The previous Bruinwalk reviews made me nervous to take this class, and for the most part I found them accurate. Fisher is an engaging and often funny lecturer (he no longer holds a coffee cup), and he is approachable in office hours. The final exam and Middle English quiz are also straightforward; they are really not trying to trick you. However, the TAs are much more lenient with grading than Fisher; if he happens to grade your paper, he will most likely give it a C. I'm not sure what you can do to avoid this; I went to my TA's and Fisher's office hours before every assignment to talk about my ideas before I started writing, but I also suspect my TA graded my papers. Discussions were very short (50 mins) and we mostly practiced writing specific parts of an essay (introduction, body paragraph, conclusion) in groups. In terms of specific assignments, the Gallery Project consists of finding and presenting objects related to one text (it's basically making a museum exhibit on Google Slides). The grade distribution was: first paper (4 pages): 20%, Middle English Quiz: 5%, second paper (5-6 pages): 25%, Gallery Assignment: 15%, final: 15%, weekly Reading Responses (short paragraphs): 5%, and discussion participation: 15%. The final had 3 parts: identification, where you were given about 10 quotes and had to identify 3 Old English and 3 Renaissance quotes with the name, author, year published, and significance of the quote; a close reading essay (you are given a passage from one of the texts); and a long essay where you choose between two prompts about broad themes that Fisher has discussed throughout the quarter and use 3 texts to answer it, one of which must be Paradise Lost. KEEP UP WITH THE READINGS! It will benefit you greatly for the identification part of the final, and the long books of Paradise Lost do unfortunately occur in the last week before finals. Overall, this class required the most work simply in terms of the volume of texts we had to read (note: you do not have to absorb much of History of the Holy War or other strictly historical texts; for those Fisher often spent most of lecture going over historical context rather than the actual text). Personally, English literature to 1700 was not my favorite topic as an English major, but in hindsight I'm glad that I read some of the texts, and it helped me understand that people before 1700 were also just people. Seek out help from your TA and Fisher for the papers, and make friends in your discussion.

Right off the bat, I have to say that Fisher is a very harsh grader. My TA gave me As or A-s for all my assignments, including the first essay, "gallery assignment" (which is basically choosing and explaining a series of images), and final, but because Fisher graded my second paper and gave it a C, my final grade in the class became a B+.

That said, he's a very enigmatic and very intelligent professor. His lectures aren't boring even though he does go off on tangents at times, you learn a lot. I cannot stress enough that going to class is essential. Everything in the final exam requires that you understand what Fisher has said about the readings.

His hair looks like a bird's nest, he is as beautiful as he is enigmatic, and I will forever remember the profound wisdoms with which he has left me, both those quantified in mere mortal English and those that transcend any spoken language.

This class had drastically improved my critical reading and writing skills. All feedback I recieved on my essays were very helpful (and it was cool to learn that all the TAs and the professor grade essays together; they're able to establish a standardized criteria or A papers, B papers, etc...). In regards to the class readings, they can really get away from you if you're not disciplined. Try your best to stay on top of readings. But if you don't finish an assigned set before lecture, that's okay; make sure to finish it eventually, though. There's also an online gallery project that's super fun. Start it early if you can, trying to finish it the day that it's do is not. Fun. Other than that I really enjoyed this class, Professor Fisher says at least 4-5 iconic quotes a lecture. It's great.

I could not speak of Professor Fisher more highly. He is by far the best professor I have ever had at UCLA. He is passionate about what he teaches, and his lectures are engaging and charismatic. He has a deep understanding of the texts he teaches, and presents fascinating and nuanced ideas about the texts in each lecture. The workload and reading is very reasonable. My only complaint would be that if he does grade one of your papers, instead of your TA, he is an extremely harsh grader. Other than that, I recommend him to the highest degree.

"Men have breasts" — Professor Fisher

Fisher is an amazing lecturer, each class was a new depth in understanding the content. Fisher can sometimes come off as harsh, especially in regards to paper grading and feedback, but he overall is just trying to make you the best writer/analyzer possible. He is also extremely helpful in office hours, and he appreciates you coming in so go on in if you fell you need help. I truly loved this class, it gave me a new way to look at texts, increased my idea of depth.

Professor Fisher is extremely clear and coherent when he gives his lectures. He was NEVER boring. He is incredibly articulate but can also never entirely cover the readings assigned the class before. If he ends up grading your paper...you're pretty much doomed. He is extremely understanding and patient with your questions and concerns when you go into his office hours, but if you ask him a question in lecture, he may come off as kind of arrogant or condescending (but it also just depends on what kind of mood he is in). My one tip however is to READ THE TEXTS. ALL OF THEM.

The absolute worst of the worst. His addiction to coffee took priority over his professorial responsibilities and obligations. As if the course's incomprehensibly complex concepts weren't strenuous enough, his embracement of caffeine preceded his writing any of the discussed terms or ideologies. Upon the one rare incident he placed his beverage down, he interrupted lecture in dire search of it. This made the class all the more painful when the subject material predates Shakespeare & friends and is in all but modern English. To top it all off, he lectured at an insanely rapid speech rate.