I loved this class! Lauri is an awesome professor and you can tell she really cares about her students. Homework includes watching 1-2 stand-up comedy routines and reading a fairly short article each week (only for the first six weeks of the course). There is a 4 page midterm paper and a 6-8 page final paper, but no tests or quizzes on the readings and videos (definitely do them though, they're the backbone of the class!) You will have to submit your notes for each video you watch, so make sure to take detailed notes with lots of analysis. Participation matters, so definitely participate in class discussions. Don't buy any materials for this course, all the readings are on CCLE and the videos are all on Netflix. Lauri is super helpful and will answer all your questions and provide feedback on your assignments before submitting them. Definitely recommend this class!

I hate English. I went into this class Winter quarter as a freshman, not knowing at all what to expect. Professor Mattenson allowed me to delve into a side of me that I did not know existed, one with potential for writing and critical analysis. She made English enjoyable to me and that is something I will never forget.

This class has been my favorite course so far at UCLA. Lauri is an amazing professor; she made this class feel like a book club rather than a stressing class. Though she did assign essays, 3 I believe, they were very straightforward. I do have to say she grades essays a little tough, but this class is definitely worth taking. I have never engaged in a class like this before. She made every single reading interesting and capturing. It was a small class of about 20 people, and we all ended up bonding over how intrigued and fascinated we were by the class discussions. If you are looking for an engaging, fun, interesting class with an amazing professor, I recommend you take this course; you will not regret it.