I was scared from reading the past reviews on Dr. Fretz, but I have to say I really like her. As others have said your grade is really based on 3 papers.

The first papers analyzes a short story. The second paper is a love story from someone in your family. And the third one is just combining your second paper with other people in your group. There are reading logs which are easy if you follow her format that she gives in the beginning of class.

You don't really have to get the books you require. I rented them and we barely used them. She does expect you to write and submit your revised drafts,but I think every edit you do just helps you paper get better. Just change the things she tells you to change and it'll be an easy A.

Selling: A Writer's Reference by Dianna Hacker and Nancy Sommers for $40.00
CONDITION: Inside is BRAND NEW- No writing, highlighting, or tears. Cover is only slightly worn. Satisfaction GUARANTEED! I'm on campus all year, so text me at ********** or email me at ************* and we can meet up

Selling: Writing and Being (Second Edition) by Lynn Nelson for $10.00
CONDITION: Inside is BRAND NEW- No writing, highlighting, or tears. Cover is only slightly worn. Satisfaction GUARANTEED! I'm on campus all year, so text me at ********** or email me at ************* and we can meet up!

Selling: They Say/ I Say (Third Edition) on BruinWalk for $25.00
CONDITION: NEW- It's in absolutely perfect shape: No writing, highlighting, or tears. I'm on campus all year, so text me at ********** or email me at ************* and we can meet up!

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You get the grade you work for in this class. She is very very straightforward in what she expects. If you can follow directions, you will get an A+ in her class.

I found Dr. Fretz to be a genuinely kind lady. Yes, the workload can be plentiful at times, but it's manageable.

Your grade is almost entirely based on the three essay you write in the quarter. She is a pretty tough grader, marking you off for seemingly small errors. However, she gives you detailed comments on what you did wrong and how to improve.

She will eventually schedule one on one sessions with you so as to discuss in person what work there is to be done. I found her to be extremely approachable, as she comes off as legitimately caring about her students.

I see so many negative reviews on Dr. Fretz, but I really didn't encounter too many negatives when I took her class.

I actually really enjoyed Dr. Fretz. Yes, she is demanding and expects you to do your work just like every other professor you will have at UCLA. Just get on her good side, do your work, and she will love you! She also offers a lot of help so go to office hours!

Selling textbooks for her class if interested! :) message at ************* or call/text at **********
And I do recommend taking her class. It's a great class!

Dr. Fretz is honestly one of the nicest teachers I have had in college. If you treat her with respect and actually try in this class, she will give you the respect you deserve as a student and I promise you will gain so much out of english comp! I can't even explain how much this class taught me! I considered myself a good writer before college, but taking this class made me a great writer. I have improved SOO much with my essays (from building a strong thesis, to making my transitions flow, to forming conclusions, to making quote sandwiches that support my argument, etc) that even though the work load may have been heavy, it definitely paid off in the end. Knowing how to write a powerful, well-written essay is one of the most valuable things to know in college, so I say definitely take Dr. Fretz's class because you WILL learn and grow as a writer. Just some words of advice coming into the class though:

-manage your time (there will be three essays in this class, write them well and make sure you have lots of time to spend on them while also making time for your other classes.)
-participate in class (you will get so much out of it)
take the reading logs seriously (they will help you so much with your essays)
-visit a writing tutor for all of the three essays
-trust Dr. Fretz's process, it may seem tedious, but she is a very intelligent woman with lots of knowledge and knows what she is doing
-keep a positive attitude! the class can be so much fun if you get into it, stop freaking out about the workload and just get excited about the work you are doing. After all, we are in college to learn new things
-Visit office hours! Dr. Fretz is so nice and you can really see that during office hours. Get to know her! She has an amazing life story.
-Take advantage of the journal Dr. Fretz has you write in. It may seem like a hassle at first, but writing in my journal was one of my favorite parts about the class. Making time for you and your thoughts is so important, especially in college, so definitely take advantage of that freedom you have to explore your mind as you write. Write lists, goals, your worries, what makes you happy, free writes for essays, and even doodle. It is the best.

Going back to Dr. Fretz as a person, regardless of what these other reviews say, Dr. Fretz is so sweet and truly cares about the betterment of your writing. Not only that, but she loves all her students and wants them all to succeed. All of the classes are valuable, and Dr. Fretz goes above and beyond in supporting her students. She is in no way a racist, and I am really confused about what these other reviews are referring to. If anything, she is genuinely interested in learning about other races and cultures since her theme for the class was "love stories in different cultures," which I found really interesting. So yes, the workload will be heavy, but remember the things I said earlier, and it will all pay off. At the end of the quarter, Dr. Fretz bought us all pizza with her own money (what other teacher does that?!) and had us give compliments to one another on our essays that we had worked so hard on. It was so thoughtful, and really reveals how much she cares about us. She also said that she is there to help her students even after they leave the class (with written statements in job applications, graduate school essays, etc) so I feel really lucky to have had her as a teacher. As I left the last day of class, a group of her students and I were talking about this and they all agreed with me. However, most people who write reviews are the people with negative things to say, so I thought I needed to say how I felt.

All things considered, take the class if you are willing to put in the time. You will learn so much. :)

I had Dr. Fretz for English Comp 3 for Spring 2012. I had read the reviews on here and walked in extremely nervous because I was expecting a whole load of work and a whole load of stress along with an unreasonably insensitive professor. However, I think this class ended up being my favorite class of the quarter. The theme of her class IS ethnography since that is what her research is on.
Basically, the class consists of three papers, journal entries, and a few other assignments here and there. You are required to purchase your own journal and at the end of the course you are graded on how many pages you used in your journal. Simple enough, and very easy to get points. You don't even have to write full entries. You can just doodle and it'll count. It actually helped me a lot. The journal helped me destress and clear up my head.
And when it came to the three papers, the first essay is very simple and very straightforward. No one gets an A on the first one. In my class, the theme was love stories. So the second essay was an ethnographic paper on a love story from a person in your family. The ethnographic skills that she teaches you is actually very useful. I used her style for another paper of mine and got an A+ on it. And on the third and final paper of the course, you collaborate with someone with kind of an opposite ethnic background than you and you kind of integrate your papers together into one cohesive one.
She's not exactly racist like a lot of these reviews say. In my class, she only made one insensitive remark but it wasn't even that bad. It was pretty harmless if anything. She's very nice to talk to in office hours and is a very knowledgeable professor. I do recommend taking her.

THIS IS AN ETHNOGRAPHY CLASS!!!
DO NOT TAKE! UCLA has a whole bunch of REALLY REALLY REALLY EASY English Composition teachers. WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU WANT TO SKREW UP YOUR FIRST CLASS IN COLLEGE WITH THIS?!!????? Remember this.

I took Dr. Fretz during the summer of my freshmen year.
She has 3 papers during the fall. 2 during the summer. That is for the most part your grade.

1. An ethnographic paper about some reading you have to do in class.
2. She pairs you up with a classmate. And you write a paper about your parents ethnography (Ethnic story).
3. Ethnographic Movie

If your taking this class it is because you are trying to do your Writing I requirement. I got a 3 on AP english and that's probably why your here too. Meaning, the people who take this class have bad or undeveloped English skills. As a result, do not expect the best papers. Rather, the papers that the students write are sapphires in the rough. BUT she doesn't know that. She thinks that everyone has good writing skills and LOVES ethnography so would have passion for it. I know for a fact that everyone in my class (but one person) dreaded the class with passion. Nobody learned English in this class. We just do ethnography and annoying journals.

I would describe more about this teacher, but unfortunately, thankfully, I scratched out that horrible experience I had in her class from my memory.

But,
BOTTOM LINE:
DO NOT TAKE!

I took her class Fall 2011, and it was the smoothest transition from high school writing. She helps you become a smart writer.. and teaches you how to write an ethnography.. if you don't already know, it's a type of research paper that you can use throughout your UCLA career and finish an extremely hard paper very easily.
As for Eng Comp 3, the first essay has a REWRITE yes A REWRITE IN COLLEGE, the 2nd essay also has a rewrite.. OR you have a choice to drop both the first and second essays and make your final paper grade your grade in the class.. so there's always hope of an A even till week 10.
Take her class.. Boost your GPA.

SHE IS A MUTHERFUCKEN BITCH. SUPER RACIST. SUCH A PHONY. AVOID HER AT ALL COST.TAKE HER IF U WANNA GET FUCKED.