Writing academic essays can seem daunting to even the brightest students. Even strong writers often fall short of A grades in Honors and Advanced Placement English courses due to one fatal flaw teachers see time and time again: a weak or underdeveloped thesis.

 

An argumentative essay is built around a thesis statement, and teachers know a weak thesis, more often than not, leads to weak arguments and dull writing. Unfortunately, teacher feedback and essay rubrics are often cryptic, leaving students struggling to understand what students can do differently to earn that "A" grade.

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Our thesis development course offers the tools any student needs to systematically look at an argumentative, analytical, informative or persuasive essay prompt and wrestle critically with the topic to develop a robust central claim. We begin by teaching the concepts of synthesis and the basic elements of rhetoric needed to construct an effective argument. Students are then given practice opportunities and direct feedback to craft nuanced claims that are both direct and precise. The course closes by showing how the thesis statement is woven throughout an essay and acts as a keystone that simultaneously holds up the structure of a strong argument while being supported and upheld by every subordinate claim, every piece of evidence and every argument a writer makes. Discover the keystone to strong academic writing this summer and sign up today!

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The Discover the ART of Writing Program meets with a live instructor on Mondays-Fridays, from 2-2:45pm, starting July 27, 2020 to August 7, 2020 (totaling 10 sessions). We understand many families are impacted by COVID-19, thus, we are offering a 10% tuition scholarship (automatically applied for you). The cost of enrollment is $180; however, with the 10% tuition scholarship (automatically applied for you), the tuition cost is $162 ($16.20 per course, less than $22/hr).