ENGCOMP 5W
Literature, Culture, and Criticial Inquiry
Description: Lecture, four hours. Enforced requisite: course 3 or 3H or English as a Second Language 36. Use of analysis of literary works within cultural context to engage students in critical thinking and writing about issues important to academic inquiry and responsible citizenship. Minimum of 15 to 20 pages of revised text required in addition to regular informal writing exercises. Satisfies Writing II requirement. Letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2022 - I'm not really sure why her classes have a super high rating. She didn't give us a rubric or any type of idea of how she wanted our essays to be written, so we basically wrote them blind. It's confusing because she'll tell us not to care about what grade we get because grades don't matter (even though they do?), and then when you ask her how she wants us to write our essays, she just tells us to write it the way we want to. The prompts are super vague too, so that doesn't help either. To put it over the top, she then grades your paper SUPER harshly (which makes no sense because why would you grade hard if you don't even give your students specific prompts and rubrics?). For my midterm essay, I made an appointment with her so that she could give me feedback, and even after fixing all the things she told me to fix (which were a lot of things btw because she gave me super harsh critiques), she still gave me a B on that paper. It was really frustrating. I also didn't even know what my grades were until final grades were posted, so the whole time I wasn't sure how I was doing in the class. I also felt that she was a little passive-aggressive. She clearly had favorites. I advise anyone taking this course to just agree with everything she says and to not argue with her if you want her to like you. I noticed that the people that kissed up to her were the ones that were her favorites and got good grades on their essays. If you're thinking of taking this class, I would choose another professor that is actually clear and specific about what they want out of your writing, and one that will actually post grades and won't mark you down for not agreeing with her opinions.
Winter 2022 - I'm not really sure why her classes have a super high rating. She didn't give us a rubric or any type of idea of how she wanted our essays to be written, so we basically wrote them blind. It's confusing because she'll tell us not to care about what grade we get because grades don't matter (even though they do?), and then when you ask her how she wants us to write our essays, she just tells us to write it the way we want to. The prompts are super vague too, so that doesn't help either. To put it over the top, she then grades your paper SUPER harshly (which makes no sense because why would you grade hard if you don't even give your students specific prompts and rubrics?). For my midterm essay, I made an appointment with her so that she could give me feedback, and even after fixing all the things she told me to fix (which were a lot of things btw because she gave me super harsh critiques), she still gave me a B on that paper. It was really frustrating. I also didn't even know what my grades were until final grades were posted, so the whole time I wasn't sure how I was doing in the class. I also felt that she was a little passive-aggressive. She clearly had favorites. I advise anyone taking this course to just agree with everything she says and to not argue with her if you want her to like you. I noticed that the people that kissed up to her were the ones that were her favorites and got good grades on their essays. If you're thinking of taking this class, I would choose another professor that is actually clear and specific about what they want out of your writing, and one that will actually post grades and won't mark you down for not agreeing with her opinions.
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2023 - Dr. Mehdizadeh was very helpful when it comes to improving our writing skills. She was available for office hours and paid attention to each student to make sure that enough guidance was provided for the assignment. There were discussion posts due twice a week on the readings that require extensive reading and writing. Participation is graded on discussion during lecture, so attendance is a must. Our quarter's theme was belonging and we read 3 different novels/memoir along with some journal articles. There was a final project that included a final paper and a creative component. I enjoyed taking this class since the class size is very small and you get to know everyone. Would definitely recommend for a writing II class!
Winter 2023 - Dr. Mehdizadeh was very helpful when it comes to improving our writing skills. She was available for office hours and paid attention to each student to make sure that enough guidance was provided for the assignment. There were discussion posts due twice a week on the readings that require extensive reading and writing. Participation is graded on discussion during lecture, so attendance is a must. Our quarter's theme was belonging and we read 3 different novels/memoir along with some journal articles. There was a final project that included a final paper and a creative component. I enjoyed taking this class since the class size is very small and you get to know everyone. Would definitely recommend for a writing II class!
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