Definitely recommend this class, the theme was very interesting and Prof Mattenson is super understanding and insightful

Um…don’t take this class. Is it terrible? No. But I’m positive you can find a better English class. The professor is nice and understanding, but she’ll expect so much from you. She encourages you to use this class as an opportunity to explore different aspects of your voice in your writing, but will grade pretty harshly either way. Some of her notes did not make sense to me and there were a lot that I simply did not agree with. You basically have to deconstruct the way you write normally to appease this teacher for the quarter, which wasn’t ideal (and you do write quite a bit). You don’t know your grade until the very end. It literally is the biggest wild card. There is also a presentation. All in all, it’s a whatever class. There’s better out there.

Overall Lauri is a nice teacher she just expects so much from her students that it feels like you have to please her. I dreaded getting my grade for this class because it was literally a wild card you don't know how you're doing in the class because she doesn't let you see your grade. She says she knows we care about grades but that she doesn't believe in them and she just wants to see us improve and not care so much about the grade we have. She expects you to know the material and do the readings and watch the videos because there is a lot of in-class participation and group work that is due before class ends. There were a couple of times at the beginning of the quarter when I noticed she gave me attitude or was rude even though I didn't do anything or was simply trying to talk to her but that changed as she got to know me more and we talked one on one. She says she cares about her students a lot, so if she thinks you need extra help or guidance, she will let you know she wants to meet with you privately and talk about your work. In my opinion, she really wants to see you go out of your way to see how you're doing or get her opinion on your writing before you get into the essays. She can be very picky and would just go at every line and make you clarify or ask you questions about everything you talk about. She basically wants you to forget about everything you've already learned about writing and do things the way she liked. I cannot stress this enough, she will ask you to be VERY specific in your writing about literally everything. She doesn't like clichés or just writing to meet a word count. She wants to see you write about what you actually think of the material. She has very high expectations. At first, I thought she was too much but she really does want to see you and your writing improve. Everyone learns differently so take all of this into consideration before taking her class.

If you want an "easy A" then I don't recommend taking this class to satisfy your writing 1 requirement; Lauri, the professor, even mentioned in one of our lectures not to take this class if you are looking for an "easy A". Instead, she values the growth of a student's writing and places less emphasis on the grades they get for assignments. If she sees you grow, as both a writer and a speaker, she will grade you according to the immense growth she saw in you.

Coming into her class, I thought I was a good writer, but our first midterm essay showed me that I still had a lot to learn and improve. She also loves when you have scheduled office hours with her and will work with you to find not only the grammatical errors but also unnecessary phrasing or broad stroke ideas, which were problems I honestly was not aware of in my midterm essay. She has a great personality and is understanding and empathetic to the incoming freshmen who are getting used to college. Also, PARTICIPATION matters! if you have a problem with speaking in front of a class, maybe do not take this class. I was participating in her class constantly, and I kind of felt like my participation helped me get the grade I got because of what I brought to the table. If you can get out of your comfort zone, then you will see that participating in her class is actually quite fun!

She also does a quarterly topic that her class will focus on. My quarter's topic was the value of stand-up comedy, which was an unorthodox topic but was fascinating and cool to talk and discuss about. If you want to take her class, just be aware of the topic she is doing for the quarter as it could determine whether or not you want to take this class. And honestly, I feel like the different topics she does quarterly will affect how she teaches or instructs her class. For my quarter, we just watched a lot of Netflix shows and did a lot of in-class discussions about what we watched.

Would I recommend you take her class? Yes, if you do want to improve as a writer in your future courses at UCLA. Otherwise, I wouldn't take her class just because her grading is much more critical, and there are easier English teachers you can get an A in. Also, she doesn't have a grading rubric (b/c again, she doesn't value grades) so you are going in blind when doing your essays.

Lauri was awesome! The class was about analyzing stand up comedy, so it requires a Netflix account. But theres only two essays plus discussion posts, and she gives super helpful feedback on both of those. She's funny, kind and definitely worth taking,

I would totally recommend this class. Professor Mattenson is the best Professor I have ever had. She is so kind and so helpful, she will never be rude and is always open minded. The class load is not too bad but do make sure to read all the readings and watch all the shows as they are essential for participation points and for doing good in essays. Make sure to participate during class and discussion forum because it counts a lot for your grade but it's not too bad. The class is very interesting and Professor Mattenson really helped my writing skills improve and my idea of how an essay should really be written.

I took this class online because of covid-19 but I didn't mind the online platform! Lauri is such a sweet person and really wants you to succeed, meaning that she's 100% willing to give you the help that you need. There were only two essays this quarter, one around week 5 and then the final paper; she dropped one of the papers we were supposed to do because of election season (she understood how stressful it could be). The class is centered around the social, educational, and political value of comedy, and honestly I feel like my eyes were truly opened to what comedy is really about. I loved the discussions we had in class (which is for the most part what we did in class, discuss the shows and articles that go with them so make sure to keep up), everyone was so welcoming and nonjudgmental. I really recommend taking this class, it was enlightening and I feel like my writing really improved, plus I had more freedom to write the way I wanted to.

I took this class virtually during COVID

This class is incredible. Lauri is such a caring and genuine person and it really shows in this class. A lot of the work is watching Netflix comedy shows and then reading documents that go along with a general theme of comedy. Then you discuss in class. Talking in discussion forums on CCLE was important, and then we had a couple papers we wrote that made up a majority of our grade. She gives very honest and blunt feedback. It seems hurtful and it is really difficult to learn to take criticism and reconstruct your hard work; however, Lauri has improved my writing for the better. I would definitely recommend taking this class to get your diversity and writing I requirement!

This class was absolutely amazing!!!!! Dr. Lauri is an absolute gem. She is so thoughtful, helpful, and gives you so much one on one attention. I took this class online but it was so amazing!!! You learn so much, and your worldview changes so much. I am not even into English , but I would take this class over and over again.

I LOVE this professor. She really cares about her students, and offers tons of advice for those who need help. I came a little nervous to this class since English isn't my strong-suit, but Professor Mattenson's class made writing fun. I thoroughly enjoyed this class and would take her again!