Tutor profile: Jennifer G.

How is learning how to write as significant to today's society?

As a teacher for the last twelve years, former students tell me how much they appreciate the writing skills they got in high school. With online communication becoming more common than ever, thanks to the pandemic, I can only imagine the need to communicate clearly and effectively a skill that all students will need more than ever. I hope to give students the confidence and the tools they need to feel successful in their writing abilities.

Why is it necessary to read a wide variety of literature from diverse backgrounds?

Reading poetry from 18th century Britain or Toni Morrison's Beloved will ultimately unveil a deeper understanding of the human condition. Whether it's a short story, poem, song, novel, essay etc., a reader is able to connect to a time or place outside his or her own experience and is ultimately made more aware of how each fellow man might encounter obstacles quite differently. Empathy, trust, companionship, and love are qualities that all humans long to obtain, and reading one person's experience can only strengthen the understanding of how each person endures and ultimately accomplishes the goals of one's life.

Why did you choose English as a major in college when the world seems to devalue liberal arts subjects?

Critical reading and writing skills are only developed to a point of proficiency and effectiveness when one values the art of those who have mastered the craft. When I read a play like The Importance of Being Earnest and see Oscar Wilde's ability to engender satirical analysis of the manners of the late Victorian Era through the comedic absurdities that these "manners" of characters possess, I am astonished at how words can be crafted with such effectiveness for one's message. Wilde suffered great consequences from the world that valued the manners he mocked and actually admired in his life, and his works forever frame the conundrums of his time. I truly hope to instill in my students a value of the written word. Majoring in English gives one the opportunity to see language at its height...not only through the works of those who lived hundreds of years ago, but also by modern legends like Jesmyn Ward or Cormac McCarthy. By reading the "greats" an appreciation and understanding of language and communication becomes much easier to desire and ultimately, pursue.