[ENGL W3337] Shakespeare Seminar: Shakespeare's Poetry

There aren't so many reviews of Shapiro's seminars on here, so I figured I'd add my 2 cents.

This was the best class I've taken at Columbia. And, I've taken classes with pretty much every well-reviewed professor in the English Department. Shapiro has a truly dynamic personality, and he ran our class smoothly and intelligently. Shapiro is not only insightful and engaging, but hilariously funny. He's a true delight.

Yet, these qualities are not what truly set him apart. After all, there are a lot of professors at Columbia who run great seminars. The real cherry on top is the feedback you will receive on your writing. Although most professors only grade and critique your essay's argument, Shapiro cares deeply about your writing style. Every week, we were required to hand in a 600 word paper, which would be promptly returned 7 days later bleeding with red ink. Shapiro's writing philosophy is deceptively simple: don't write anything you wouldn't say. Over the course of the semester, my writing style went from dense and jargony to crisp and gripping.

Shapiro doesn't give your papers letter grades. Instead, he operates on a ✓/✓+/✓- system. At the end of the semester, he met with all of us individually, and gave us a grade based on our class and writing performance. Don't freak out if you can't seem to crack a ✓+. He doesn't grade you cumulatively, but rather based on where you end up (I only got a ✓+ on the last paper). I've never worked so hard for a class, and never been prouder to receive an A.

Also, he got us tickets to see King Lear with Derek Jacobi, which proved to be the best Shakespeare production I've ever seen.

Take this class, and never look back.