Professor
Tamar Christensen
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2023 - Firstly I gotta say don't take her as a first option for any english class unless she's the only option available. She has this stupid policy regarding tardiness/absenses where your grade will be lowered a letter if your absense twice or are tardy. She wants everything printed and brought to class which is stupid since sometimes we needed to bring 30+ page articles just because she said so. She also is a total tyrant when it comes to participation because unless your telling your entire life story in every lecture you won't get the participation points which are a big source of the total points in class. My gripes with her were really on her reasoning for why we couldn't use technology and had to write everything down in a notebook which were "because paper is less harmful to the environment" which is dumb since she had us print hundreds of pages of articles from printers that cost alot of money and are plugged in 24/7 which seems more harmful to the environment than just using a damn tablet. One time she actually blew up on us because not enough people were sharing their life story's so she ended class 40 minutes early and gave everyone an absense which is a dick move. The only good thing I can really say is that she was decent grader and left semi helpful comments on essays but not all the time. She is easily the worst english teacher/professor I have ever taken from middle school up until freshmen year of colllege. She also goes on and one about how "off the grid" she is and its really annoying because it's like she's trying to flex that she shops at whole foods market and takes the bus.
Winter 2023 - Firstly I gotta say don't take her as a first option for any english class unless she's the only option available. She has this stupid policy regarding tardiness/absenses where your grade will be lowered a letter if your absense twice or are tardy. She wants everything printed and brought to class which is stupid since sometimes we needed to bring 30+ page articles just because she said so. She also is a total tyrant when it comes to participation because unless your telling your entire life story in every lecture you won't get the participation points which are a big source of the total points in class. My gripes with her were really on her reasoning for why we couldn't use technology and had to write everything down in a notebook which were "because paper is less harmful to the environment" which is dumb since she had us print hundreds of pages of articles from printers that cost alot of money and are plugged in 24/7 which seems more harmful to the environment than just using a damn tablet. One time she actually blew up on us because not enough people were sharing their life story's so she ended class 40 minutes early and gave everyone an absense which is a dick move. The only good thing I can really say is that she was decent grader and left semi helpful comments on essays but not all the time. She is easily the worst english teacher/professor I have ever taken from middle school up until freshmen year of colllege. She also goes on and one about how "off the grid" she is and its really annoying because it's like she's trying to flex that she shops at whole foods market and takes the bus.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2023 - I have PTSD from this class. This entry-level writing class was harder than my chemistry and Life Science classes combined and filled with pointless work. Tamar is rude, passive-aggressive, and pretends to be helpful when really she isn't. Unbelievable amount of work, unnecessary printing, and overall an awful experience. I left this class in tears on multiple occasions. Would rather go back to high school than experience this torture again. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS WITH HER I AM BEGGING.
Winter 2023 - I have PTSD from this class. This entry-level writing class was harder than my chemistry and Life Science classes combined and filled with pointless work. Tamar is rude, passive-aggressive, and pretends to be helpful when really she isn't. Unbelievable amount of work, unnecessary printing, and overall an awful experience. I left this class in tears on multiple occasions. Would rather go back to high school than experience this torture again. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS WITH HER I AM BEGGING.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2019 - There are 3 writing projects out of which you submit 2 for grading. I barely did any work throughout the quarter, but Tamar basically tells you EXACTLY what she is looking for, you just need to pay attention and be smart about it. Tamar is a tough grader but you can definitely manage the grade. I'm not the best writer and my first drafts were shit, but she really helped me improve my work and gave her exactly what she wanted in the papers. The readings in the course reader are short and you don't even need to read, just annotate the pages. My course reader is fully annotated so you won't need to do any homework. I'm selling it for $40. The reader is also REALLY helpful because of the sample essays Tamar prints in it. Text me at **********.
Fall 2019 - There are 3 writing projects out of which you submit 2 for grading. I barely did any work throughout the quarter, but Tamar basically tells you EXACTLY what she is looking for, you just need to pay attention and be smart about it. Tamar is a tough grader but you can definitely manage the grade. I'm not the best writer and my first drafts were shit, but she really helped me improve my work and gave her exactly what she wanted in the papers. The readings in the course reader are short and you don't even need to read, just annotate the pages. My course reader is fully annotated so you won't need to do any homework. I'm selling it for $40. The reader is also REALLY helpful because of the sample essays Tamar prints in it. Text me at **********.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2023 - This class destroyed me all quarter. It is a lot of work: 2 writing projects, both 6 pages exactly, a 3-page writer's reflection and a 3-page community service analysis. The highest grade you can get on all the writing pieces is a B+, if you want to earn an A you have to do 6 hours of community service and write the 3-page piece about your experience. Adding up all the pages, it doesn't seem like too much, but you will rewrite these pages countless times. You write so-called "analytical writing" using the "personal pronoun" according to the methods in her self-written textbook. While it has the potential to make you a better writer, personally as an econ major it frustrated me knowing I won't be doing this personal writing again. She absolutely violated both of my writing project 1 & 2 drafts, and I had to work very hard to get them up. She tells you your grade but gives you time to improve your pieces which are all do on the last day of the quarter. Tamar is a very big personality, and you need to stay on her good side to do well (ie doing thorough annotations on readings, sucking up to what she writes in her textbook, agreeing with her politically, ect). I am very surprised I came away with an A-. Not easy by any means.
Fall 2023 - This class destroyed me all quarter. It is a lot of work: 2 writing projects, both 6 pages exactly, a 3-page writer's reflection and a 3-page community service analysis. The highest grade you can get on all the writing pieces is a B+, if you want to earn an A you have to do 6 hours of community service and write the 3-page piece about your experience. Adding up all the pages, it doesn't seem like too much, but you will rewrite these pages countless times. You write so-called "analytical writing" using the "personal pronoun" according to the methods in her self-written textbook. While it has the potential to make you a better writer, personally as an econ major it frustrated me knowing I won't be doing this personal writing again. She absolutely violated both of my writing project 1 & 2 drafts, and I had to work very hard to get them up. She tells you your grade but gives you time to improve your pieces which are all do on the last day of the quarter. Tamar is a very big personality, and you need to stay on her good side to do well (ie doing thorough annotations on readings, sucking up to what she writes in her textbook, agreeing with her politically, ect). I am very surprised I came away with an A-. Not easy by any means.
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Winter 2020 - Overall, I enjoyed having English Comp 5W with Tamar. This course requires completion of three full-length essays throughout the quarter (25% each * 3 = 75% of your grade), and the rest of your grade (25%) consists of participation in class discussions. Tamar is an engaging lecturer who does cuss occasionally (she says she got that from the Navy lol), but she always has interesting insights for discussions and provides great feedback on the essays, which you should take seriously in order to do well in this class. Her style suggestions are interesting, and one unconventional style she had us play around with is known as Grammar B. As other reviewers have mentioned, Grammar B can be confusing and difficult to master, but I learned to love it because nowhere else have I been able to put together a creative piece that could consist of a recipe, letter, interview, news article or the like and still call it an essay. Individual appointments for the essays are mandatory, but you will enjoy them and be able to spend them learning how to make your writing that much more effective. If you need a Writing 2, I would highly recommend doing Eng Comp 5W with Tamar!
Winter 2020 - Overall, I enjoyed having English Comp 5W with Tamar. This course requires completion of three full-length essays throughout the quarter (25% each * 3 = 75% of your grade), and the rest of your grade (25%) consists of participation in class discussions. Tamar is an engaging lecturer who does cuss occasionally (she says she got that from the Navy lol), but she always has interesting insights for discussions and provides great feedback on the essays, which you should take seriously in order to do well in this class. Her style suggestions are interesting, and one unconventional style she had us play around with is known as Grammar B. As other reviewers have mentioned, Grammar B can be confusing and difficult to master, but I learned to love it because nowhere else have I been able to put together a creative piece that could consist of a recipe, letter, interview, news article or the like and still call it an essay. Individual appointments for the essays are mandatory, but you will enjoy them and be able to spend them learning how to make your writing that much more effective. If you need a Writing 2, I would highly recommend doing Eng Comp 5W with Tamar!
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