English 11: The View Within

Carlos Fuentes once commented that writing is a “struggle against silence,” while Anais Nin believed people write “to taste life twice.” There is no question that writing is a fundamental human act, but why do people write? What are the various motives that compel people to put pen to paper? How does a writer’s purpose influence the content and style of their writing? These are some of the questions that guide students’ reading and writing of creative non-fiction, including complex non-linear story structures. In the true spirit of the essay, which in the original French means ‘to attempt,’ students are encouraged to experiment with language, probe their beliefs, and incorporate rhetorical devices, in the hopes that they find a voice that resonates with them authentically.

• Interests: Literature, Psychology
• Grades: 11th
• Subjects: English