/01
“The thesis is a summary of the text rather than a claim about it.”
Building an argument
A thesis that could be disagreed with, and a structure that earns it. Most weak essays are well-written answers to a question nobody asked.
English & Writing tutors
356
English & Writing tutors on Saal
$26/hr
Lowest rate anyone charges
Nobody is graded on how well they write. They are graded on whether the argument holds, and those are different problems with different fixes.
ElementaryMiddleHighCollegeAdult
What you’ll work on
Five things people say before they book.
One of them is usually the reason. The topic underneath is what a tutor would put the first month into.
/02
“Quotations are followed by a restatement of the quotation.”
Using evidence
Choosing the quotation, introducing it, and then doing the analysis — which is the sentence most students skip and most rubrics weight heaviest.
/03
“Essays about a novel end up being about the characters' choices.”
Close reading
Reading for how a passage is made rather than what it says, so there is something to write about beyond the plot.
/04
“Feedback keeps saying wordy and nobody has said which words.”
Sentences and paragraphs
Varying the sentence, cutting the padding, and making a paragraph do one job. Grammar is taught here, in your own writing, not as a worksheet.
/05
“The draft is honest and reads like a resume in paragraphs.”
The college essay
Finding the story only you can tell, then drafting it enough times that it sounds like you on a good day.
None of them quite it?
Bring the syllabus, the textbook or the last score report to a first lesson. Every English & Writing tutor here plans against what you actually have, not against a standard course.
How a first lesson is runWho teaches it
English & Writing, taught by 3 of these 356.
In whichever order you find useful. Thirty minutes with any of them is free, so meeting two before you choose costs nothing but the evening.
Nadine Brooks
Brooklyn· Online or in person
$48/hr
Essays, close reading and college applications
5.0(121)
What it costs
Priced by level, not by subject.
Tutors set their own rate and Saal adds nothing on top of it. These are the bands they set it inside, the same in every subject, and the lowest anyone charges to teach English & Writing is $26/hr.
Move or cancel any lesson up to twelve hours ahead at no charge, and the card is charged the morning after a lesson happens. Packages and refunds.
Elementary
$30/hr
what most tutors charge here
Sentence and paragraph writing, spelling and the habit of reading back what was written.
Lessons a week
Lesson length
Your tutor’s rate
$30/hr
$288/mo
8 lessons a month, at $36 each — a 60-minute lesson against a rate quoted for 50. A ten-lesson pack takes $36 off that.
Your first thirty minutes
Thirty free minutes, and this is what they are for.
01
Send one marked essay
Whatever you have, with the teacher's comments on it. The tutor reads it before the session starts.
The terms, in full
- Free
- 30 minutes
- No card asked for
02
Find the real fault
Structure, evidence or sentences — these need different terms, and one marked essay usually says which.
It will be one of these five
- Building an argument
- Using evidence
- Close reading
- Sentences and paragraphs
- The college essay
Questions
What people ask before they book.
Nearby
Where people go next.
The rest of English & languages first, then whatever else is taught at the same levels.
All sixteen subjectsSpanishMiddleHighCollegeAdultConversation first, then the grammar your class is graded on.178 tutorsfrom $26/hrFrenchMiddleHighCollegeAdultPronunciation, tenses and the oral exam half the grade rides on.124 tutorsfrom $30/hrReadingElementaryMiddleDecoding, fluency and comprehension for grades 2 through 8.240 tutorsfrom $24/hr