As someone who thinks they're very good at writing, I got an A- in this class. Granted I didn't spend enough time on my essays but I guess if you REALLY try you can get an A, otherwise u might get anywhere from B to A-. So be preapred.

Professor Kipen was one of the most passionate teachers I have ever had. He actually cares so much about writing and is so knowledgable on writers and different works. Like someone else on here said, he cares so much that he made me want to try hard on my essays. He definitely can be hard on you, but he's just trying to improve you as a writer. Class just included 3 essays that weren't too terrible. Pretty light for a Writing II.

I HIGHLY recommend taking this class with Professor Kipen. He is by far the best professor I've ever had. He has a good sense of humor and he really encourages you to be creative and take risks in your writing and he made me fall more in love with creative writing.

LOVED!! (took online through zoom fall 2021)
No tests, quizzes, or textbooks.
3 papers: 1 page of diary entries, 5 pages about your home town (midterm), 7 pages about an author you read during the quarter (final).
Participation is VERY important! It's a small class of about 25.
Heres how a typical class would go: a few (usually lengthy) readings are assigned and you have to bring one quote from any of them to talk about. Usually you want to personally connect with it and share why you connect with it or you just point out the metaphor/simile/personification and why it heightens the reading overall. He expects you to read all of them but it's very easy to skim until you find one quote without anyone knowing. After about 30 minutes of discussing quotes, he switches to a writing assignment for the rest of class. It's super easy usually just 1 or two sentences about a prompt he gives you. Everyone reads their writing while he critiques it and then class is over.
Kipen is SUPER nice and understanding, if you are funny with him he will be funny right back! The key to passing his class is taking in his critiques and growing as a writer (which will surprisingly happen naturally.) I would take another class with him in a heartbeat!

Professor Kipen is a very interesting guy. He is a pretty funny character, and has a lot of passion for writing and his students. His class will definitely make you a more confident writer and will have you thinking critically on a higher level. The amount of creativity that his class has to offer is incredible. My fall quarter was shaped around his own book, Dear California, and was a very easy read. Each class session, you are expected to email a quote from his book and write a couple sentences about a rhetorical question he asks you. Pretty easy participation points on your part, but be creative and go beyond your comfort zone because he will share your response in front of the whole classroom. For the papers, he grades hardly. He doesn’t give out any easy A’s at all, so you have to work very hard to get to that point. He starts many of you and your classmates below an A- or B+ on your first paper, and you are to use his feedback to build up to an A. All you have to do is write 3 essays: a diary, a argumentative essay, and a research paper about two authors. I really loved writing in this class more than ever before because his paper prompts are very creative and he gives you no rubric, allowing you to write in your own creative way. Lastly, professor Kipen is a very helpful and open guy, as he is willing to helping you improve as a writer inside and outside of the classroom. But, be ready to get lost a couple of times because his clarity isn’t the best when he gives feedback or direction; it kind of is a bizarre combination of a theme statement and a comment. That’s my honest review :)

Professor Kipen's class is great if English is not your forte - he really pushes you to go above and beyond in your writings, even in our biweekly in-class mini prompts. The class begins with talking about the reading assignment and ends with a writing prompt, but the majority of class time is listening to Professor Kipen talk. His grading is fair, gives great advice on how to improve for the next paper and is honest about any feedbacks.

This class was just horrible. This class was so disorganized as well as making it very boring to go through. His grading was harsh and also gave very vague feedback. I had read the previous reviews for this class and they didn't make the class out to be so bad, but once you're in it, it's definitely not at all what the reviews make it out to be. I just finished this class last spring of 2022 and I recommend trying to avoid this professor at all costs if you can. I used to love writing essays but taking this class made me feel small and tanked my confidence in writing. My friends took the same class with different professors and got easy A's. Also, if you don't participate very often, he WILL call on you and participation is a huge part of your grade and impacts your grade a lot as well as the essays.

Alright, let me tell you about Professor Kipen for EngComp 3. This dude is something else! He's got this amazing energy and passion that radiates in the classroom. You can tell he genuinely loves the subject and wants the absolute best for his students. Brace yourself, though, because he can be a tough grader.

Professor Kipen's class can be a bit of a challenge. He sets the bar high and expects you to reach it. He pushes you to think critically, analyze deeply, and come up with your own ideas. It's not always easy, but trust me, it's worth it. You'll come out of his class having improved in your writing.

He wants you to become a better writer, a better communicator. So yeah, it might sting a bit when you get your papers back, but it's a learning experience. Plus, when you see that improvement, it's a great feeling.

All in all, Professor Kipen is an awesome instructor. He's charismatic, passionate, and he genuinely cares about his students' success. You'll learn so much from him. Just be ready for some challenges along the way. But trust me; it's totally worth it. Take a class with Professor Kipen, you will not regret it. Plus, he reads all his bruin walk reviews, make of that what you will...

Prof. Kipen was by far one of the most unique and intriguing characters I have ever met. A guy so consumed in his passions that it oozes out of him every minute you are in the same room. While at times, the content of the class was quite dry, it introduced me to a completely different type of writing and to some rather under recognized authors. I'd highly recommend this class if you have a true interest in bettering your writing.

I took Professor Kipen's English5W class last year and I truly think he's changed the way I approach writing forever. Overall his lecture was engaging and fairly easy all because he is so passionate about what he talks about. The entirety of this class is centred around one focal topic that Kipen himself has been studying his entire life. Before this class was not a fan of most writing classes, but Professor Kipen encouraged us to write how we want to write and I really gravitated this his approach. The essays he assigns during the quarter focus on the singular topic of the class but feel generally broad enough to leave you room to write something you're passionate about. However, the final paper was somewhat tedious but overall doable. If you're looking for a teacher who's truly passionate about his class and students, I would highly recommend this class.