Elizabeth Slaughter’s bittersweet return to the language arts

Slaughter’s love for language arts started in fifth grade when she won an essay writing contest at her school. Slaughter did not enjoy studying novels in high school because she was a slow reader and reading consumed a lot of her time. However, she enjoyed writing and took many AP and IB English classes. As she shifted her focus toward STEM, she began to take fewer English classes in college. Supporting her mathematics-based major, a bulk of these classes involved writing research papers. 

“I always liked this subject because I think that everyone’s own personal point of view affects how they interpret stories, and I like learning about other people’s perspectives,“ Slaughter said.

 Slaughter took Kirsh’s freshman-level literary analysis test, which involves reading short passage and then recognizing key literary devices. Taking the test, Slaughter felt anxious, as the last time she took a language arts-based test was in high school. While she has always enjoyed writing and telling stories, taking a test on the subject was a harsh return to old habits.

“All the feelings I had in high school came rushing back,” Slaughter said. “I definitely felt a little uneasy as I tried to remember the key terms and what they meant.”

When creating tests, Slaughter thinks about what concepts and questions are important for students, then writes questions that determine if students sufficiently understand that concept. Based on test scores, she can decide which chapters or ideas students need more assistance with and can then help fill the gaps in their knowledge. 

“Sometimes, when creating tests, I have to come up with more than one question to hit a concept from multiple angles,” Slaughter said.