This class was not conducive to learning or critical thinking at all. Prof Hyde would just go through her slides every day giving us her own analysis of the text which she would then verbatim ask for on the exams. In terms of difficulty, it was easy but not worth it. I love American literature and was so excited to be engaging in discussion about these authors/works I absolutely adore, but this class was so incredibly monotonous and boring that I dreaded going every week! Doing the absolute bare minimum and getting an A or at least an A- was very do-able. She was a very accommodating professor when it came to work-load and extenuating circumstances like a pandemic, but the class itself didn't push my thinking or help me grow very much. I personally was pretty disappointed.

I am a South Campus major and took this class as a GE. I have never really took interest or appreciated American Literature until I took this class! Professor Hyde definitely knows her stuff and is VERY PASSIONATE about not only what the class curriculum means to her, but what it means to her students. She is very flexible with the readings and treats the class as colleagues where she encourages the class to help structure some aspects of the syllabus and is very understanding of our student lives outside the classroom so during finals or midterms she is willing to restructure some of the more demanding assignments. Weekly responses on readings are doable and she leaves room for busy schedules. Biggest grade is the final paper, but no need to worry-- the grade is broken down into outline, peer-review, and final paper--of which is all worked on within the quarter so you can save the night-before essay for another class ! Overall, great class and would take again!

I had a particularly rough fall quarter 2019, so I decided to take English 80 in Winter just for the sake of my mental health/to ENJOY a class for once. I heard nothing but great things about this class and Professor Hyde, and I was not disappointed. Carrie is a legend. Her outfits? Iconic. Her mind? So powerful. Her lectures? Engaging and well-prepared. I find that I like 50 minute lecture classes more than 75 minute lectures, but never once was I bored or sleepy in her class - the lectures, though longer and filling up the entirety of class time, were so well prepared. Prof. Hyde clearly knows her stuff and is so passionate and you can't help but feel passionate about literature too when she's talking.
Overall, the reading seems like a LOT on the syllabus, but it's actually pretty manageable and broken down into a fair workload. The midterm was super easy in my opinion (I definitely think that being a good writer in this class helps a lot, but I think someone for whom writing is not a strong suit could still make it through, as Carrie and the TA's offer a ton of help on writing.). The final paper, though high stakes, comes with plenty of opportunities to check with TA's and peers and make it the best possible piece of writing, so you really have no reason to be worried about it unless you don't take those opportunities. Our final was online due to COVID (which Prof. Hyde was very kind and flexible in dealing with and had an admirable response to), and overall I left the class feeling great. Yes, it's easy to get an A if you do the work that is expected of you, but it's not an easy-A class in that you feel like you barely did anything to earn it. I left the class feeling like I learned a lot about how to close-read and with a new appreciation for literature.
Overall, Prof. Hyde is one of my favorite professors and this is one of my favorite classes at UCLA. Would highly recommend to anyone regardless of major. I'm south campus but I would gladly take another English class to learn from Carrie again :)

I LOVE PROF. HYDE! She is not an "easy" professor per say, but her lectures are incredibly engaging, assignments are educational (no busy work), and her presentations are super thought-provoking. While attendance is mandatory, she allows 2 no-questions asked absences and encourages communication with TAs about scheduling concerns.

She often reinforces that this class is designed to reward hard work, and while there the bulk of the grade is based on writing, it's all super do-able, especially if you're already a good writer. In-class participation is important, but everyone talks and it's super low stakes (even I talk and I hate public speaking). There are weekly discussion posts based on analyzing a quote from that week's reading but you only need to do 7 of them of your choosing, and they are only max. 250 words. The tests are all passage I.D.s which is easy since all the readings are very different from one another. Then, there is one main paper that is broken up into smaller pieces throughout the quarter which makes it manageable.

Hyde is super amenable to student feedback and will change the schedule to accommodate student lives. Time flies in this class, and I strongly recommend it!

I highly recommend taking this professor. She is very passionate about her field of study and is exceptionally dedicated to engaging her students into thought provoking discussions and material. I also very much appreciated that all of the readings were provided on one pdf document. The only reading that required purchasing was less than $10. Overall, learned a lot without stressing. Definitely would take again!

Professor Hyde is very knowledgeable about the topic she teaches and she often adjusts the intimidating reading schedule to meet the students demands, more than often not completely removing material because it may feel too rushed. Her exams are not tricky, she makes sure to go over exactly what she will be asking on the exam and she wants students to do well so she even lets you vote on topics that could be covered on the exam. Participation is necessary, as in any class, to get the most whole experience and engage with the teaching staff and content thoroughly to value your work in the class. If you fall behind on the readings it isnt impossible to catch up if its not a novella. The one essay of the class is designed to be a ongoing process in which your work evolves with the perputual guidance of TAs and students.