Adam

I have degrees from Southampton (BA English) and Oxford University (MSt English 1660-1830), and in 2020 was awarded a DPhil from Oxford in English Literature. Since completing my doctorate, I've continued to work and teach as an academic at the University of St Andrews and Leeds, and will shortly be joining Durham University as an early career fellow, working on a project on natural resource extraction in Romantic-period poetry (recently featured on the Leverhulme Trust website).

As a private tutor, I specialise in English literature, and on research and essay-writing skills. I'm an active researcher and have published my work in a variety of formats, from Wikipedia (search 'Miscellany') to published books, such as Romantic Environmental Sensibility: Nature, Class, and Empire (2022) and Animal Theologians (2023). I've worked across a variety of disciplines (literature, history, philosophy, theology) and so am well prepared to help students develop their academic writing - whatever the subject area.

I'm a friendly and dedicated tutor. I've been working as a tutor for several years now. I began during my A-Level studies tutoring GCSE English, mathematics, and science. After I arrived in Oxford, I began to tutor on a part-time basis and specialise in assisting humanities students with study skills and essay-writing help. To date I have worked with students studying for degrees in Hospitality, Marketing, Business Leadership, History, Theatre Studies, Film Aesthetics, as well as English Literature.

Tutoring Experience

Literature and Study Skills: I have been a college tutor for eighteenth-century English Literature, have supervised undergraduate dissertations, and have given lessons for research, essay-writing, and editing skills for undergraduate and graduate students, in both English Literature but also other humanities and social sciences subjects.

Admissions Preparation and Tests: I also have several years of experience interviewing candidates for BA English Literature at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford, and so can help with admissions applications and interview preparation. I also have successfully mentored students preparing for the Cambridge ELAT (English Literature Admissions Test), and also for the reading and writing parts of admissions tests, such as the GAMSAT (Graduate Entry Medicine), and the American SAT.

Special Needs: because I make a point of having an accessible pricing structure, I have taught students from a diversity of backgrounds and with a variety of needs, including those with learning disabilities or disorders (such as Dyslexia and PTSD).

Funding Applications: I have a strong track record with funding applications, having been awarded a highly prestigious Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship as well as a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship (both in 2023). Whether it is for individual research bids, or group projects, I can advise on how to get the most out of your applications.

Tutoring Approach

Having studied the humanities but also the sciences to a high level, I believe that the skills required by both these areas of study are interchangeable, and mutually supportive. I am always keen, therefore, to develop a student’s ability to organise, interpret, think through, and respond to given data – whether this be in the form of a mathematical problem, or alternatively a poem, play, or prose work, or a much larger conceptual problem. I seek to instil a creative and analytical mindset, cultivating a student’s ability to ask the right questions, and to develop sophisticated, evidence-based methods of answering them.

Though I demand a lot from my students, I also seek to make learning fun and engaging. Whether it's learning how to structure an essay, how to cite different sources, or how to articulate a particular argument, I try to help students understand and apply the principles of academic research and writing from an insider perspective, while instilling the confidence to think outside of the box.