Thoughts on teaching A-level and IB Literature (SOTA/ACS/SJI)

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For A-level Literature, I have just completed teaching ‘The Woman Warrior’ and ‘Waterland’.  What an exhilarating journey for all. Kingston is a genius – so is Graham Swift – both works depict extravagance and necessity.

I love abstract stuff – the more abstract the concepts, the more I find it easier to understand and the more I love imparting them to my students. I have decided for all practical purposes and intents to focus on my students’ writing this time round, working out with them closely the answers and helping them to perfect their writing, or at least, come close to it. Discussing the book is always fun, full of drama – you can say it is almost a performance but the writing part is tedious but the key to doing well. I have devised a way to help them. It entails a lot of work on my part but it is worth it because it produces results!

When I was doing “Chinaman” in NUS, I was pretty affected by the text. I find it a lot more impactful. I shed tears reading of the men strapped precariously on the treacherous slope of the mountains. I learn so much about the past from Literature, in fact as much as from history texts. Maybe that is also another reason for my love for Literature because I am a History buff!

In addition to all my JC Lit students,  I am now teaching ‘Brodeck’s Report to a SOTA student. ‘Brodeck’s Report’ is a gem of a book but without any scholarships on it, at least not in English. So I have to find theories with which I could map the book on, to provide a framework for me to analyse the book. I learnt this during my time doing my Masters in Literary Studies in NUS. Now I am imparting this skill to my students. Sometimes I wonder if I am responsible for all my students going on to do H2 Lit and then majoring in Lit in the university! 🙂 I have a boy from ACSI who has set his sight on Medicine when he first started attending sessions with me and then two months ago, he told me he love the English Language and Literature so much, he is thinking of switching to Law. I told him to stick to medicine and be a playwright on the side. My daughter is in Medicine and writes plays. See one can have the best of both worlds!

I like it when I find my students becoming expressive and articulate with me. I just love listening to their stories. I learn as much from them as they from me. A symbiotic interaction is what my sessions are. Every session a fun-learning one in which my students move ever closer to their goals

Enjoying Shakespeare’s plays and doing well in them

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SHAKESPEARE

Shakespeare remains widely read and rightly so – Nanyang Girls, Dunman High, ACS I and Temasek Junior College are among some of the IP institutions doing his plays. Note reinforcements, passage-based question practices and essay-writing are part of  the sessions. We help you with your IOC, your group presentation and the extended essays on his plays. Call 98761777. We have proven results and references.

We also provide tuition for JC students doing Twelfth Night and Othello. Call us now and start having fun with Shakespeare and most importantly doing well for his plays!

All in all, close to 30 plays are covered – probably the most extensive help given for students studying his plays in schools.

Customised tuition for IP students in LA & Integrated Humanities – genuinely beneficial for students who truly want to flourish in their IP

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graduation hatThe advantages of IP Lang Arts & Humanities sessions with me are as follows:

  • individual attention: as the groups are small – not more than 4, I am able to give personal attention to each student.
  • texts used in schools are covered. This is probably the only place where whatever texts the student used in schools will be covered in the session. If I am unable to help you with the text because I have not read it or taught it before, I will not take you in.
  • customised sessions that are targeted at the school syllabus. No extra charge if parents want to include a more general component related to Lang Arts.
  • numerous case studies, examples and relevant up-to-date cases are provided. Techniques to answer essays and source-based questions are imparted and I will role-model to show them how it is done. 
  • help for school homework and projects – these are important components of the IP which engages in continual assessment.
  • no upfront payment of fees
  • no charge if you do not turn up; you pay only for the sessions you attend.

The sessions are fun and productive – they benefit the students and help them do well. Our sessions are result-oriented and we assure parents that their children will enjoy the lessons!

So sign up for the sessions now and say good bye to spending hours and tearing your hair out trying to figure out how to answer that question or start the project. Stop being frustrated with skimpy Powerpoint slides that do not have sufficient details to help you construct a proper essay. Stop being in a daze because your Humanities teacher zooms from one topic to another! I am here to help you!