Master Classes: Writing Lessons from Great Authors
The Master Classes series is based on the premise that teachers and students can find no better examples of excellence in writing than those provided by the literature they are studying. In each lesson, "master examples" drawn from literary masterpieces are used to guide students in developing writing skills. The names of the four levels were inspired by the guild system of medieval times, emphasizing that writing is indeed a craft.
Lessons in these teaching guides include activities and assignments over the following topics:
Apprentice Level (Vol 1)
- Hooks
- Supporting
- Economy
- Sentence Length
- Sentence Variety
- Parallelism
- Diction
- Tone
- Freshness
- Verbs
- Figurative Language
- Concluding
Journeyman Level (Vol 2)
- Voice Modifiers
- Juxtaposition
- Fluency
- Precision
- Paragraph Breaks
- Illuminating
- Designing
- Writing Critically
- Learning from Poetry
- Dynamic Punctuation
- Telling and Showing
Craftsman Level (Vol 3)
- Opening
- Asserting
- Being Specific
- Evidence
- The Sound of Prose
- Syntax
- Revision
- Comparing
- Contrasting
- Paragraph Development
- Dynamic Paragraphs
- Closing
Master Level (Vol 4)
- Purpose
- Thesis
- Balance
- Attitude
- Pattern
- Making Connections
- Defamiliarization
- Imagery
- Judging Character
- Argument Development
- Parenthetical Elements
- The Argument Clincher