Overall, this class was very interesting in terms of subject matter but could be a little dry at times. During lectures, professor Bodiford kind of just stands in front of the class and talks without any slides which can be really, really unengaging at times.

In terms of grading, there are four major writing assignments, one midterm, and one final which comprise all of your grades. My TA was very lenient in grading my writing assignments so I did not feel too worried about that. Bodiford himself grades the exams.

For the exams, you definitely have to watch the lectures, understand the main concepts, and reinforce that with the readings. You can 100% get away with not reading the writing books, in fact, do not even buy the writing books. The only book you really need is the Gethin one and there are many copies of the book online. To prep for the exams, do your content preparation and then try to fill out the syllabus course outline by hand. I found the first midterm harder than the final.

Overall, a very interesting class with a relatively small class size. I would take it again. Just beware of the slow-talking and try to keep up on going to lecture. (Lectures are audio recorded though so no worries)