Time-tested classical techniques--the imitation and analysis of great writers--combined with original composition exercises in history, science, biography, and literature.

The Student Workbook encourages independent composition, while the Instructor Text contains easy-to-use supporting information for the teacher, rubrics for grading, sample compositions, and dialogue to use while teaching. Together, the Student Workbook and Instructor Text provide a full year of middle-grade writing instruction, preparing students to enter high-level rhetoric. Reviews Level One skills in narration, biographical sketches, descriptions, and sequences Teaches new skills in writing comparisons, drawing contrasts, and tracing cause and effect Improves sentence style through prose exercises drawn from Erasmus, Aristotle, and other classical rhetoricians Covers three-level outlining, composition planning and structure Guides the student through critical essay writing in both fiction and poetry Provides practice in research and documentation skills