The Wilson Hill Academy composition sequence starts with two guiding principles: teach students to listen and teach students to focus on goals in their writing. In a world rife with unsubstantiated opinion, pausing to heed the apostle James words to be slow to speak and quick to listen takes practice. For this reason, Wilson Hill students begin this practice in grammar school by writing about literature and continue it throughout all their humanities classes. WHA writing assignments fall into two categories: expository argument and imitative creative writing.  Through expository argument students learn to use specific events in literature to support an idea or opinion and avoid circular arguments.  In imitative exercises, students mimic the syntax and diction of great writers and begin the journey of developing their own voice and vocabulary.  At the same time, students learn that an essay has a goal, the parts of an essay have goals, a paragraph has a goal, a sentence has a goal, and every word even has a goal. The writing process is simplified as students focus on accomplishing these goals using their expanding repertoire of writing tools.  In this way, students also obtain the ability to scale their writing from a one-paragraph response to a lengthy senior thesis based on the needs of the prompt.

Language Arts Level 1

The LA1 classroom is an exciting place where time flies. Students learn to love reading and writing as they explore great works of literature and poetry, immersing themselves in God’s […]

Section: Composition, Literature   |   School: Grammar School

Language Arts Level 2

In LA 2 students delight in great works of children’s literature while learning essential grammatical concepts in the context of their reading and writing. Through imitative exercises and carefully structured […]

Section: Composition, Literature   |   School: Grammar School

Language Arts Level 4 (FOEW)

Language Arts 4 emphasizes both literature and composition by focusing on the first three canons of classical rhetoric: invention, arrangement and elocution. The thoughtful discussions about literary works help students […]

Section: Composition, Literature   |   School: School of Logic

Advanced Composition 1 (H)

Advanced Composition 1 provides high school students robust and personal writing instruction. They refine composition skills through imitative writing and essay construction. Students practice emulating the voice of consummate authors […]

Section: Composition   |   School: School of Rhetoric

Advanced Composition 2 (H)

Advanced Composition 2 builds upon the robust and personal writing instruction offered in Advanced Composition 1. Students develop personal style and voice through imitative exercises that challenge the students to […]

Section: Composition   |   School: School of Rhetoric

Rhetoric 1 (H)

Both Rhetoric courses carry the honors designation. Rhetoric I introduces students to the concepts and practical principles of the ancient art of rhetoric, the third part of the classical Trivium. […]

Section: Composition, Humanities   |   School: School of Rhetoric