Through a variety of writing projects, students will use inferential and critical skills in the process of composing documented essays. Extensive reading materials serve as structural models and as the bases for discussion and for the writing of essays involving response, analysis, and synthesis. Writing will be understood as being both high- and low-stakes in nature. Low-stakes, or informal writing assignments, are designed to provide the fledgling writer with the time and space needed to work through a given task. Students will have the opportunity to get acquainted with what may prove to be some complicated and complex ideas. High-stakes writing consists of larger assignments, and will evolve and grow through collaboration and conferences, which support the multiple drafts that writers produce. High-stakes writing will utilize the writing process to generate final drafts of papers that are worth significantly more points than low-stakes writing assignments