Reviews for ENGL498
Information | Review |
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Thomas Earles
ENGL498 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/01/2025 |
Amazing creative writing professor! Prof. Earles excels at the advanced workshop level, he respects the craft greatly and you can tell by the way he provides feedback and addresses us. The class is actually the most rigorous workshop I've been in since 272 with typically 3-4 workshops (to both respond to and annotate) + supplemental reading for discussion every week (which he'll start quizzing on if he can tell the class isn't reading these) so it might be rough on some. The effort is definitely worth it though, this is the most I've learned out of any workshop, quite possibly even any English class it's top 3 at minimum. I can only name one issue but it's admittedly a big one. Prof. Earles every now and then came to class in a bad mood, grumpy / irritable and would sometimes take it out on the workshop. The days like this were a little tense even if he did try his best. I'd drop stars for how uncomfortable things could get, if it wasn't for the fact that the flipside is true. Prof. Earles would sometimes be in a good mood too and those were genuinely some of the best, most uplifting classes I've had at UMD! So overall balances out I think. If you're serious about writing then this is absolutely a class you need to be in, and I hope they place Prof. Earles in more advanced workshops in the future because with his intellect he absolutely belongs at that level. |
Gabrielle Fuentes
ENGL498 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 02/18/2025 |
This was a writing workshop so of course, everything turned out okay, but out of all of my workshops, Fuentes was my least favorite. This has nothing to do with her, but rather how she structured the class. All of the other workshops involved whole class discussions on two or three pieces per period. Fuentes chose to have us submit one flash fiction per week, along with a reading reflection. The flash fictions were workshopped in groups of three to four people. I think there is a reason why the workshops typically stick to the other structure because this was the least fulfilling workshop class I've taken. I walked away from most classes feeling like I hadn't received much helpful feedback, and the 500 word flash fictions made it difficult to have full creative freedom. |
Emily Mitchell
ENGL498 Anonymous 12/05/2024 |
I disagree with the other reviews downplaying her academic proficiency. Prof. Mitchell knows exactly what she's doing, all of her readings are relevant and substantial to your education as a creative writer as long as you're willing to pick up what she puts down. I do agree her class is pretty rigid, but she does not prevent your group from warming up to one another (my class with her is waaay closer than my beginner's workshop.) Prof. Mitchell is a little socially awkward, will probably interrupt you a few times and is somewhat unaware of her surroundings, but at the end of the day she knows what she's talking about when it comes to writing. Probably still my least favorite workshop professor so far due to how she handled (or failed to handle) a few class-specific conflicts, but I still respect her as an accomplished writer in literary fiction who you WILL learn a lot from. |
Emily Mitchell
ENGL498 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/04/2024 |
Professor Mitchell was a wonderful teacher! She's passionate about writing and provides detailed feedback on student assignments. The readings for this class were incredibly interesting as well, I'd definitely reccomend! |
Gabrielle Fuentes
ENGL498 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 04/10/2023 |
Dr. Fuentes is so sweet and pushes us to go out of our comfort zones in a way that makes me actually want to do so! Like any workshop class, attendance is mandatory, but although it is a long class, time goes by fairly quickly. I have nothing bad to say about Dr. Fuentes, and I would definitely recommend taking one of her workshop classes! |
Rachel Waugh
ENGL498 username 10/25/2021 |
Had her for ENGL498 virtually; an excellent creative writing professor. She was very helpful during workshops, both with her own comments and making your classmates respond adequately. |
Rachel Waugh
ENGL498 Expecting an A Anonymous 03/17/2021 |
I have had her for both ENGL352 half in person-half online, and ENGL498 all online. Out of the professors I've had for workshop so far, she is the best. We get ample time to discuss each other's work and the workload is reasonable. She is responsive to student concerns and grading is easy. On the subjective side, she seems to really understand your writing and doesn't shy away from telling you what you should be doing differently. Her humor is great as well. |
Emily Mitchell
ENGL498 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/02/2018 |
There were a lot of extraneous assignments when I took this class. I felt that the level of work we were doing was not anywhere near "advanced." The class was rigidly structured, and we spent a lot of time discussing things such as "what makes a good sentence." While understanding the basics of rhetoric, plot, theme, and character development are vital to writing fiction, they are usually covered in the beginner and intermediate courses we are required to pass before making it to this one. So, I felt that our time was not being used as effectively. In addition, the restrictions on what kind of fiction we were allowed to write were disappointing. I feel that in higher level classes, freedom to explore our interests and talents should be greater, not lesser. She was a fair grader, but I did not enjoy the class because of the strict way it was taught. |