St. John, Leslie  

Leslie is a brand new teacher who taught at Purdue. She really cares about her students and wants to allow them to learn everything possible. Being new she seemed a little uptight at first but really got to know the students individually. Theres 4 essays out of class and one in class. The first 2 are only worth 15 percent and the second two 20 percent. So do well on the last ones. Almost everyone gets B's on their essays and the only way to get an A is to revise them and turn them in with the next essay due. she allow you to do this with 2 of the first 3. So do it! otherwise you will end up with a B. There are always things she requires to read and sometimes she gives quizzes so beware. theres only one book to read and that is what the in class essay is about so dont put off the reading of the book. The last final is a group project and 50 points is group related and 150 personal essay related. She assigns the group and just dont wait last minute to do it. Other than that shes great and pretty easy theres not a lot of work to be put into this class.

St. John was great. I don't really enjoy English but she made it tolerable. The readings were interesting (one on Bob Dylan, one on Johnny Cash etc.) There are like 5 writing assignments. The first couple are really easy, simple essays. The next two are a little more involved but not too difficult if you don't procrastinate. The last one is a group project, which is tough but it's split between like 4 people so it's relatively small amount of individual work. As far as English teachers go, she's pretty good. I would recommend her. Plus she's pretty hot, so it gives a little added motivation to go to class.

I really liked her. She was really sweet and calm and knew what she was talking about. I feel like a lot of the stuff we learned was basic though (grammer, etc.) She could have stepped it up and made it a bit more challenging. But don't take advantage of it- do not procrastinate and try to stay on top of things. She put thought into her lessons and she is a great person. :)

Hottest teacher at Poly.

Works well with students and will address any questions, issues, and concerns you may have. She actually hands out a survey for everyone to fill out that asks for students' strengths and weaknesses -- she then uses this as a guide to help her students accordingly. One thing to keep in mind, as with all classes, is to not procrastinate with her essays. However, she does well to solve this common problem with students by requiring you to submit a portion of work done on each essay. The essays she assigns follows the universal English syllabus: - Writer's History - Self Profile - Profile Interview - Persuasive Proposal She allows for two (2) essay revisions -- this is actually very easy considering how she critiques essays well and provides very HELPFUL comments and highlights the major parts that need revision. More often than not she will give you advice on which essay to revise. Note that it is best to conduct revisions immediately to save time. Exams/Quizzes: Varies according to students' needs according to the initial student survey. The quizzes are very easy and mostly involve common sense. --- Main Exam: The 3 Modes of Persuasion Taken straight from lecture and common sense, just pay attention. Approachable, confident, and full of enthusiasm, she makes class not only educational but enjoyable as well. Obviously, I would recommend her for any English courses she may have. Personal Note (in case you are reading this Professor): Thank you for the great learning experience -- I learned more about essay writing and techniques from you than any other English teacher I've had previously!

Ms. St John is a new teacher at Cal Poly. She is very open to questions and really cares about her students. She was always more than willing to help through emails and during her office hours. She also gives valuable input on rough drafts and if you take her advice and seek her help you will get a good grade. It is relatively easy to earn high B's on the essays, but it is almost impossible to get an A without revising. She allows 2 revisions during the quarter and there are 4 essays total (3 of which are available for revision). There is an exam on rhetoric (pathos/ethos/logos)that is easy if you were in class for the lectures on it. You are allowed one absense without a reasonable excuse and she likes you to participate in class. Overall, I recommend her class. She is very kind and helpful.

Leslie St. John is overall a great professor. Her assignments are clearly explained and not too difficult if directions are followed. Also, she is very avaiable if you have any questions on your writing and willing to proofread student's essays. Class was sometimes a bit dull, but as a whole not a bad ENGL 134 class.

tough grader but gives you many opportunities to raise your grade. a lot of reading and 4 essays, but only one major in class test. she will teach you a lot if you want to learn. if you\'re up for a little challenge and want to improve your writing skills st. john is great

In this class, you write 4 essays, take one midterm, read lots of student essays, and take notes every once in a while. The essay topics are very open-ended, so it shouldn\'t be too tough to come up with a good idea. She lets you revise 2 essays before the quarter is over, so take advantage of this. And yes, she\'s attractive.

I am in love with this woman. Not only was she a fantastic teacher, but she really put a lot of thought into her grading.. She gives very specific feedback and really wants to help her students to improve throughout the quarter. There are 4 essays, and they are pretty toughly graded, but she lets you rewrite two, which is nice. The rewrites take a lot of effort though. P.S. she is absolutely adorable... I kind of want to marry her

I struggled with writing essay all through highschool, but I really enjoyed St John's class. She covered the material we needed to know for the assignments before and during the time we were working on them. I thought she was pretty clear in what she wanted for each paper and graded fairly for a college course. As long as you go to class and do the work on time, the class won't be too overwhelming. The only times I struggled with the assignments was when I procrastinated. She cares about her students and is open to giving additional help during office hours too.

She's definitely the best; tough grader, but she allows you to redo two of your papers, so that's pretty baller. The readings we had to do were interesting and relateable. She's very down to earth and cares about her students and talks to us like we're on the same level. Cool chick. :]

Leslie St. John is an awesome teacher. I hate writing but she made the class fun. She grades fairly hard but you can rewrite a couple of papers which is nice.

I ended up with a B- overall and that isn't too bad, but I definitely deserved at least a B if not a B+ or A-. If you are wondering what the difference is, it is that I tried and spent as much time as I can to raise my B- to a B. Spending several nights to revise essays and work hard on my last one. Everything seems to need to be her way. It is very subjective and therefore unfair. You are forced to read irrelevant material that does not help with anything. All I can say is, I spent most of my time on this class yet ended up with a B-. It's absurd. If you are okay with a B in that class, then she will be fine. You will still have to spend a lot of time in the class reading the material to prepare for pop quizzes. You have four essays, but feel like it is once a week because you always have to make a rough draft. If you are trying to obtain a good GPA and hope to get an A in that class, good luck. All I can say is that it is nearly impossible. Revising the essays bumped my essays from a C to C+, which apparently does not help. That only adds at most one point to your overall grade. She is hard. Enough said.

Ms. St. John was an awesome teacher. I really liked her. With that said, don't take her if you just want an easy A. Her class was not easy. She graded essays fairly and gave good comments, but it's pretty much impossible to get an A on an essay. She lets you revise 2 out of 3 essays, which is nice. I'd definitely recommend doing it. She gives daily reading assignments and sometimes gives pop-quizzes in class. Make sure you do what's on the calender even when she doesn't mention it in class. Regarding her personality, she is a very open, outgoing and enthusiastic person. I've never really liked English, but she made her classes quite enjoyable. She is also very willing to help. She likes you to participate in class discussions and she'll answer pretty much all the questions you have. It's not hard to get a B in her class, but don't hold too much hope for an A.

At first I thought she was going to be like the rest of my English teachers - nice on the outside but a bitch on the inside. I was wrong, she teaches the material well and gives some cool writing assignments that leave room for creativity. She let's you be personal and curse and be honest. And she lets you use your own writing style. She is a tough grader though. I got all B's on my essays when on some she said I should submit it to get published. Helpful during office hours and let you rewrite two essays. Overall, a good teacher.

Leslie is a very good English teacher, she grades essays hard but in a way that challenges you. Pay attention to her comments on your first essay and build on it for the following ones and she will notice it and your grade will improve. Tests are easy, homework is pretty straight forward, just make sure you do whatever is on the calendar even if she doesn't say anything about it. I would definitely recommend Leslie, she is personable, relaxed and enjoys getting to know her students.

St. John is not only a very good teacher, she genuinely cares about her students. She has us do three essays that are all due in a portfolio at the end of the quarter (dont procrastinate on those). My favorite essay was the profile essay where we had to write an essay about ourselves. I chose to do a extremely personal topic and found it helpful to find some insight on myself. I also went into office hours a few times and those were very helpful, she has an always welcoming environment and made me feel comfortable telling her very personal things. She also explained rhetoric well and gave us good life and school skills for classes to come. Also I am an engineer and this was still one of my favorite classes.

She is a pretty awesome teacher who goes out of the way to try to get on a personal level with her class. She puts an extra effort in trying to make the class fun and interesting. Also she is probably one of the hottest professors as CP

Professor St. John is a great teacher. Pretty much the entire class is a portfolio compiled of three essays and it is very straightforward. She will also help you with the rough drafts, so there is no reason why you shouldn't get a decent grade in the class.

I'm still unsure how I feel about Leslie. Her class goes by really fast, the portfolio is straight forward. She seems a little disorganized and I don't feel like I learned much in the class. I revised my essays to her liking a lot and she still gave me a C+ on them; I don't think we share the same writing though pattern. We did yoga and line dancing which was pretty cool though.

She expanded my writing media and introduced helpful tools that spiced up my writing. She may seem judgmental at first, but don't let the exterior intimidate you because she will help you if you ask for it. The RAD days, peer editing, and writing labs were really helpful, take them seriously.

St. John was a great professor who fosters an environment of improvement. She actually cares about the students, and although at first she comes of as an extremely harsh grader, if you go to office hours and put effort your grade will surprise you. I highly recommend St. John, she helped me to improve my writing skills.

Leslie is a really sweet lady and good at what she does, however for a lower level English GE she grades way too hard. I went to her office hours with a rough draft of an essay and she told me it was a B- paper. I then went and made all the revisions she told me to make and she still gave me a B- on it. So there's that.....

Leslie is straight up the MOST fantastic professors I have ever had. Not only is she excellent as a teacher, but she serves as a wonderful role model as well. College can be terrifying when you first get here. Your first few classes really set the tone for your whole 4 (+) years here. It's really important that when you get to choose your classes or your professors, you choose those that fit your specific personality and learning style well. Leslie is funny, young at heart, relatable, thoughtful, selfless, caring, dedicated, and extraordinarily intelligent (socially, emotionally, and academically). She cares so much about her students, it's almost unbelievable. She is a one in a million professor. Her class excited me and made me feel like my time in college was worth more than a grade-- it's about learning who I am and more than that, being OK with who I am. If I were you, I'd do whatever I possibly could to get into one of her classes. Take a priority. Beg the department chair. Throw chocolate at her until she has to accept you in her class. Whatever it takes, do it. You will be forever changed.

Leslie is not only an incredible professor but an incredible person! She is passionate with everything she does in her life - from English to Yoga and to just about any friendship she has ever had. While you do have to earn your grade in her ENGL 134 class, she makes you want to do better and be a better writer. This class is a great creative outlet, outside from other major classes because Ms. St. John gives her students the ability to write how they feel, with almost no constraints. She is an incredible writer herself and gives many examples of previous personal essays and poems so students can relate. Ms. St. John is young, creative, talented, and so helpful. She spends hours and hours grading essays and writing many comments so she can see her students succeed. If you have a chance, take Ms. St. John's class. You won't regret it. If this is a required course, you might as well take it with a phenomenal and incredibly caring professor!

Loved this class. Yes it's hard but you have to remember you are in *college* and you have to do *work* so do not expect it to be easy. She will push you but in such a wonderful way. She is open to questions and loves helping out when you are not sure about something. Ms. St. John has such a passion for writing and English, it's hard to come by these days. HIGHLY recommend

Leslie is definitely into the whole hippie thing which was a good change of pace considering I've had a lot of teachers with dull personalities. She really cares about her students and is constantly asking for feedback from students so she can know what she can do to make the class fun. She always had us do things like yoga stretches if she sensed low energy in the room. She is a very tough grader, but she is consistent in her grading and goes through papers with a fine tooth comb. Therefore, improving your papers from the beginning to the end of the quarter should be relatively simple. Although her handwriting on paper feedback is somewhat atrocious, her comments can actually be pretty helpful...if you can read them. The highest grade I ever got on an essay in that class is an A-, which kinda sucked since I've always been good at English at used to get As on every paper I've ever written. My main complaint was that most days were sort of a waste of time, we didn't do much in them other than what felt like busy work, which is what two of your required books are for: busy work. I spent a lot of the time in that class playing 2048 without missing anything important. I suggest sharing the fresh voices book and unveiling self book with someone else who is taking that class as well because it certainly is not worth buying and you get pennies when you sell it back. Overall, really great teacher who really knows what she's doing and how to instruct you to better improve your writing. Just prepare to feel a bit deflated when you get your papers back.

I love Leslie, she is a tough grader but gives you a lot of chances to bring your essay grades up. Also if you go to her office hours she will help you a lot with your essays. She is one of the most caring professors and takes a lot of interest in your personal life. She always brought us snacks and let us out early when we needed it. The class if four essays and a few quizzes and the final is just a group presentation. We always did yoga in class as a break and she's super funny. This class is a lot of work outside the classroom because she doesn't give you much time to work on them in class except for revisions we spent time on that in class. But overall Leslie is super sweet and relatable and I would recommend taking her.

Leslie St. John can be a very nice teacher, however, she can be very condescending and harsh. She tries to keep class lively and makes English pretty tolerable and I really appreciated that because I really don't like English. On the other hand IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR AN EASY B DO NOT TAKE HER. She assigns more homework than most teachers and treats an English 134 intro to writing and rhetoric General Ed class that everyone has to take as if it were an 300 level course. On many homework assignments she would give me half credit with very little explanation as to why. She grades papers really harshly, on my first paper she told me it was amazing but gave me a C with very little feedback as to where I went wrong to get a C. An A paper for this class is a publishable paper, this standard is ridiculous.

My name is Kat Seth, I'm a 4th year architecture major. I think Leslie St. John is a total cunt and a bitch. Don't take her. She grades too hard on essays and has a terrible personality. Fuck her

Strong expression through writing should not continue to be undervalued by students. I'm sure that all English professors would agree, but only some are able to show their students why. Leslie conveys incredible ideas in lecture every day and offers insightful feedback on assignments. She works so hard to make her classes worthwhile for us students, so if you take her, don't be afraid to put in the time and reevaluate your writing capabilities. Grading is definitely fair. If you don't miss homework assignments and you write legible essays, there is no way you could get less than a B.

Leslie is a fantastic english teacher and person overall. She could tend to be a hardass with grading papers but what differs from other professors is that she genuinely wants to see improvement. I took this in the fall... so if I remember right she has you turn in papers throughout the quarter and grades them pretty thoroughly (not sure if the grade you get gets entered into the system) but at the end of the quarter you turn in a portfolio with a few papers that you select to improve and then she gives you another grade (which is final). Honestly from my experience, I wrote some of the best papers in this class and they turned out fantastic once revised and in the portfolio. She completely understands the needs of students and accommodates most needs. She has one exam, and its not even that hard, just some memorization and some analysis of writing styles, and a prompt at the end for an essay (not even that bad). Not an easy A but a B is pretty easy tbh.

She is a very nice woman, however, she does grade a little too harsh in my opinion. I brought my essay to the writing lab and the evaluator told me I did a good job and then Leslie told me I deserve a C. Sorry I am not a professional author??

If you do not write on a topic that she agrees with, it will be very obvious in the comments and way she grades. She showed NEGATIVE BIAS towards a topic of mine, and made me feel very discouraged. Her bias towards the topic made her comments harsh, and made me feel bad about my idea. I ended up feeling the need to change my whole essay. Her opinionated nature makes her a biased grader. I did not enjoy having her as a teacher, and she left me feeling discouraged every time.

Leslie is so nice and a great teacher all in all. She has tons of office hours and will edit any essay you bring to her and when she does she gives very specific aspects to fix so that you are not confused on what you should change. There are 3 major essays and a few other smaller ones but you can definitely get an A or B in this class if you put in the work and get your essays edited (its not even that much work). Leslie is also super fun and her essay topics are more open ended so that you can actually write about something you are interested in. She greatly improved my writing and taught valuable skills, if you can take her I definitely would.

St. John was super helpful during her coffee hours. I only went once, but pretty sure that was a big part of why she gave me an A on my essays. If you show major improvement from the first draft to final draft and take into consideration any of her edits she will probably give you an A. Grade consists of three essays(60%), a project(5%), and other easy assignments/partner quizzes. Attend class because you can't retake pop quizzes and she likes you more if you participate. Definitely harder than other teachers, but felt like my writing improved a lot over the quarter.

First of all, she's inspiring. From the first day of class you can tell she's a very open-minded and liberal person which I like. I would say there is a quite a lot of writing assignments for this class, but she helps you so much if you ask her for help. She's also very very helpful during office hour like the post above me also said. I was never lost during class because she explains the material really clearly. Let me tell you, I'm not a good writer but my writing improved so much in this class like I would've never imagined. She really values improvement so if she sees a drastic change from your rough draft to your final draft, it is highly likely that she will give you an A. Overall, I recommend taking her class. P.S. tips for doing good in this class: go to class, revise your f*%*ing essays ahead of time, go to office hour. GOOD LUCK!!

She is a nice person with good intentions, her classes are always quite easy and straightforward. However, she grades so hard that you are more than likely to get a C first time she looks over it. I revised it and went into office hours and she told me it was a B- paper. She will always find something new wrong with your writing and it is so discouraging. I am not a professional writer, I am taking a GE as a business major and she tears your paper apart like you are majoring in it. Fuck.

Ms. St. John is pretty cool. She\'s one of those earthy in touch with nature people. Anyway, the quizzes are really simple and so are the tests. Make sure you go everyday because she gives quizzes fairly often and the stuff off the lectures are exactly what are on the tests. This class didn\'t require a lot of studying but a lot of writing was done. USE MLA FORMAT ON EVERYTHING!!! Even if its just a little homework assignement always use MLA. THe end of the quarter project was pretty fun, but the 8 page paper was not. Overall shes a good teacher and class went by fast.

This lady thinks she knows what she is doing but is the most clueless professor I have had at poly so far. Very harsh grader, often times unfair, if she deems you a C student you will get a C on all your assignments. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS

She is really nice, accommodating, understanding, and approachable. However, she had no idea what she was doing. In lectures she would just read directly off handouts that were on polylearn, which made coming to class a little redundant. The exams were weird, because the questions were on details that really didn't matter. And her grading of essays was a little skewed in my opinion, focusing way too much on style instead of substance. However, it's an easy class to pass, so I wouldn't worry too much about the grading. She's a nice teacher and the class is easy enough that I would recommend her to anyone just looking to get the A3 requirement out of the way. But, if you are looking to get an A, you might want to put in a little more effort.

awesome teacher, super chill class, nicest lady ever. Only one midterm and two big papers, but she goes over everything real thoroughly. Take LSTJ!

Leslie is hard; I'm not going to lie. But I enjoyed her class. She had an enthusiasm for Romanticism that she really tried to pass on to her class. She's young and fun and really connects with her students, even sometimes sharing a bit from her own life. I used to HATE English classes in high school, but Leslie changed that. I found the class absolutely fascinating and highly recommend her. (Not because I got an A, but because I think Leslie will give you a perspective on literature that you haven't had before)

St. John is really knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the material she presents, which helps to make you interested in what she's talking about. the readings for this class (romantic poetry, frankenstein, pride and prejudice, heart of darkness) aren't hard but there is quite a bit of it. She gives daily quizzes that are really straight forward if you read. there are also one page responses due roughly every other week that aren't bad at all either-she's a pretty easy grader on them. there's one midterm that isn't tooo bad if you go to class. there's a group presentation and a final paper that both have roughly the same prompt which kind of sucks. overall, st john is a great teacher-she's young so she easily relates to her students but the work might be a little much if you have a lot of other work in your classes (i took the class credit/no credit for that reason). if you reallly like english then you will love this class.

Really LOVE St. John! Really great professor and someone who I was able to connect with through my writing. However, she sometimes does not articulate her expectations on projects, but you struggle together!