I took 160 and 161 with professor Maniquis and absolutely loved both classes! The Romantic period is the only period of English literature that I can honestly say I comprehensively understand—all thanks to professor Maniquis' genius approach to teaching. He's not about spoon-feeding you an opinionated analysis of a certain text like other professors tend to do, but about opening your mind to taking in everything and navigating through the literature of the period after having established the history and context behind the work. When you understand the psychology of the time and what has influenced the writing of these texts, you can open up any Romantic literature and be able to figure it out with the knowledge you’ve gotten from this course.

I don't know where some of the negative reviews are coming from, but my advice is to go to every lecture, pay attention and you will be amazed at how much you enjoy learning the material. I felt urged to type out almost every single word professor Maniquis lectured because everything he said was so clear, concise and worth noting.

It's usually hard to personally connect with the professor in such large classes, but that's definitely no the case with professor Maniquis. He is extremely approachable and a genuinely awesome individual—just talk to him! It doesn't have to be about the class, professor Maniquis cares about his students and takes an interest in getting to know them.

The reading for 160 was not as dense or as much as 161, but if you enjoy the Romantics, you will most likely enjoy the all of texts on the syllabus. Going to lecture is one of the best ways to prepare for the midterm and final as professor Maniquis will focus on aspects of the class that he will later test you on. The paper topics he provides give you just enough flexibility to write on what interests you.

Romantic literature is fascinating by itself, but professor Maniquis makes the class absolutely wonderful! If you get the chance, take him no matter what class it is. You will be satisfied with the class, professor Maniquis, and yourself for having truly acquired knowledge.

Unanimous sentiment in my discussion: this class freakin SUCKS. I would not recommend taking this class. Just don't do it. No one even goes to lecture because it's absolutely useless. He barely discusses the assigned reading, which puts you at a huge disadvantage because the amount of reading assigned is crazy. Even the TA's have agreed that the amount of reading is comparable to that of their graduate work. He expects graduate level analysis but does. not. lecture. He spent 45 minutes defining "irony" once and another time he spent a ridiculous amount of time talking about Sin City the movie. If your TA isn't good, then you're out of luck because you don't learn anything in this class at all. The grading for this class should be generous or at least understanding, given the fact that you aren't taught anything, but it isn't. Stay far away from Maniquis.