Private English Tutor · Manhattan & Zoom
As a Harvard-trained scholar and writer, I bring expertise in literature, writing, and the humanities to middle school, high school, and college students. I help them excel in their English classes and, for those ready for more, design a course of study that reaches well beyond the syllabus.
Two ways to work together
Some students come to me to make class easier. Others come for a depth of study their school does not offer. Many do both.
Alongside the classroom
I work within the curriculum your child’s school provides, from assigned texts to papers and exams. Through careful conversation about each reading and draft, students learn to sharpen their own thinking and writing, so that class becomes easier and their work more assured.
Beyond the classroom
For families seeking a more rigorous and sophisticated education, I design a bespoke course of study around the student’s interests and ambitions. Together we read major works of literature and thought closely, discuss them seriously and write about them with ambition.
What we study
Close reading and analysis of novels, poetry and drama, and essays that move past summary to an original argument about the text.
From the first reading to the final draft, students learn to build arguments that hold up and to write prose that reads with authority.
With a writer’s eye for story, I help students discover what is distinctly theirs to say and shape it into personal statements, Common App essays and supplements written in their own voice.
Verbal Reasoning, Reading Comprehension and the Essay, for middle school students applying to independent schools.
Clean sentences, strong paragraphs and confident, polished prose, with line-level feedback students can apply on their own.
Who I work with
Reading comprehension, grammar and essay foundations, and ISEE English prep for Verbal Reasoning, Reading Comprehension and the Essay.
English class, literary analysis, AP and IB English essays, research papers and college essays, with clear feedback week to week.
English and writing-intensive courses, seminar papers and senior theses, from a scholar who wrote two undergraduate theses of her own.
My approach
Before a student can produce a compelling essay, they need to understand what they want to say, why it matters, and how to guide a reader toward that understanding. My tutoring begins not with templates but with conversation. Together we ask questions, examine assumptions and discover the ideas worth developing.
From there, we work on the craft of expressing those ideas. Whether a student is analyzing a novel, constructing a research argument, or writing a personal essay, I emphasize the relationship between structure, evidence and style.
“I want students to leave our sessions able to think for themselves, communicate clearly, and approach unfamiliar ideas with curiosity rather than apprehension.”
About
I am drawn to two sides of writing, the argument that holds and the story that lingers with a reader. As a scholar and a writer, I have found that both demand clear thinking, precise language and the ability to make a familiar idea feel new.
That interest took shape at the University of Georgia, where I studied English and Classics, finishing both degrees in three years with a 4.0 GPA. Along the way I wrote two undergraduate theses as a CURO Research Scholar, and as president of the Philosophy Student Association, I learned how much an argument improves when it has to survive a lively debate.
It led me next to Harvard, where I earned my Master of Theological Studies in Philosophy, Theology, and Religious Thought with a 3.98 GPA. There I received the Dean’s Scholar Prize for my work in a Harvard Law School seminar, and I kept writing fiction in competitive workshops taught by acclaimed authors.
Teaching grew naturally from this work. I trained in pedagogy and taught an undergraduate honors seminar at UGA, did editorial work at the University of Georgia Press, studied children’s education at Harvard with the producers of Sesame Street, and tutored younger students through Horizons Savannah. Today I bring that same blend of rigor and patience to each student I teach.
Honors & distinctions
Get in touch
Tell me about the student, the subject and your goals, and I’ll be in touch to find a time to talk. Each student’s needs are different, so rates are set individually.
In person in Manhattan, at a location that works for your family, or on Zoom with shared documents for real-time feedback.
