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Academics

Junior High English 8: In-Depth

Content Goals

  • The characters, narrative, and content of the books studied
  • Study of the English verbal system – tense, mood, voice

Analysis Goals

Classical Essay

  • Continuation of the essay paragraph goals of CWS: Maxim, following the CWS: Chreia
  • Deeper analysis of cause paragraphs using Aristotle’s 4 Causes
  • Recognizing the 3 Kinds of rhetoric: Judicial, Ceremonial, and Deliberative
  • Introduction to the 5 Canons of rhetoric: Invention, arrangement, style, memory, delivery (with a focus on arrangement and style)

Literature

  • Character analysis and growth
  • Recognize obvious symbols, especially as they relate to characters
  • Greater attention on theme and motif
  • Attention to the stylistic choice of the perspective of a narrator (1st, 2nd, 3rd person, omniscient and limited; unreliable narrator)
  • Recognize literary techniques like foreshadowing, situational irony, dramatic irony, etc
  • Analyze syntax and diction to discuss the tone or mood of a work
  • Appreciate setting

Composition Goals

Classical Essay:

  • Encomium paragraph
  • Paraphrase paragraph
  • Cause paragraph (Including Aristotle’s 4 Causes)
  • Opposite paragraph
  • Analogy paragraph (comparison)
  • Example (paradigm) paragraph
  • Testimony paragraph
  • Epilogue paragraph
  • Classical essay format from Chreia – using all 8 studied paragraph types.
  • The three appeals (ethos, pathos, logos)
  • Five canons of rhetoric – what they are

Modern Essay:

  • Fully developed paragraph form: topic sentence; one point/one paragraph/ elaboration (picture frame)/concluding sentence
  • Supporting a proposition with evidence in a paragraph – primarily paraphrase, not direct citation
  • Analysis paragraph (character, mood, style, tone, and setting)
  • Descriptive essay (character, mood, style, tone, and setting)
  • Reading quiz form – single sentence answer, short answer, short essay
  • Grammar: Tense, Voice, Person, Number, Mood and use in writing (no separate Grammar class for 8th grade)
  • Vocabulary routine with creative writing using terms