Neh: Edsit Ement: Introducing the Essay: Twain, Douglass and American Non Fiction

This lesson plan serves as an introduction to American literary non-fiction writing and focuses primarily on teaching some basic approaches to recognizing rhetorical strategies adopted for persuasive effect in essays and non-fiction. The lesson plan concludes with some suggestions for essay topics and websites that provide guidance in writing essays. Students are encouraged to write an essay using the strategies learned in this lesson or critique a well-known essay based on their new knowledge of rhetorical strategies.