“I can’t wait to take English 101!” exclaimed no one, ever. It’s a have-to course. It’s the course you take so you can get to the good stuff. It’s what (I think) the kids call, “Basic.” 

But what if studying these forms of rhetoric were looked at as a quest to find, develop, and share your voice with the world? What if there is, in fact, action and suspense and creativity and imagination all waiting to be used? What if there are heroes waiting? What if you are one of them? 

In this five-week course, writers will study and write four forms of English rhetoric, and put it all together in a hero’s quest portfolio.

Course Schedule:

• Week 1 - Introduction, Vision Boards, and Extended Definition

• Week 2 - Compare/Contrast

• Week 3 - Process/Analysis

• Week 4 - Argumentative

• Week 5 - The Hero's Quest

Participants should also have a copy of The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas.

Callie Feyen is an Adjunct Professor of Creative Writing, Children's Literature, and English Composition. She is also the author of The Teacher Diaries, and Twirl: My Life in Stories, Writing, & Clothes (TS Poetry Press). She lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan with her husband Jesse, and their two daughters, Hadley and Harper.