The ERW class is a rigorous high school English course that guides ninth graders through two interconnected units (literary analysis and nonfiction/argumentative writing) building the depth of textual analysis, structured essay writing, and grammar precision essential for high school and standardized testing success. 

Each unit corresponds with a writing focus essential for academic rigor. Students move beyond foundational reading into sustained literary and rhetorical analysis, learning to construct formal, evidence-based essays with clarity and precision. 

Literary novel & poetry unit:
Students complete in-depth studies of two core novels, each paired with a set of thematically linked poems, examining character development, theme, symbolism, and historical/social context. Students learn to write TEA (Topic/Transition, Evidence, Analysis)-structured essays, placing each novel in conversation with its poetry pairing to build sophisticated comparative analysis skills.

Nonfiction & Argumentative unit:
Students learn to form research questions, evaluate credible sources, and build evidence-based arguments using CER (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning)-structured writing, drawing on professional journalism and archival primary sources, including:

• journalism & analysis: The New York Times, The Atlantic, Smithsonian Magazine, HISTORY, National Geographic

• primary source archives: Library of Congress, National Archives, Smithsonian Digital Collections

• historical/academic research (.gov, .org, .edu): National Archives, Library of Congress, Stanford's Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute, the National Civil Rights Museum

Weekly grammar:
Students build the specific grammar and language conventions tested on the PSAT/SAT, such as sentence structure, punctuation, agreement, transitions, and concision, through intensive weekly practice aligned to College Board's Standard English Conventions and Expression of Ideas domains.