Award-Winning AP English Literature and Composition Tutors
serving Kennewick, WA

I'm a current PhD student in the history department at Georgetown University who is also an experienced instructor with Varsity Tutors. As a recipient of several degrees, the most recent being a BA in history from Hillsdale College and a MA in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies from Stanford University, I have long sought to make teaching my profession. Meanwhile, as a volunteer grade school teacher and a tutor with this company, I have many years' experience helping students reach their full potential. I am capable of teaching students in many subjects, including reading, mathematics, test prep, Latin, and especially writing, history, and literature. In practice, I am comfortable adapting to different learning styles and specific student preferences. Outside of my academic and career endeavors, I enjoy cooking, reading, and listening to and making music.

AP English Literature asks students to do in a timed essay what Alex has spent years training to do at the doctoral level: construct an argument about a literary text using precise evidence and sophisticated analysis. He digs into the specific skills the exam rewards — reading poetry for structure and figurative language, writing thesis-driven essays under pressure, and choosing the right passage for the open-ended prompt. His PhD research in English means students are learning from someone who lives inside these texts.

Update: I completed a two-month full-time guest teacher assignment teaching World Languages Spanish to high school students (9th-12th) Spanish 1/2/3. By utilizing a student-centered learning approach, cultural competence, and equitable teaching, I support students with pedagogy rooted in inquiry, hypothesis, information gathering, problem-solving, and action. I encourage all students to adopt an open-minded approach, and provide support to gifted students, students with disabilities, English Language Learners, and Multilanguage Learners with equity. "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." James Baldwin I am in my second year of grad school, pursuing a dual master's degree in K-8 Elementary Education and K-12 Special Education (Mild to Moderate Disabilities). With my education grad studies and BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), I synthesize creativity and best practices in education to find creative ways of supporting learners. My pursuit and purpose is to guide with compassion and enthusiasm. I encourage students to take ownership of their learning. By promoting student agency, students empower themselves to achieve in academic, social, emotional, and behavioral development. As an ADHD adult, I enjoy working with ADHD students and adults experiencing anxiety + depression. What is effortful for our neurodivergent brains is also our superpower! In my career, I have lived and worked in NYC as an editorial photographer, actor, and dancer. I lived in Berlin and pursued performance art + music while honing my communications skills in digital art + copywriting in Marketing. In Los Angeles, I succeeded as a commercial and theatrical actor. My skill set is suited for collaboration with all students to support and develop their passion for learning, exploration, and critical thinking. I live in southeastern Washington State and teach in northeastern Oregon and southeastern Washington State public school districts. I support students in the following subjects: Elementary School Reading Elementary School Math AP English High School English Middle School English Middle School Math Digital Media & Graphic Design Fine Arts & Filmmaking Creative Writing Study Skills & Organization German 1/2 Spanish 1/2/3 Spanish Language Arts English Language Learners English Language Development Algebra 1/2 Special Education (all subjects) High School Math "We all have ability. The difference is how we use it." Stevie Wonder Thank you for reading! Ms. Anna C.

AP Lit asks students to do something most haven't practiced: write a polished analytical essay about a poem or prose passage they've never seen before, under time pressure. Antonia digs into the skill behind that — teaching students to identify literary devices like shifts in tone, unreliable narration, and symbolic imagery, then turn those observations into a coherent argument within 40 minutes. Her work founding a dual-language tutoring program sharpened her ability to make complex textual analysis accessible to students at different comfort levels with close reading.

AP Lit asks students to do something most haven't practiced — write analytically about how a poem's structure or a novel's narrative technique creates meaning, not just summarize plot. As a Yale humanities student and avid reader, Tessa digs into the close-reading skills that earn high marks on the poetry free-response and the open-ended essay. She's particularly sharp on teaching students to move from observation ('there's a metaphor here') to argument ('here's what it does and why it matters').

AP Lit essays live or die on how well a student can connect a specific literary device to the text's larger meaning — not just spotting the metaphor, but explaining what it *does*. Kenan's background across literature and analytical writing means he can coach both the close-reading instinct and the timed-essay structure the exam demands, from poetry analysis to the open-ended prompt.

Poetry analysis is where Carla comes alive. Her deep background in English literature means she can teach students to unpack a Dickinson poem's slant rhyme or trace the symbolic architecture of a Toni Morrison novel — exactly the kind of close reading that earns high marks on AP Lit free-response essays. She also coaches students on managing the multiple-choice section's time pressure without sacrificing careful reading.

AP English Lit asks students to do something genuinely difficult: write a persuasive literary argument under timed conditions about a poem or passage they've never seen before. Paula's approach digs into close reading techniques — tracking imagery patterns, shifts in tone, narrative perspective — so that students walk into the exam knowing how to generate an original thesis on the spot. Her background in both Psychology and Communication Studies sharpens the way she unpacks character motivation and authorial intent.

AP Lit demands more than understanding a poem — it requires writing a timed, thesis-driven essay that makes an interpretive argument about how literary techniques create meaning. Jamie's English degree from Birmingham-Southern and law training at Fordham built exactly that skill set: close reading combined with persuasive, evidence-based writing under pressure. Rated 4.9 by students.

AP Lit asks students to do something uncomfortable: defend an interpretation of a poem or passage they've never seen before, in forty minutes, with textual evidence. Cassandra approaches this as an analytical challenge, teaching students to identify literary devices like tone shifts and figurative language and then convert those observations into a coherent argument. Her science background actually sharpens this process — she treats close reading like hypothesis testing.

Close reading is the backbone of AP Lit, and Elena's graduate training in art history taught her to analyze visual and written texts with the same forensic attention to detail. She teaches students to unpack poetic structure, narrative voice, and figurative language in ways that translate directly into high-scoring free-response essays. Her approach treats each passage like an artifact worth investigating, not just a prompt to answer.

AP Lit asks students to do something most haven't practiced: write a persuasive literary argument under time pressure, using textual evidence with precision. Olivia teaches the difference between summarizing a poem or passage and actually analyzing how its language produces meaning — the skill that separates 3s from 5s on the free-response questions. She's particularly strong on poetry analysis, where students tend to freeze up without a clear method for unpacking imagery, tone, and structure.

AP Lit asks students to do something genuinely difficult: read a poem or prose passage cold and produce a polished literary argument in forty minutes. Jean's dual background in history and law sharpened her ability to construct tight, evidence-driven arguments under pressure — exactly the skill this exam rewards. She teaches students to move past plot summary and dig into how literary devices like imagery, tone shifts, and narrative structure create meaning.

AP English Literature demands more than plot summary — it asks students to write about how a poem's enjambment creates tension or how a novel's narrative voice shapes meaning. Cynthia studied Folklore & Mythology at the college level, giving her deep experience with close reading across genres and centuries. She teaches students to build literary arguments that earn high marks on both the multiple-choice and free-response sections.

AP Lit asks students to do something genuinely difficult: read a poem or passage cold and construct a persuasive argument about it in forty minutes. Winston's history degree trained him in exactly this kind of close reading and rapid thesis-building, and he applies those skills to everything from Shakespeare's sonnets to contemporary prose. He tackles the free-response essays as structured arguments, not loose reflections.

AP Lit asks students to do something genuinely difficult: read a poem or passage cold and produce a coherent argument about how its literary devices create meaning — all under time pressure. Bryan's background in close textual analysis from his Dartmouth history and government coursework translates directly to unpacking symbolism, tone shifts, and narrative structure in fiction and poetry. He walks through the free-response rubric so students know exactly what earns top scores.