About Literature Helpdesk.sg
Literature in English is the most marginalised exam subject in the Singapore school system. Students cannot find guides, model answers and 10-year series of exam papers the way they can for Science and even other Humanities subjects. Also, many Literature programmes now focus on non-European and contemporary texts, including Singapore texts, for which reference materials are scarce.
Literature Helpdesk.sg hopes to fill this hole in educational support for Literature students in this country. This is a modest start but this website plans through 2021 and beyond to post notes on set texts, model essays, discussion questions and answer plans that will light the paths to your own learning. There will be materials too that demonstrate how to tackle ‘Unseen’ texts and offer essay-writing tips.
The Woman Behind the Desk
I am Dr. Matilda Gabrielpillai, former journalist and university lecturer of Literature in English, who now dawdles over coffee and news in the morning and tutors at home in the afternoons.
Over the past seven years, I have tutored students in Literature across a variety of programmes—O and A levels, IGCSE O and A levels, and IB. It has been a rich experience that has allowed me to engage both my academic training and work experience in teaching literary and media analysis to students from local and international schools.
As a Literature educator, I have no truck with formalistic readings of text that focus on style and ignore the writer’s vision of life. Literary and media texts are written by people with special insight into the social and cultural issues of the day, the internal conflicts of people, and the struggle of individuals against their society. My focus will be on themes and ideas, and literary techniques will be engaged in relation to these.
“Only Connect” says novelist E.M. Forster in another context. Here we will connect the technique to the theme, the device to the desire, the metaphor to the meaning.
I hope you find this website useful. I welcome your feedback and suggestions about materials you need. Please email me at literature.helpdesk.sg@gmail.com or write to me through the contact form provided on the Helpdesk page. The Helpdesk page also provides information on my tutoring and consulting services.
ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS
B.A. Hons in Literature at NUS
M.A. in Literature and the Visual Arts at the University of Reading, U.K.
Ph.D at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver.
TEACHING AREAS
Post-colonial literatures
Singapore and South-east Asian Literature, Caribbean, Indian,
Canadian and Australian Literature
Women’s Writings and Feminist Theory
Literary Texts Translated into English
Victorian Literature
Shakespeare and 17th Century British Literature
Contemporary European, British and American Writing
Media Analysis
Academic Writing
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Taught Literature in English at NUS, NIE/NTU, Open University, UniSIM—1994-2015.
During that time, I also developed and taught Literature courses
for Singapore trainee teachers and in-service teachers.
2013-present—tutored students in English Literature, English Language, General Paper and Theory of Knowledge from Lower Sec to Pre-University in O and A Levels, IGCSE and IB programmes.
Testimonials
From the Source
Before attending classes with Matilda, I thought that Literature and English were basically the same thing and felt that it was overall boring. But she showed me how to appreciate writers, understand how they think and made it a much more enjoyable subject. With her guidance, I was able to get a greater understanding of various text types. In addition, she makes sure that we students are kept well fed with her home-cooked snacks whenever we come famished from school!
Ethan Kwee
IB English Language and Literature
Working with Matilda is uniquely gratifying because the classes are unlike any other relationship with a tutor. She makes the learning interesting and goes way beyond the lesson time in order to make sure you understand the material and are well prepared for what’s next.
Benjamin, UWCSEA
IB English Literature
I am very grateful to Ms Matilda for helping my daughter in her A Level Literature. My daughter was struggling and failing her tests when I decided to seek help for her outside of school. Was recommended to Ms Matilda by a friend and what a relief it was when my daughter started being able to cope with her literature studies. Ms Matilda is a very dedicated, patient tutor. She is incredibly motivated to help weak students like my daughter and is constantly encouraging her to persevere despite the difficulties. I do not hesitate to recommend Ms Matilda to anyone who needs help in Literature studies. Indeed, a top grade tutor!
Alan Ong
Both my kids, Megan & Malcolm are very blessed to meet Matilda as a tutor. Matilda gave Literature tuition to Meg 6 years ago during her upper secondary. She gives Literature, English & Social Studies tuition now to Mal who will be in Sec 4 next year.
Compared to both, Mal always tests Matilda's patience and I salute Matilda's ways of teaching him. Firm and yet able to bring out the best for my 2 kids. Meg & Mal improved tremendously under Matilda's teaching. Mal's subject appreciation has grown stronger and even his school's teachers have noticed the massive improvement.
Matilda is a very caring tutor and a strong mentor to both my kids. She sends regular progress reports on Mal’s development, which helps me in supporting him further. She is genuine and determined to want my kids to ace their subjects.
Felicia Tan
Teacher Matilda is a wonderful and patient teacher. She taught my daughter H2 literature at A-Level and she scored well. Thank you for teaching and guiding her.
Mrs Chuah
My biggest struggle when it came to literature and GP was structuring my thoughts. Matilda helped me to organise my analysis. She also taught me how to connect my ideas to bigger themes, improving the cohesiveness of my writing. I really appreciated how she honed my close reading ability, enabling me to appreciate the depth and nuance of poems and texts on a deeper level than I had previously. With her guidance I topped the cohort for GP and scored A’s for H2 literature and GP at the A-levels.
Roshnie Pillay, CJC
My daughter, Roshnie was struggling with Literature in JC. A friend recommended Matilda. Matilda started tutoring Roshnie in JC2. In my heart, I felt it might be too little, too late but was glad to be proved wrong. Matilda guided Roshnie in marshalling and organising ideas and presenting them lucidly. The benefits spilled over into GP and Roshnie got an ‘A’ in both subjects!! Thanks more than I can say, Matilda!
Nirmala Nair
I am so glad to have been under Ms Matilda's guidance for my A Level lit journey! I was struggling so much with Literature in school and was feeling so demoralised after doing poorly in my exams time and time again. Ms Matilda was very patient and took the time to explain to me the various concepts. No matter how big or small the question may be, she was always happy to guide me along and makes sure I have fully clarified my doubts before moving on. I jumped for joy when I received an A for lit during my A levels. Our hard work paid off!
Celine Ong, CJC
As a young, naive boy going about my preliminary education, I rarely found myself interested in the world of literature. If an activity didn’t make me sweat, I wasn’t interested. Until I rolled up at Matilda's gates. Literature was a world so foreign to me that nothing made sense. But the further I ventured in lessons, I realized the 'foreignness' was meaningful. It was also beautiful. I am eternally grateful to the gatekeeper for showing me the way into this rich world.