Teacher: Mr. Eure
Contact: meure@brewsterschools.org
Drop-In Office Hours
• Mondays — P2, English Office
• Fridays — P6, Room 210
Appointments: Google Calendar Sign-Up
• Tue–Thu P2, English Office
• Tue–Thu P6, Room 210
Composition Overview
• Composition Grading Guide & Categories
• English Department Submission Policies
• Bell-to-Bell Device Ban
Question: What are we doing here and why?
Answer: We are here to study great writing because great writing is the best writing teacher. We can disassemble, analyze, and then emulate it. Great writers and their writing will serve as your mentors — your teachers — this year.
We will study each mentor text for two reasons:
- It teaches us intentional and purposeful elements, techniques, and strategies that anyone can emulate to create meaning.
- It inspires us to then intentionally and purposely emulate or imitate these elements, techniques, and strategies in our own writing to make it even more effective.
These mentor texts will be short texts or excerpts from larger texts. Expect to be able to do almost all of the course work in class.
As we study these texts, expect also to complete short writing tasks where you’re asked to identify, analyze, and then emulate an author’s craft.
Toward the end of each unit, you’ll compile your writing process and all final products into a writing portfolio that showcases your writing growth and skill.
Remember that this work can improve your writing not just for English class and for other academic classes, but for real world writing situations (e.g., a college essay, a job application, work- or school-related emails, even creative writing like poetry and fiction).
Syllabus: Calendar Units
• Composition 2025–2026 Calendar
• Composition: Getting to Know You
Unit 1: Descriptive Writing
We will practice the basics of annotation and emulation through a study of images, from ink blots to artwork, and the careful analysis of evocative diction. The final essay will feature student choice, as seen in this provisional copy of the assignment: Final Descriptive Essay Prompts
Unit 2: Narrative Writing
We will study the basics of narrative storytelling, from conflict to characterization, while answering imaginative prompts to help generate fiction and nonfiction narratives. We will focus on what makes a story compelling. The final essay will feature student choice, as seen in this provisional copy of the assignment: Final Narrative Essay Prompts
Unit 3: Expository Writing
We will focus on writing for an audience and tailoring syntax and diction for a specific occasion. We will especially focus on paragraph structure and transitional language.The final essay will feature student choice, as seen in this provisional copy of the assignment: Final Expository Essay Prompts
Unit 4: Persuasive Writing
We will build on the English 10 study of rhetoric by practicing audience-driven argument. We will focus on style, especially how to shape a tone to fit a prompt. The final essay will feature student choice, as seen in this provisional copy of the assignment: Final Persuasive Essay Prompts
Final Portfolio
The final three or four days of class will be spent compiling the final portfolio and completing a series of reflective and self-analysis prompts. Here is an example: Prompts for Self-Analysis