The Middlesex Writer's Workshop
The clear and concise expression of abstract ideas in writing is one of the most critical elements of intellectual development. It is also one of the most challenging; thus, we focus carefully on developing students into confident writers with exceptional command of the craft. Our students achieve this excellence largely through a writing program centered on the Sophomore Writing Workshop, a weekly seminar aimed at mastery of expository writing.
Through weekly writing assignments, interactive plenary sessions, and one-on-one feedback, our students learn how to compose carefully constructed paragraphs that form the basis of eloquent, organized essays. With emphasis on skills such as abstraction, argument, purposeful punctuation, and accurate diction, we provide students with the necessary tools to transfer complex ideas from mind to paper. We introduce these skills with our freshmen, reinforce them most rigorously with our sophomores, and capitalize on them as we move through the junior and senior years.
It is our fundamental belief that each student can learn to write in a clear and fluid style well suited to the nature of his or her own mind. The writing program ensures that our students acquire a strong foundation in writing that they will rely on (and profit from) at Middlesex and beyond.
