Award-Winning AP English Language and Composition Tutors
serving Olympia, 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.

Pursuing a PhD in English means Alex has spent years inside the machinery of written argument — not just reading it but producing and defending it at the highest academic level. That depth shows when he teaches AP Lang's free-response essays, particularly the argument prompt, where students need to stake out a nuanced position and support it with evidence that does real analytical work. Rated 5.0 by students.

As a dedicated educator with a PhD in Communication from the University of Washington, I have spent over 10 years as a college instructor and professor of writing, working with students both one-on-one and in the classroom. I have an additional decade of experience as an award-winning journalist and editor. I specialize in helping students develop writing and language skills, as well as reading comprehension. I enjoy getting to know students and providing them with the tools they need to gain confidence as writers and scholars. My teaching philosophy centers on meeting students where they are, helping them discover joy in their academic work, and tailoring my instruction to meet their individual needs. I am enthusiastic about guiding students to achieve their academic goals, and I find joy in witnessing their growth and confidence in their abilities. In my spare time, I enjoy building my Spanish language skills, exploring new writing techniques, and writing and publishing content about blues music.

Medical anthropology trains you to read dense, argument-driven texts and extract how authors position evidence to support a claim — which is exactly what the AP Lang exam's multiple-choice and rhetorical analysis sections test. Katie applies that analytical rigor to teaching students how to unpack an author's strategic choices in nonfiction prose and then replicate those moves in their own timed essays. Rated 5.0 by students.

AP Lang is fundamentally about argument — identifying how writers use rhetorical strategies and then deploying those same strategies in timed essays. Luke's English degree and graduate-level training in textual analysis mean he can break down how ethos, logos, and pathos function in real passages, from political speeches to scientific editorials. He also walks students through the synthesis, rhetorical analysis, and argument essays with clear structural frameworks that hold up under exam pressure.

Rhetorical analysis is the backbone of AP Lang, and it trips students up because they confuse identifying a device with explaining how it functions in context. Stephanie approaches each passage as an argument to dissect — examining how authors deploy ethos, strategic concessions, and syntactic choices to persuade specific audiences. Her experience writing and editing at the college level at Princeton keeps her feedback concrete and actionable.

Years of writing, directing, and performing theater in New York City taught Harry how to construct an argument that lands with a live audience — a skill that translates directly to AP Lang's argument and synthesis essays, where every structural choice needs to serve a persuasive purpose. His Northwestern communications training sharpens his approach to nonfiction prose analysis, particularly when it comes to unpacking how authors calibrate tone and audience awareness to make a case.

Rhetorical analysis is the backbone of AP Lang, and Rebecca teaches students to dissect an author's argument by identifying specific moves — appeals, concessions, shifts in tone — rather than summarizing content. Her experience at Notre Dame's Writing Center, where she coached both undergraduates and graduate students through argumentative writing, translates directly into the synthesis and argument essays the exam requires.

Rhetorical analysis is the backbone of AP Lang, and most students struggle not with identifying devices but with explaining *why* an author's choices matter for a specific audience. Jake unpacks arguments piece by piece — ethos appeals in an opening anecdote, strategic concessions in a counterargument — and teaches students to write analysis that goes beyond labeling techniques. His background in marketing gives him a practical lens on persuasion that translates directly to the exam.

The AP Lang exam lives at the intersection of rhetoric and writing — two things Maddy has been immersed in since college, where she studied American literature and wrote an honors thesis analyzing cultural criticism. She digs into how authors use tone, diction, and structural choices to persuade, then teaches students to replicate those moves in their own synthesis and argument essays.

Scoring well on AP Lang means recognizing how writers construct arguments — the difference between an anecdote used as evidence and one used as an emotional hook, or why a concession strengthens rather than weakens a claim. Kirstie unpacks rhetorical strategies like ethos, logos, and kairos through real op-eds and speeches, then applies that same analytical lens to students' own argumentative writing. Her 1550 SAT reflects the kind of reading and writing precision this exam demands.

Rhetoric is everywhere, and AP Lang is the class that finally makes students see it — in speeches, editorials, even advertisements. Jack's dual background in theatre and economics means he can unpack both the emotional persuasion of a Kennedy address and the logical structure of an economic policy argument. He zeroes in on building the synthesis and argument essays, where students often struggle to integrate sources without losing their own voice.

A PhD candidate in Comparative Human Development at the University of Chicago, Gabriel reads nonfiction through an interdisciplinary lens — tracking how authors frame evidence, shift registers, and position themselves relative to competing claims. That training in analyzing how arguments actually function across disciplines translates directly to the AP Lang exam's synthesis and rhetorical analysis essays, where students need to explain an author's strategic choices rather than just paraphrase content. Rated 5.0 by students.

The AP Lang exam is fundamentally about rhetoric — understanding how writers persuade and then doing it yourself. Sarah's training in expository and persuasive writing, sharpened across three degrees and work as a college writing tutor, translates directly into teaching students to analyze rhetorical strategies in the multiple-choice section and craft tight, evidence-rich synthesis and argument essays.

A published novelist with a Penn M.S. in Education and a B.A. in English from the University of Washington, Christian has spent years inside the mechanics of persuasive prose — not just reading it, but constructing it from scratch. That dual perspective sharpens his AP Lang teaching, especially when it comes to the argument essay, where he coaches students to treat their own writing the way an author revises a manuscript: tightening claims, cutting weak evidence, and making every sentence earn its place.