Improving Writing Using a “Sentence Composing Approach”
Brought to you by Odyssey
October 5, 2021 - November 2, 2021
Tuesday, 6:30 PM ET (7.5 course hours)
This course is an alternative to a writing workshop where participants critique each other’s writing: a practicum focusing on sentence-level improvement. Using a method the co-instructors developed called “the sentence-composing approach,” participants practice sentence strategies used by authors ranging from J. R. R. Tolkien to J. K. Rowling. In building better sentences, participants learn to do what successful authors do, and will leave each session with sentence-building tools applicable to almost any kind of writing--academic, business, literary, or personal.
Session 1 10/05/21
Description: To learn a technique replicating the structure of a mentor sentence by a recognizable author.
Objectives: Participants will analyze sentences by recognizable authors to learn the sentence-composing tools used therein to build those sentences and to compose sentences with those same tools.
Session 2 10/12/21
Description: The identifier sentence-composing tool is defined through analysis of mentor sentences by authors containing that tool and its variations.
Objectives: Participants will be able to use the identifier tool in various places and lengths within their own sentences.
Session 3 10/19/21
Description: The describer sentence-composing tool is defined through analysis of mentor sentences by authors containing that tool and its variations.
Objectives: Participants will be able to use the describer tool in various places and lengths within their own sentences.
Session 4 10/26/21
Description: The elaborator sentence-composing tool is defined through analysis of mentor sentences by authors containing that tool and its variations.
Objectives: Participants will be able to use the elaborator tool in various places and lengths within their own sentences.
Session 5 11/02/21
Description: The combo sentence-composing tool is defined through analysis of mentor sentences by authors containing a mixture of sentence-composing tools.
Objectives: Participants will be able to use identifiers, describers, and elaborators in combination within their own sentences.
Supplemental Materials
All materials are created by the Killgallons, provided during each session, then emailed to participants to use and keep.
About the Instructors
The co-instructors are widely recognized as innovators in teaching writing through sentence-level improvement. As co-authors, they have written many textbooks used by teachers within and beyond the United States, all featuring their sentence-composing approach.
Don Killgallon, M.A. (University of Maryland), M.L.A. and M.Ed. (Johns Hopkins University), is a veteran English and writing teacher, and the originator of the sentence- composing approach.
Jenny Killgallon, M.L.A. (Johns Hopkins University), taught secondary English in public and private schools and was a writing improvement specialist for the Maryland State Department of Education and for the English Division of Baltimore County Public Schools.
Tuition Remission and Refund Policies
Full-time JHU faculty/staff, their spouses or same-sex domestic partners, JHU retirees and their spouses or same-sex domestic partners are eligible for tuition remission. The tuition remission form is required. All tuition remission forms and details on eligibility can be found here and should be returned to odyssey@jhu.edu.
After registration, tuition remission eligibility will be confirmed by the Odyssey registrar. If eligibility cannot be confirmed, you will be required to pay full tuition for the course. Under the terms of the University’s remission program, Hopkins employees must withdraw in writing at least five working days before the first class to receive a 100% refund. No partial refunds are given to JHU employees and affiliates.
Please visit the registration and policies page for more information.
While participating in on-campus events and meetings, participants must follow all public health guidelines required by Johns Hopkins University and Medicine at the time of the event. If you are not fully vaccinated, we require that you wear a face covering during your visit to campus, even when it is no longer required for those who are vaccinated.
While participating in off-campus events and meetings sponsored by the JHAA/JHM/JHHS participants must follow all public health guidelines mandated by the local jurisdiction and venue at the time of the event, including vaccination and masking and distancing guidance. Johns Hopkins strongly suggests that attendees who join in person be fully vaccinated.