I have taken Professor Dickey three times, and he really shines in the 142C setting. This class does not have a TA, so Dickey is really involved and interested in your work and understanding of the material. It's a really unconventional, fun class and he changes the topic frequently, so I can't really comment on the structure or process of the course. The one I took was titled "Shakespeare: Sources and Offshoots" and we examined the original source material for a few Shakespearean plays. No midterm or final, just a 10 pg paper and a really laid-back presentation. Just about any class with Dickey should be really interesting, but he has mentioned that seminars and 142C are among his favorites, so you'd benefit from seeing him in his element. He's a fair grader, so as long as you go to class, take notes and at least try a little, you should get nothing lower than a B+.

Professor Dickey is very knowledgeable and I definitely enjoyed that he made the class very interactive. Going to class is important since he loves to give out quizzes. I liked that his papers topics were on very short passages, thus forcing students to really close read. The only problem I had was that he didnt' have too much structure with the TAs. I had Holly Moyer and I'm telling you now AVOID HER AT ALL COSTS. She's condescending, takes forever to answer e-mails and is a very harsh grader. She wants graduate level work but doesn't work with her students to achieve this. Other than that, it was a good class and as long as you read the final was pretty simple.

Meh, I find the lectures superficial. I haven't taken 142B yet but, I feel like we could get more invested in the text than we do. I also feel like opposing readings are not welcome in the class, which is fine but then why ask for student input? In fact, I wish there would be less student input and more stimulating lecture. That being said, it isn't a terrible class, just not as exciting as I was hoping for...