Course Description: As you explore this course, you will encounter many of the aspects of what keeps a language "alive"-reading the words that others have written, listening to the words that others have spoken, and writing words of your own.

Writing is a major tool that people use every day and in practically every way in our modern world. Indeed, we are finding that people now are writing more than they ever have before. Not only are they doing traditional writing--letters of all sorts, business reports, recommendations, summaries, and much, much more, they are also sending e-mail messages and creating web pages, both of which are writing activities. Because writing is such an important part of our world, what you learn in this course should help you throughout your lifetime.

You will explore ways to start writing, both when you have been given a topic to write about and when you must generate your own topics. You will explore ways to find details that you can use in your writing to make your ideas clear and vivid for your reader. You will explore several general approaches to presenting your ideas in writing and also specific techniques you can use to get your ideas across to the reader. By the time you complete this course, you will have applied your skills to a number of writing situations, and you will have learned techniques that you can use in nearly every writing situation.

You will be introduced to different types of writing-- speeches, essays, and research writing. You'll learn the secrets of successful reading and skills to help you increase your vocabulary. You will read excerpts from a variety of literary works (some famous and others not as well-known), as well as from "everyday" writing.

Course Contents:
Students will learn about:

• Unit 1: Grammar, Mechanics, Usage
• Lesson 1: Parts of Speech
• Lesson 2: Mechanics and Usage
• Unit 2: Writing Process
• Lesson 1: Prewriting
• Lesson 2: Sentencing
• Lesson 3: Writing Paragraphs
• Lesson 4: Writing Essays
• Unit 3: Public Speaking
• Lesson 1: Exploring Speeches
• Lesson 2: Speech Strategies
• Unit 4: Research
• Lesson 1: Research Strategies
• Lesson 2: Evaluating and Documenting Sources

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