This course is designed as a rigorous and challenging course taught at the pre-AP/IB level and planned to develop student writing, build strong literature and language analysis skills. Students can expect to learn that writing is a craft, something beyond form and function. Students will hone their writing skills and learn to write effectively in the course and to carry that knowledge to their personal and professional lives. Critical thinking strategies are taught and then required as the class explores a wide variety of poetry and prose - both fiction and nonfiction.