The Expository Reading and Writing Course (ERWC) is a comprehensive, year-long course designed to prepare college-bound seniors for the literacy demands of higher education. Through a sequence of eight to ten rigorous instructional modules, students will develop advanced proficiency in expository, analytical, and argumentative reading and writing.

This rhetoric-based course is designed to increase students' awareness of the rhetorical strategies employed by authors and to apply those strategies to their own writing. Students will read closely and analyze the impact of structural and rhetorical strategies, as well as examine the social, political, and philosophical assumptions that underlie the text. They will also examine the relationship between an author's argument or theme and their intended audience and purpose.

Throughout the course, students will engage in the analysis of a range of texts, including novels such as Brave New World, Frankenstein, Into the Wild, and 1984. Through these texts, students will develop their ability to read critically and think independently.

By the end of the course, students will be expected to use the process of rhetorical analysis independently when reading unfamiliar texts and writing in response to them. This course provides college-bound seniors with the necessary skills and tools to succeed in higher education and beyond, through a focus on rhetorical analysis, critical thinking, and independent learning.

At a glance:

• ERWC is a comprehensive course that prepares college-bound seniors for the literacy demands of higher education.

• Students develop advanced proficiency in expository, analytical, and argumentative reading and writing, increasing their awareness of rhetorical strategies.

• Through the analysis of a range of texts, including novels, students learn to read critically and think independently, using the process of rhetorical analysis to succeed in higher education and beyond.