Gold
Silver[ENGL BC3142] Major English Texts II
Departments: English and Comparative Literature
Professors: Margaret Ellsberg and Cary Plotkin
The best class I've ever taken. More than manageable, great way to fulfill your literature requirement, and you leave actually learning a lot. I always enjoyed her lectures; she is hilarious and brilliant and wants you to leave with a "treat bag" of knowledge that you can pull out at a cocktail party. This isn't the class for you if you want to learn how to analyze poetry. This class is more about learning to identify the most famous English poets, their most renowned works, and fun/interesting facts that will make you never forget them. You learn references that you will always be able to use and are forced to memorize them because of the quizzes. The quizzes often repeat poems; there are certain works she wants you to remember and so they will show up on many of the quizzes and she stresses them in her lecture. Ellsberg also always throws in her own anecdotes that always make the class laugh. TAKE THE CLASS. Did I say take the class?
Reading that is not necessary. Go to class- you need to know the poems she references (and only those) for the quizzes. There are 10 pop quizzes that are identifications of lines from poetry (12 questions long, it is possible to get 120 on them). She drops your two lowest. One 3-4 page paper. One recitation (memorize a poem and say it aloud).
The workload is great- just come to class, take notes, and review them before each class so you are ready for the quizzes. Great class, you learn a lot. All you need to do is make sure you do well on the quizzes (most people do).
Horrible. Disorganized, digressive, *always" late. You won't learn anything from her class. Worst teacher I've ever had, including high school. Only good point: she's an easy grader.
Lighter than air. She actually *encouraged* us to skim some of the texts instead of read the whole thing!
She is a fantastic teacher with SO MUCH to offer. I highly reccomend the Major English Texts series with her as she will open your mind in so many ways. A real pleasure.
courseworks postings, a recitation, a final essay. follow the ellsberg style sheet and you will be fine.
Ellsberg is a horror story! DO NOT TAKE HER CLASS!!! She is extremely full of herself and favors students who kiss her ass! She frequently has guests come in to lecture but she thinks that means she doesn't have to show up. When she does show up, the classes are even more meaningless. Basically, you have no idea what she expects you to learn because she never teaches anything herself AND she's never there to hear what the guests lecture on either! ....[culpa censor]....
She never goes over the readings in class--instead, you hear about the clothing people wore in different time periods. Somehow, you're expected to pull together a paper and study for a final. (She cancelled the midterm--yes she is a flake)
This professor is fantastic. She takes a very humanistic approach to the material and teaches you the things about English you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask. She cares about her students and is very fair. Contrary to other opinions, she does not play favorites. Take this class, but only if you can handle thinking outside of the box.
one easy paper, lots of good poetry, midterm and final
Boring. You have a sense that he's thinking of something really amusing sometimes but he doesn't end up saying it. There might have been about 3/4 wonderful insights thruout the semester - but no more, and not enough to take the entire course. probably just not a good lecturer - and maybe it was my problem too for not understanding his accent or his illegible handwriting. He is kind of nice though answering questions but the lectures were too mild to provoke us into thinking. He likes to refer to the texts a lot.
A few papers, midterm and exam - easy/fair grader.
God, I did not like this pretentious man. He affects "quirky" mannerisms that he probably picked up from a movie somewhere, like starting his lecture midsentence as he walks into the room. He spends half the class blathering on about the historical context of everything you read, which is how he manages to give Short-answer tests in an English class, for Christ's sake. Because he likes the sound of his voice and honestly believes that his students are complete idiots, all the quotes on the tests will be ones he's read aloud in class. That makes the reading completely optional. Try to show up for the class on Robert Burns, when he is likely to burst without warning into a Scottish ditty.
Yeah, if you're a freshman, you obsess over the impossibility of it for a while, and then the realization hits -- YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO IT. And your collegiate academic career truly begins.
Directory Data
| Dept/Subj | Directory Course | Professor | Year | Semester | Time | Section |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGB / ENGL | ENGB ENGL BC3142: Major English Texts II | Margaret Ellsberg | 2012 | Spring | MW / 11:00-12:15 PM | 1 |
| ENGB / ENGL | ENGB ENGL BC3142: Major English Texts II | Margaret Ellsberg | 2011 | Spring | MW / 11:00-12:15 PM | 1 |
| ENGB / ENGL | ENGB ENGL BC3142: Major English Texts II | Margaret Ellsberg | 2010 | Spring | MW / 11:00-12:15 PM | 1 |
| ENGB / ENGL | ENGB ENGL BC3142: Major English Texts II | Margaret Ellsberg | 2009 | Spring | MW / 11:00-12:15 PM | 1 |
| ENGB / ENGL | ENGB ENGL BC3142: Major English Texts II | Margaret Ellsberg | 2005 | Spring | MW / 11:00-12:15 PM | 1 |