Tutor profile: Claire D.

What is "good" writing, and how does it differ from "bad" writing? Is there one answer, or a right answer? How can you tell the difference between good and bad writing?

Though opinions are subjective, and therefore any number of answers would apply, good writing is writing that moves or informs its reader and uses language to cleverly create an image for its reader. Bad writing is simplistic without purpose - simple or plain writing can be effective, when the moment calls for it - or fails to move or inspire its reader.

The title character in Jane Eyre is often regarded as one of the most fully-realized fictional women of her time. What qualities commend her as such?

Jane is a woman of strong conviction, spiritually and morally: upon learning that her fiancé is already married, she ends the engagement and refuses to allow him to commit bigamy, which she considers a sin. Jane will not allow her employer to intimidate her nor let her tragic childhood hinder her spirit. She is not embittered by the loss and abuse she experienced as a child, but rather allowed those experiences to shape her into a person who wants to embody goodness and truth in the world.

Film and theater are artistic media that rely on visual engagement as much as emotional connection. What films or theatrical productions have visuals and stories that are engaging to you, as a viewer?

For films, Hugo had beautiful technology (director Martin Scorsese used cutting-edge 3D technology at the time to create a fully realized vision of a 1930s Parisian train station) and an engaging story that is equal parts children's adventure, historical drama, and mystery. For theater, I found Hadestown, a recent Best Musical winner, to engage me emotionally with its story (a tragic Greek mythology retelling) as well as its set (a post-apocalyptic jazz venue with a turntable to indicate movement).