Kennelly, Brian  

amazing teacher. one of my favorites, hands down

Monsieur Kennelly is an excellent professor. He goes through the book and explains concepts thoroughly, just raise your hand. Don't be embarrassed to try to answer questions or raise your hand because how else will you learn? Use the online resources he provides, and go to office hours. It is not hard at all to earn a respectable grade in this class if you just try.

Kennelly is not an easy professor, but if you are a college student who is taking a French class then I assume you would actually want to learn the language. If that is the case, Kennelly is the ONLY French teacher that will help you learn to speak French. Go to his office hours if you are nervous to speak up in class. His tests are difficult, but he is a phenomenal teacher. I had him for 5 classes and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

This white cracker thinks it's ok to be blatantly racist and not be prosecuted in any way. He supported Kyler Watkins when he wore blackface and solemnly believes that he shouldn't be expelled by the university because his actions were not illegal. Racism is not illegal so I guess I can get away with being blatantly racist and not worry about facing consequences. NIGGER. CHINK. CRACKER. BEANER. This is the kind of behavior that this professor condones.

Don't get me wrong, I really liked Professor Kennelly as a lecturer, but when it came to testing, he was completely unrealistic. The lectures were really fun and I enjoyed going to class most of the time. But his tests were impossible. And he marks off for everything, so if I made a mistake that didn't even pertain to the question, I didn't receive any credit for the question. Believe me, I understand French, but the way he tests isn't fair for a beginning level French class. Great professor, not so great tester.

Brian was an awful teacher. He goes 100 miles an hour, wether you can keep up or not and he is not afraid to leave you in the dust. If you don't go to class, he lectures you in front of everyone the next day. His tests are impossible, points are taken off for the smallest of things including accent marks. He will fool you into thinking he is a funny guy but once grades come out you will hate him. The only positive aspect of this class was the online homework, which you get 100% if you complete it on time, correct or not. Even so, it is not enough to boost your grade. Extra credit is 5% but you have to travel to either the the Bay or LA for a french event and then write a paper on top of it. Overall, awful teacher, get anyone else if you can! Or better yet, don't take French!

I came to Poly Ratings to give Prof Kennelly a good rating, and am in shock at the negative comments. The students who wrote them must have been unhappy with their grades and wanted to place the blame with someone other than themselves. Prof Kennelly�s classes (I�ve taken two) are not easy. Does anyone know of anyone who has learned a foreign language in an easy class? I also agree that his grading of the tests is demanding, but on the whole the tests themselves are not all that difficult. Homework counts for an incredibly easy 20% of the grade, participation 10%, this term an easy video project 10%, and tests only 60%. Extra credit differed in the two terms, but was still 5% of the final grade. Even if one only scored 50% on the tests, that is still a C in the class if you put effort in the other categories. His class is very good for at least four things that Prof Kennelly is consistent about doing: 1. He tells the class from day one what to expect. 2. He is always in his office during scheduled office hours, and is willing to help students who want/need extra help. 3. He informs everyone the first day and many times throughout the quarter what to do in order to succeed in his class. A. Do the reading before class, B. Participate in class, and C. Reinforce the lesson with the homework. When I have followed his advice, I�ve done well. 4. He takes an otherwise tedious, difficult subject and makes learning it fun. Very few students are bored or fall asleep in the class. My advice to you is simple; if you are looking for an easy class, look somewhere else. However, if you are willing to put in the effort, you won�t regret taking his classes.

I am shocked at the negative reviews of prof Kennelly. He was very clear and very knowledgeable on the material. He was also very helpful and success in this class is not impossible. While it is true that the exams are graded difficultly, they are not unfair and he is more than willing to explain grading on any questions or re-evaluate if you feel you were graded unjustly. Beyond that he was hilarious and really connected with our class. I loved attending class! He made learning french fun and interesting and brought the language to real world applications such as looking for a roommate or apartment by browsing real ads online. I would definitely recommend taking French with him if you want to gain a true understanding of the language, not just pass a class.

Kennelly is definitely an entertaining professor. He has a lot of energy, and makes clear his pessimistic views of the world. You will learn a good amount of French pop culture, which was the only part of class I enjoyed. I would have preferred to have class a little more structured, and not just a review of the book exercises...which can get very boring. He clearly knows his stuff, but often comes off condescending towards students that can't keep up or may ask a repeated question on a hard concept. The pace of his explanations can be a little too fast which does not always allow students time to process the information. His tests are very challenging, they definitely require you to have done thorough studying. This is all fine, except when you get your grade back. He does not give out partial credit... so even a minor mis-spelling or lack of accent mark will make the whole answer wrong. Basically, your test grades will NOT reflect what you know. In this course you can learn a lot if you are doing it all on your own basically.

This has been the worst professor ever at Cal Poly. Im not saying he doesn't know his stuff because he does but he can't teach french to save his life. Due to his fluency he expects people who have just started to learn the language to be as fluent. He makes no time for his students at all to meet with him one on one. I had class during his office hours and all he said was well i'm sorry you can't make it maybe you should pay a tutor. NEVER goes over actual material in class. He believes in the teach yourself method so only goes over exercises in class. He thinks he is entitled millions for this teaching job when he can't even teach this class. I took this class with intentions to learn the language but now I hate how much I hate French because of this teacher. I will forever regret taking this class with Kennelly. DO NOT TAKE KENNELLY AS AN BEGINNER YOU WILL DROWN IN YOUR OWN TEARS FROM ALL THE F'S HE GIVES. I PROMISE.

Firstly, this teacher clearly is an expert on language and is very knowledgable on the subject of French. However, he lacks the ability to recognize when students are not understanding and exercise, and chooses unhelpful and confusing in-class activities. Considering the LACK of written activities in class, his grading on exams is extremely unfair. Do not expect an easy-A, or even an easy-C with this professor. Instead, expect unhelpful and tedious activities and homework, high-speed class with little regard for the individual, and an extremely unwelcoming and condescending response when asking questions.

I am going to try to be objective as possible in analyzing Professor Kennelly. First off, he is incredibly knowledgable in the subject and has a lot of experience with it. However, he lacks the ability to notice when his students are struggling. I had him for 102 and he expected us to be almost fluent when it came to test/class activities. When asking a question or answering one incorrectly, he does his best to lead you in the right direction albeit, slightly condescendingly. He is helpful in his office hours however, but again, he can be condescending. That being said, I don't believe he does it intentionally, he truly wants you to succeed and learn the language, contrary to what his grading system makes you think. When it came to tests, his standards are EXTREMELY HIGH. If a word is spelled wrong, accent is missing, or uses "riff raff" french, it is marked wrong regardless if you got the rest right. To a degree, I understand where he is coming from in that he believes you have to struggle with something before you can truly learn it, despite it killing your GPA. His grading technique would be completely understandable in a 200+ level class, but for the second installment of the elementary sequence, I believe it was a bit on the unfair side especially when the majority of the class scores under a 70% on his midterms. He doesn't input grades into poly learn so I do not know what I have in the class, nor anyone else, but it can't be higher than a B with my exam scores, of which many people did poorly on. In addition, he expects you to read the lesson before class each day and then when you get there, you simply do book exercises that correspond with the lesson/concepts, something that can be done at home and is a complete waste of time in my opinion. This almost always leads to awkward situations in which you may not have prepared to his liking and when he calls on you in class to answer a section and you didn't get it right according to his standards. You rarely go over all the examples together as a class, he relies on you and a partner to orally complete each example together and you may think you're doing it completely right, but in reality it is not what he wants and then when you go to take the test you answer how you practiced in class and end up getting screwed over. In my opinion, it would be far more effective to go through each question with his guidance initially and then turn you loose so he can do what he gets paid for and teach you the material rather than you do all the heavy lifting and then only come in when you're struggling. In the end, I believe that he has the potential to be a fantastic professor, he has an incredible amount of enthusiasm and passion for the subject, he just needs to lose the condescension and be more attentive when it comes to seeing if his students are struggling. Ultimately, this class has put a bad taste in my mouth when it comes to learning french so 102 will be the end of the road for me. If you're looking for a GPA booster, look elsewhere, it isn't worth the stress and frustration that myself along with many others experienced this past quarter.

The test material is really difficult and includes trick questions, the homework load is ok, and his grading policies would be fair if his teaching was fair. Now let me tell you why not to take him. His methods of teaching are both harmful and crippling to all students, even those trying their hardest to learn French. His method is to belittle, degrade, and embarrass students until they get it right, which they never do for fear of being harassed by him. He is a tyrant, and his harsh and cruel treatment of both the students and the subject actually discourage students from learning because they feel so powerless and are filled with failure every time they raise their hand and are shot down by the professor, and then are ridiculed mockingly for their response. Furthermore, the professor refuses to teach the subject of French and merely reviews the excersises from the book. He expects you to learn all of the French yourself before class and only show up to review. I don’t think its unrealistic to ask students to dedicate a large amount of time outside of class to learning the material, especially with a subject as hard as French, but case in point: Foreign language is extremely difficult to learn on your own. The class exercises don’t help solidify the material because you struggle over trying to learn the material all by yourself and never end up understanding it. In any other class you could just ask the professor questions, but raising your hand means enduring Kennelly's bullying. He uses a matter of fact tone of voice with you as if to suggest you are a complete idiot and not worth his time. He is confused about why students do not come to his office hours. It is because he is so intimidating and mean that students will not go ask for help. I went once and it wasn't helpful at all. I assure you my grievances are not only personal but shared among the students I’ve discussed with this: he always makes inappropriate jokes about how terrible his end of the quarter reviews are and “if you don’t like it, save it for the end of the quarter reviews!” because he knows that he cannot be fired due to tenure. Despite all this, he is very intelligent in French and you can tell he is highly educated but needs to take a serious look at his teaching style and reform how he deals with students. He could be a great professor. I come into the classroom with respect for him and would like to feel that my respect is reciprocated.

Kennelly is something else. Definitely one of the quirkiest professors I've had here. That said, he knows what he's doing, and he wants his students to be excited about learning French. A lot of easy homework and straightforward tests (he curves final grades since tests grades tend to be low). Oh, and come to class prepared! When someone didn't know the answer to a question, he would tap a marker on the white board (or do something equally intimidating) until they came up with something.

Kennelly is an extremely hard grader, which is a little ironic because he doesn't actually do most of the teaching: you are expected to do much of the learning outside of class. He does have a few helpful tricks for grammar concepts that can be difficult, so credit where credit's due. His biggest problem, however, is that he is unable to maintain a level of professionalism and keep his all-consuming personal life outside of the classroom (where it belongs). Whenever he was having any sort of problem, he would waste class time just complaining. This leaked into his grading as well. If he was having a problem with, for example, his house, he would put off grading tests and whatever else needed grading. He also gives a considerable amount of homework (most of the biweekly assignments were about 6-8 hours worth). Think long and hard before you take this class.

Well, it's not like I have a choice. I have to take his class for my major. I came on thinking that someone would have sign him up already, but it only confirmed that everyone is afraid to speak out. This professor constantly puts Americans down and he calls us all hillbillies in class because we use prepositions at the end of a sentence. He constantly makes innappropriate comments, and says he doesn't want to ofend, but he does anyway. He mocks students when they dont pronounce French right and embarrasess them infront of everyone. A friend of mine, who I will not mention, told me that once she took a Humanities Class with him, which dealt with the racism in South Africa and she told me that he made her feel completely uncomfortable. She is Black. He acts like he is better than eveyone else and there are many in my class that will support what I am saying. I hope that by putting this professor on your list others may step up and comment on what I have put on this blog. Besides, he makes students afraid with the way he teaches. The midterms' averages for french 122 for this quarter have been 59% for the first one and 63% for the second one. 4 people scored over 90% in the second midterm, in a class of over 35 students, and that is because they have already had previous french advanced instruction knowledge. I am fed up. I am also writing this because he is the only professor I've had who has not given out a class evaluation form for students to fill out. What is up with that? I thought we lived in a democracy where people may have a chance to express their discontent. Please allow this to be added to your list. I guarantee others will respond.

Guarantee? It\'s almost been a year and no one has responded......I took a class with Kennelly and found that I learned more in his class than in other French courses I\'ve taken, due mainly to the fact that he pushes you to excel instead of making the class cake like most professors. You get out what you put in. In your case I don\'t think it was the professor who was full of themselves. Good luck to you in the future.

This professor is quite possibly the biggest joke in the department. His standards are ridiculous. Take his class if you enjoy working extremely hard for a C. He's not helpful when you go and see him--he mostly just talks about how you should be studying harder and makes you feel like an idiot. He takes full points off if you miss an accent!!! He is the WORST professor I have ever had at Poly. Avoid him at ALL costs.

Professor Kennelly is, quite frankly, a jerk. He belittles students who make mistakes and then complains about people not asking for help. He grades harshly and if he decides that he does not like you he will not treat you well. I have not personally met any student who has taken a course with him and enjoyed their time. In complete honesty, he killed any love or like I had for French. Yes, he is intelligent and speaks French well but he should not be teaching. Instead, I would recommend he try something where he doesn't have to interact with others on a daily basis. I have had a wonderful time with other professors here at Cal Poly but man, Kennelly really killed it for me.

I really enjoyed Professor Kennelly's class this quarter. He is sort of eccentric and a bit crazy but he is quite funny and makes class interesting. He really has a passion for French and wants his students to be excited about French as well. He is 100% willing to help outside of class. He does grade the tests hard, so be aware of that. However, he has a good amount of other easy homework assignment and such that are graded on completion, so that will help your grade a lot. He also curves the grades at the end of the quarter, so that's a nice boost. The homework assignments were online and were pretty easy, it's just important to keep on top of them and not leave them all until the end, because they will pile up. Overall, I found that if I prepared a couple hours of studying before tests and kept up with homework, I didn't have a problem. French comes pretty easy to me though, so those who struggle more with the language may have to put more work in. Overall a fun and interesting class and professor. He consistently found relevant articles and fun/funny videos to make French applicable to real life. Honestly a fun and motivated professor. Would definitely take his class again.

Professor Kennelly really is an amazing professor. He knows the material like the back of his hand and is really passionate about the language and culture. He is also so hilarious is class and brings so much energy & humor into his lectures. However, if you don't care about French then this won't be your favorite class/professor. He values class participation and will try to get the quiet students to participate. He can tell if you are trying your best and want to succeed, and he will do anything he can to help you! But, he can also tell if you don't really care and that doesn't sit well with him. All of the homework is graded by completion, which really is a grade booster. The tests are super hard and he is a really tough grader but that's why the homework serves as a grade booster. As long as you show that you're trying your best, he can be one of your favorite professors!

Students are WAY TOO HARD on professor Kennelly. I struggle with French a lot and would often mess up in oral exercises in class. Prof. Kennelly never made me feel embarrassed and I felt comfortable coming to him with areas I struggle in (mostly basic grammar which would be hard to admit to most language teachers) and participating in class. His requirements for the class seem hard at first, but they are definitely manageable. He genuinely wants students to succeed and actually try in the class. He even tells students ahead of time exactly how the test will be structured and what it will focus on. The class is interesting and covers a lot of things about French culture, politics, social life, ect. Lastly, Prof. Kennelly is hilarious. He makes us laugh every day in class and because of that the period goes by quickly and is interesting. Overall, if you are willing to try your best, you will enjoy this class.

If you have absolutely any say in the matter DO NOT take this man's class. The only way you stand any living chance of doing well in this class you must be basically fluent in French. He does not stop for anyone, and will only explain things in French unless you actively get in a fight with him about how much you and the class do not understand. This man doesn't play favorites, he plays least favorites. He will actively call on you and pick on your abilities to pronounce and laugh at you if you say the wrong thing. He says the weirdest, most uncalled for comments about Cal Poly and about the material. I didn't even want to write one of these originally because he constantly brings up how if we don't like something we'll just write it in polyratings. He will blame you any time you don't understand something by saying you are not studying enough when you literally study two hours before each class. One time he literally called out my classmates and me in front of the entire class saying how little we care/study, and I actually went home and cried for an hour about it (and I never cry about what professors say to me). He made me so uncomfortable every time I was in that class, and I literally had anxiety attacks almost every day before going to sit there. The entire two hours I was only thinking about how much I did not want to be there. I absolutely loved french before this man, but now I am afraid to speak it out of fear of being ridiculed and I basically cringe every time I hear it because I think of him and how stressed he made me. I wish anyone the best of luck if they are blocked into this class, but anyone who has a choice LEAVE WHILE YOU STILL HAVE YOUR DIGNITY. I promise you, you will thank me.

Prof Kennelly is an incredibly passionate professor! You can tell he really loves what he is teaching and cares about each student and their progress. He's there to support you but mainly to push you and challenge you to be better! He is clear on everything he is presenting and is accommodating to any misunderstandings. If you just want an easy A and don't want to put in extra work, this class definitely isn't for you. But really the extra work isn't too crazy and it does help you overall. Students are really hard on him because speaking in front of the whole class can be really embarrassing and stressful, especially if you are feeling unsure or unprepared, but all of his activities are to HELP you, never to punish you. He's also super funny and class goes by super fast. Overall a really great teacher!

COURSE/INSTRUCTOR: Basic French language course. If you are planning on taking the whole series (i.e. 201, 202, 203), get the full textbook. If you are just taking it for one quarter, not continuing on to the higher levels, just get the corresponding shorter version of the textbook. This class covers chapters 1-4, which is a bunch of present-tense stuff, and then imperfect-tense in the very last chapter. Kennelly wants his students to do well and to actually learn the language so he will: answer questions, help you during activities, correct you if you pronounce something wrong, expect you to put in effort and remember material, etc. He's funny and makes jokes and is nice and will learn your name. Kennelly conducts the class in French 90% of the time. You will get used to it, don't worry. It really helps you improve your French to be listening to it all the time and trying to speak it yourself. If you don't know how to say something, ask in English, or ask how to say it in French, then ask. He won't dock you for it. IN CLASS: He does a lot of the book exercises in class and gives everyone a chance to participate (participation is 10% of your final grade, and it's not hard to do/get). Sometimes you will do activities as a class, or you will do it as a small group/with partners, then go over it as a class. It is best to have already read over what you will be covering in class that day , and to try doing the exercises on your own beforehand. That way, you can better understand the material when he goes over it and when you are called on, or volunteer, to give an answer, you are not struggling to find the right one. His explanations are a lot shorter than the explanations the textbook gives, and he's pretty cut-and-dry about it, so if you want more info or to better understand any grammar rules, it's best to read it before. He still tells you everything you need to know, though. It also helps to right down the answers for each exercise as you do them in class, because he assigns a lot of the same exercises for the online homework (for extra practice and to really set the material in your mind), so if you have the answers written down, you can just copy them into the online homework. Maybe that defeats the purpose, but oh well. He also occasionally shows videos, uses French music, and shows you other sites to help you learn the material. HOMEWORK: There is a lot of online homework assigned, and not all of it is from the book activities so the faster you can get those done with the answers you got from class, the more time you can spend on the others. They aren't necessarily hard, though, assuming you get the basics of the lesson. They can just be time-consuming. I found it best to do some after each class (corresponding to the activities and sections we covered), and then do the rest of the homework as I was able, or in the week before the test when there wasn't as much new material covered. The other activities do usually correspond to the sections (especially grammar) that you cover. There is a podcast and a video assignment due towards the end of each chapter. You listen to the podcast (they're 5 mins or less, you can choose whatever one you want) beforehand and then write a summary. The video is a 10 min or less short film that you answer questions on from the book. You turn these assignments in on paper in class. TESTS: There is no official "midterm" and "final" in the normal sense of the words. They are all just end of chapter tests, so nothing comprehensive at the end of the course or anything - which is awesome. Tests are 60% of the grade. He goes over the different portions of the test in a previous class so you know what to study (i.e. section one is listening comprehension, in section 2 you will read a paragraph in French and answer 5 questions about it, etc.). There is always a portion of the test that is based on a video/podcast/radio broadcast that he will inform you of 1-2 weeks prior and on which you will have to write something. You get to watch/listen to it before the test and he lets you prepare notes and bring them/use them during the test to answer whatever question he gives you for it. That is awesome, especially since those portions are usually worth more points. OVERALL: I really liked this course and the instructor. It is well laid out, well taught, and you learn a lot.

Dr. Kennelly offers a clear, progressive class structure and lecture series that will definitely allow you to improve your French should you put in the additional work studying outside of class. The assigned online homework encourages practice and growth by allowing you to redo assignments until achieving success. Each test’s structure (non cumulative, by chapter) will be laid out to you before hand, with at least one section allowing notes/proactive preparation. Alongside assignments and tests, Dr. Kennelly always looks to offer accessible and resourceful guides (outside of the textbook) for especially difficult grammar or structural issues, which for many students (like myself) is immensely helpful. The multimedia engagement within the classroom, from lectures, to textbook readings, pictures, and outside videos, each allow for fine tuning of your French skills across all areas while provide engaging educational resources for students with different learning types. Also, it was especially clear this past quarter that Dr. Kennelly encourages you to discuss topics crossing wide ranging issues (just like you would in real life conversations!) and develop your thought processes and understandings through a variety of sources. Outside of classes, Dr. Kennelly is open and receptive to many types of conversations and discussions, which is very encouraging as a student working across campus communities. While of course the grading can be rigorous on tests, it’s no more rigorous than an English class of the same caliber—which is exactly what you should expect and hope for in a language learning class. During class readings and discussions, Dr. Kennelly will correct your pronunciation as you’re reading or speaking, which is honestly best for remembering the correction because you’re able to practice it right in that moment. Dr. Kennelly is definitely a high energy professor, which is helpful for a 4-6 pm lecture at the end of the day. Dr. Kennelly encourages open discussions in class throughout subjects, so build your vocabulary and try to participate!

Honestly, he's not that bad! The assignments were very minimal & made it easier to practice French writing skills. Although there wasn't much structure, we makes class very, very entertaining & does his best for students to understand what happens in the French stories. The midterm/paper were fair & he's very helpful in office hours!

First, as a disclaimer, Kennelly is one of the most unusual, and to be frank, sometimes strange, professors. But that can make this class the highlight of your day and a lot of fun if you're wiling to go in with a sense of humor and and open mind. Kennelly knows his stuff. He is very intelligent and has a ton of experience in French, so you know you're in good hands. He has been my favorite professor I've ever had for a couple reasons. One, he makes the material applicable and real. We will read about a concept in the textbook, and he will have prepared a video, article, webpage, or some other contemporary resource related to the concept. For instance, an article in the textbook will talk about eco housing in France. Then he'll have a video prepared about eco housing, and a webpage in French about it. This makes the material real and memorable. Second, his class is so much fun. Kennelly is really goofy and has a weird sense of humor, so he's always making jokes and if we have time at the end of class, showing us bizarre French music videos. If you go in with a sense of humor, you will really enjoy his class. I think the people that give him bad reviews go in expecting a super serious class and are put off by his vibe. But Kennelly not only has a really fun class, but I've learned so much from him. I can honestly say my French has improved greatly in his class. However, be prepared to put in the work in this class and for the exams, because they can be difficult (but are always fair). If you do all the online homework and pay attention you should be fine. He also provides lots of outside resources for improving your French outside of class (like a link to a French radio app, a link to watch French TV live etc), which I 100% recommend to take advantage of as they have really helped my French take off. Bottom line, if you want to have a truly fun and enjoyable class while learning French in an applicable, real, and memorable way, take Kennelly's class. I honestly looked forward to going to class everyday and improved greatly.

After an entire year with this professor, I will say that this was an extremely frustrating experience. This is a course that you should take if you are nearly fluent in French, otherwise you will receive a low grade - it’s that simple. It almost feels like you should be in this course only if you are fluent, but then what would be the point of taking this class? I will say that Professor Kennelly is an extremely knowledgeable professor and certainly does know that material at hand. I, to this day would not disagree with that or argue otherwise that he doesn’t. He does want his students to learn and he does care. However, with that being said, he was not a good ‘teacher’ and that was evident. There really was not a moment where I felt that he was a great teacher or that I even felt motivated to learn the material from him. I actually began to hate this language the more I was in his class and I was not the only one who felt this way. I took four years of French in high school and this language something I have been very passionate about continuing - until I got to Kennelly's class. It was like pulling out teeth just to show up every class day once I figured out no matter what I did didn’t seem to help me either way. I spoke with several people who actually dropped his course because they didn’t care for his teaching or felt that they were getting enough from it. For any reason you can’t make it in for office hours for extra help he probably will not make an exception to meet any other time with you. Additionally, his attendance policy is very strict which is also frustrating because most of the material you can teach yourself at home as it is about 97% book work, that is then reviewed in class (literally you just read out of a book for nearly two hours each day). He actually instills fear of learning the language in students. For any reason you attempt to raise you hand to speak in class he will shoot you down, degrade you, and make you feel like an idiot. Then for the rest of class he will poke fun or mock his students for those mistakes made, which can make one feel like a target. I am someone who does have a thick skin and is all for a joke, but his humor can be insensitive and rude. For a language class the majority of the course was spent reviewing a set text, there was speaking but it was much more minimal than any language course I have previously taken. Plus there wasn’t a lot of free range on what was spoken. Do not expect to genuinely learn vocabulary sets in this course either. Lastly, on exams he will not curve. My particular course no one received an A on multiple exams and he still did not curve. For any reason you miss a part of a question there is no partial credit, the whole sentence will be marked off. Do not expect to argue for points back either. As a disclaimer I have never wrote a polyratings before this course or this professor but I feel it is only fair to warn students of what they need to be aware of before they walk through the door on the first day of classes.

Kennelly is a nice guy, but his standards are insane. I'd studied French for almost 6 years (4 on the AP exam) before taking Kennelly's 233 class, and I struggled with the papers. I took 305 Adv French Comp/Grammar with Cay Kelly my first quarter here, and it was super easy compared to 233 Critical Reading in French Lit with Kennelly. I'm baffled by the fact that he ignores our grasp of the subject (and makes everyone look and feel incompetent in their language abilities) and focuses on our writing skills exclusively. He asks stupid questions and teaches almost nothing. WARNING: His tests are freakishly weird, but not difficult. There is no explanation of what you are supposed to do. You pick a certain number of the questions (he tells you how many) and regurgitate as much information as possible relative to the story. He calls it "identifications". The "questions" are either a title, author, quote, or key word/place. You must then give information such as: where the quote occurs in the story, what happened in the story, where the story took place, who the author is, what the title of the story was, what KIND of story it was (poem, novella, story, play, biographical), what the moral of the story was, etc. I got a B- and honestly that was because I got desperate with my second paper (69% on the first one) and begged my high school teacher to go over it with me. I think I got a B- on the second paper.

I thought this class was a good next step from learning French grammar. The stories were at times hard to comprehend, because of the different storytelling verb tenses and cultural context, but Professor Kennelly tried to make them as understandable as possible. There are two essays and if you understand the reading and are able to show that you understand it, you should be fine. The two midterms were a little difficult because they were identification, meaning you were given a quote or a key word and you had to identify the story, its context, and some analysis. What was hardest was actually identifying which story the quote was from, but if you pay attention in class, you should be fine. Overall, I thought Professor Kennelly did a good job and tried to make the class as interesting as possible.

Kennelly is a great professor. He is passionate, funny, and makes class ( and my day) much less boring. The workload in any of his classes is not insane if you are already proficient in French, and the discussions are intellectually stimulating. This has been one of the only classes at Cal Poly where I found myself truly interested in the material learning about diverse topics. I wish professors in other departments would be as entertaining and passionate about their subject as I always leave his class being happy I showed up.

I believe that Dr. Kennelly is an excellent professor. Last quarter I enjoyed my French literature class. In fact, I have learned more from him than any other language professor from the MLL department. Professors like Dr. Kennelly are innovative, work out of the box and love to teach. It is sad that some college students act immature when they are dissatisfied with their own poor performance and feel the need to attack the teacher. It seems to me that those who complain demonstrate a childish attitude. I think that the problem is that some students do not like being challenged when it comes to learning a language. Homework, readings and tests were fair and interactive. I highly recommend Dr. Kennelly�s FR 305 class, it allows us to improve our communication skills, speak properly in French and give our points of view. The class was also fun!

I never really felt like I learned anything in his classes... He spends most of it just telling weird anecdotes of his life. I'm kind of sad, I wanted to learn. But his lectures aren't very set up or guided, just kind of a discussion of whatever he wants to talk about. He has some ridiculous standards for his essays. And the exams are sometimes easy, other times ridiculously hard. He does not curve the tests, even if the whole class fails, but he will usually curve at the end of the quarter... But he will only give you an A if you really deserve it. Which is never. Also he loves reading Polyratings, so I'm sure he is enjoying reading this now.

Writing this after having taken 5 classes with Kennelly and MANY different languages classes with different professors. Kennelly. Is. Great. Don't be put off by negative reviews. Many students expect to take an easy-A language class an learn nothing and are upset when his classes don't match that expectation. I have learned more in Kennelly's classes than most other college courses. I genuinely feel that I have mastered French thanks to him, and learned a lot about life. If you actually want to learn French, TAKE KENNELLY's CLASSES. Many other language professors don't actually make you learn the language. Classes with Kennelly are very fun, interactive, and entertaining. Go in expecting some wacky experience as he's kind of a nutty guy, which makes classes a lot of fun. Don't take his jokes seriously, he's just a goober. Also he cares a lot about his students. Reach out if you need help! Do the homework, put it an effort, and have fun. You'll do fine. TLDR; don't be scared by negative reviews. Do yourself a favor and take a class with him to actually learn French and have some fun.

Kennelly is such an awesome dude. He's super quirky and off the wall, which keeps lectures interesting. He's enthusiastic about his subjects and very into class discussion - he's always asking your opinion and getting students involved. The class itself was Humanities South Africa, and considering Kennelly's South African, he was pretty knowledgeable on the subject. I took it over summer so it was a ton of reading squashed into 5 weeks, but it was all interesting and so eye-opening. Overall an awesome class, and an equally awesome professor.

Kennelly is an enthusiastic professor. I loved going to his class because there was always something to look forward to. The books we read were very interesting and I learned more than I expected in this class. However, I do think he has a strong bias, he favors those who speak out in class. I believe that is what set me back from those students who got an A. I know there were other students in the same boat as me and would agree.

Kennelly is an interesting creature... I enjoyed him and his weirdness/jollyness he brings to class. It makes the 2 hour lecture seems like 1 hour! The books he chose was decent- some were simple, some were dry. But overall, it was doable. This class required a lot of participation, which required reading, so stay on top of your reading! It's also an extremely writing intensive (3 papers) class. He was a very very meticulous grader, so beware!! But take this class.. you learn a lot about the French!

Kennelley is very energetic about this class and has a positive vibe to him. Other than that, as a professor he is pretty awful. He openly admits that he is extremely biased and grades better for students he likes more, so for every assignment we had to use fake names so his biases wouldn't get in the way of his grading. However, he forces people to get their assignment topics pre-approved so he has an idea on which assignment belongs to each person. He is highly disorganized. The class contains 2 papers, a group presentation, critiques of the presentation, participation, and a final worth 40% of your grade. The final is also cumulative so take good notes throughout the course. Make sure to kiss his butt as much as possible so he doesn't grade you through his biases.

This is the most entertaining GE course you\'ll take here at CP. The guy is extremely melodramatic and he will make inside jokes and silly references all the time. He doesn\'t present the information very well at all. Actually he doesn\'t present it at all. He just prances about in the front of the class prompting us with various questions about the texts. He gives way to much to read, but maybe that is because I am a ME student and I was more focused on thermodynamics and other classes that are more applicable to the real world.

I have LOVED taking classes with Kennelly. I have had him all the way from FR 101 till 350. Grammar classes are always difficult to appreciate a professor, but after taking 350, I truly can appreciate Kennelly. Every class was scandalous in an educational way and it is always entertaining and exciting. His literature class was not very structured, but doing the readings are important and really help with mid terms. 2 mid terms, 2 papers. Some advice: pay attention and actually take time to write the papers. His class is very free, open and interactive. I definitely encourage anyone to take this class, regardless of the bizarre topics and themes of French culture.

Kennelly is an exceptional professor! This was hands down my favorite class I've taken at Cal Poly. Yes, Kennelly is eccentric, loud, and pushes the boundaries, but it made the two hour class go by extremely fast. I enjoyed every single book we studied, and class discussions were always engaging and interesting. I'm usually not a student who even touches the assigned reading for classes, but I was genuinely excited to do all the reading for this class. I know he reads his Polyratings and is hard on himself as a result, but he has no reason to be! Great class and great professor.

Hard but fair, I always look forward to his class. He has a good heart and seems eager to see everyone exceed. Plus he is kinda cute.

Seriously, take this class it's brilliant. It's always entertaining.The reading load is fairly high, but doable, and you have a lot of freedom for the writing.

For the record I haven't finished this course yet, but am two weeks away from completion. I took this class as a GE and didn't know what to expect going into it. Your final grade boils down to participation, two essays (1 x 4 page essay and 1 x 6 page essay), and a final exam. You read a variety of novels throughout the quarter ranging in complexity and enjoyability. While I didn't like all of the novels, I liked a few of them and by the end I had some level of appreciation for each of them in the scope of modern French literature. I never thought I'd be one to give a damn about a topic as specific as the last 100 years of French lit but Kennelly made me! Kennelly is a very caring professor! He cares about his students' comprehension of the texts and is always helpful in office hours. For some context, I'm an engineering student and this is the first Polyratings review I've ever written if that's any testament to the influence this professor had on me. His style of discussion / teaching might rub some the wrong way (and he makes that clear) but if you have a sense of humor there's no doubt you'll enjoy some of your time in this class. I recommend not procrastinating on the reading and essay writing (duh). This class is entirely manageable if you're diligent on the reading and take decent notes in your books in preparation for your essays and the final.

The best class I have taken at Cal Poly

Prof cried today.... What a weirdo hahahah get a grip of your life.