu, using
appropriate diction, to support the
tone.
Syntax:
Working collaboratively, students will
find a sentence in literature. They will
have to rewrite the sentence using all
of the discussed syntactical techniques.
Students must also artistically
represent the main idea of their
sentence, and present it to the class.
Rhetorical Devices:
Working collaboratively, students will
choose a musical artist. Selecting 5 of
their songs, they must analyze and
annotate the lyrics for evidence of
figurative language. Then, they must
provide an overall style assessment for
their chosen artist and support their
ideas with evidence from the lyrics.
4 style analyses
Diction/tone
Syntax
Rhetorical devices
Overall analysis
(summative)
Needs Its Nerds” Leonid Fridman
-2003, Form B, Excerpts from Pilgrim at
Tinker Creek, Annie Dillard and
Ornithological Biographies John
James Audubon
-1997, Excerpt from Fault Lines, Meena
Alexander
-1996, Excerpt from A Summer Life,
Gary Soto
-1999, “Free Response Question 1:
Okefenokee Swamp”
(Pedestrian
vs. Pedantic)
Colloquial,
Slang, Jargon
General vs.
Specific
Monosyllabic
vs.
Polysyllabic
Connotative
vs.
Denotative
Euphonious
vs.
Cacophonous
Abstract vs.
Concrete
Hyperbole vs.
Litotes
Unit 2: Satire
Standards
Essential Questions
Skills
Content
RL.11-12.1-6, 10

RI.11-12.1, 2, 46, 10

This unit is most successful when the materials
are related to current events and issues.
Therefore, the content below provides
suggestions and examples, and is by no means
prescriptive, exhaustive or exclusive.
W.11-12.1- 2, 4

Students will be expected to analyze
examples of satire in varying media
(e.g., written, illustrated, music, video)
for their use of satirical techniques and
effectiveness at creating change. For a
summative assessment, they are
required to create their own satire on a
topic of their choice in a medium of
their choosing.
SL.11-12.1-5
L.11-12.1-6

What creates
effective satire?
How is satire
stylistically
distinct?
How has satire
been used in the
past to provoke
and create
change?
How is satire
used in today’s
society to
provoke and
create change?
In addition to informal written
responses, in-class activities and
homework….
Formative Assessment:
Satire Quiz
Summative Assessment:
Personal Satire
Approximate Time Frame: 3-4 Weeks
Vocabulary
Nonfiction
--“Do Female Hurricanes Need to Lean-In?” NPR,
by Beth Novey
--“How Weird Al’s ‘Word Crimes’ is Saving
Grammar for the Future” Time Magazine, by
Richard Corliss
--“College Essay” by Christopher Buckley
--“Intelligent Design” by Paul Rudnick
--“You’re Not Special” by David McCullough
--Selections from The Borowitz Report
--Selections from The Onion
Music
--“Word Crimes” by Weird Al Yankovic
Media
--“Apple Presents the iRack” MadTV
--“Gordita Supreme Court” by Steven Colbert
--“Michelle Obama at the White House” SNL
--Satire
(Informal vs.
Formal;
Horatian vs.
Juvenalian)
--Irony
--Hyperbole
--Caricature
--Wit
--Sarcasm
--Ridicule
--Parody
--Invective
Unit 3: Synthesis
Standards
Essential Questions
RL.11-12.1-7, 10

RI.11-12.1-7, 10

W.11-12.1-2, 4,
7-8
SL.11-12.1-5

L.11-12.1-6
What is
synthesis?
How do we
combine various
pieces of
information into
a new and/or
summative idea?
How is synthesis
a reading,
writing, and
researching skill?
Approximate Time Frame: 4-5 Weeks
Vocabulary
Skills
Content
Explicit instruction in formatting MLA
style, adding in text-citation,
embedding and formatting quotations,
and creating a works cited.
Nonfiction
“Grammar’s Role in the Workplace” Synthesis
--“I Won’t Hire People Who Use Poor Grammar.
Here’s Why.” Harvard Business Review Blog, by
Kyle Wiens
--“Good Applicants with Bad Grammar” New York
Times, by John McWhorter
--“Your Bad Grammar at Work: What’s the
Problem?” Forbes Magazine by Alison Griswold
--“Why Grammar at Work Counts” Forbes
Magazine, by Susan Adams
--“This Embarrasses You and I” The Wall Street
Journal, by Sue Shellenbarger
In addition to informal written
responses, in-class activities and
homework….
Formative Assessment
Synthesis Essay
Summative Assessment
Synthesis Group Project:
Working collaboratively, students will
self-select sources to create a synthesis
packet. In essence, students will create
a synthesis packet that is modeled after
the various AP-style packets reviewed
in class. The sources must be reliable,
credible and come from a variety of
outlets. At least one source should
include media. Once completed,
students will write an individual
synthesis essay using their created
packets.
--Selections from released AP Language and
Composition exams; suggested texts:
-2014, Is College Worth the Cost?
-2012, Should the USPS be restructured?
-2008, Should the Penny be Eliminated?
-2008 (Form B), Should there be specific texts
that all high school English students
must read?
 Synthesis
 Citation
 Primary
Source
 Secondary
Source
Unit 4: Reflection
Standards
Essential Questions
RL.11-12.1-6

RI.11-12.1-7

W.11-12.1-2, 4-8,
10
SL.11-12.1-4

L.11-12.1-6

Who am I as a
writer?
How have I used
style to assert my
purpose,
assertion or main
idea of past
written work?
What elements
of style define my
personal writing
style?
How has my
personal style
developed over
time?
Approximate Time Frame: 3-4 Weeks
Vocabulary
Skills
Content
Students will analyze their personal
writing style and create a final writing
portfolio (digital and print) that
includes…
An extended metaphor
4 style analyses (of past writing
samples)
1 synthesis of writing style
Nonfiction
Student written work that spans length of time
(e.g., a letter written to a parent or grandparent
in kindergarten, an “All About Me” piece from 4th
grade, a research paper written in 8th grade,
analysis paper in 11th grade).