Glenda Adams

I disagree with the critques of this instructor. I actually found this course to be helpful and Prof. Adam's reading of my work to be very incisive and thorough. She is careful when making comments, perhaps because she doesn't believe imposing her on views on others, but she is fairly strict about what is and what isn't good writing. Also the handouts she gives out are all there to illustrate particular elements of a narrative (background, scene, dialogue, etc.) I find it surprising that so many students found them unhelpful - after all, what can a writing teacher do? She can't just write it for you!

Although Professor Adams could win us over with her cuteness, she was largely unhelpful as a writing instructor. Classes consist of a few attempts to get students interested in the work of famous authors, some unhelpful diagrams on the board, and then workshopping up to four works each time. It turns out that there are too many assignments to allow for effective revision, not to mention the fact that her comments on your work are more analysis of its deeper meanings than critical suggestions. She expects people to read other people's work (I repeat, four stories each class) AND also read the copies of stories and other nonsense she passes out each time. Fortunately, she's too wishy-washy to follow up on most of this stuff. She's extremely sweet-tempered and she put up with the snide comments our class was continually making, but her teaching skills are fluffy at best. One good thing was that she seemed to get really involved in every story, resulting in her remembering everything that anyone ever wrote. Which, actually, might not be such a good thing after all.

Glenda Adams makes you want to drive screws in your eyes, becuase she is so boring and unhelpful. She is attentive to you writing, and remembers characters' names, but that is where her helpfullness stops. The previous two comments were correct: this woman should not be at Columbia University. Nice woman. Bad Teacher.

I came to this class excited for the opportunity to write something other than analytical paper, but came away disappointed. Professor Adams is so sweet and grandmotherly, talks in a cute accent, and is just a bit absent minded, but she is completely clueless about teaching. Her classes consist of students reading their works aloud, which can sometimes be interesting, and sometimes be utterly painful. Her individual comments are sparse and useless, usually focusing on one sentence in the work, without any comment about the work as a whole. I don't feel that my writing improved one twit.

Fine, depends on how much you are willing to work. She is receptive of longer pieces and curious about students' work plus fairly generous with enunciating the sections/elements that sill need work.

Do anything to avoid taking a writing class with this woman. She's very sweet, but she really can't transmit any sort of knowledge at all. Classes consist of her handing out mangled photocopies of famous authors' writings, then directing the class to notice how the author does a or b. If I wanted a class in close reading of texts, I would have been an English major!! What's worse, her analysis of student's works consist of either, "This goes well," or "work some more"....

light. One poem, two stories, one play, two excersizes.

Basically a writing assignment every week, none of them too hefty. Not a light workload, but not unbearable. Grading is very lenient.