Create a variety of written communications using various elements of discourse (e.g., purpose, speaker, audience, form), in narrative, expository, persuasive, informative, and/or descriptive texts:

• Choose focus to address audience needs, stated purpose, and context
• Develop a thesis statement
• Create an organizing structure appropriate to purpose, audience, and context
• Include relevant information and exclude extraneous information
• Provide facts and details, describe or analyze subject, explain benefits or limitations, compare or contrast, or provide graphics or illustrations
• Clarify and defend positions with relevant evidence, including facts, expert opinions, quotations, and/or expressions of commonly accepted beliefs and logical reasoning
• Use a variety of rhetorical devices to support assertions (e.g., appeal to logic through reasoning, case study, and analogy)
• Anticipate potential misunderstandings, problems, or mistakes that might arise for audience
• Use appropriate format and structure drafts using standard forms and predictable structures such as headings, white space, and graphics
• Provide a coherent conclusion.

Select, use, and evaluate deliberately a wide variety of before (page 31), during (page 32), and after (page 33) strategies to communicate meaning when writing.

Apply accurately and effectively the language cues and conventions (page 24) to construct and communicate meaning when writing.

Prepare and write an inquiry/research paper (approximately 1,500 words in length, 5-6 pages typed, double-spaced):

• Focus on an important topic that interests self and emphasizes a specific part about the topic
• Size up the topic and include important details, facts, ideas, quotations, statistics, and other data
• Use primary and secondary sources that have been judged for their accuracy, completeness, currency, and biases
• Cite sources and avoid plagiarism
• Introduce the topic, get the reader's attention, and present the thesis statement
• Explain why the topic is important
• Arrange ideas so the reader can follow
• Include sources and a works-cited page and title page
• Conclude in a logical and interesting way, leaving the reader with something to think about.

Write an editorial:

• Focus on a current issue or topic
• Identify the purpose (e.g., criticize, condemn, advise, commend, congratulate)
• Develop a thesis statement that clearly defines the issue and attends to the purpose
• Conduct research to collect evidence and to provide examples
• Craft an introduction that states the writer's view and captures the audience's attention
• Use evidence and ethical, logical arguments to support the thesis statement and purpose, and to persuade the audience
• Construct an effective conclusion related to the purpose and thesis statement.

Write a real or invented narrative:

• Introduce the character(s), the setting, and the conflict in the beginning
• Build suspense through the rising action to a high or turning point
• Resolve the conflict and create a satisfactory or reasonable conclusion in the ending
• Focus on what character(s) does, and "show" what the person does (instead of "tell") and how he or she does it
• Show character through dialogue, thoughts, and action
• Use external and internal dialogue
• Use action verbs.

Write a literary analysis and critical evaluation (print, film, new media) essay:

• Read to find out what the author said, how the writer was affected, what important issues the text made the writer think about, and what was enjoyed about it
• Read the text again to analyze how the author achieved these effects (what forms and techniques were used) and how successful the text was
• Respond to key questions (e.g., What was the author's purpose? How was it achieved? What were your reactions?)
• Use the text as evidence.

Experiment with and explore a variety of written text forms (e.g., chapter of a novel, short story, minutes of a meeting) and techniques (such as satire, tone, mood) and explain their appeal.