DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT take this course at UCLA with Professor Stephan! She prides herself on making her class extremely difficult to receive an A in. If you check Bruinwalk, none of her ENGL 110T courses have students get an 'A'--just A-'s and a majority of B's. Her grading scale system is flawed as the highest percentage you can get on a homework assignment, yes homework assignment, is 95%. Right from the start, you lose 5% automatically. She does this so that everyone has a B or B+ going into the final paper which is 50% of your grade. She does not return to you a rubric or feedback on the paper just a final class grade on myucla, not even an actual grade for the paper. I took this course because the description described it as a workshop-based course for transfer students to sharpen their analytical skills--dear god was I wrong. Professor Stephan does not provide effective or even valid feedback. All of my assignments had few corrections for grammar and nothing else. You would expect a professor who decides to teach a workshop class would offer more feedback--she doesn't. She simply looks at your paper, reads it once, and comes to a conclusion of what you should get on the paper off the top of her head. She treated us transfer students as second-class students at UCLA. She gave us an entire talk about don't expect an A in this course, even though you're used to getting A's back in community college. As if our community college academia is nothing compared to UCLA. I can proudly say I learned the most about my writing and how to improve it at Community college. Professor Stephan should not be the professor to teach this course at all as she lacks the compassion and guidance to help students succeed. Because this course failed in what it sought out to do for students, I would highly recommend to elsewhere or take a different course instead of enrolling in ENGL 110T.

I left this class feeling more confused as to what is expected for "improved" writing. Her assignments were on a check/ plus check basis and I must say it does not prepare you as a writer/ is not at all supplemental for your overall grade as the final is worth 50%. I was excited for this workshop class but it seems this professor flexes on hardly anyone finishing with an A. She never kept an online grade book on myUCLA or CCLE and was bothered when students emailed to ask to see their grades, often failing to answer them at all. I would avoid this instructor at all costs and I would not* take her again. I feel less confident and more shame in writing than when I started.

Going into this class I knew I would, at the very least, enjoy the subject matter being a tremendous fan of all things Bronte. I did not expect to so fully enjoy every aspect of this class. Professor Stephan's presentation and thoughtful exploration of the novel was fresh as it was wise, as nuanced as it was grounded. She enhanced my love for Bronte and cultivated it into something greater without totally ruining that first initial and somewhat naive love I had for her books (as some deep-dive classes can). By providing us with excellent geographical, historical, and biographical context, I felt I was approaching Bronte's novels in a holistic and well-informed manner. This is not to say that Professor Stephan ever claimed to have the definitive word on the minutiae of Bronte's life, simply that there was no facet of her life or her books to which she had failed to devote some thought. This often allowed for great discussion among us which, guided by articles she provided and her own knowledge, equipped us to talk about themes and plot points on a deeper level. There was a lot of reading but that's to be expected in these single-author classes and honestly some books flew by because of how enjoyable they were. Three papers, each longer than the last which helped allow for natural progression of writing improvement as well as deeper text analysis. And then there were also weekly reading responses (only six in total though) that were not graded independently so much as they were graded for having put time into answering them. However, that being said, she proved on many occasions that she read them and would often refer to something someone had said and build off of it. I loved this class so much and hope to take more classes from Professor Stephan in the future. She was always very helpful in discussing paper topics and even spending time in class to make sure we felt prepared for them. I will say I can see how some students might have had a different experience because there seemed to be a polarizing divide between those who sat in the front and those who sat in the back (for no reason really, just an observation of general behavior). The back was almost never heard from, even despite the small-ish classroom. Sitting up front (hello, bad eyesight) really allowed me to naturally engage more and even gain a few friends who also loved sitting up front. It wasn't all rainbows and butterflies, in fact, it entailed a good amount of hard work, but I took it my first quarter as a transfer and I lived to tell the tale! Definitely recommend!

This Professor knows her stuff. This class had engaging material and covered a substantial amount of information on how to spruce up your writing. The grading system is a bit confusing but it is meant for the student to focus on improvement rather than points or percentages. What I really enjoyed about this class was the fruitful discussions that would take place after the readings. The Professor is generous with her office hours so take advantage of them for any clarity you might need.

Professor Stephan goes out of her way to choose interesting readings for this class. She even goes out of her way to incorporate new materials (she incorporated Amanda Gorman's inauguration poem, which was very cool) You never feel like you are doing busy work in this class, each reading is meaningful. English 100T is filled with interesting discussions as a class. The atmosphere is always passionate, respectful, and welcoming. I've taken multiple classes with Professor Stephan and I have found her to be flexible, understanding, and empathetic. I recommend her highly!

I think this class is great if you want to be pushed as a transfer writer. If you want an easy A, maybe take another course. You can only get back as much as you give in writing-intensive classes. Prof Stephan keeps the class interesting and is very helpful if you put in the effort. Do the readings, stay on top of the writing, and you'll be just fine.

When I first signed up for the course, I was interested; however, my interest sharply declined once I started. Professor Stephan is excellent, but her teaching methods in lectures need improvement. Every class was the same thing: listen to her talk about the novels for 2hrs as we quickly scribble notes, and that's it. There were no visual aids (besides the movie at the end of the quarter), and she wrote only a few things on the board to emphasize a point. Honestly, the class could have been great if the class was more interactive, like if she assigned us creative projects surrounding the books or had group presentations that helped us comprehend chapters or sections of the novels. Most of her essays are graded by her TAs, which means you don't only have to impress her with your writing, but one of her several TAs. The homework was HEAVY! As an English major, I expected a good amount of reading, but it was nearly 70-100 pages a night just to keep up with discussions in class. Reading 3 lengthy books within 10 weeks is not easy and almost made me almost consider changing my major from being so burnt out. I think this class helped me realize that I don't enjoy reading novels of the 19th century, and would rather read books from this one instead. Although, I finished the class with an A-, earning that grade was by no means easy.

I feel Professor Stephan has been done dirty on this website. She was extremely engaging and helpful. I do think her grading can be a bit difficult sometimes but if you're willing to put in the work then it should be pretty fair! Prof. Stephan is an incredible person and will most definitely guide you in your work and even in professional aspects. If you care deeply about getting an A+ and are not a somewhat skilled writer, maybe don't take it. But if you want helpful criticism and a kind teacher, I highly recommend. She most likely will not give you less than a B if you put in a moderate amount of work.

Professor Stephan was really engaging and had interesting lectures on Gothic Literature. She brought in very good secondary literary criticism, provided resources for essay writing & a ton of extra readings for us to have a better understanding of the vampire movement.

Tougher grader though, so attend office hours and make sure you know what her writing pet peeves are.