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Tips for students studying Literature: 

Do your readings. This is the world’s most obvious tip, I know, but being a literature student necessitates actually doing your readings. I know from firsthand experience that falling behind in your readings is a dangerous slope; one day you decide to skip reading a chapter, then a week later you’re 200 pages behind and can’t possibly catch up before your essay is due. Do your best to stay disciplined and keep up with your readings.

When you have long reading assignments, break it up into small chunks to read throughout the week. Right now, I have to read Dubliners by James Joyce for my honors English seminar. While the book isn’t outrageously long, it is not easy to read approximately 280 pages in one week as a full-time student. So it is essential to break the assignment up into smaller chunks of about 40 pages a day. Again, this requires discipline. You must hold yourself accountable for completing these small chunks of reading so that you aren’t forced to read 150 pages in one night. 

When a professor repeatedly mentions a theme or a scene in a book, TAKE NOTE. The things that your professor points out in class will likely be related to your future essay prompts or exam questions. 

Take advantage of audiobooks and websites like sparknotes. There are loads of free audiobooks on Youtube, especially for books that are in the public domain. If you have trouble staying focused while reading, or you have a particularly tough reading assignment, it can be extremely beneficial to listen to someone read along with you. In addition, it can be helpful to use websites like sparknotes to help supplement your reading– NOT replace it. If I have to read a story that I know will be quite esoteric and challenging to follow, I like to read a summary of the story before AND after reading the story myself so that I can 1) recall the plot better and 2) look for important plot points and symbols while reading.

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While we celebrate National Coming Out Day today in the United States, I just want to recognize my sistas all across the globe who CAN’T come out. I understand your struggles my sistas and I CELEBRATE you!

I regularly get messages from women who stay closeted to protect their income, children, shelter or bodies. There are some places in this world where the egos of men are so fragile that they think nothing of raping women to “correct” their attraction to other women.

For many years I stayed closeted to protect my income because coming out would mean losing my job. There are many family members who I’ve never come out to, not because I’m ashamed or have anything to hide, but because their opinions on my life is irrelevant. I’m from Jamaica and I would never feel safe going home and holding the hands of my partner in public.