Modernist British Fiction · English And Comparative Literature
A classic novel, as "Heart of Darkness," "Ulysses," and "Women in Love," every two weeks.
A novel a week, short response paper ever other week, longer paper comparing multiple works at the end of the semester.
weekly response papers - not graded. final paper.
Professor Mass is a nice guy and his lectures are interesting, but his classes are a crap shoot. Each week, our seminar ran an hour over, and he talked nearly the entire time. He asked for response papers on most of the books. The essay questions for the two papers ran two pages single spaced. This is just his way; he complicates the course to make it much harder than it has to be. He grades response papers, as an example, "B/B-" and says that grade really means "A- or maybe even an A in some cases." Response papers are said to be "optional...if you want to be sure to get an A," but Prof. Mass grades by check marks and half check marks It's not clear how professor Mass grades, but if you're looking for the easy A or a certain opportunity to earn an A, avoid his classes because you'll be guessing till the end.
While Prof. Rosenthal is undoubtedly an intelligent man, the class left me feeling not completely satisfied. While the reading list is incredible, almost every discussion begins with "I liked this novel because.." or "I didn't like it at all." At times I felt like he could've drawn us in to discuss thematic issues or technique in greater depth, but instead I often felt like we lingered on superficial sparknote-esque analysis.
I've never taken a lecture with Professor Robbins, but given previous reviews, perhaps he's best in that setting. In a seminar setting, he takes far too laid back an approach, offering no structure to the discussion or even attempting to stimulate it with a introductory question or topic. Instead of leading the discussion or presenting his thoughts on the text, Professor Robbins would make some very broad comments and then turn it over to the students. The students, in turn, could either attempt to respond to something that he had obliquely alluded to or go off on their own tangent. Sometimes these tangents were interesting and even relevant, sometimes not. But the way Professor Robbins responded, or rather failed to respond, to what students said was the most frustrating aspect of the class. To have a seminar in which the professor opts not to lead the discussion ostensibly in favor of the input of students and then have the professor not engage with much of what the students say leads to a very disjoint, unsatisfying and ultimately unproductive discussion. I mean that all said, Professor Robbins is a very charismatic professor and of course has a million insightful things to say about the books he assigns - all of which are stellar. As has been said, the seminar setting doesn't seem to be the ideal platform for him. Also it was frustrating that he'd refer to lit theory witho…
Reading, 1 weekly short response (1.5-2 pages), and 2 longer papers (~7 pages).
Book a week. Short paper (3-4 pages) every other week.
I am a Freshman and this was my second class with Professor Massimilla. Not only is the syllabus incredible (You can look forward to reading: Ulysses, Heart of Darkness, the Good Soldier, Mrs. Dalloway, Women in Love, and A Passage to India), but Professor Massimilla is astonishingly well-versed in Modern(ist) Fiction, Modern(ist) Poetry, and a broad spectrum of other topics. The best part about this class is his passion: he loves what he is teaching, he knows a lot about it, and he truly desires to make these dense works accessible to his students. He is funny, erudite, willing to work with his students on deadlines, consistently available, and genuinely kind. He is exactly what you want/imagine in the perfect professor. I took this class because I wanted to read Ulysses in an academic setting-- Massimilla recognized the daunting intricacy of the work and endeavored to make it easier for his students. If all of this information weren't enough to persuade you to take a one-day-a-week-class on amazing works of literature, Professor Massimilla held one session at a restaurant near campus and paid for everyone's dinner! He PAID for dinner while we discussed James Joyce. If he lectures at all, it is only because the class is really not long enough for the material it covers. And his lectures are always insightful and worthwhile. The workload is completely manageable for a class co…
At first, I found Prof. Rosenthal a little intimidating; he sometimes shoots down comments or just ignores them completely. However, Professor Rosenthal really grew on me, and I realized how nice it was to have a professor that actually respects his students enough to call them out when they are obviously wrong or rambling about something. He also has a wry sense of humor that made the class amusing. Professor Rosenthal really just wants to help students improve their prose and explore the texts (and not in a cliff notes-type way). I ended up thinking he was a really nice and insanely intelligent guy. That said, I sometimes wished he would impart his insights a little more often. But it was a seminar class, so I can't really complain that he let students talk so often.