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LIVE & ONLINE — HONORS WRITING COURSE
Logical Communication
Controlling the flow of ideas in writing
Instructor: Roy Speed
 To produce clear writing, students must be able to do a number of things:
1) produce clear thoughts and ideas;
2) arrange them into a logical flow, one that makes sense to readers;
3) explain and illustrate those ideas using concrete evidence and examples.
If students can do those three things, they will be able to write effectively for virtually any course, whether in the humanities or the sciences, and virtually any profession. They'll also be prepared to write a college-admissions essay.
What parents are saying
I wanted to share some exciting news with you. My son L______ was a student in your Logical Communication class last year. He recently entered a local essay contest. His essay was chosen as one of the winning essays out of 22 entries, and he was awarded $5,000! ...
This essay required a lot of research, but once he gathered his research together, he knew exactly what to do thanks to your instruction... In approaching this essay he was extremely confident. He worked on it with no stress or confusion on how to approach it because he had the knowledge and direction from your class.
He now has his own style of writing and says he really enjoys writing essays. When he started your class last year, he had only had a year of a common homeschool writing program and had no interest in writing. He is also dyslexic which makes it more time consuming and difficult for him to read and write. Even so, he is now considering writing as a career path or hobby because he has realized he is good at it and really enjoys it.
In signing him up for your class, although it was a higher price than many others, I recognized the immense value he would receive — both in the amount of time you spend with the students each week and in your passion for the subject that you would be sharing with them.
I truly appreciate that you are sharing your knowledge with them and giving them confidence as writers. You will be seeing my other son in your class in a couple years!
— Catherine P., homeschooling mom
Based on some conversations with [our daughter] and looking at writing samples from various classes, I can see how much your class has strengthened some of her writing skills... She's looking forward to next year. I am happy we discovered your classes. Of all classes she has taken thus far, I find your writing class the best investment in her education I have made.
— email from a homeschooling mom
You might like to know that the techniques learned in Logical Communication came in handy this summer. [Son's name] took a 4-week college course: Intro to Political Science... [E]very three to four days [Son] had to read two chapters, take a test, and write a paper — the standard 5-paragraph style of essay. I was quite worried, but not once did [Son] fret. He was kept busy, but approached the reading (annotating the whole time) and writing with confidence. Each paper was roughly 750 words. [Son] never scored below 90 out of 100, and most of the seven papers scored in mid 90s and received many positive comments.
A major regret in homeschooling (and I'd be lying if I didn't admit to a looooong list of regrets) is not discovering HS College-Bound much sooner.
Again, our thanks.
— email from a homeschooling dad
"Our standout hit this year: Logical Communication with Mr. Roy Speed. It focuses on clear thinking, organizing ideas and arguments, backing up your ideas with evidence, logical flow, rhetorical devices, all in conjunction with analyzing high-quality essays. The instructor has appropriately high standards and is enthusiastic, the live classroom is well-managed and has interactive discussions, the workload is just right (emphasis on quality, not quantity), and the feedback is individualized (appropriate for a range of abilities), prompt and constructive. DS has taken several composition courses before this, and this one is the best he's had by far. Mr. Speed is known for his Shakespeare courses, and he's offering full-year writing courses online now too. He also teaches writing to corporate professionals. DS will be taking his Essay Writing and Appreciation course next year."
— posted to a homeschooling forum
What students are saying
"I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciated the class this year. You are a great teacher. Thank you for helping me to find my voice in writing and for teaching me that there is beauty in clutter-less simplicity."
"I love reading the essays: they expose me to new and interesting authors and the writings of different time periods; they also show me the techniques we are learning demonstrated in a skillful way. Going into in-depth discussion means I really have to read closely, which is always a good thing to do and definitely makes me a better reader."
"I generally believed that being face to face in learning something is better than not. But what I find most surprising about this course is how well it works despite being only online."
"I've found this course to be very useful despite the fact that I've already taken writing courses. This course covers writing techniques that can be easily overlooked, but when they are used, these techniques really do make a difference to the writing."
"I think a lot of the 'tips and tricks' that we learn are unique to this class; at least, I know that most of my friends aren't learning them in their respective English classes."
"While I expected to have discussions about the material we read, I did not think the discussions would be as in-depth as they are."
"Using a mindmap is extremely helpful, and something that I did not realize the importance of before taking this course. I have now been using them for other class assignments, and they make writing an essay, research paper, or even just a paragraph very organized and efficient."
So this course is designed around the real-world needs of students. It enables them to:
- perceive the "architecture" of a piece of writing — the logical arrangement of its ideas and information;
- perceive when that arrangement is chaotic — a logical mess;
- use writing tools to clarify the train of thought — improve the writing's clarity, enhance its impact;
- brainstorm ideas — sketch out points, arguments, and evidence on a given topic;
- write efficiently — write from a roadmap, a simple plan for the entire document.
Please note: This course serves as a precursor to our course Essay Writing & Appreciation.
The course is titled logical communi-cation for two reasons — first, to emphasize that the topic here is clear and effective non-fiction prose. The other reason has to do with the recurring theme of this course, which is logical organization of ideas.
An unclear train of thought is a common characteristic of student writing, but also of adult writing. Much of the instruction in this course, accordingly, focuses on the skills attendant on logical flow — clear thinking about your topic; arrangement of your points into a logical sequence; writing techniques that help clarify the logical thread, carry forward the train of thought from paragraph to paragraph and even sentence to sentence.
Our approach
In addition to their writing assignments (see column far right), students in Logical Communication read closely, analyze, and discuss dozens of essays. Classes include individual and group exercises in:
- tracking the logical progression of ideas in a piece of writing;
- appreciating effective writing tools and techniques — everything from the invigorating effect of the perfect simile to the power of certain forms of repetition;
- spotting a wide range of common errors with usage, grammar, or punctuation;
- using concrete examples and powerful evidence to explain, illustrate, and support your ideas;
- tools for carrying forward an idea from sentence to sentence to sentence, such that your reader never loses the logical thread;
- spotting rhetorical devices with great power, like antithesis and isocolon.
The readings in this course comprise examples of great prose from essayists like George Orwell, C. S. Lewis, H. L. Mencken, Max Beerbohm, Steven Pinker, Maria Konnikova, Diana Athill, Danny Heitman, Stephen Greenblatt, and William Zinsser, as well as scientists like Mark Miodownik, Alan Lightman, and Oliver Sacks, plus many others.
The benefits of this approach
Logical flow in communication is a subject often overlooked in the education of our teens. Yet those who can sustain a clear train of thought in discourse are usually seen as intelligent, capable, and successful. They're also more persuasive.
Students, moreover, are often surprised at how enjoyable it is to think logically, apply critical thinking, and communicate mindfully — even if at first such activities make their brains hurt.
But like exercising a new muscle or learning to play an instrument, such activities become easier with regular workouts, and once the groundwork is laid, students find they're better able to understand nuances and subtleties — and communicate more effectively — across all their subjects.
 Course fees
The fee for this two-semester course is $ 1340. ($ 670 per semester).
To register, you must pay the fee for Semester 1; we will invoice you for Semester 2, with payment due by September 1.
What's included
This course comprises:
- thirty 90-minute sessions and thirty 1-hour sessions, for a total of 75 hours of live instruction, including activities and discussion;
- instructor materials — a workbook that is shipped to your student prior to the first session;
- instructor feedback on student essays.
Text for this course
The instructor provides our workbook and other proprietary materials. (The cost is included in your course fee.)
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2024–25 registration now open!
FALL 2024 – SPRING 2025
To contact the instructor, click here.
Students must register for
one of the following sections:
SECTION ONE
begins August 26, 2024
This section is now CLOSED.
Students attend 2 classes per week:
Mondays 3:00 – 4:30 pm EST
Thursdays 3:30 – 4:30 pm EST
SECTION TWO
begins August 27, 2024
Just two seats remaining.
Students attend 2 classes per week:
Tuesdays 1:15 – 2:45 pm EST
Fridays 2:45 – 3:45 pm EST
To register a student, click here:
Fee for entire year: $ 1340.
Up to July 15, 2024:
Register with a deposit.
Now through July 15, secure your student's
seat with a 50% deposit ($ 670.);
the balance is due on September 1, 2024
(we'll invoice you).
After July 15, 2024:
Pay in full.
The entire fee is due at registration.
View our weekly schedule
for 2024–25
View an excerpt from a talk
by the instructor:
"Five things about writing most
students are never taught"
Assignments in this course
Students in Logical Communication produce writing of several kinds, with each writing activity targeting vital skills:
- Writing & editing workouts. Students carry out targeted writing exercises, and those exercises take many forms. To illustrate: With essays, producing an effective opening is a writing challenge quite different from any other, so in this course, for a single essay, students may be asked to produce three different openings, each employing a different strategy for engaging readers. — Other exercises involve:
- sentence editing — re-structuring sentences to improve their readability, alter their emphasis, or use parallel structure;
- paragraphing — re-working paragraphs to strengthen their impact, clarity, or logical unity.
- Brainstorming/mindmapping. The students learn to produce & edit mindmaps — basically, sketching & arranging ideas for an essay.
- Essays. They write at least three major essays.
- Editing & revision. They revise their own work, sometimes repeatedly, with each draft targeting a different kind of improvement or applying a different kind of editing tool.
The importance of participation
In this course, one of the most important types of student participation is discussion. If the homework, for example, was to read and analyze a particular essay, students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss things like —
- whether they understood the essay & what they understood;
- whether it appealed to them, moved them, held their interest — and if so, why;
- the style or approach used by the writer, and whether it's similar/dissimilar to other essays we've read;
- any writing tools or techniques in the essay that seemed particularly effective, perhaps even worth stealing;
— and so on. Also, in many classes, students read and discuss one another's essays.
Our approach to ...
Writing
Writing is one of the most difficult subjects to teach — and partly because it is not a single complex skill, but rather a host of skills, all different and intertwined. It is also a process — and like all complex processes, it is susceptible to inefficient, i.e., time-wasting, approaches.
To write effectively, students must have:
- command of language — the ability to put thoughts into clear English, with rich vocabulary, correct usage, and correct punctuation;
- knowledge, perceptions, and insights — in other words, they must have something to say;
- convincing arguments — the ability to present a sound case, with clear points supported by solid evidence;
- a sound process — an approach to writing that addresses all the critical stages and presents them in the most effective sequence, e.g., getting your thoughts clear before you try to write sentences and paragraphs.
Our writing instruction, accordingly, is predicated on the following principles:
- To produce clear writing, students must first have clear thoughts.
- To write in a particular form — like the essay — they must first understand and appreciate that form, i.e., they must explore models.
- Students must be equipped with a rich arsenal of tools not only for writing, but for thinking — for working with thoughts and ideas.
- Students must learn to appreciate the craft of writing, with insight into what gives a sentence real impact, what makes a train of thought easy to follow, what makes an argument compelling.
For all these reasons, we teach writing in stages, with the first stage being language essentials — grammar, usage, punctuation, vocabulary — and the second being Logical Communication, a course in which our students become adept at working with ideas, identifying sound arguments, and perceiving logical flow. Also, our students read and come to appreciate great essays, and then they begin to write essays themselves.
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