Crafting the Essay
- Grades 7-11
- CTY-Level
-
Residential
- Language Arts
This immersive and collaborative course will introduce you to great essayists including Annie Dillard, Charles Simic, and Richard Rodriguez, and help you find your own distinctive narrative voice. You and your classmates will read, analyze, and discuss works of creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry, and then experiment with tone and mood, imagery, prose, and a variety of structures and narrative devices while learning how to effectively use figurative language to create your own moving and engaging personal stories. Through daily readings, informal writing assignments, editing workshops, and major writing projects, you will gain an understanding of the patterns and techniques of successful authors, and develop your own strengths as a writer. You will leave the course with strong critical reading and writing skills that you will continue to use through high school, college, and beyond.
Typical Class Size: 16-18
This course is
ungraded.
Summer Dates & Locations
After May 2, 2025, registration is available upon request pending eligibility and seat availability. To request placement, email [email protected] after submitting a program application.
Session One
Session Two
Testing and Prerequisites
| Math | Verbal | |
|---|---|---|
| Required Level | Not required | CTY-Level |
Students must achieve qualifying scores on an advanced assessment to be eligible for CTY programs. If you don’t have qualifying scores, you have several different testing options. We’ll help you find the right option for your situation.
Sign up for Testing Learn MoreCost and Financial Aid
Tuition
- Varies
Application fee
- Nonrefundable Application Fee - $55 (Waived for financial aid applicants)
- Nonrefundable International Fee - $250 (outside US only)
We have concluded our financial aid application review process for 2025 On-Campus Programs. We encourage those who may need assistance in the future to apply for aid as early as possible. We are committed to serving all talented youth regardless of financial circumstances. Financial assistance is available based on need.
Course Materials
Students should bring basic school supplies like pens, notebooks, and folders to their summer program. You will be notified of any additional items needed before the course begins. All other materials will be provided by CTY.
Sample Reading
These titles have been featured in past sessions of the course, and may be included this summer. CTY provides students with all texts; no purchase is required.
- Back to the Lake: A Reader for Writers, Thomas Cooley
Technical Requirements
Students must bring a tablet with a keyboard, laptop computer, or Chromebook for use during the session. A smartphone will not be sufficient.
About Language Arts at CTY
Explore storytelling
Want to have fun reading popular stories and writing your own tales of adventure? Pen your hero's journey and explore a diverse range of books in Behind the Mask: Superheroes Revealed, or have fun shaping your prose and experimenting with different formats and styles in Fiction and Poetry.
Find your voice
Take your writing to the next level! In Writing and Imagination, you can build your vocabulary and gain the tools to write your own creative fiction. You'll learn to craft compelling narratives about your own experiences in Crafting the Essay, and have fun learning new literary devices and figurative language in Writing Your World.
Meet our instructors and staff
When I was a student at CTY, I was excited to be in a place where all of the instructors and program assistants loved learning as much as I did. It wasn't until I came back as a PA that I realized CTY instructors feel just as excited to work with such dedicated and curious students.
Nick Smith
Program Assistant and CTY Alum
The students are so bright, interesting, and often willing to try some of the most silly and unique activities that the RAs create.
Rebecca Somer
Resident Assistant
Being in a fast-paced environment where I can be my dorky self and teach and learn from the students I work with, are a couple of reasons why I am drawn to CTY and keep coming back.
Angel Huerta
Resident Assistant