Nov 11, 2021 | College Preparation, Jess Woods
The first secret of literary analysis is that you don’t have to agree with your teacher. Yep, I said it. While some people try to fit literature into tidy boxes, genres, and purposes, my favorite high school English teachers and college professors encouraged...
Feb 11, 2021 | Engaging Education, Jess Woods
If you’ve ever taken a traditional English/literature class, you may have noticed that many of the authors you read (particularly if the class moved in any sort of sequential order) were white males. While there are many wonderful and worthy works of literature...
Nov 6, 2019 | Engaging Education, Jess Woods
Why Teen Authors Should Build a Writing Portfolio Before Self-Publishing The publishing industry is changing, and that is a beautiful thing. Voices are emerging from cultures that have previously been silenced in print. Stories are no longer squelched by industry...
Jun 4, 2019 | Engaging Education, Jess Woods
The Merit of Your Library In some of my high school level classes, I require the use of outside sources during paper composition, and students often seem baffled when I require at least one source to be a book source. They ask, “Can’t we just use the internet? Where...
Nov 26, 2018 | Engaging Education, Jess Woods
Longer Literary Works to Read Before High School Graduation Reading is imperative! Joseph Addison, a 17th century English poet and playwright, said that, “Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” It is a truth that is universal, spanning time and space....