Tutor profile: Carolyn G.

How important is a thesis statement when crafting an essay?

When I was in growing up, every single one of my teachers, from primary school to high school, told me that I could not write an essay without a thesis statement. In college, I pushed back on this idea. I wanted to break away from academic structure and find my own voice. Yet, all these years later, I've discovered that, in fact, my teachers were right. Fundamentally, the thesis of an essay is the theory the essay is aiming to prove. No matter what we are writing, our work needs to say something, to take a stance. While this structure can feel stifling at first, ultimately the rigor required to craft a thesis statement leads to stronger work.

As our cultural understanding of gender evolves, is there still space for gender exclusive spaces?

It's true that our understanding of gender is breaking away from the binary, a once important construct for protecting spaces dedicated to women. Rather than eliminating women's colleges and similar institutions, it's time to redefine what "woman" means.

When we talk about the tone of a film, what do we really mean?

Tone is one of those words that is thrown around a lot in film criticism, but its precise meaning can be difficult to define. Tone can reference everything from dialogue and pacing to lighting and performance.