If I was evaluating this class only based on Dr. Smoak, I would be giving a much nicer review. The material in this course centers on Jerusalem and the biblical mythology and history surrounding it, so having prior religious education is advantageous. While I did not find the material in this course particularly interesting, Dr. Smoak was a clear lecturer and always willing to stay on Zoom after class and clarify anything that did not make sense. He was also very understanding of the unique pandemic circumstances; he extended the due dates of several papers and assignments, made the midterm and final very straightforward, and even instituted a generous curve once all grades were implemented, which is honestly the only reason I received the grade I got.
Now, in terms of workload, this course is ludicrous. On paper, it just looks like a few readings twice a week and one short response as well as two 6-8 page essays, one being a literary analysis. For a 5-unit GE Writing II course, that doesn’t seem too bad, but my TA expected an advanced comprehension of each and every article and chapter and turned every discussion section into 50 minutes of regurgitating facts, which disadvantaged anyone who was reading the stories for the first time. He marked off points without specific justification on reading responses and essays. I’m not sure if he has grasped the concept that highlighting a sentence and saying “not clear” is lazy and insufficient feedback.
Anyway, I digress. This quarter was Dr. Smoak vs. the condescending and infuriatingly aloof TAs, and Dr. Smoak won in the end. Do not listen to reviews that say that this class is easy, because it is only easy if you have a very light schedule and are a naturally good writer. I’d prefer death over taking this class again.

The organization of Professor Smoak was kind of difficult to deal with to be honest. He doesn't post the lecture slides online and most of the lecture during class is commentary on the minimal notes put on the slides that he does present, so it was difficult at time trying to figure out what to take notes on and what to ignore. This class is writing-intensive (as it is a Writing II course) including two main papers, weekly reading responses, and an in-class midterm and final.

For the weekly reading responses, they're mostly graded on completion and answering the prompt (I got 10/10 on most of them just writing boring responses). The weekly reading itself is another reason I'd dock the class on being disorganized. I didn't really know how the reading pertained to the class. He assigned weekly reading under the schedule but it wasn't mandatory so no one actually did it.

As for the in-class tests, the midterm was pretty hard and the final was super easy. His midterm had multiple concepts that weren't listed on the study guide (note: he tests on quotes where you need to know specific words to finish sentences/fill-in-the-blank which were pretty hard, so read the passages he puts on the study guide very carefully). I think he realized that the midterm was harder than he had anticipated, so the final was super easy (I got an 88 on the midterm and a 98 on the final, which was much shorter and a lot easier).

For the papers that we had to write, this would probably be my biggest gripe with the class. Professor Smoak and the TA's don't really help that much in writing these papers unless you go out of your way to ask them in office hours to elaborate. During section and lecture, they will tell you what they want to see in the essays, but will hardly give any helpful examples to follow. The prompts for the paper are broad and definitely confused me in the writing process because they had so many facets that I had to narrow down into a single thesis/paper. I eventually went to the TA's office hours to ask for help on this paper and while my writing itself didn't seem that much better/different, I guess it mirrored what HE specifically wanted to see, so I ended up clutching an A.

Terrible, terrible class with a boring professor and extremely callous TAs. The workload does not look like much when it’s on the syllabus, but once you’re actually trying to dissect what the hell the essay prompts are, you start to realize how intense this course is. Dr. Smoak wasn’t the most engaging person ever; it didn’t help that on Zoom, his more interactive slides didn’t work too well. However, I will give him credit for extending assignment deadlines, curving the class, and making the midterm and final very manageable. To do well in the class, I would recommend that you come in with significant knowledge of biblical stories (especially Genesis and the Gospels) because if you do you won’t waste time scrolling through the Bible when collecting evidence for your essays. Also, do all the readings because your TA may expect you to have read all of them in discussion. That being said, your TA kinda determines your grade in this course, so if you have a bad one, you’re kinda screwed. Don’t sign up for Aaron’s discussion section(s) because if he doesn’t like your writing, he will not give you an A no matter how hard you try. Smoak saved this class from being complete and utter trash. Know what you’re getting yourself into before you sign up.

Professor Smoak is so amazing and passionate about the content covered in his lectures! I seriously can't recommend this enough as a writing 2 class. He was very invested in our success and very accommodating if you ever stopped to talk to him after class. The content was entirely new to me like I had never read the bible so I was learning everything for the first time but it was presented in a really interesting way. He doesn't post lecture slides so you do have to show up to lectures in order to follow and prep for the midterm. TA's are super helpful for midterm prep though!! My TA did review with us and really set everyone up for success (it was also a online midterm and you had all day to start it with a time limit once started). For the final he was the absolute best prof ever and hosted a review session that made the final SO GOOD. Go seriously, if you're busy cancel plans and go to his final review session lol. As long as you communicate with your TA about your paper you will get an A! They help so much and even help with thesis crafting / structural help. There were also weekly one page essays but they were related to lecture and not difficult at all, they also helped prepare for the final paper so definitely worth putting in the effort! This was an amazing class to take for a writing 2 requirement, highly recommend with professor Smoak!

Since its Writing 2, its definitely writing intensive. He didn't post the lecture slides, so you need to come to lecture. Participation in discussions are graded. You're practically guaranteed an A though. Only 1 midterm which was completely online (which he gave you a study guide of the exact vocab and locations that would be on the exam). At his final exam review, he read us all the exact questions he would have on the final exam. There's one big 10 page essay due at the end of the quarter as well, but if you get a lot of feedback from the TAs, you'll land an A easy.

The workload for this class was very manageable. My TA was awesome but the lecture itself got a little boring at times. The class was also just a lot of history and writing rather than writing reflection and learning how to write better. It was chill and I would consider it a easier GE.

THIS IS A WRITING 2 CLASS. I didn't realize that going into it, and when I got my first draft of my final paper back I was shocked. I do recommend taking this class because it is very interesting and the professor is very passionate and engaging with the lectures, but go into it knowing this is a writing 2 class. The weekly papers aren't bad at all, nor are the tests. They are pretty much making sure you read and understood the material. The final paper, which is worth like 50%, is the thing that matters. The expect your writing to be at a publishable PhD thesis level and will grade it as such. They do have a first and second draft of the paper, so make sure to spend a lot of time on the first draft, and then spend even more time on the second draft. Overall, fun class but hard final paper. You will do fine if you spend time doing the paper and understanding the material.

Absolutely goated professor. Did the whole class a solid for the final and held an "optional review session" the night before, where he exposed the the entirety of the MCQ/SAQ test and all the answers. Super nice and helpful guy who wants you to succeed and improve throughout the quarter. There is a 8-10 page research essay due at the end of the quarter. Very manageable if you start early and go to your TA for help and suggestions. Also, if you're into history its a pretty interesting class in my opinion

Doesn't record or post lecture materials. Lectures tend to be quite long-winded and hard to understand. I would say about 15% of the material actually shows up on the test. Honestly, this class depends a lot on how hard your TA grades. In addition, the weight for each category can be a little wonky, for ex getting a 100% on your final raises your grade 1% while a point on a participation grade will raise it by 3%.

Prof Smoak is hands down one of my all time favorite professors! He is very knowledgeable on Jerusalem and creates a very engaging and though provoking curriculum. He also seems to genuinely care about his students which I think is lacking in a lot of other ucla professors. This class has a decent amount of writing and reading but given its a writing 2 class I wouldn't say its anything excessive. The main textbook is interesting but overall I feel like its not super prominent in the class and assignments mainly come from the other weekly readings, especially biblical ones.