This class was a rollercoaster for me. As previous reviews have noted, there are really no assignments other than the midterm, the essay, and the final. The midterm was difficult. We were asked to write an analytical essay on a poem we have never seen within 1.5 hours. We never went over writing analytical essays, so all the students kind of went in bad. I came out of the exam not very confident and was extremely surprised when I had received a A+. A few weeks later in week 9, a 6-8 page paper on a poem was due. I was super proud and confident that I did well - I got a C. At this point, this class became frustrating as we weren't being graded on what we were learning. In lecture, we went over poems in a seminar style - not once going over any techniques. Going into the final, I was scared. We were asked to basically memorize 100 pages on poetry and asnwer questions on them on top of writing 2 essays within the three hours. After the final, I was convinced I had failed. This class that I was acing through 9 weeks felt like it just suplexed me and my GPA into the ground. A class that required little no no effort that was going to give me a C really pissed me off. I check myUCLA during spring break and my official grade is marked as an A. Professor never told us about any curve or the grade distribution. I still don't even know my final. I have to reccomend this class as an GE becuase it is by all definitions an easy A, but a surprsing one, if that makes sense.

Dickey is a sweetheart who really cares about his class. You can feel his passion in every lecture. The midterm was easy but the final was hard. The essay you get from day one so you have time to start early and can't be mad when the due date comes around in like week 8. The class didn't teach me how to write poetry like I wanted but it did grow my appreciation for the art.

Selling book for $20:
Norton Anthology of Poetry Fifth Edition by Ferguson, Salter, and Stallworthy.
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Dickey is easily the best professor I've had at UCLA yet. His lectures were so fascinating and you really got the feeling that he wanted to know what we thought in discussions. As long as you review the readings beforehand the midterm/final are completely manageable. I would recommend this class to anyone.

Professor Dickey is incredible. Engaging lecturer, kind, expands so much beyond the material, truly made Shakespeare fun. The quizzes were a bit hard but he graded them extremely leniently. The final paper and exam were fair. Dickey is very approachable, never makes you feel unwelcome or dumb in your ideas, and does not force participation. He is super helpful in OH and always willing to give feedback on your quizzes or paper should you seek it.

I was intimidated at the beginning of this class because I had limited knowledge of Shakespeare and had only previously read a couple of plays back in high school. By the end of the quarter, I felt like an expert and was much more comfortable sharing and explicating. Lectures were also often funny, Dickey has a great and subtle sense of humor and did not always run the full two hours. I would 100% take this class again, or any other class with Dickey for that matter. I highly recommend!

This class is a really fun and engaging class. Professor Dickey is a great lecturer who structures his lectures more like an open discussion, where the students are able to talk about the readings. The class covers about 12 or so plays, with some of the big ones being Hamlet, Comedy of Errors, and The Oresteia. There is not much actual work in this class besides the readings, which are usually about a play or two a week, and the actually graded assignments are just comprised of the Midterm, Final Paper, and Final. Would recommend to take this GE, especially with Professor Dickey.

Professor Dickey is THE MAN! This guy is one of the best lecturers I have had at UCLA, and he does such a fantastic job illuminating the plays he teaches. His lectures are really chill and conversational, and so often he's just downright hilarious. He is also insanely knowledgeable about Shakespeare, and can quote so many lines off the top of his head. Even if you aren't into English, take Dickey for your literature GE. You'll walk away appreciating literature far more, as well as having met an absolute G.

Professor Dickey is a sweetheart, but his lectures aren't the most engaging, structured or insightful. There were some really good classes and blackboard notes, but I do wish he had more notes, pointers, resources for each play as it felt like we were rushing through all of them and barely skimming each text. Would say that the class is on the easier side for an English class.

This class was great, although there were some not so great things. Lectures were super engaging and Dickey is super funny. There was small amounts of things that were actually due-- we had to read two plays a week (100+ pages) that were very tedious and I ended up watching them instead of reading. There was a midterm, paper, and final. All I did to prepare for the tests was reread the plays and go over notes from lecture, I feel like as long as you pay attention and write down a lot of stuff, the class will go well. I got a 96 on the midterm, a B- on the paper, and idk on the final and ended with an A in the class. Highly recommend!

Dickey is old-fashioned. No slides, no lecture outline, he just starts talking and jumps from subject to subject within the plays. Lectures are informative but very laid back. He draws really great character diagrams on the chalkboard, will play Elizabethan-era music, and has really good ideas. Early plays is a great course, you learn to enjoy the Shakespearian English, everyone in your class is super smart, and it's a fun time — the group performances especially. The reading is a lot but I liked the quizzes and the final, I thought they were good tests of our knowledge, he's a fair grader as well. My number one recommendation to you is to ask questions during class. The man is a Shakespeare encyclopedia. My most memorable moment in class was when I asked, "How did Shakespeare even come up with this genius plot conflict of a pound-of-flesh bond?" and he replied, "The answer is he didn't." That really blew my mind, and he proceeded on a really interesting tangent about the Italian short stories Shakespeare had read that influenced him and how he took some elements of their plots which make up many of the plot points in the Merchant of Venice. I would have loved more tangents like this from him, he's very clever and very witty. My consensus is Dickey is best for the comedies and Prof. Watson is best for the tragedies. Dickey loves the histories, but not many of the students care for them. I will give the disclaimer that people on Bruinwalk hail him as an extremely engaging lecturer, and that's not what I got in my experience, sometimes class could be boring, but point-blank he's an interesting guy and he's great to learn from. As I said, feel free to ask away about a text or really anything Shakespeare-related, he'll make it informative and a good part of the class. He teaches his special topics on Shakespeare adaptations, which I've heard is very good, I might take that with him as an elective. If you are interested, there's a great resource called, Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare and I think it's fantastic when it comes to the crazy amounts of Greek mythology referenced in Shakespeare's plays. (http://library.lol/main/5A63C986FAB1EC1CB8FBCDFA157CB3AD) — you can get it there if you're interested or borrow it from the Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/asimovsguidetosh00asim/page/n7/mode/2uphttps://archive.org/details/asimovsguidetosh00asim/page/n7/mode/2up) for some nice analog yellow-colored pages instead of hideous white pdf ones. Finding a text with good footnotes is hard and expensive, I recommend using libgen.is to get the Cliffs full-text version of the play, which has in-line footnotes as opposed to the bottom of the page in cramped print. But some folks really like a paperback so go with what you're comfortable with.