ENGL120 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Gerard Passannante ENGL120 Expecting an A HellotThere 01/01/2026	This guy knows how to lecture I'll say that much. The whole experience was very tranquil and is improved greatly if you actually enjoy the subject matter.
Gerard Passannante ENGL120 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/18/2025	I highly recommend that you take this class, specifically with this professor, if you need a gen-ed in this subject. We read seven plays over the course of the semester, but the professor makes the material really engaging. I hated Shakespeare in high school, but this class made me really appreciate his plays as well as theatre in general. He emphasizes building a personal relationship to text that is easy to take to heart. He is an extremely enthusiastic and engaging lecturer and reading the plays is vastly improved by being able to hear his discussion of them. At the same time, he is not committed to one interpretation and leaves room for students to have other, sometimes conflicting, ideas.
Gerard Passannante ENGL120 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/18/2025	Professor Passannante is smart as hell. I spent half a semester learning about Hamlet in highschool, but feel like he was able to teach me more in 2 weeks than I learned in that time. His insights are creative and sometimes a bit out there, but it all makes sense and is grounded in evidence. The only issues I had with him were his phone/laptop policy, which wasn't really a huge deal, it was just a bit annoying. Also sometimes he felt a liiiiitttle pretentious but like he's an english professor so like its not that shocking. Also the reading work load was pretty heavy, with a total of 7 Shakespeare plays + an additional book over the course of abt 12 weeks. Also there is a final paper + final exam (which felt a litttttle excessive). Still a great professor though!
Dalton Greene ENGL120 Expecting an A ReliableSource 12/18/2025	This guy is so awesome. I had my discussion session with him for 120 and he was so engaging and fun. He really makes Shakespeare interesting and definitely wants you to succeed. If you can have him as a prof in the future or a TA please, PLEASE capitalize on that because he is such a good teacher. Shoutout Dalton fr.
Gerard Passannante ENGL120 Expecting an A Anonymous 10/29/2025	I took Professor Passanante's class as a gen-ed but walked away with valuable knowledge about Shakespeare's works. I would describe his teaching style as a Pentecostal preacher's sermon (passionate) but for Shakespeare. He has a certain enthusiasm which makes it hard not to pay attention to what he's saying. He is also very open to different interpretations of the text when he asks students in-class questions (so he's very inviting to any thoughts about the text when he asks). He doesn't like phones in class. Assignment-wise, it's mostly written assignments that are done and submitted at home, but our final was in-class and multiple short essays. They were graded pretty fairly in my opinion. I would recommend this class if you need the gen-ed and aren't sure what to take.
Gerard Passannante ENGL120 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/30/2025	Prof. Passannante is really, really good at talking about Shakespeare; incredible lectures. Made me actually enjoy Shakespeare and I left the class feeling like I gained a lot of interpretive skills. Definitely fun if you are at all interested in literary analysis. Essays are on interesting topics; graded pretty lenient depending on TA.
Gerard Passannante ENGL120 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/19/2024	He's a nice guy and the class is pretty easy to do well in. Passannante has some flair, not necessarily a ton of substance. By this, I mean to say that he's an energetic lecturer who definitely knows a lot about Shakespeare... but the observations or insight he provides only seem to scratch the surface. It is an introductory class though, to be fair. Shoot, I might just be trying to nitpick honestly. He's a nice guy and the class is fun and an informative experience.
Gerard Passannante ENGL120 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/19/2023	Extremely underrated class. Dr. Passanante's lectures can be rambly, but are still enjoyable to listen to since he's so passionate about the content, like the other reviews said. You read six plays across the semester and don't even have to buy the books if you just read a copy online and take notes during the lecture. You only have to do two papers and the final and as long as you follow the prompts, it's not bad at all. You don't need any previous experience with Shakespeare, he and the TAs do a great job of explaining what's going on in the plays. Highly recommend.
Gerard Passannante ENGL120 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/14/2023	Dr. Passannante is a very engaging professor and his lectures are usually entertaining and informative. I am always surprised by how fast the 50 minutes go by. The plays are all interesting and he explains them in a way that makes sense. I love his passion for Shakespeare and even if you have no experience with Shakespeare in the past, he can help you discover the meaning behind these plays.
Gerard Passannante ENGL120 Expecting an A naonic 09/18/2023	He is a very passionate and genuine guy, but the lectures were boring. The TA did the most important work, but if you understand Shakespeare enough you'll do fine. By able to read about six plays over the course of the semester.
Gerard Passannante ENGL120 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/18/2022	Dr. Passannante is great and incredibly passionate about Shakespeare. Lectures involve him going over important themes and messages in various plays, and are not too bad unless you absolutely despise any amount of Shakespeare analysis. He is open to talking about anything Shakespeare-related, and really wants everyone to find and realize the magic and connection he has with it. 2 relatively short essays due across the semester, not too bad and he can certainly help you out with starting it if you don't understand the prompt or the plays. I personally don't care much for Shakespeare but still appreciated him and the TAs.
Gerard Passannante ENGL120 Expecting an A- Anonymous 04/13/2018	Incredible lecture. I actually enjoyed Shakespeare for once

Gerard Passannante
ENGL120

Expecting an A
HellotThere
01/01/2026

This guy knows how to lecture I'll say that much. The whole experience was very tranquil and is improved greatly if you actually enjoy the subject matter.

Gerard Passannante
ENGL120

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/18/2025

I highly recommend that you take this class, specifically with this professor, if you need a gen-ed in this subject. We read seven plays over the course of the semester, but the professor makes the material really engaging. I hated Shakespeare in high school, but this class made me really appreciate his plays as well as theatre in general. He emphasizes building a personal relationship to text that is easy to take to heart. He is an extremely enthusiastic and engaging lecturer and reading the plays is vastly improved by being able to hear his discussion of them. At the same time, he is not committed to one interpretation and leaves room for students to have other, sometimes conflicting, ideas.

Gerard Passannante
ENGL120

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/18/2025

Professor Passannante is smart as hell. I spent half a semester learning about Hamlet in highschool, but feel like he was able to teach me more in 2 weeks than I learned in that time. His insights are creative and sometimes a bit out there, but it all makes sense and is grounded in evidence. The only issues I had with him were his phone/laptop policy, which wasn't really a huge deal, it was just a bit annoying. Also sometimes he felt a liiiiitttle pretentious but like he's an english professor so like its not that shocking. Also the reading work load was pretty heavy, with a total of 7 Shakespeare plays + an additional book over the course of abt 12 weeks. Also there is a final paper + final exam (which felt a litttttle excessive). Still a great professor though!

Dalton Greene
ENGL120

Expecting an A
ReliableSource
12/18/2025

This guy is so awesome. I had my discussion session with him for 120 and he was so engaging and fun. He really makes Shakespeare interesting and definitely wants you to succeed. If you can have him as a prof in the future or a TA please, PLEASE capitalize on that because he is such a good teacher. Shoutout Dalton fr.

Gerard Passannante
ENGL120

Expecting an A
Anonymous
10/29/2025

I took Professor Passanante's class as a gen-ed but walked away with valuable knowledge about Shakespeare's works. I would describe his teaching style as a Pentecostal preacher's sermon (passionate) but for Shakespeare. He has a certain enthusiasm which makes it hard not to pay attention to what he's saying. He is also very open to different interpretations of the text when he asks students in-class questions (so he's very inviting to any thoughts about the text when he asks). He doesn't like phones in class. Assignment-wise, it's mostly written assignments that are done and submitted at home, but our final was in-class and multiple short essays. They were graded pretty fairly in my opinion. I would recommend this class if you need the gen-ed and aren't sure what to take.

Gerard Passannante
ENGL120

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/30/2025

Prof. Passannante is really, really good at talking about Shakespeare; incredible lectures. Made me actually enjoy Shakespeare and I left the class feeling like I gained a lot of interpretive skills. Definitely fun if you are at all interested in literary analysis. Essays are on interesting topics; graded pretty lenient depending on TA.

Gerard Passannante
ENGL120

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/19/2024

He's a nice guy and the class is pretty easy to do well in. Passannante has some flair, not necessarily a ton of substance. By this, I mean to say that he's an energetic lecturer who definitely knows a lot about Shakespeare... but the observations or insight he provides only seem to scratch the surface. It is an introductory class though, to be fair. Shoot, I might just be trying to nitpick honestly. He's a nice guy and the class is fun and an informative experience.

Gerard Passannante
ENGL120

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/19/2023

Extremely underrated class. Dr. Passanante's lectures can be rambly, but are still enjoyable to listen to since he's so passionate about the content, like the other reviews said. You read six plays across the semester and don't even have to buy the books if you just read a copy online and take notes during the lecture. You only have to do two papers and the final and as long as you follow the prompts, it's not bad at all. You don't need any previous experience with Shakespeare, he and the TAs do a great job of explaining what's going on in the plays. Highly recommend.

Gerard Passannante
ENGL120

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/14/2023

Dr. Passannante is a very engaging professor and his lectures are usually entertaining and informative. I am always surprised by how fast the 50 minutes go by. The plays are all interesting and he explains them in a way that makes sense. I love his passion for Shakespeare and even if you have no experience with Shakespeare in the past, he can help you discover the meaning behind these plays.

Gerard Passannante
ENGL120

Expecting an A
naonic
09/18/2023

He is a very passionate and genuine guy, but the lectures were boring. The TA did the most important work, but if you understand Shakespeare enough you'll do fine. By able to read about six plays over the course of the semester.

Gerard Passannante
ENGL120

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/18/2022

Dr. Passannante is great and incredibly passionate about Shakespeare. Lectures involve him going over important themes and messages in various plays, and are not too bad unless you absolutely despise any amount of Shakespeare analysis. He is open to talking about anything Shakespeare-related, and really wants everyone to find and realize the magic and connection he has with it. 2 relatively short essays due across the semester, not too bad and he can certainly help you out with starting it if you don't understand the prompt or the plays. I personally don't care much for Shakespeare but still appreciated him and the TAs.

Gerard Passannante
ENGL120

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
04/13/2018

Incredible lecture. I actually enjoyed Shakespeare for once

Reviews for ENGL120