Scope and sequence · English
Grade 12 Composition & Creative Writing: Capstone: Rhetoric and the Senior Thesis
The capstone year of classical writing: choose a question worth a year of study, write and defend a senior thesis before a real audience, draft a novella chapter and a printed chapbook of poems, learn the writing a career demands, give a commencement speech, and gather ten years of work into one portfolio.
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What to cover
32 of 32 lessons are MUST COVER. They are tested on the unit tests and exams, or are skills the SAT/ACT relies on. OPTIONAL lessons are enrichment. Do them if time allows. The course is complete when the MUST COVER lessons are done.
Unit 1: Choosing a Senior Thesis
- MUST COVER 1.1 The Classical Senior Thesis ★ · SAT/ACT
- MUST COVER 1.2 From Question to Claim · unit test
- MUST COVER 1.3 The Reading Plan · unit test
- MUST COVER 1.4 The Advisor Meeting and the Prospectus · unit test
Unit 2: Writing the Thesis
- MUST COVER 2.1 The Sections of the Thesis · SAT/ACT
- MUST COVER 2.2 Drafting: Steady Work, Section by Section · unit test
- MUST COVER 2.3 Revising: From the Whole Argument to the Single Word · unit test
- MUST COVER 2.4 Citations and the Finished Thesis ★ · SAT/ACT
Unit 3: Defending the Thesis
- MUST COVER 3.1 The Oral Defense: An Ancient Format ★ · unit test
- MUST COVER 3.2 Anticipating Questions · unit test
- MUST COVER 3.3 The Mock Defense · unit test
- MUST COVER 3.4 The Public Defense ★ · unit test
Unit 4: ✎ Fiction: The Novella Chapter
- MUST COVER 4.1 Tolkien’s “On Fairy-Stories”: Sub-creation and the Good Turn ✎ ★ · unit test
- MUST COVER 4.2 Outlining a Longer Work: From Map to Chapter List ✎ · unit test
- MUST COVER 4.3 Drafting the Chapter: Voice, Scene and the First Page ✎ · unit test
- MUST COVER 4.4 Workshop: Reading Aloud, Judging Fairly, Revising Well ✎ · unit test
Unit 5: Poetry: A Chapbook
- MUST COVER 5.1 Herbert’s The Temple as a Book ✎ ★ · unit test
- MUST COVER 5.2 Ordering Poems: The Door, the Road and the Rest ✎ · unit test
- MUST COVER 5.3 Layout and Printing: The Page as a Place ✎ · unit test
- MUST COVER 5.4 The Chapbook: Binding, Dedicating and Giving the Book ✎ · unit test
Unit 6: Writing for a Career
- MUST COVER 6.1 Proposals and Grants: Nehemiah’s Request ★ · unit test
- MUST COVER 6.2 Technical Writing: Faraday’s Candle · unit test
- MUST COVER 6.3 Writing for the Web: Plain, Short and Findable · unit test
- MUST COVER 6.4 A Professional Portfolio: Let the Work Speak · unit test
Unit 7: Personal Narrative: The Commencement Speech
- MUST COVER 7.1 Great Commencement Addresses: Solzhenitsyn at Harvard (1978) ✎ ★ · unit test
- MUST COVER 7.2 Drafting the Commencement Speech ✎ · unit test
- MUST COVER 7.3 Delivery: Reading Distinctly and Giving the Sense ✎ · unit test
- MUST COVER 7.4 Give It: The Commencement Speech Before an Audience ✎ ★ · unit test
Unit 8: Review: The Ten-Year Portfolio and a Letter to a Younger Student
- MUST COVER 8.1 The Ten-Year Ladder: Reviewing the Exercises · unit test
- MUST COVER 8.2 Speech Day: Delivering One Piece from the Decade · unit test
- MUST COVER 8.3 The Last Revision: Rewriting a Childhood Piece as a Senior · unit test
- MUST COVER 8.4 The Ten-Year Portfolio and a Letter to a Younger Student ★ · unit test
36-week pacing calendar
From the course’s own 32-week pacing guide, with catch-up and review weeks added to fill a 36-week (180-day) year.
| Week | Plan | Done | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | Lesson 1.1 The Classical Senior Thesis ★ | ||
| Wk 2 | Lesson 1.2 From Question to Claim | ||
| Wk 3 | Lesson 1.3 The Reading Plan | ||
| Wk 4 | Lesson 1.4 The Advisor Meeting and the Prospectus | ||
| Wk 5 | Lesson 2.1 The Sections of the Thesis | ||
| Wk 6 | Lesson 2.2 Drafting: Steady Work, Section by Section | ||
| Wk 7 | Lesson 2.3 Revising: From the Whole Argument to the Single Word | ||
| Wk 8 | Lesson 2.4 Citations and the Finished Thesis ★ | ||
| Wk 9 | Lesson 3.1 The Oral Defense: An Ancient Format ★ | ||
| Wk 10 | Lesson 3.2 Anticipating Questions | ||
| Wk 11 | Lesson 3.3 The Mock Defense | ||
| Wk 12 | Lesson 3.4 The Public Defense ★ | ||
| Wk 13 | Lesson 4.1 Tolkien’s “On Fairy-Stories”: Sub-creation and the Good Turn ✎ ★ | ||
| Wk 14 | Lesson 4.2 Outlining a Longer Work: From Map to Chapter List ✎ | ||
| Wk 15 | Lesson 4.3 Drafting the Chapter: Voice, Scene and the First Page ✎ | ||
| Wk 16 | Lesson 4.4 Workshop: Reading Aloud, Judging Fairly, Revising Well ✎ | ||
| Wk 17 | Catch-up and review week (no new lessons) | ||
| Wk 18 | Lesson 5.1 Herbert’s The Temple as a Book ✎ ★ | ||
| Wk 19 | Lesson 5.2 Ordering Poems: The Door, the Road and the Rest ✎ | ||
| Wk 20 | Lesson 5.3 Layout and Printing: The Page as a Place ✎ | ||
| Wk 21 | Lesson 5.4 The Chapbook: Binding, Dedicating and Giving the Book ✎ | ||
| Wk 22 | Lesson 6.1 Proposals and Grants: Nehemiah’s Request ★ | ||
| Wk 23 | Lesson 6.2 Technical Writing: Faraday’s Candle | ||
| Wk 24 | Lesson 6.3 Writing for the Web: Plain, Short and Findable | ||
| Wk 25 | Lesson 6.4 A Professional Portfolio: Let the Work Speak | ||
| Wk 26 | Lesson 7.1 Great Commencement Addresses: Solzhenitsyn at Harvard (1978) ✎ ★ | ||
| Wk 27 | Lesson 7.2 Drafting the Commencement Speech ✎ | ||
| Wk 28 | Lesson 7.3 Delivery: Reading Distinctly and Giving the Sense ✎ | ||
| Wk 29 | Lesson 7.4 Give It: The Commencement Speech Before an Audience ✎ ★ | ||
| Wk 30 | Lesson 8.1 The Ten-Year Ladder: Reviewing the Exercises | ||
| Wk 31 | Lesson 8.2 Speech Day: Delivering One Piece from the Decade | ||
| Wk 32 | Lesson 8.3 The Last Revision: Rewriting a Childhood Piece as a Senior | ||
| Wk 33 | Lesson 8.4 The Ten-Year Portfolio and a Letter to a Younger Student ★ | ||
| Wk 34 | Catch-up week: finish any MUST COVER lesson not yet done | ||
| Wk 35 | Catch-up week: finish any MUST COVER lesson not yet done | ||
| Wk 36 | Year-end review, portfolio and records |
Grading: Senior thesis (written) 30%, Thesis defense (mock and public) 10%, Creative projects (novella chapter, chapbook, commencement speech) 25%, Career writing projects 10%, Writing notebook and Style Clinics 10%, Unit reviews and the ten-year portfolio 15%. Scale: A 90–100, B 80–89, C 70–79. Below 70: revise with help and resubmit.