Angela Singian, class of 2014

Mr. Joseph De Santo was my first English teacher in Beacon Academy and stayed my English
teacher up until my senior year in high school. I learned many things throughout those three years. He has
been my favorite teacher not only because of his humor and teaching style, but because of the lessons
taught that enlightened me and gave me a much deeper appreciation and understanding of literature. I
learned the most in one year of English than I had ever learned in my academic life. At least twice a
week, I would recount what new concepts and ideas I had learned in English at the dinner table. Or just
ramble to my mother and aunt on what was funny about what we were reading in class. I thought quite
seriously about all my lessons outside of the classroom and put my highest creative effort into all the
assignments.
In senior year, I truly understood how to read literature with the help of Mr. De Santo. Before I
only looked at the exterior of a work. I would examine didactic ideas from the plot or vaguely enjoy the
sound of the words roll of my tongue. But the poetry and fiction appreciation charts as well as fruitful
discussions helped me to understand the gut of literature. This truly began during Ted Hughes Tales from
Ovid where I began to notice the rhythmical schemes. In Pygmalion I finally grasped what authors
choices really meant. I appreciated Hemingways understated language which I previously took for
granted.