Gold
Silverquiz material is very unpredictable and unfair to those who actually read the texts. the workload is light, though, which is nice.
light-2 papers, 10-12 quizzes
Professor Ellsberg is the most intelligent and entertaining professor I have ever had at Columbia. Unlike most professors at Barnard/Columbia, who seem to compete to have the most ridiculous and unmanageable workload, Professor Ellsberg focuses more on inspiring her students to enjoy learning about the subjects discussed in class. She is incredibly smart and engages her students in exciting facts relevant to the readings. Ellsberg is a rare entity at Columbia. I am a Sociology major, and have already taken 3 of her classes, just because she is so fascinating! If you are considering taking an English course at Columbia, definitely look to take something with her. You will not be disappointed!
Very manageable. Her goal isn't to overload you with pointless busy work. Instead all of her assignment (the few she gives) are aimed at improving your writing and reading skills.
I'm an english major and I was very excited for this class. I had already read half the material, but I thought the excitement of Prof. Ellsberg would add to my previous knowledge of the texts. However, I found her to be a total nut-job. She seemed to have decided to hate me for no reason, making fun of me in front of other students (insulting my intelligence, writing style, and general existance). I knew she chose favorites, but I didn't know she chose students to hate. She has a very distracted teaching style, chattering to herself across the classroom and back again. She was also always late. NOT WORTH THE ANXIETY!
A joke.
To put it simply, I love this woman. Everything from her excitement about the material to the way in which she runs the course makes her class an absolute joy to attend. Let me include that this review is being written BEFORE any grade has been received, which I indicate only for those readers who are quick to judge a professor strictly on the merit of the grade they earn. Whether I end up with an A or a B, this woman still rocks and I recommend any class she teaches, as her perky, fun, not to mention ridiculously knowledgeable attitude is sure to carry over into anything she does.
mid-term, final, paper, and recitation. attendance is necessary to fully understand the readings, which are often complex but always rewarding
I took both semesters of the course with a year in between. The first course was pretty easy -- she was fun, understanding, and graded essays pretty leniently as long as you put time and effort into it. The second semester was hell. For some reason she is now overly stingy in grading essays (her favorites, I noticed, got As in the first essay while the rest of the students got split grades (ie. A/B-, or content/structure or some obscure grading style she doesn't bother explaining). The lectures can become boring and tedious, and although she isn't a bad lecturer per se, I was severely disappointed with her change in grading 'policy' (and I use the word policy loosely) in the most recent course I took with her. If I knew that she was going to be so picky and have favorites, then I wouldn't have bothered taking the course. But if you're a stellar essay writer and don't mind sucking up to her, have fun.
Midterm (excerpt identification, essay), final (same format), 1-2 essays
Have you ever taken an English class that had absolutely nothing to do with books? Well, if you haven't then sign yourself up for Major English Texts. Even my most anal note-taking friend had about 5 pages of notes for the entire semester of this class. The woman can spend an entire class talking about leeches. Make no mistake, Ellsberg is a great professor to take a class with and an even better person to be friends with. She's funny, warm, caring and obviously intelligent. If you're looking for a class where you're guaranteed to laugh and stay awake, take this one. If you're looking for a class where you actually hope to learn about Major English Texts, look elsewhere.
There is a light reading list, a midterm, 4-5 page paper and a final. Do the reading at your own paces, and if you can manage to put together two coherent sentences, you should get an A on the paper. Overall, this class was an easy and enjoyable A.
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