Prof Underwood is very nice and grades fairly easily, but in this class, she has timed writing for the midterm and final. These are easily upwards of 10 pages of timed writing, and while it is not hard to obtain a good grade, it can be grueling. If you are used to writing papers out of class, it will be a rude awakening.

I only mark this as a major complaint simply because the class would be vastly more enjoyable without a load of timed writing, which is not a useful or applicable skill. However! If you prefer getting all of your writing done all at once in an exam, this will be perfect for you.

Out of class, readings are fun, light, and easy to understand. The singular term paper is also easy enough to complete, though don't expect your prompt options to be very broad, or to be able to choose your own topic.

I found her lectures a bit dissatisfying because she did not discuss the readings in-depth. While I understand that she wants students to think about the readings themselves, it would have been helpful if she at least said a few illuminating sentences to guide us on how to approach certain topics. She usually had a list of topics/scenes/passages that were interesting and asked what students thought about them. While she complimented students' reading of the passages, it would have been helpful if she either affirmed/challenged/explained what she herself found interesting about the topic/further expanded on students' analyses. She covered a lot of topics and passages each lecture, but I felt that we always merely grazed over each one, not delving into any one of them fully. You might have a hard time preparing for the midterm and the final as a result of this lack because you don't really have a lot to work with in your notes other than page numbers that she mentioned in class.