Karl Steel

Probably the worst experience I have had with a professor to date. Arrogant, but rather awkward, Karl made a routine first-year english experience painful. He openly admitted to not reading our papers very carefully, yet they would come back with lengthy, and often irrelevant comments on them. He could write you an entire paragraph about the nuances of comma usage without telling you anything truly useful. Also, his written comments almost always required verbal explanation. Even when he gives you a decent grade, he fills your paper with somewhat unnecessary criticisms that are worded in the the most belittling way. Good grades always came as a surprise after reading some of his thoughts about my writing. Class discussions were pretty interesting, when Karl wasn't dominating them, which he did quite often. In general, I'd say Karl's class was a pretty useless introduction to college writing and not a fun experience at all.

karl steel is an excellent l and r teacher. his assignments were interesting and open-ended, neither too quirky nor too boring. i actually enjoyed writing my papers for this class. the class discussion (mostly centered around critiquing sentences) was actually made fairly interesting just because of his good sense of humor. like other reviewers have said, he is an extremely fair grader-- if you half-*ss a paper, you will get a poor to middling grade, if you work on it, you will get a good grade. instead of being a horror story, this class was one of my favorites, and i actually enjoyed doing the assignments. if you can, get him for l and r!!!! he will make what could potentially be a painful experience into a really good one.

Karl was a really difficult teacher, because he's so caught up in his own stuff that he hardly gives the students a second glance. I always revised my essays, went to class, talked with him outside of class, participated, but he gave me a really mediocre grade. Whatever he sees when you write your first paper or walk into his classroom is what he sticks to. He will not give you an opportunity to improve. That said, some of the discussions that he prompted were pretty interesting, and since this is his field he's quite knowledgeable. The workload was pretty light, and he definitely gives adequate time to get it done. I'd say, though, that the bad outweighs the good by far with him.

Usage/Ideas: No errors that I could spot. The class was positively charming, a pleasure to sit in. Mr. Karl Steel has a very terse style of teaching L&R. It stems from the fact that he is much more interested in his work as a Medievalist; he therefore concentrates his time and effort on that. But it does not mean he neglects his L&R section. Each class was well prepared for. And all the work was returned right away. Each day we would discuss the paper assignment first and then go over imperfect sentences from our previous papers. There was a paper assignment each class, but the work load was not overwhelming, since Mr. Steel values his own time as well as the time of his students. The topics were interesting and very open-ended. I wrote practically about anything I wanted. The grading was not easy, but appropriate. If I felt I did a good job—I got a good grade. But if I was too lazy to proofread---it showed. I have heard horrors about L&R classes in general. But this one was highly enjoyable. I dare say even my favorite class of the semester. All the L&R classes will be pilots next year, which sucks. But I trust Mr. Steel will manage to make his section delightful nonetheless. Good job Mr. Steel. Grade: A

Likeable, nerdy, and ever so slightly narcissistic, this definitely felt like a class with a graduate student, but not always in a bad way. For example, with all of his own work, he's not as eager to dole out lots of essays. It's a student discussion-fueled course, but he really enjoys talking too... Good grades on re-writes are easy: insert and elaborate all the ideas he suggests. He's also exceptionally understanding about giving out extensions. The class itself can seem like a chore unless you manage to get really into it. In the meantime, Karl's a fine teacher.

I agree with the review above. He is pretty lenient in letting you express your views freely as long as your essays are clear and well written. I really learned how to write a good essay in his class. As far as grading goes, he is very fair. If you don't put effort (mostly proofreading) into writing your essay, you won't get a good grade. If you do put effort into writing a good essay, you will be recompensated. He is strict about attendace, though. Also, he's sort of quirky, and tries to make the class fun. I really recommend you stay in his section!

Manageable amount of reading. A few essays plus their revisions will seem like more work than they are. The final research paper on the topic of my choosing (15 pages) was the most interesting and enjoyable assingment.

Karl Steel is a great L&R teacher. He understands what he is teaching really well and is a fair (although not easy) grader. I learned a lot in his class and he seems to be more rational than the L&R teachers that many of my friends had.

class discussion, come to class, two or three essays plus their revisions, and a final research paper (5% weight on first draft, the rest is graded by the final draft).

mine was not the pilot, so the workload would not be the same (as all l and r classes are pilot now). however, he had very reasonable expectations, and the work load is never out of control.