English Tutoring from a doctoral student and high band 6 achiever (96/100) (1 Viewer)

[WriteWayUp]

10 years of English tutoring experience | 96/100 HSC

- 10 years experience tutoring HSC students
- Currently working towards my doctoral degree in English literature at the University of New South Wales.
- High Band 6: 96/100 for HSC Advanced English
- I regularly post articles on HSC texts online.

As someone who has worked both in private and class-based tuition, I can say with confidence that private tutoring is the best approach to navigating high school/HSC English because you need extensive feedback on your writing, and someone to discuss ideas with. As some of our students have said, group tutoring and seminars are great for people who thrive in loud and fast-paced settings, but not very effective for those of us who need space to think things through.

Essay feedback is critical when it comes to improving your marks in English, and this is really lacking in resource-strained school classrooms. A good tutor should be able to fill that gap. You can see an example of the kind of feedback I aim to give my students here.

Our sessions are designed so that you:
> Develop skills for comprehending and forming ideas about difficult Modernist and Shakespearian texts, as well as poetry.
> Think creatively about those texts to form your own interpretation
> Write about your interpretation with flair and logical precision
> Perform optimally under exam conditions with articulate and cogent essay responses

My experience:
> PhD Candidate in Global Literary Studies. (University of New South Wales)
> Master of English and Creative Writing (University of Sydney)
> 96/100 for HSC Advanced English
> Extensive knowledge of texts in the new English syllabus (2015-2020) from writing coursebooks for leading tuition colleges.
> 8 years of tutoring and coursebook writing at leading tuition colleges (request copies of credentials here)
> Managing tutor teams at tuition colleges as team leader



I have written coursebooks on or previously tutored texts for the new syllabus such as:
Metropolis/1984
Hamlet
King Lear
Othello
Gwen Harwood
The Prince/Julius Caesar
Mrs Dalloway/The Hours
Brave New World
The Crucible
W.H. Auden
T.S. Eliot
The Art of Travel
In the Skin of a Lion
Pride and Prejudice/Letters to Alice
The Tempest
Richard III/Looking for Richard

If your text is not on the list, there is a good chance I have taught it in the past or have read it in my own time. Get in touch with a list of your texts and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

In the event that my timetable is full, I can assign you one of the other tutors on my team. Both of these tutors have achieved high band 6 scores in their HSC Advanced English and Extension English exams. Take a look at their profiles here.

Location
- My study in the Inner-West (the Ashfield/Strathfield/Burwood/Concord area).
- Other locations are available in the Eastern, Western suburbs, and also South Sydney. PM me for details.

Pricing
Send a message to rebecca.z@unsw.edu.au, or PM me for pricing details.
Term fees are paid only after we have had the first session and you are happy to go ahead.

Rebecca

 

[WriteWayUp]

A question from one of my students who is studying Othello: "How do I include textual evidence in an essay argument, i.e. quotes, and how much should I be writing about the quote?"

The question he needed to answer was: "How does Shakespeare use literary techniques to illustrate Othello's emotional landscape in act three, scene three of the play?" This is the quote he chose: “I had rather be a toad living upon the vapour of a dungeon than keep a corner in the thing I love” by Othello in response to Iago's insinuations of Desdemona's affair with Cassio.

Consider this sample paragraph with the quote:
Example: “I had rather be a toad living upon the vapour of a dungeon than keep a corner in the thing I love.” Here Shakespeare presents us with imagery of Othello imagining himself in an abjectly dehumanised state, preferring the body of a toad and the odious confinement of a dungeon, than to endure Desdemona's infidelity. Through such imagery, the despair experienced by Othello as his vulnerable, jealous nature dominates his better judgment, is shown to us.

The sample paragraph uses a 3-step approach:
1. Specific textual reference in the form of a quote -> “I had rather be a toad living upon the
vapour of a dungeon than keep a corner in the thing I love.”
2. Explaining the meaning or effect of the reference -> Here Shakespeare presents us with imagery of Othello imagining himself in an abjectly dehumanised state, preferring the body of a toad and the odious confinement of a dungeon.
3. Connect to the question -> The despair experienced by Othello as his vulnerable, jealous nature dominates his better judgment, is shown to us.

Markers like to see that you have connected the quote back to the question - that is, you have articulated what it is the quote shows you about the key theme in the question. In this case, the quote shows us an element of Othello's emotional landscape (despair), and the writer has provided additional insight: that this despair is a product of his vulnerable and jealous nature. A good response connects the evidence back to the question, a great response does that and offers additional insight that is relevant to the key theme of the question.

 

[eyeseeyou]

Re: English Tutoring | High band 6 achiever | 8+ years of teaching experience | PhD

Private tutoring is the best approach to improving English because you need extensive feedback on your writing, and someone to discuss ideas with. Neither of those things are done well in group tutoring or seminars.

I would agree 100%. That's something english group tutors need to realise

 

[WriteWayUp]

Re: English Tutoring | High band 6 achiever | 8+ years of teaching experience | PhD

My website is now live. Due to forum restrictions, I can't post the link here. PM me or email me at rebecca.z@unsw.edu.au for the link.
On it you'll find my profile, and some summaries and analyses of Hamlet, Othello, 1984, The Art of Travel, and guides to analysing related texts and poetry.
Plenty more material to come. PM or post here if you have an ideas for articles.

 

[andy4555]

Re: English Tutoring | High band 6 achiever | 8+ years of teaching experience | PhD

Hi Rebecca,

I need help in English Standard essay and imaginative story writing, so if i send you my draft essay , you can give me your feed back/suggestions on how to improve it to get good marks and charge for your time.

Pl. advice if you can help me. Thanks Andy

 

[WriteWayUp]

Sure, Andy. I'll see what I can do. Just send your draft over to rebecca@sleightofpen.com.

 

[aycaramba]

Her response to my question was super helpful i.e. "The technique would be an enumeration of states of being. The effect is that we see the process through which the speaker re-frames her perspective of her alienation ('abandonment') into a state in which she transcends the herd ('special')." is clear, concise and understandable so I highly recommend going to her tutoring place

P.S. Her web portal http://sleightofpen.com/ has a detailed guide to analysing poems and many more!

 

[WriteWayUp]

I've had several messages from students who can't travel to the inner-west, so I think it's high time for an online tutoring option.

The online option involves:
1. Extensive analysis and detailed feedback on written assignments each week over email
2. Fortnightly phone or Skype conversations to discuss your work and progress
3. Ongoing email support for any English-related questions that arise

We can also mix and match options -PM me an outline of your situation and we can find a model that works for you.

See my web portal, or PM me for pricing details.

 

[Superstar1]

Do you travel to the Blue Mountains

 

[WriteWayUp]

Superstar1,

Possibly, if we are only having monthly sessions.
The online option will be better if you're looking for more regular contact. More information on that here: https://sleightofpen.com/private-english-maths-tutoring-sydney/

 

[WriteWayUp]

For those of you looking for more ideas on Mod C, People & Landscape : here's a quick analysis of themes and techniques of On Travelling Places from Alain de Botton's The Art of Travel : https://sleightofpen.com/2016/05/15/the-art-of-travel-hsc-analysis-thinking-in-transit/

 

[eyeseeyou]

Free bump for rebecca

Come to her and you won't be disappointed at all

 

[WriteWayUp]

Some film ideas as related texts for Area of Study Discovery. https://sleightofpen.com/2016/05/19/films-about-discovery-for-hsc-related-texts/
It just occurred to me that J.M. Coetzee's novel 'Disgrace' would be a good related text also, for those of you assigned with a poetic, visual, or cinematic prescribed text. Will probably put up a post about the novel later.

 

[eyeseeyou]

Rebecca has helped a lot of us out on the English forums/threads. She will make an amazing tutor due to her credentials and dedication. Wish you all the best in attracting students Rebecca (btw thanks for helping me in the english threads a while ago. I forgot to mention this earlier)

 

[WriteWayUp]

I'm glad you found the posts helpful! Feel free to PM me if you have questions that I haven't covered on the website or in the forum.

 

[eyeseeyou]

Rebecca, have you considered doing small group tutoring of 6 (max) and segregate students according to the texts they are studying at school (or do school based classes)? This might be beneficial to you as you can boost income and make the fees more affordable for students (I'm prety sure there are more benefits than that). The only downside is that you have more work to do (i.e. essay marking) but it's best to impose a weekly limit to much work students submit (e.g. 3 essays per week) however when it comes to pre HSC/trial period, you will be flodded with essays and such so tell your students to start doing them early so then when the exams come, you will have less work (and less stress) to do

Just a suggestion to benefit you Rebecca

 

[WriteWayUp]

Thanks, eyeseeyou. Group tutoring would definitely help extend the service to more students, but even if you have a group of students doing the same texts, their skill levels will differ too much, and basically you'll get a similar result to regular classroom tutoring. At Y11 and HSC level, the texts are difficult, and the writing standards are high, so it's really important that students use extra-curricular tutoring to find the help they need to meet those standards, rather than immerse themselves in another group learning environment where neither pacing nor content match their level.

 

[eyeseeyou]

Thanks, eyeseeyou. Group tutoring would definitely help extend the service to more students, but even if you have a group of students doing the same texts, their skill levels will differ too much, and basically you'll get a similar result to regular classroom tutoring. At Y11 and HSC level, the texts are difficult, and the writing standards are high, so it's really important that students use extra-curricular tutoring to find the help they need to meet those standards, rather than immerse themselves in another group learning environment where neither pacing nor content match their level.

Well if you have it in a group of 6 then it's not too bad I guess, I mean there's still room for individual attention. If you do run group tutoring, try to focus more on the weaker students, try to dedicate a day (any day) of the week to having a free one to one session with the struggling students and hopefully that'll improve them (and go through briefly in a half an hour to one our session) on what they need to improve on, what they did wrong, etc, etc or you can go through it with them via email. Also try to send a weekly report card with detailed feedback to your students so then they can pinpoint their weaknesses and know where to improve

Also try to mark in the way that schools mark. Schools have a way of marking english so try to mark in their way (this can be done by asking students for sample work marked by their school). The thing is this should be done only for school assessments and when it comes to the HSC, try to mark in the way HSC markers do rather than how schools mark

Another suggestion is that from your website, I saw that you offer essay marking for everyone (non students) and you charge $20 per piece and $80 for 4 pieces and help via email. Another suggestion is that why don't you try and provide a service where you provide a unimted marking service all for a higher price (e.g. weekly unlimited essay marking all for $150 but if you use this on a monthly basis then make it $500 per month for an unlimited essay)

 

[wasib123]

Re: English Literature Doctoral Student | 96/100 HSC

i need help coming up with an idea fro creative writing. anything that can help come up with an idea would help. if you have any sample creative responses that would also help in intiating ideas.

 

[WriteWayUp]

Hi Wasib,

Are you in year 12 and doing the Discovery Area of Study? I have an article on visual stimuli and discovery-related creative writing ideas that can come out of them. https://sleightofpen.com/2016/04/28/discovery-creative-writing-ideas/