During the first week of classes, I decided to change my Edgar Allan Poe class for Dr. Maniquis' class: Violence in Cultural Theory and Literature. I must say that I am very thankful that I followed my instinct! This class and Dr. Maniquis has been the most interesting class and the best professor I've ever taken at UCLA. Dr. Maniquis is the creme de la creme in the UCLA English dept. He's intimidating but this is a good thing. He interacted with us and asked us questions during class. He made us think and reflect about so many important ideas and beliefs. Of course, professors are generally intelligent, but Dr. Maniquis is beyond that! Aside from his intellect, Maniquis is very humble and he cares for his students. You can tell that he worked very hard to be where he is today, and he is truly an inspiration. He made me feel like every moment I could be learning something. One day he told us, "always take a book wherever you go, you never know one day you might get stuck in an elevator" (or something like that). Maniquis has a good sense of humor. He does not have the title of "distinguished professor" but man does he deserve it! All you need to do is sit one day in his class and hear the man speak. His lectures spark you to think, to think-- yes, you find yourself yelling "eureka!" I was often so excited with all my thoughts, questions, and ideas. I would leave his class feeling like my UCLA academic experience was actually being fulfilled. I don't even know what grade I'm going to end up getting in his class, and I can't believe I am saying this but for the first time I don't care so much for the {A} because I learn so many valuable things. If you don't take Dr. Maniquis, you're not getting your money's worth for an excellent English education at UCLA. Bravo Dr. Maniquis!!! Merci beaucoup for being such a wonderful professor.

Extremely dull professor. I will forever remember him as one of the worst English professors I have taken in UCLA.

He rambles on for hours about something that could have tersely been summarized within a couple of minutes. His lectures are disorganized, and he changes the reading material spontaneously.

This man obviously possesses intellect, but he by no means sheds any of it on his students. Instead, by talking about every single work that has ever existed relevant to the day's topic, he is more frightening and overwhelming - by no means is he inspiring.

I read a bunch of positive reviews of this professor, yet I wonder where they came from. I try to be as objective as possible, yet I do not see any of these amiable qualities in him when I took his class.

He also dislikes the use of computers in class, so I would be careful with technology, even though surfing the web seems to be the only viable option to survive the dreadful monotony of two hours babbling.

He is also extremely UNAPPROACHABLE. When going to his office hours, I came out confused and flustered. Not to mention he intimidated me enormously.