Do not take this class if you’re uninterested in political theory. The content was difficult to understand and Dr Trojan spent at least half the class allowing students to do his job for him in explaining what the readings are about. He would give pop quizzes (closed note) on random days that could not be made up so even if you attended most classes, missing one day could ruin your grade. The readings for each class were at least 75 pages long along with an essay every two weeks not including an 8 page final paper. I ended up having an 89.6% in the class and tried to ask Dr Trojan to round and he refused without any explanation as to why. Wouldn’t recommend in the slightest.

General Comments
There are a lot of reading each week, but you are supposed to skim them instead of reading them in depth. You also need to keep track of the assignment deadlines as there are several due each week.
Here is the class breakdown from when I took it:
Perusall Annotations (15%)
You need to write seven annotations on each reading on Perusall. You don't really need to think about writing them, but they each have to be spaced out through the reading and a certain length. These are due at every class meeting.
Interventions (20%)
There are two of them. They are basically mini essays. Aim for about four or five pages. He wants you to write a persuasive argument about the text by analyzing its contradictions.
Commonplace Book (10%)
There are ten of these. You have to draw a picture for the readings of the week.
Peer Review (10%)
This is a short essay about someone else's paper. He gives a template for it and should be about one to two pages long.
Term Paper (45%)
This is worth almost the entirely of the grade. I got an A on almost every assignment throughout the quarter and received a B+ because of a low grade on the term paper. I recommend going to office hours to make sure your argument conforms to his standards. For secondary sources, make sure to bring down people that disagree with your claim in order for you strengthen your argument based on them. While length matters, it is not at all sufficient to get a good grade. Aim for about 13-15 pages.
Final thoughts:
I was shocked by my final grade in the class. I thought that I was doing well throughout the quarter, but my grade ended up plummeting due to term paper at the end.

I honestly dont think I learned much in this class. readings are overwhelming and very fast paced. pop quizzes probably once a week that are 30% of your grade. and are honestly what hurt my grade. The questions are pretty detailed and pretty stingy with points. He's a passionate and nice guy but lectures are a waste of time and the only reason anyone goes is because of quizzes.

I dropped this class after the first two weeks, so my words are not the most reliable on his class. You have to be a theory (i.e. philosophy) person to enjoy this class, or to even want to be in the classroom. I am sure that for theory nuts this class is super interesting, but if you can't understand the material, then you better drop it before it's too late.

I feel a little bit too happy once I hit the drop button. I got all As in my other classes and I thank God I dropped it for my GPA. Professor Trojan is a good person, and his class is very interesting. If only the course material is not all "alien letters" then I would continue with this class. Be warned that this class is beyond your imagination of hardness.

Quizzes (30%)
Generally 4-point quizzes with two questions each throughout the quarter. I highly recommend doing the readings to be prepared for the quizzes because he will sometimes ask obscure details. However, he's very helpful by posting study guides for the readings that we will likely be quizzed on. If you want to do well on the quizzes, do all the study guides and you should be good. The quizzes also, sometimes, included questions from lecture. So definitely keep track of those. He's also very generous and drops your lowest quiz score.

Close Reading (10%)
He asked us to choose a quote or section from the text to analyze. It was a simple assignment and I think everyone got a 100 on it. It was only a 1-page paper.

Peer Review (10%)
When preparing your term paper, you will have it reviewed by one of your classmates. It was a simple one-page assignment.

Term Paper (50%)
According to the syllabus, a good paper is usually about 10-15 pages. I strongly recommend hitting that number of pages. Also, definitely talk to him during office hours for your paper. He was very kind and helped me outline my paper. My paper essentially contained three sections that each evaluated one of the author's arguments, a counterargument, and a summary that includes additional readings he recommends (but doesn't require for the class). He was super helpful during office hours and gave me an A for the paper.

Overall:
I really enjoyed the class. It was very engaging and he constantly encouraged debate. I would pay attention during his classes because he often presents opposing arguments/interpretations about the readings that you could use as inspiration for your term paper. Unfortunately, he doesn't record his lectures, so I strongly recommend going to them to succeed on your term paper. Overall, great class, great professor, and would definitely take again.

I am so fond of Dr. Trojan! He is so caring about his students' learning and comprehension. I will say this class is pretty heavy both pertaining to the workload and mental load. That being said, if you want to excel in this class Dr. Trojan gives you every opportunity to do so.

Trojan is goated at UCLA. He's one of the most funny and engaging lecturers I have ever had. He manages to cover topics in an interesting and clever way that makes you think differently than you might have before. This class was a really interesting deep dive into some of our founding documents that your previous American government classes probably didn't cover. The class itself was graded on Perusall annotations and two "Interventions," which are basically like mini essays. Definitely take this class if you want an easy A with a light workload, but also want to learn something and engage with the subject matter.

I LOVED THIS CLASS. The readings were a bit tedious, and they took time, but Professor Trojan was exciting and really engaged with our ideas. One of the first Political Science classes where I felt like I was actually being listened to. The final paper was long, but there's a lot of flexibility in terms of the prompt/readings you choose to use. I struggled with the writing initially, but Professor T held extra office hours and met with me multiple times to review the paper and talk through it. If you like political theory, I would recommend at least one class with Professor T!

Dr. Trojan is one of the best professors I have ever had. Every class, he brings the texts to life, and you can really tell how passionate he is about political theory, literature, and political science in general. He's also extremely helpful and cares a lot about his students' success and understanding. If you enjoy political theory, you will enjoy taking a class by him!

Before taking his PS 114A class, I was a little nervous after seeing some negative reviews about him on BruinWalk, but he's actually an outstanding professor. I came away from this class with a lot of knowledge, and Professor Trojan really helped facilitate that. The workload can be pretty heavy depending on the week, so make sure you set aside some extra time for this class to get the work done. The final is a term paper, and he's great about helping students come up with topics and write great papers. Overall, this class is really rewarding, and I would definitely recommend this class to anyone who wants to learn more about early American authors.