Academic Writing from the Ground Up

From Grammar & Composition to Writing Great Essays

Great Books Program students all need to know how to write a well-reasoned, coherent essay. This course introduces students to the art of defining a topic, doing high-quality research with limited resources, and writing an engaging and solid college-level paper.

Academic Writing from the Ground Up: From Grammar and Composition to Writing Great Essays. The course will start with establishing good writing habits in the context of five paragraph essays: the Swiss Army Knife of academic essays. The course will progress through building multiple types of essays and establishing a good personal style. We will also cover writing research papers, with an emphasis on identifying and locating good sources and avoiding plagiarism. The final section of the course will be a review of great essay writers like Sheen, Chesterton, and Shelley with an emphasis on literary criticism and recognizing quality writing.

Kara Kelley Heyne is a mother of eight going on nine, who has been teaching online writing and literature classes for nearly a decade and a half. She also teaches in person classes at her local homeschool co op, which all her children attend weekly. Kara’s teaching experience ranges from Irish step dancing to sewing to Medieval literature to Latin. In 2020 she successfully defended her Master’s Thesis (Goldblooded: A Novel and Study in Magical Realism) and achieved her MA. In her spare time, she enjoys baking, crocheting, writing “bespoke fairy tales” and novels, some of which can be found on Amazon under her author name K. Kelley Heyne.

There is no book requirement for this course. There is not one source that would encompass the full scope of the class. We will be starting with writing basics (thesis statements, 5 paragraph essays, etc.) but then moving on to academic research essays, literary criticism, and reading great essays to inform the students’ own style. No single source does this.

The sources I will be referencing are the MLA 8th edition handbook and various reputable free online sources, such as Purdue OWL for writing techniques and Project Gutenberg for the great essays.

Class Sections:

Wednesdays (Starting 9/1/21)
11AM-12PM PST (2-3PM EST)
Thursdays (Starting 9/2/21)
11AM-12PM PST (2-3PM EST)
Open to all students 13 years and up.

Yearly Tuition

$54500YEARLY
  • Readings Included
  • 5% Pay in Full Discount = $517.75
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Monthly Tuition

$5450MONTHLY
  • Readings Included
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