Maybe my favorite class at UCLA. It was on Ulysses by James Joyce, which quickly became one of my favorite books after this course. 10/10 recommend if you're willing to commit to the book and class. It will become your whole life (in a good way).

Class structure: read one chapter before lecture, discuss in lecture, the professor does around a 1-hour lecture after students present.
Assignments: Class presentation on one chapter with write-up essay, midterm close reading or book review essay, final paper
Attendance: mandatory, tardiness not preferred

Professor Jaurretche is amazing. The reading load is intense, but you'll learn a lot if you manage to keep up. I dealt with some personal hardships during the quarter and I am so glad I reached out to her. She really cares for both her students and these texts. Go to her office hours and get to know her!!! She also makes it clear that sometimes outside research is needed and is in full support of you watching video summaries etc. of the texts we read, which is really great.

Professor Jaurretche is an okay teacher, all things considered. She genuinely tried to make the class interesting, and she seems to really care about her students. The class topic was History of Los Angeles or something, which for some reason meant a lot of geography readings? Assignments were readings (often fifty pages of some guy talking about mountains?) and write-ups for each reading that you could easily make up if you skimmed the book.

Apart from that: one essay on the LA river (field trip included but you do it on YOUR OWN TIME), one group essay on a Special Collections object, and one Final paper on a topic of your choice. She grades really easy, if you’re an ok writer you’ll be fine.

FYI: If you take this in the Fall, she WILL host class the Wednesday before Thanksgiving break, and she expects EVERYONE to be in class that day. (The lecture was useless, skip it anyways).

I loved this class but it was so much reading! The amount of reading expected for this class was really mind blowing, and there were a couple instances where I had to read a 700 page book in the span of a couple days so that I would be ready for class in addition to textbook reading due on the same day. However, the books were great and interesting and if you fall behind on some readings it's not the end of the world! I never participated in class but attended every class and got an A. The paper was a big undertaking but was manageable! Professor Jauretche was sweet and engaging in class but a little unhelpful when I reached out asking for help or advice when I joined the class late. I ended up being pretty behind for the first part of the course because I was unclear about where to find the different things assigned and what was expected of me.

Grades breakdown goes like: 15% participation (attendance are taken); 25% group annotation project; 20% annotated bibliography (preparation for your final paper); 40% 10-pages final paper. Coursework gets busier toward the second half of the quarter, as that's when assignments are due. For most of the weeks you are just reading novels/plays, which isn't at all like "works" if you love reading. The lectures are discussions of the texts you read led by Professor Jaurretche essentially. Some of the texts include Dracula, Juno and the Paycock, Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, portions of Ulysses and Finnegans Wake, Yeats' poems, and Waiting for Godot. Professor Jaurretche is knowledgeable and kind and reachable.

Unlike other writing classes with fixed topics, Professor Jaurretche revolves her style around Los Angeles, allowing the course to cater to students' interests. The topic is fascinating, so I enjoyed the class a lot. The class started with the background and history of Los Angeles and required students to explore Los Angeles River as a group, then write about their observations. Then, you will focus more on your research paper on any topics you are interested in. Afterward, you will be assigned to a group (based on your personal paper's interest) to use the library's artifacts in crafting your final group paper and presentation. Lastly, you will have the final essay on the readings due in the last class period.

In terms of workload, it is reasonable but could be overwhelming for people not used to intensive reading and writing classes. The number of assignments in total could be a lot relative to other writing classes, with short reading reflections, one annotated bibliography, three individual papers, one group paper, and one group presentation. Professor Jaurretche is a sweet person, and I do not think she is a harsh grader from my experiences. She gave a lot of helpful comments for improving my essay, and she is very responsive, so it is easy to contact her. Overall, I enjoyed this class and would recommend it to anyone who wants to take Writing I to take it with her.

The professor definitely appreciates showing interest. Class was mostly centered on editing draft work as a whole class, which is not the worst pedagogical approach, but does require students to resist embarrassment. When I took the class, it was themed around the National Park system, and the readings ranged from uninteresting to feeling vaguely racist.