Like the others mentioned, she does have a habit of saying "uhhmmmm" quite a lot which can get annoying/distracting in the first couple of weeks before you get used to it. Other than that she's an incredibly sweet lady who you don't feel intimidated AT ALL to talk to. A lot of time when she's lecturing it just seems like she's speaking to a friend and her classes are a very comfortable environment.

Her lectures are a little sporadic and sometimes difficult to take notes on (she's moved on to 4 different things before you've got a chance to jot down one) but overall she gives a very much needed fresh and energetic change to the usually dry English upper division class.

She passes around an attendance sheet everyday, so attending lecture is a must. No midterm, no quizzes, one essay and a very straightforward final that if you attended class, you should breeze through it pretty easily.

She is entertaining and pretty funny. As mentioned, she has a tick and says "uhmmm" too much but most of the people in class got used to it. The material isn't so bad, depends what you prefer, and she inserts a lot of critics and other essays into her lectures so you get a wider perspective. Grading wise, not much to say since the class had some 80 people and the TAs did it all. If you have the chance, take her. She's bright and refreshing because throughout the whole time, you feel like one of your peers is talking to you about a cool book or poem.

Professor Ngai is really young and lively. Kind of a breath of fresh air compared to some of the older, more frigid English professors at UCLA. She's super enthusiastic about the material and has a lot of cool, original ideas to discuss. Very concerned about her students and open to discussion. She's kind of eccentric and has this tic and says "um" a lot, but you get used to it. She has published a lot and is vastly knowledgeable and experienced for her age, but isn't condescending at all. I would definitely recommend her classes. They're interesting and very doable in terms of difficulty. 172B only has a midterm and final (just easy short answers where you have to ID the passage). Just attend lecture (attendance is mandatory) and take good notes and you can totally get an A (or A- at least) in the class.