MacCurdy, Carol  

I liked this class and think Dr. MacCurdy is a great professor. The class was interesting. I even enjoyed studying grammar. Dr. MacCurdy is friendly, respectful, and helpful during her office hour. The class was challenging but not too hard to get a good grade with a reasonable effort. Take her for 215.

During this entire quarter all I could think about was how this professor reminded me of that small little dog that runs through the back of scene 23 in The Incredibles by Pixar. Seriously, if you look it up you will only be able to see it...

I had MacCurdy one before I was an English major, for 342. I thought she was quite intimidating and was more tough on non-English majors. I was relieved to think I wouldn't have to take her again. Well, I have her again this quarter now that I'm an English major! She definitely loosens up around majors and laughs a lot with us. She's open to ideas and enjoys hearing different interpretations, which is important in an English class and certainly not enough professors do this. As a teacher, I think she relies a little too heavily on the class presentations as a way to sort of get out of lecturing. The more exposure to her, the more you understand what she expects from you. I'll be taking her again for a 3rd time because she's not so bad, afterall!

Excellent teacher. Compassionate, challenging, fair. Really cares about subject matter. Clear on grading expectations. Reasonable workload. Helpful comments on papers.

Professor MacCurdy is the worst professor I have had at Cal Poly. Her tests are hard to pass the GWR and the take home essay took me hours to work on and I still received a bad grade. I would not recommend her to anyone. Her grading techniques are horrible and hardly anyone got an 'A' in my class. Don't take her!

This class covers a lot of really interesting material. The class consists of daily quizzes, lots of discussion, one group presentation, one midterm, final and a take home paper. This class is very frustrating because she grades the papers really hard. Even if you completely understand the material, she will nail you on writing style, which makes no sense, because she does not spend time teaching you how to write. It is especially frustrating because most people are just trying to pass the gwr and she makes it harder than it should be. If you can take someone else, it will help your gpa.

MacCurdy changed my view of English. What was once love is now indifference. I did enjoy going to the class; I liked talking about the reading. Make sure to speak up because participation counts; she gets really annoyed if no one is talking. Expect at least one quiz a week. It seemed like she picked Mondays a lot in our M-Th class. I would suggest reading the book and then reading SparkNotes/ researching the Internet as well. She didn\'t really give quizzes on poetry, which was nice. Do be prepared to discuss poems with the class or within a group though. I liked that she waited until Thursday to give a GWR evaluation (I heard that some classes did it on Day 1, which sounded scary). You have two chances to pass the GWR, on the midterm and on the final. It seemed like most of the class passed. In general I think she was an alright professor; she was not inspiring though, or flexible. She loves to call people out. Oh, and she also didn\'t believe me when I was sick. Expect to go to class everyday, because even mono and strep aren\'t good enough reasons to miss class.

Look, when I signed up for a literature course, it was because I wanted to learn more about literature. The opinions of other students, and even the opinions of my teacher, were not my goal. Her quizzes expected you to remember very small, often irrelevant details about the stories you read. If you didn't read the material, you'll obviously fail, but even if you read it thoroughly you can still do very poorly. Most of the class period is spent with students throwing ideas back and forth... but frankly, I want to know more about the authors, their lives, their thoughts, and their work. If you want to learn about literature, I'd highly recommend NOT taking MacCurdy.

This teacher is hard but very good. The books you read in this class are all very interesting especially at the end. If you are looking for an easy grade, look elsewhere. There is a lot of reading in this class. Not the best class to take if you want to pass GWR since the class is mainly spent on discussing books and not writing techniques.

Dr. MacCurdy is great. She enjoys what she teaches and is really good at getting the class into a discussion. She's professional and really helpful. This was a fun class.

This is the WORST class on the face of the planet. This professor is horrible. Not only are lectures boring, the tests hard and vague, but you probably wont pass the gwr either. Homework is a joke, there is nightly assigned reading for a discussion the following lecture but no one talks and MacCurdy doenst appear to have read the selections herself half of the time. Ill prepared lectures and pointless tangents make this class seem mundane and an complete waste of time. However dont blow off class either if you miss more than 4 classes she will fail you. Or you will miss a quiz which are given practically daily. Also it seems that if you have a penis she has something against you and you will probably fail. This is the worst professor and class that I have ever taken at poly or elsewhere. I DONT recommend this professor to anyone especially males. Horrible Professor!

This was by far the most difficult instructor I have ever encountered.

I am still in awe how a lit class can be so subjective. If you particpate in actually doing the reading and also discussion, you are not rewarded. I enjoy reading recreationally and enjoyed the material, but am offended by the irational justification resulting in said grade I encourage No one, not even people I hate to take this class.

MacCurdy is a fairly average English professor. She does encourage a lot of class discussion, but only a few regular people actually participate. Do not speak without raising your hand: it really irritates her. She gives a lot of quizzes, but not usually on poetry or really difficult material. Either the quiz keys are too specific or the people she has grading for her are idiots because I got tired of contesting answers on almost all of them. She had us present material to the rest of the class in groups of three, which became very boring after a couple of presentations. There has to be a better way to break the monotony. We were given the essay topic only a week and a half before it was due, which did not give enough time to pick a topic and see her about any problems. We were asked to compare two works we had read, which would be fine except that the choices had very little to do with one another. The essay was graded too hard for a non-major course. Other than that, I enjoyed the class.

I think the last comment was written by MacCurdy herself! She is a terrible terrible professor! Every minute in that class is painful. She reminds me of Mr. Mackey with her "Mmmk"s between every few words. And for an English teacher, her stutter is atrocious! If you make even a tiny mistake while reading in class she will correct you rudely. If you ask for clarification she says "I thought it was already clear". Way to help your students out MacCurdy! She is NOT understanding. She scheduled 2-3 quizzes within 3 class sessions after the California fires were publicized and all over the news. This would be no biggie except that Cal Poly itself sent out an email to EVERYONE asking them to be understanding and FLEXIBLE with the students. Scheduling quizzes each day hardly seems flexible. She plays favorites. I had another professor overlook my essay and they said they would have graded it much higher. Please please please don't take her... find another course! It will save you the heartache!

no matter how much effort i put into my papers she wouldnt give me higer than a D if your looking for a fair grader dont take her class

I was alittle worried taking this class because of other reviews, but she is actually pretty cool and the class is chill as long as u do the reading, which sometimes is a couple hours a day..atleast use sparknotes. I'm pretty good at writing but if you know the basic structure of an essay and prep alittle for the in class ones you should be good.

MacCurdy is one of the best English teachers I have ever had. I am a business major, and so English is definitely not my favorite subject. Her lectures are a bit dry, but she try's to joke around and be entertaining. She definitely does not fall for a lot of the bullshit that other English teachers do when it comes to class essays. That being said, you do have to put a little more thought into your essays for this class. However, if you just go to office hours or talk to her after class, she will definitely sit down and help you with anything, including proofreading and editing your essays. If you just get over her slightly awkward personality, she is an awesome teacher and a total sweetheart who just wants everyone in her class to succeed.

I really enjoyed ENGL 349. If you need to pass the GWR and USCP, this class kills two birds with one stone. Every day we sat in a cirlce and discussed the previous night's readings. She promotes an interactive class and makes it very easy for everyone to participate. The work level is also very reasonable. In addition, I had some personal problems that caused me to miss several days of class. Dr. MacCurdy was very understanding and flexible, allowing me to make up the work. Be prepared to discuss issues such as homosexuality, adultery, and male/female coming of age. If you are offended by sexually explicit material, this is not the class for you.

Dr. MacCurdy's class was interesting and fun. Read the short stories b/c there are pop quizzes almost daily. The load lightens up as the quarter progresses. The first essay exam is in class. If you pass the GWR, then the final paper was optional take home or in class, which was nice. In the middle of the quarter, there is a take home essay exam; do spend some time writing it. Go to her office hours to see if your paper is on the right track. Overall, she is a great teacher.

I thought she was an excellent teacher. She tries her best to encourage sudents to understand the material. I recommend this class to pas the GWR, it was VERY interesting instead of boring Shakespeare. We talked about love, sex, and other student related topics. Be prepared to read stuff that may seem offensive, such as homosexuality, but understandable. The readings were never boring and keep you interested in the class. Not much work, every classtime you sit in a circle and discuss the short story you read the night before. There are 3 essays, but she gives you the topic ahead of time. She doesn't require pro writting, so don't worry if you are not the best writter. I recommend this class to fulfill the GWR. Don't listen to the other reviews, Dr. MacCurdy is really a nice lady and very approachable and understanding.

I LOVE DR. MACCURDY!!! ENGL 349 is one of the best classes I've taken at Cal Poly! I've been pretty discouraged from bad English teachers in the past, but this lady really helped me feel an appreciation and enjoyment from English that I haven't felt since before high school! For ENGL 349, Gender in 20th Century Lit, the entire class sat in a circle EVERY DAY OF THE QUARTER MINUS 2 DAYS FOR THE 2 MIDTERMS, and just discussed!! It's exactly how English should be - hearing your peer's ideas and sharing your own. And we did that EVERY DAY! Another thing that made the class so successful for getting a lot out of it was that we read ONE novel and everything else we read was short stories! Because the vast majority of the quarter was dominated by discussing short stories, you were really motivated to actually do the reading because it was all brand new characters and plots every day! You couldn't slack off and play off what you already knew about the characters from previous nights of reading. MacCurdy herself is a pretty entertaining character. She has a southern accent and would seem pretty conservative, yet here she is talking about female orgasms and gay men (etc) with a very open-minded example for the class to follow. Anyway, I generally work to get straight-A's but I was more than happy to take a B from this class because I know I still got soooo much out of it! I really enjoyed the whole set up of hearing other people's ideas everyday - especially since the topics were so personal (gender, sexuality, romantic relationships, etc). My class totally opened up and I now feel really close to all 30 other Cal Poly students who I spent a quarter taking this class with. You don't usually have the oppurtunity to get to learn so much about yourself and other students as you do in English 349 with MacCurdy! TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT!

Well, the class isn't too boring, I'll give Dr. MacCurdy that. The subject matter, however, concerned me deeply. This class (Gender in 20th Century Lit) gives USCP credit, however, the content is hardly culturally plural. This first part of the course is on manhood, and most of the readings stress on how, to become a man, a boy must face death, or prove his bravery, or perform some amazing feat. Very steriotypical ideas, and it concerned me that MacCurdy didn't stretch them to meet with modern culture. The second part of the quarter was on womanhood, and even more appaling. Most of the stories we read were about either sex or menstruation, and most of the class discussions were centered around these topics. We spent very little time talking about aspects of womanhood OTHER than sex. I don't doubt that there is plenty of literature from the last 100 years that deals with other aspects of womanhood. Hell, in the last 100 years, women won the right to vote, to go to college, to work any job...but all we have to talk about is sex? She, on more than one occasion, assigned poetry that was so explicit, the class couldn't even have a productive discussion. To discuss sex in a societal sense is one thing, but I really don't think I benefitted from analyzing how a certain poet feels when she is orgasming. The one novel she assigns is the only redeeming point. "Their Eyes Were Watching God," by Zora Neale Hurston, is very very good. Only problem is, Zora puts things so well that its hard to think of much to add, if you have to write an essay on it. Bottom line is, the material and ideas presented are outdated. Sadly, the literature she chooses enforces steriotypes, rather then ignores them. Any kind of feminist should agree that MacCurdy needs to choose some new stories. Oh, and if you just want to pass and get your GWR, it isn't that bad, except you actually have to go to class.

Usually going to office hours will help students and let the teacher know that the student actually cares about thier grade. Not so with MacCurdy. I went to office hours once a week, ended up with a 79% and she didnt round it. She is extremely vague in her requirements, and totally inconsistent with her grading. Skip the headache and take someone else. And she stutters, which is ironic for an English teacher.

Contrary to the above evaluation, I find that Dr. MacCurdy lacks compassion, is extremely inflexible and fails to offer adequate support for her grading standards. Further, she has difficulty maintaining the focus and direction of classroom discussions, allowing students to stray from text discussions to discussions of personal experiences vaguely related to the topic introduced at the beginning of lecture.

Dr. MacCurdy takes a little getting used to but she really is a good professor.

Dr. MacCurdy is a nice lady, but she is a tough grader. In this class, we had a take home midterm and final. If you don't say exactly what she wants to hear, she'll give you a bad grade. The class was very boring and showing up was absolutely pointless. The books were ok, but I got nothing out of going to class.

This teacher is ridiculous. There was no reason to go to class at all, but she took role every day so we were forced to. It was pointless to take notes, because nothing we talked about was ever relevant to what we were tested on. The students talked WAY more than the teacher. She clearly came with no lecture material and just expected us to talk the whole class period about what we read. I learned nothing besides how much I hate this class. Don't take this teach or this class, m-m-m-m-k?

I love Dr. MacCurdy. She's a must-have for English majors. I don't think she's the best professor for non-English majors because she expects a lot, and she kind of leaves a lot of learning up to the individual students. The Faulkner class is awesome.

Dr. MacCurdy is a great teacher. I had her for a few different classes, and they were all really fun and informative. It takes a little time to figure out what she wants in a paper or on a quiz, but she is a fair grader and always has justification for a given grade. A hint for papers: write as clearly and succinctly as possible. Structure is also key with MacCurdy. Make sure that you have a clear thesis and that you systematically develop each and every part of it. She is hardcore with the thesis in that if you don't say exactly what you mean with absolutely every word, she will lower your grade. The best things about MacCurdy are her personality and the course content. She is approachable and easy to talk to. She also always chooses interesting material that lends itself to good papers. Take Dr. MacCurdy for anything.

The seminar was awful. Conversation was stagnate and all she could do was stand stary-eyed in front of the class and mutter "umm umm K?"

Two things that should be kept in mind when thinking about a teacher is if they are malicious, and their level of competancy; MacCurdy is by no means malicious- she will remember you and asked after your loved ones, and seems innocuous enough- but she was incompetant for the class that I had her with (though, to be fair, others I talked with who had her for other classes said that they were suprised she was handling the class that badly and must be experimenting with the material presented in my class.) I will say that I did enjoy her syllabus, and that her tests were open book and were on broad based questions that allowed us to prove what we knew. However, class time was tedious and MacCurdy always looked slightly lost when trying to make a point. Sometimes she would get hung up on one tiny part of the novels and try to explain it (out of her depth) but would spend whole class periods when there were larger themes to address. As for papers- good luck, because she is rather vague on her expectations. One person advised that I write as straight-forward as possible: complex sentances and abstract ideas confuse her- which also happened in class much to the class's amazement. Her specialty is PostModernism- so stick to that, because any project presented in class (once again, to vague outlines) that was on some other topic besides PostModernism got a less than stellar grade. This is what I mean about her experimenting: if she does not understand it- oh well, because she's going to act like she has a higher grasp of the subject and that you're being difficult even though you nailed your literary theory project to a T...expect a full grade less than what you'd deserve from a teacher that actually had a wider breadth of knowledge than PostModernism. I finally gave up being angry and just got through the rest of the quarter- though the rest of the class wasn't as ready to do so.....more absences, and a SIGNIFICANT drop in classroom participation (sometimes boardering on sullen silence while most stopped even listening.) She is one teacher that I am never going to take again, but if you have to take her, keep an eye out for any experimentation and drop at the first sight of it if you can. But, on the plus side- enjoy the syllabus while you can and make friends with your fellow sufferers because that's going to make all the difference.

I enjoyed my postmodern 511 class with Dr. MacCurdy. She has more of a traditional teaching style but also likes to encourage class discussion. I thought she presented the material clearly, though her lectures weren't amazing orations. I noticed the classmates who didn't like the class felt that they had received unfair grades. I would encourage any student to talk to her about any concerns. I thought my presentation grade was a bit low, so I gave her valid reasons why I might deserve a higher grade. She thought it over and agreed with me. She's a reasonable and approachable professor, and if you enjoy her mellow and pleasant teaching style, you'll have fun in her classes.