English And Comparative Literature · Columbia University
I transfered into Karls section because of the above reviews. I know that ever other review says that Karl is great, but he really isnt. I dont mean as a person, I dont know him, but as a teacher. All in all, this was an absolutely useless experience. I guess L&R isnt very useful in general, but this class seemed particularly bad. We wrote about 8 papers which were totally topic oriented as opposed to writing style/clarity etc oriented. Karl's comments were copious but mostly useless; most were very specific, very obvious observations about minor mistakes -- he didnt say anything constructive, and seemed totally unable to suggest any kind of "remedy" for my writing ills. Karl is also very political. He got into mini-debates about political issues with some of the guys in my class (most of us girls were pretty quiet) and seemed uninterested in anything other than trying to prove that he was right -- nothing about whether or not the students' arguments were sound or well articulated or how to improve. Karl seems to think that his stunningly left wing approach to every political issue was all that was worth dicussing, he didnt even try to present the other perspective and construct an argument based on logic and facts. I think he was the worst teacher Ive had at Columbia.
Karl was one of the best teachers I've ever had. Besides his thorough grasp of English and the copious helpful comments he writes on every paper, Karl is a really nice person. He knows a lot about pretty much every topic in the universe, but nevers wears his knowlege on his shoulder or talks down to the students. He cares about your writing, and wants you to improve. He was always accessible via email and willing to meet after class or during office hours. Take advantage. If you can get into Karl's section, do so. If you are in his class already, enjoy.
Karl was a great L&R teacher, always encouraging the class in discussions and written assignments. His comments were always helpful and honest. I absolutely loved this course, one of the few who actually enjoyed going to L&R everyday - and even writing the papers.
Compared with some other horror stories I've heard, Karl was a pretty good L&R teacher. His comments can be harsh at times, though. He would literally fill any white space left on your essays with comments. Often these comments were fairly harsh criticisms. And then he would give you a B+ on your essay. Strange. I think I got a B+ on all of my essays but two (I got A- on those), but I still managed to end up with an A- for the semester. I'm not quite sure how that works out mathematically, but I'm not going to question it. Grading aside, Karl's class was a good time. The readings we were assigned to write essays about were varied and interesting (ranging from Noam Chomsky to Richard Pryor). Overall, this was a good experience.
About 8 papers. All but one of the papers required research. Midterm and Final, both topics given in advance. Karls grading was very inconsistent. He also took FOREVER to return papers -- most of the time he didnt return a paper until after the following one was due. This got really ridiculous and after we complained he got a little better but usually just pushed deadlines back to acomodate his lateness.
Less papers than most other L&R sections, only 8. However, they all require research. Don't expect higher than a B on your first paper, but its almost a certainty you will be in the A range by the end of the semester. There is also a large research assignment which is designed to teach you how to use the libraries, but little writing is required for it. the midterm and final mean nothing, i dont even think they are factored into your grade.
Fair grader, average L&R workload, mostly longer papers related to class discussions and readings.
A little bit (but not much) lighter than the standard L&R workload. We had more larger essays and few shorter essays than most classes.