Prof. Wen is a cool dude. There was really nothing much for this class. Easy A.
Grade Calculation:
1 Essay - 10%
Socratic Questioning (randomly calls on someone during lecture) - 10%
Midterm 1 - 40%
Midterm 2 (counts as the final) - 40%
Prof. Wen gave us all full credit for the essay we didn't have to do because the lecture hall was locked (LOL) and we couldn't enter and discuss it the week it was due. Normally, the only way to get out of the essay was to volunteer yourself as an actor for the play we were reading in class.
You don't really need to go to lecture as he said personally that items from the lecture are not needed in order to complete the midterms. The only reason you would go is because he would sometimes randomly call on people during lecture and ask them questions about the week's reading. But, the chances that he would call on you is pretty rare because in total there were only around 10 people max, called out during lecture during the entire term.
The midterms were fair and relatively easy. He provides 2-3 prompts for you to answer based on the readings (they are not cumulative). You could probably get away with reading half of the books required and reading a summary for the other half because there's a good chance one of the books you actually read will be a prompt (I recommend reading the books that he goes over heavily). He also includes prompts on the movies screened during lecture too.
* Tip: If you see a large amount of athletes in a class, that usually means that you're in an easy class. And this class had a lot of NCAA athletes and actual Olympians!
** Another Tip: I HIGHLY RECOMMEND SAVING THIS CLASS FOR YOUR JUNIOR OR SENIOR YEAR. This class can serve as a buffer and grade booster between your harder upper division classes.
