ENGL134 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Ralph Bauer ENGL134 Anonymous 09/25/2025	Disclaimer: the following is unrelated to my grade in this course. I have not received a grade yet. Firstly, I commend Prof. Bauer for encouraging student participation during his lectures, as the material can be incredibly drab depending on which topics/texts he covers in a given week. The depth of the lectures indicate that Bauer is a passionate, astute scholar whose oratory skills are highly refined. I was pleased with the short lecture lengths; however, this entails brisk pacing, so try your best to remain attentive. My praise ends there. As other reviewers have noted, the quantity of assigned reading in this class is flat-out hostile--for instance, you are made to annotate 112 pages of (antiquated) text over a weekend. I once again fail to understand some instructors' insistence on busywork as a pedagogical strategy. Moreover, major written assignments are due three days before exams, and passing these exams demands an ungodly amount of notes. Watch out for abrupt end-of-lecture quizzes. The Rites of Discovery will monopolize both your time and energy on a semi-regular basis. Sadly, I would recommend against taking this class.
Ralph Bauer ENGL134 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/05/2024	I signed up for ENGL134 for the gen-ed credits. The class is a decent amount of reading, so expect to set aside a few hours every week, but if you stay on top of it it is manageable. The grading scale was extremely unclear. I asked for a syllabus for the essays and was told the professor and TAs just agree on what an A looks like, which didn't explain anything. That being said, take advantage of the optional rough draft you can submit a week before and use the writing center. The participation credit was also vague. Professor Bauer himself clearly knows a lot about the topic, and his lectures feel very well-informed. You can tell he cares about the topic so participate in lecture and he'll like you more. His lectures were a bit all over the place and he kept going back and forth in his slide shows, so at times they were hard to follow. He is also a strict grader. All that being said, by the end of the semester I found the topic of the class really interesting. I'm not a humanities major, so most of the semester I wasn't a fan of the course, but by the end it clicked. If you are looking for a random gen-ed to fill your schedule, this isn't the worst you can pick.
Cheryl Spinner ENGL134 Expecting a B Anonymous 11/10/2022	One of the most unprofessional professors I've ever had, very disorganized and haphazard with assignments and expectations. I She also didn't provide feedback or opportunities for it. The professor was very lazy as well, it was a lot of reading and not much else, I don't recall learning much or the professor taking an interest in my learning. Do not take the professor if you have a choice.
Cheryl Spinner ENGL134 Expecting an A Anonymous 10/25/2019	Dr. Spinner is one of those rare professors that genuinely cares about the happiness of her students. She cares about whether the students are engaged and interested, and whether a student is truly learning or not. She is super understanding when it comes to assignments, due dates, and absences, as long as you show a genuine interest in the class. For ENGL 134 you have to do the readings to do well, but the readings are always interesting and you're given a reasonable window in which to read them. She's super modern and won't bore the hell out of you like many other professors. For this class we get to watch things like American Horror Story and Black Panther, and we got to read modern literature (I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem). I would 100% recommend taking any class with her; I think that knowing that your professor is very caring and very reasonable from the get-go helps you to care about the class more as well, and it motivates you to be an active participant.

Ralph Bauer
ENGL134

Anonymous
09/25/2025

Disclaimer: the following is unrelated to my grade in this course. I have not received a grade yet. Firstly, I commend Prof. Bauer for encouraging student participation during his lectures, as the material can be incredibly drab depending on which topics/texts he covers in a given week. The depth of the lectures indicate that Bauer is a passionate, astute scholar whose oratory skills are highly refined. I was pleased with the short lecture lengths; however, this entails brisk pacing, so try your best to remain attentive. My praise ends there. As other reviewers have noted, the quantity of assigned reading in this class is flat-out hostile--for instance, you are made to annotate 112 pages of (antiquated) text over a weekend. I once again fail to understand some instructors' insistence on busywork as a pedagogical strategy. Moreover, major written assignments are due three days before exams, and passing these exams demands an ungodly amount of notes. Watch out for abrupt end-of-lecture quizzes. The Rites of Discovery will monopolize both your time and energy on a semi-regular basis. Sadly, I would recommend against taking this class.

Ralph Bauer
ENGL134

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/05/2024

I signed up for ENGL134 for the gen-ed credits. The class is a decent amount of reading, so expect to set aside a few hours every week, but if you stay on top of it it is manageable. The grading scale was extremely unclear. I asked for a syllabus for the essays and was told the professor and TAs just agree on what an A looks like, which didn't explain anything. That being said, take advantage of the optional rough draft you can submit a week before and use the writing center. The participation credit was also vague. Professor Bauer himself clearly knows a lot about the topic, and his lectures feel very well-informed. You can tell he cares about the topic so participate in lecture and he'll like you more. His lectures were a bit all over the place and he kept going back and forth in his slide shows, so at times they were hard to follow. He is also a strict grader. All that being said, by the end of the semester I found the topic of the class really interesting. I'm not a humanities major, so most of the semester I wasn't a fan of the course, but by the end it clicked. If you are looking for a random gen-ed to fill your schedule, this isn't the worst you can pick.

Cheryl Spinner
ENGL134

Expecting a B
Anonymous
11/10/2022

One of the most unprofessional professors I've ever had, very disorganized and haphazard with assignments and expectations. I She also didn't provide feedback or opportunities for it. The professor was very lazy as well, it was a lot of reading and not much else, I don't recall learning much or the professor taking an interest in my learning. Do not take the professor if you have a choice.

Cheryl Spinner
ENGL134

Expecting an A
Anonymous
10/25/2019

Dr. Spinner is one of those rare professors that genuinely cares about the happiness of her students. She cares about whether the students are engaged and interested, and whether a student is truly learning or not. She is super understanding when it comes to assignments, due dates, and absences, as long as you show a genuine interest in the class. For ENGL 134 you have to do the readings to do well, but the readings are always interesting and you're given a reasonable window in which to read them. She's super modern and won't bore the hell out of you like many other professors. For this class we get to watch things like American Horror Story and Black Panther, and we got to read modern literature (I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem). I would 100% recommend taking any class with her; I think that knowing that your professor is very caring and very reasonable from the get-go helps you to care about the class more as well, and it motivates you to be an active participant.

Reviews for ENGL134