Professor
Richard Ellis
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2024 - Personally this class wasn't my cup of tea. This might not be the GE for you if you want something with minimal commitment since there is a lot of reading. I only kept up the first half of the quarter (pre-midterm) and after that the reading became too much for me. After the first midterm I completely stopped reading since the readings just got longer and harder to follow. Fortunately, Professor Ellis made the final optional and cancelled a term paper due to the strikes. I fortunately passed with a 91% solely based off a group project (which is easy) and the midterm. From what I have observed the people who consistently enjoyed the material and knew what was going on were people who already dabbled in mythology before. Professor Ellis isn't a bad lecturer by any means, he kinda looks like an older Andrew Garfield and he's British if that's an incentive to anyone (his photo here on Bruinwalk doesn't serve him justice IMO) and my TA Emma was really cool and made people feel welcomed. This might be a very easy GE for you if you enjoy reading and go to his lectures everyday, but again, as someone who had 3 other demanding STEM classes, this class became a drag for me and I was only lucky in the given circumstances.
Spring 2024 - Personally this class wasn't my cup of tea. This might not be the GE for you if you want something with minimal commitment since there is a lot of reading. I only kept up the first half of the quarter (pre-midterm) and after that the reading became too much for me. After the first midterm I completely stopped reading since the readings just got longer and harder to follow. Fortunately, Professor Ellis made the final optional and cancelled a term paper due to the strikes. I fortunately passed with a 91% solely based off a group project (which is easy) and the midterm. From what I have observed the people who consistently enjoyed the material and knew what was going on were people who already dabbled in mythology before. Professor Ellis isn't a bad lecturer by any means, he kinda looks like an older Andrew Garfield and he's British if that's an incentive to anyone (his photo here on Bruinwalk doesn't serve him justice IMO) and my TA Emma was really cool and made people feel welcomed. This might be a very easy GE for you if you enjoy reading and go to his lectures everyday, but again, as someone who had 3 other demanding STEM classes, this class became a drag for me and I was only lucky in the given circumstances.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2016 - Your grade is completely dependent upon your TA. If you take this class with a friend and their TA seems chill, switch sections because mine was a hardass and graded as such. Ellis is is a quirky British dude who is very knowledgeable about the material and very approachable. His lectures are good but frankly boring unless you care about ancient Greece. He is lowkey pretty funny too because some of the stories the class deals with are plain outlandish. The grading scheme is different than most Writing 2 classes; You have three essays due throughout the quarter but you get a provisional grade on these. Your final grade is mostly dependent upon a "portfolio" you turn in finals week. This portfolio consists of two of the three essays you wrote (you choose the two) that have substantial revisions from the initial copies you turned in and a two-page commentary explaining your changes and why you chose those essays. All in all this class is one of the better Writing 2s imho but be weary of your TA
Winter 2016 - Your grade is completely dependent upon your TA. If you take this class with a friend and their TA seems chill, switch sections because mine was a hardass and graded as such. Ellis is is a quirky British dude who is very knowledgeable about the material and very approachable. His lectures are good but frankly boring unless you care about ancient Greece. He is lowkey pretty funny too because some of the stories the class deals with are plain outlandish. The grading scheme is different than most Writing 2 classes; You have three essays due throughout the quarter but you get a provisional grade on these. Your final grade is mostly dependent upon a "portfolio" you turn in finals week. This portfolio consists of two of the three essays you wrote (you choose the two) that have substantial revisions from the initial copies you turned in and a two-page commentary explaining your changes and why you chose those essays. All in all this class is one of the better Writing 2s imho but be weary of your TA
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