I teach students how to write strong, engaging essays and academic papers. I also teach them how to read literature attentively and analytically, for both understanding and pleasure. Whether we are reading literature or writing, we use the same analytical tool kit to understand the overall structures of a piece. I show my students how to take apart an essay or a thesis, just as a tailor would deconstruct a jacket, to understand how it?s made. We talk about how writers approach an assignment, ...