Gonna start with the grading of this class first..

The grading is broken up into 5 reading quizzes worth 25% of your grade in total, 2 papers each worth 25% of your grade, and the final exam worth 25% of your grade. Grade distribution is fair, quizzes are straight forward but obviously require that you read the material and pay attention in class. However, I will say he's a pretty tough grader when it comes to the papers but that doesn't mean you can't get an A! He gives you the opportunity to ask him about your thesis/argument and he'll always point you in the right direction if he thinks you're going off track. So there's no reason you can't do well!

On that note, I just have to say that Professor Moudarres is amazing, SO brilliant and passionate about the subject he teaches. He's charming and has a good sense of humor which make the lectures enjoyable. He definitely needs to get more credit for how great he is!

But keep in mind that at the end of the day it's a LITERATURE course, so yes there will be reading that you have to pay close attention to, and yes, you will be expected to write well on your essays. But getting an A is totally doable.

Overall, I encourage everyone to take this class, you won't regret it! :)

Great Class!! Andrea is my favorite professor ! Hes a very good lecturer and as long as you do the readings and pay attention in class you will do fine.

Professor Moudarres is a great professor. Italian 42A has been my favorite class since I started UCLA. He made everything so clear and was so dedicated to Italian history. We only had 3 "quizzes" which were 50% of our grade and a final which was 50%. They were so easy if you knew the material and he also provided study guides for every quiz, which you could then use to study for the final.

Moudarres is such a sweetheart and is clearly very interested and knowledgeable in Italian history. This class is focused on the relationship between the church and society during the early modern period, which was not what I was expecting from the course description but was still a good class nonetheless. He puts his lectures slides online but to fully understand attending lectures is a must. He also notices students who come to lecture and who do not (I never went to office hours and he recognized me and said hello when I saw him on campus, and my friends in the class experienced the same thing, again what a nice guy!) The readings are long but can be helpful, however they are not entirely necessary. I didn't buy the course reader and only did a few of the readings that I could find online and still ended up with an A in the class. If you attend lecture and discussion and take good notes the readings aren't imperative. The class had 3 quizzes each worth 10%, 2 papers each worth 15%, a final worth 30% and 10% for discussion attendance and participation. He gives thorough study guides for the quizzes which are fairly easy and based mostly on facts, and the papers weren't hard but grading depended on the TA, (mine required quite a bit of effort to give you an A). The final was straight forward and not overly difficult if you understood the overarching concepts if the class. Overall this class was fairly interesting and quite easy, a good choice for a GE.

This was a good class overall, and Professor Moudarres was extremely interesting! Lectures were always very engaging, and Moudarres would present the information in a way that was clear and easy to understand. Although the class is easy, I felt that there was a good amount of work that was involved, and that a good amount of reading was assigned. However, just keep up with the work, and there should be no problem with the class.

Italian 42A is an easy and fun GE to take. Readings are light and pretty fun. There are three quizzes that count for 10% each (he gives a study guide of questions beforehand and he chooses questions from that study guide). There are two essays based on the readings/Course reader that count for 15% each. Discussions count for 10%, but you just need to attend. Final counts for 30%, and has questions from the study guides and essay portions.

Lectures are fun because the professor makes it entertaining, but they aren't necessary for an A in the class. Overall, this class is an easy GE that you can get an A in with little work, but also an interesting class to take.

Selling the coursereader if anyone wants to buy, and will give solutions to study guide answers also!

Discussion sections mandatory. Went to less than half of lectures and didn’t buy course reader or any of the books; just skimmed his ppt slides and read summaries of some of the “required readings”. The 2 short essays were easy and if you need to quote just go to book store and flip through the course reader or other books to get a few quotes (this really depends on how much you care though). 3 easy quizzes given in discussion throughout the quarter and he gives you the actual questions a few days before; most answers are even on quizlet. He gives general outline/tips for the final, I studied for an hour and did just fine (just review quizzes and be ready to bs essay questions, maybe do some quick online reading for topics that he lists).

EASY A. This is not only an easy A, but also a very interesting and enjoyable class. The professor and the TAs are all wonderful: they are so helpful, engaged, and dedicated. TAKE THIS CLASS. Do the work and you will be perfectly fine.
breakdown:
- There is a very easy quiz every week. Do the readings and check for practice on quizlet and you will be absolutely fine. (lowest gets dropped)
- 2 papers. ( 3 pages max) just meet with your TA before to make sure you're on the right track.
- final. 25 multiple choice questions (very similar to the quizzes) and 3 essays that focus on the main course themes.

To get an A, show up to the discussions, read, write decent essays, and then study a little bit for the final. If you go to lecture, you will not have trouble in this class.

I got an A- but honestly should have got an A if I had worked harder. As long as you spend time on the essays and proofread you should be fine. For reference, I got a 75 on the first one (which was generous for how bad it was) and a 90 on the 2nd one. I was scared for the final but got a high A on it which I kind of don’t believe I actually got that high. The weekly quizzes weren’t too hard and the discussions were usually engaging. Lectures were interesting but I’m lazy so did not go to many of the lectures but it’s great how passionate Moudarres is about the subject.

THIS COURSE FULFILLS THE LITERATURE IN TRANSLATION REQUIREMENT for majors who require that kind of thing.

Andrea is an excellent professor. His lectures are organized and efficient; he clearly communicates expectations for the quizzes (5), papers (2; 4 pages each), and final (1, obviously); he promptly replies to emails and holds reliable office hours; and he informs students about any relevant events or articles pertaining to the course.

Beyond that, Andrea is friendly, intelligent, and manages to have a sense of humor while lecturing on eternal damnation. He's a generous grader when it comes to the quizzes and final, and I didn't find his or the TA's paper-grading unreasonable.

As a non-major, I didn't expect to get much from this course. However, Andrea did a fantastic job of explicating the text, and I have a new love and appreciation for the Comedy because of him (and Dante, I guess).