ENGL 2508

I loved Prof Arata and the course. He was very insightful and provocative, as is the literary content. The course does require a lot of reading and 4-5 essays, but the Prof is a fair grader and gives helpful feedback. He also ended class early a lot to either give us time to write/read or just out of acknowledgement that our discussion went well.

This class is more enjoyable as a pre-English major, but it can be fun as a second writing requirement too. Professor Arata is not the most engaging professor, but he is very knowledgeable and its fun watching him get excited about Virginia Woolf and her writing. He has so many amazing insights and has picked up so much from his rereads. In this course, we read "Mrs. Dalloway", "To The Lighthouse", and "Orlando" in that order, with smaller essays in between. The easiest way to succeed in this course is to participate in discussions because most people don't. I think the only reason he gave me a better grade was because he liked me and knew I cared because I participated in class discussions, which 65% of people didn't do... like I stg I don't know what their voices sound like. Make sure you do well on the Mrs. Dalloway essay: it starts your grade out right. And he offers really good feedback and will end the class early sometimes. Overall really nice guy and highly reccommend!!
The grade split is as follows:
1. 4 essays: 50% of total grade
2. Short writing assignments, taken as a whole: 25%
3. Class participation: 25%

#tCFF23

The course that I took was the second writing requirement about Virginia Woolf. Amazing class. Amazing professor. You read four books and some essays over the course of the semester, but the workload is not too bad overall. There's some small writing assignments, participation, and then a total of 4 5-6 page essays that make up your grade. Lecture can be odd given the array of students there (some are pre-English majors, others are there for grad requirements), but Prof Arata's insights into Woolf's writing are worth it. Definitely would not have picked up on some of the things in those novels had I read them on my own. Also he's pretty lenient on essay grading and is flexible on extensions and such. This is a solid choice for a second writing requirement and a great survey of the English department here.
#tCFF23

Arata is one of the nicest guys out there, and he knows a lot about the material. Discussions can be a little dry from time to time, but the class is easy enough that it feels worthwhile to endure the boredom. He grades pretty generously, so if you want to get the second writing requirement out of the way without much hassle I would highly recommend this class. His feedback on essays can be somewhat vague, but if you go to his office hours he gives much more thorough responses. Overall, I would highly recommend this class to absolutely anyone regardless of their English interest level or skill set. The only thing to be cautious of is the high percentage of your grade that depends on homework and participation. It is a blessing if you let it be, but it'll screw you over if you don't remain cognizant of it throughout the semester. This is not the class to skip.