Tutor profile: Maria S.

What can you teach about writing?

I am a Creative Writing major right now, and I've been writing ever since I can remember. I have a strong grasp of spelling and grammar, sentence structure, and the formats of essays, stories, and even formal emails. I can teach people how to improve the content and arguments of their essays, strengthen stories (fiction or nonfiction), and even things like bibliographies or how to cite sources. I can also proofread or edit work.

What can you teach about literature?

My expertise in literature pertains mostly to older texts, from the Iliad to the Inferno to Shakespeare, though I can also walk students through Hemingway or Wilde. I can readily discuss symbolism and rhetorical devices, characters, plot, the historical background and significance of the text, and the authors themselves. I often like to make my lessons stories themselves, since it's been shown that humans best learn through stories.

How do you communicate with others?

Every situation requires a different way of communicating. Overall, it is important to be clear, precise, and concise in making a point. However, making a persuasive speech to an audience, or giving a presentation to a class is vastly different from communicating an individual problem. Finding the right language to express yourself can build the confidence needed for any situation. For example: in a speech, one gives strong arguments bolstered by facts to convince an audience, whereas in individual situations, the use of 'I feel' statements often lets others listen without feeling accused.