TSFX Text Analysis Workshops

[appleandbee]

Hi there,
I’m just wondering whether anyone has experience with the TSFX Text Analysis workshops (20 people max). There are the ones that are focused on a particular text, and only run for 3 selected texts, of which one that I'm doing. I'm hesitant of going for the following reasons:

1.It’s a bit expensive ($150 for 5 hours). I don’t have a lot of money to throw around at these things, so I'm not sure if it’s going to be ‘worth it’.

2.The content covered according to the email sounds amazing and insightful that could potentially set my text response apart, but I'm not sure whether it’s just marketing material

3. I’ve spoke to a couple of my friends who attends/attended the school that the teacher running the workshop teaches at (Ms. Carolyn Stone, Xavier College, where she is head of English). They said similar things, in short, she knows her stuff but her demeanour and teaching style leaves a lot to be desired.

4.Even though I’m conflicted, I am kinda inclined to go, because the text (Burial Rites) is new to the curriculum so I could potentially get some insider tips and interpretations?

5.I know the text reasonably well, I haven’t used study guides and have actually explored the ideas in the book by myself and with my tutor. My SAC grades (low to mid 90s average) and trial exam score (27/30) are decent, I attend a top school with a strong English cohort (typically around 2/3 of the cohort score 40+). I would only go if I were to actually gain something insightful rather than just generic stuff that could be found on the internet or study guides.

Comments/opinions are more than welcome. Please refrain from simply posting general views of TSFX.

Thanks!