this is my first bruinwalk review and i just have to say that i really enjoyed this class & can't recommend it enough as a GE :) i was kind of skeptical of the class first and even considered dropping it because of the reading load, but i ended up loving it!! it made me reflect a lot on my chinese american identity and i felt like the readings resonated a lot with my parents' immigrant experiences & my own experiences!

there are weekly readings (3-4 short stories OR a novel), but you honestly don't have to do all of them if you don't have time (e.g. novels like America Is in the Heart or No-No Boy)! professor ling was kind enough to drop the midterm and final exam, which took away SO much stress because we were going to be assessed on the readings. the only time you *actually* to take the readings seriously is the group project, which consists of an in-person presentation + a discussion guide. it isn't too much work after you split it up with group members!

my TA (shoutout gabby lupola! <3) took attendance for discussion sections every week by posting a discussion board post on bruinlearn where you would write a short paragraph responding to a question. so basically, you just needed to read or know enough about the readings to be able to respond with some relevant thoughts, which was pretty easy! i would recommend going to discussion since they were so engaging + informative (and honestly fun for me), but it's no big deal if you have to miss one.

my grade mostly depended on 3 main things: the 2 short papers, the group project, & the final paper (which are all things i did on my own time), so you could honestly get by without going to class. but that being said, i would highly recommend going to lecture & discussion since the content is genuinely interesting & thought provoking!

my TA was super nice with grading for all my papers, which is why i had such a good grade in the class! the 2 short papers were kind of a struggle for me to write at first since the prompts were so broad, but they weren't bad at all and i was able to get more insight + advice from my TA :) for my final paper, i chose to wrote about my relationship with my native language (cantonese) & my cultural identity. i am someone who always worries about not being able to write enough, but once i chose a topic that i was interested in/passionate about, i reached 6 pages in no time :')

grading breakdown:
- attendance in discussion sections (15%)
- two 3-page double-spaced essays (40%; 20% for each)
- group project (15%)
- final paper of 6 double-spaced pages (30%)

feel free to email me at cjleung[at]g.ucla.edu if you have any questions about the class or would be interested in accessing my notion page (that has all my notes!) :D