Charlie C.
Private tutor in Los Angeles, CA
Education
I began my academic career with a BA in Culture and Critical Theory from Burlington College. This degree was a combination of English and philosophy degree which led to a senior thesis on politics and post-war philosophy. After a period of working in publishing, I attended the Vermont College of Fine Arts, where I studied creative writing and received an MFA. An MA in English Literature from Boston College followed, and I am currently a Ph.D. student in English Literature at Tufts University. Within my own work, I focus on 20th-century British fiction and the role that philosophy played in the development of novel form.
Experience
For nearly two decades I have worked on writing in some capacity. As an undergraduate, I worked for the philosophy department which involved giving weekly essay tutorials on clarity of writing and argument. As a graduate student in an MFA program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts, I not only undertook my own intense study of the craft of writing, I also worked as a graduate assistant. In this capacity, I ran small and individual workshops to focus on other student’s writing. While working with students in the MFA program I found that offering advice on the scope of their work was more beneficial than a line by line critique, as they were more advanced and had a better sense of style in general. While in Boston College’s MA program in English Literature I worked for eight semesters in the Connors Family Writing Center. There, I provided feedback and worked alongside both undergraduate and graduate students on any aspect of their writing. This involved both essays for class and thesis, as well as college application essays for students applying to transfer or for graduate school. In my time at Boston College, I found that many students came to the writing center seeking help with simple format and syntactical issues, however through bringing in discussion of structure as well as close analysis of the components of their arguments, they left with a more clear understanding of the essay as a whole and much more empowered to finish it on their own. While earning my Ph.D. at Tufts I have continued working as a tutor in the university writing center. Here my work has focused on fellowship applications and college application essays in particular (both transfer and graduate). This process has involved many hours of remote coaching for students applying in their summer after graduation and is premised on the fast turnaround (normally within one day) of all writing. I have also, at Tufts, begun working with the Medical School admissions committee to craft application cover letters alongside both faculty and students. In this process, students generally arrive with an essay that conforms to one of two types. It is either a narrative of their CV and transcript, or it is a short story about their personal life that has little to do with their aspirations or capacities. My approach has been to combine the two-forms by bringing out the style and voice of the individual through diction and syntax choices, and by picking and choosing examples of the academic work that speak to the specific student’s interests and goals. In a professional capacity, I have worked as a reader for two literary journals (Hunger Mountain and Post Road). This involved judging the quality of both fiction and non-fiction work for publication. I was also on the editorial team at Autonomedia Publishers. At Autonomedia I worked with previously accepted non-fiction manuscripts, editing them alongside their authors for clarity, concision, and clear communication: all factors that make a college essay stand out. All of this experience, as well as what I hope is my clear dedication to the craft of writing, I feel would make me an ideal candidate for the position of college essay coach. I look forward to hearing from you and can be contacted at any point through the above contact information.
Subject Expertise
Expository WritingWritingWorld LiteratureShort NovelSAT Subject Test in LiteratureReadingPhilosophyPersuasive WritingLiteratureLiterary AnalysisGRE Subject Test in Literature in EnglishGrammar and MechanicsFiction Writing10th Grade ReadingEssay EditingEnglishCreative WritingBritish LiteratureAP English Literature and CompositionAP English Language and Composition12th Grade Writing12th Grade Reading11th Grade Writing11th Grade Reading10th Grade Writing
Availability
Any day after 10AM
Can Meet
Up to 30 minutes away for no additional charge
Hobbies
In my free time, I am an avid amateur astronomer. I love to drive out to the desert with my telescope and see what can be found. I am also a gardener and work on a local farm each weekend. Since I spend so much time indoors with my head in a book or focused on a computer during the week, getting outside and focusing on something non-academic has become a really important part of my weekly routine!
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