Experience Summary
I have a B.A. in English and History from Marquette University in Miwaukee, Wisconsin. I believe in studying those subjects which are of greatest interest to me, and I have always had a strong passion for literature as an expression of who we are in this world and who we want to be. Literature is the exploration of our human condition, and I have always wanted to learn more about how those before us experienced their world.
I was fortunate enough to spend my junior year abroad studying Medieval and Renaissance literature at Oxford University in England. While I attended a school that served the credit needs of American studying abroad, I still expereinced a very unique and special educational system. I learned to write at Oxford with anywhere from three to four 10-page papers due each week! It was the most amazing time becuase any work of literature I was reading meant that I could visit the place it happened and really get a feel for what the author may have wanted to express. Tintagel, on the Cornish coast of southern England was my most favorite place to experience!
I earned my Masters Degree in English and American Literature from the University of California San Diego, one of only a hand full of actually Literature focused degree programs in the U.S. Here I studied in a unique tutorial and small seminar environment. I wrote my thesis on the role of women in the 19C novels of Thomas Hardy and George Eliot. I truly enjoyed my time on this campus which encouraged independent thinking and innovative interpretion of texts both old and new. Diversity and inclussiveness are hallmarks of the UC system and I am proud to say that I keep broadening my horizons by reading as much new literature and research as I can.
Teaching Style
I am very comfortable working with both indivduals and groups of students. I want to know what my students are thinking and feeling, so I very much prefer a seminar style of instuction. Depending on the subject - be it composition or literature - I break up the time we have into workshops, allowing us to focus on issues or topics of interest or greatest need to the students. If the coursework is grammar or composition, I also encourage a lot of hands-on writing and boardwork when possible. I feel students learn best when they try to express themselves and are then open to honest critical review. I believe that students should get opportunities to review and revise their work as well, presenting only their best efforts at the end.
My Hobbies
Travel and reading are two of my favorite things! I have been fortunate to have traveled extensively. Most recently I went to Australia and New Zealand to visit my daughter who was interning in Sydney, Australia. What amazing countries and both so beautiful as well. A few years back I visited Portugal and traveled down through Spain to Tangiers in Morocco. Shortly afterwards I flew home to the US meaning that I had been on three continents in 3 days! I also cycle quite a bit and enjoy the solitude of being out on my bike in the amazing Kentucky countryside. I would like to learn to knit and play the piano, both which I rejected when I was younger, now I really really want to learn!
Other Comments
Each of us has it within us to become whatever it is we really want to be...it would be my pleasure to help you reach that goal.
| Composition |
 This is one of my top subjects!
Proficiency: Expert
|
| Masters Degree in English. Experienced college level instructor. Extensive hands-on classroom instuction with first year college students, would be suitable for junior and senior high school instruction as well. |
| English |
Proficiency: Experienced
|
| Masters Degree in English. Experienced college level instructor specifically in grammar and composition. Extensive hands-on classroom instuction with first year college students, would be suitable for junior and senior high school instruction as well. I have also worked with ESL students at both the high school and junior college level. |
| Grammar |
Proficiency: Experienced
|
| Masters Degree in English. Experienced college level instructor specifically in grammar. Extensive hands-on classroom instuction with first year college students, would be suitable for junior and senior high school instruction as well. I have also worked with ESL students at both the high school and junior college level. |
| Literature |
This is one of my top subjects!
Proficiency: Expert
|
| Masters Degree in English and American Literature from the University of California, San Diego. MA thesis concentrated on themes found in Victorian novels. While an undergrad, I studied at Oxford University in England where I focused on Medieval and Renaissance texts. Years later, I was able to do post graduate coursework in 17C literature and the Romantics at Harvard University Extentsion. Extremely well read in a broad range of literature but primarily focused on Western Literatures. Extensive hands-on classroom instuction with first year college students, would be suitable for junior and senior high school instruction as well. |
| Shakespeare |
This is one of my top subjects!
Proficiency: Expert
|
| Masters Degree in English and American Literature from the University of California, San Diego. Studied Shakespeare at both the undergrad and graduate level. While an undergrad, studied at Oxford University in England focuing on Medieval and Renaissance texts, and read a number of his plays. Also attended a production of The Tempest by the RSC. In addition, one of my four portfolio papers for the MA was a comparative analysis of the role of the forest in Shakespeare's As You Like It, a theme which evolves in meaning over the years of the play's popularity and production. Extensive hands-on classroom instuction with first year college students, would be suitable for junior and senior high school instruction as well. |
| Writing |
Proficiency: Experienced
|
| Masters Degree in English. Experienced college level instructor. Extensive hands-on classroom instuction with first year college students, would be suitable for junior and senior high school instruction as well. |