Portfolio Requirements (for Grade 8 applicants)

Prepare a digital portfolio, including:

1. A 250-word student-written autobiography 

2. Your best piece of writing (maximum 1500 words)

3. A reflection on why this piece is in your opinion your best piece of writing.  (500 words maximum)

4. Submit all of the above by January 10th, 2025 by 3:00 PM to arts.canterbury@ocdsb.ca submitted all in ONE  Google Doc. 

Narrative: Students will examine and practice the effective use of the fundamental elements of story telling, including developing conflict, managing plot, structuring events, developing characters, establishing setting, showing theme and using tone, irony and symbolism.  They will try their hand at specific forms and types of narrative, such as the post card story, the stream of consciousness story, a story within a story, the realistic story and the fantasy story

Poetry: Students will practice the effective use of the fundamental elements of poetry, including diction, image, metaphor and other poetic devices, rhythm and sound.  They will also explore and practice a wide range of forms (e.g. ballad, sonnet, ghazal, renga and palindrome), tones (e.g. direct, lyrical, ironic and didactic) and structures (e.g. list, contrast and letter)

Non-fiction: Students will practice the effective use of the fundamental elements of non-fiction, including the wording of a thesis, the methods of developing an argument and the rhetorical considerations related to word choice and sentence structure.  They will explore and practice a wide range of non-fiction forms specific to academic writing (e.g. the review and the research essay) and journalism (e.g. the article and the profile).  They will also have many opportunities to write creative non-fiction.

Script Writing: Students will examine and practice the fundamental elements of script writing, including the handling of plot, character, conflict, setting, dialogue and time.  They will explore and practice a range of structures (e.g. circular and linear) and forms (e.g. radio play, skit, stage play, film, collective, and documentary).  They will also focus on issues particular to script writing, including accepted play script format, visualization and scene.

* * *

Respecting each student’s individual aptitudes, interests and personal academic and artistic goals, the Literary Arts program seeks to strengthen the student’s creative abilities and to develop a confident, creative, independent and highly-skilled writer’s voice.

Through reading international, Canadian, classic and modern literature and through the detailed examination of models, students will develop an understanding of the fundamental elements and traditions of each type of writing.

Literary Arts students will do as much writing as possible. In their writing, students will explore and practice specific forms, techniques, structures, styles, purposes and tones. As students progress from grade nine to grade twelve, their writing will become more technically skilled, complex and inventive in style and content.

• Editing and working with drafts

• Sharing writing with peers

• “Workshopping” works in progress

• Working with visiting guest writers

• Attending readings, writers’ festivals and writing workshops

• Attending plays, museums, concerts and other cultural outings 

• Collaborating with students in others arts areas

• Submitting writing to contests and literary magazines

• Reading work at Literary Arts coffee houses

• Performing in a Literary Arts Soiree (grade 12)

*Attendance is an important part of the Literary Arts program. Students are expected to attend all classes, field trips, readings and workshops.