Level Two
Newly revised, The Lost Tools of Writing Level Two, features eight new lessons (and thus eight new essays), each of which enable you and your students to dig - and think - deeper.
In Level One, your students learned the basics of constructing a Persuasive Essay. By implementing the three Canons of Classical Rhetoric - Invention, Arrangement, and Elocution - your young writers learned the process of crafting a coherent written argument, starting with the blank slate and ending with a complete and thorough essay. Our goal in Level One was not so much to worry about the kind of Persuasive Essay the students were writing so much as it was to ensure they were growing increasingly comfortable with the steps necessary to create it.
In Level Two, however, you'll refine your study of classical Rhetoric by studying the Deliberative Essay (in Part One) and the Judicial Essay (Part Two), each of which are refinements on the Persuasive Essay taught in Level One. So just as the elements of Level One build upon one another, so Level Two builds upon Level One.
Through the eight lessons/essay in Level Two, your students will work within the framework of the three Canons, but each will be aimed at the new kinds of essay. This familiarity will empower you as a teacher and will provide confidence for your students.
In teaching these eight new lessons, Level Two teaches the following Invention topics, Arrangement tools, and schemes and tropes:
| Invention | Arrangement | Elocution** | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deliberative Essay 1 | The Advantageous | Call to Action | Hyperbole/Litotes |
| Deliberative Essay 2 | Status Quo | Focusing the Narrative | Parenthesis |
| Deliberative Essay 3 | The Honorable | Refining the Exordium | Anaphora/Epistrophe |
| Deliberative Essay 4 | The Honorable II: The Right | Refining the Exordium II | Personfication/Apostrophe |
| Judicial Essay 1 | The Just | Appeal to Emotion | Erotema |
| Judicial Essay 2 | An Sit | Focusing the Proof I | Anadiplosis/Epanalepsis |
| Judicial Essay 3 | Quid Sit | Focusing the Proof II | Synecdoche |
| Judicial Essay 4 | Quale Sit | Focusing the Proof III | Metonymy |
**You may note that some of the Elocution schemes and tropes are also found in the end of Level One. We review them here because we have found that many people are rushed at the end of Level One, or that they never get to the last three essays of Level One. In fact, we often recommend that folks only focus on the first eight lessons and not worry about the comparison essay at the end of Level One.
Much is familiar: You will recognize the ANI charts, the arrangement templates, and much of the format. But a lot is new as well. Featuring clarified teaching materials (with new discussion tips, simplified assessments steps, and improved examples), this new edition is the ideal follow-up for any teacher or student who is familiar and comfortable with Level One.
Click here to see a sample of Lesson One Invention from this program.
