Schnupp, Alvin  

this guy is a fucking douche bag who cares way too much about theatre. when he opens his mouth it just pisses you off even more. dont even take theatre, unless you are into that bullshit.

He does present his material well and his tests are somewhat easy, I just got screwed on the essay due to him being a ***** and not letting me ask any questions. The class is boring until the final project which is somewhat entertaining. The class isn't too bad, its just a shame a unhappy little man teaches it.

He is a decent guy. His questions don't pick at small obscure details of plays (like Doc's questions). He critiques people's performances well. Sometimes he critiques too much, but sometimes the truth hurts. My TH 210 class was a bit big, and it was hard to get some questions answered. You just have to use his office hours.

I had Al for Improv. It turned out to be a fun class. No tests or finals but several papers to be turned in. The problem that I had with Al was his simi cranky attitude. I would recommend the class though, I looked forward to it and it did not require tons of outside work. I would have liked more individual feedback on perfamances but I did not approach him for any, so maybe that was my fault.

He is a very entertaining professor. There is no acting involved unless you volunteer for extra credit or decide to act with the final group project. He is very knowledgable. Usually he had the volunteers do embarrassing things like dance around on stage while singing. It was a funny class.

Al is funny guy. I really enjoyed this class. It was pretty boring at times, but you get to watch three movies, and read some pretty good plays. The final projects are the best part. If you like being embarrased, volunteer for extra credit. Also, i advise doing the other extra credit, reading for his other play writing class. It's really fun.

I got a B in this stupid GE class. ... The book is ridiculous because he wrote it! Quite full of himself I must say. Don't bother with this one... take sculpting or drawing instead! He likes to make himself feel like a real cool guy when he volunteers students to make asses of themselves in front of the class. And yes, that would be for ONE point extra credit. One damn point. And the final project, acting out a play, is a waste pure and simple. Don't let yourself be Schnupped. Stay away from this one!

Theatre class, was fun, and I learned a lot. Don't listen to the other guys about volunteering, its not that bad, and If I had volunteered once, I would have an A instead of a B!

Proffessor Schnupp is a pretty good proffessor. He is theater snobb but no worries he grades easy on the one group presentation. Hi tests are somewhat difficult, the first one is really easy try and do really well ont that one so you have some breathing room for the rest of the quarter. some of the plays we had to read were just plain wierd, and his class is easy to fall asleep through. Overall i'd take this class again, it was obvious that it was much more interesting that any of the history of architecture classes that fill the same GE.

All i have to say is that the man destroyed what I thought would be a fun quarter elective. He is the most boring teacher ever! You would think that a class like intro to theater would be fun but he manages to make it hell. He is just some old nerd that sits up on stage lecturing the whole time. Unless you are one of those die hard theater persons DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS!!!!!!!!

This teacher is VERY arrogant, so you have to watch your tongue with him. I watched him rip into student for coming in too late or for passing selling items around. He believes that his class is the most IMPORTANT class. You have 4 tests, a final project and a final exam. There is some reading to do, but you go through it pretty quickly. Most notes need to be written by hand and it's usually dictation. So be prepared to write fairly fast. Lecture isn't too bad- not very boring, some interesting material and pretty easy to understand. He makes the class fun with improvisational activities. He also gives you extra credit to come on the stage, but it won't do much for your grade. Be careful on the final project. He puts you in a group of 12 and it's very hard to coordinate schedules. But as long as you have props, some movement and speak fairly loudly, you'll get credit. Memorizing lines is a must as well as well written speaches before your given scene. It take some hard work, but it's fun and he's really easy on grading it. It's hard to find out exactly what is going to be on each test, because there is a lot of material. Atleast one book, notes and usually a movie. Simply study all three as much as you can. The movies are pretty cool to watch. Pay attention to the names, actions and clothes of the characters. No need to really write any notes on the movies though. He's very good with giving you your test back, but doing the tests are a little formal. With boards and assigned seats. He even has assisants to make sure you don't cheat. Huge class that it is. I suggest you take this class if you don't care about arrogance much. He answers questions and he'll even research a little to find answers for you. Very knowledgeable in a subject that I didn't know was interesting. As long as you pay attention and do fairly well on the tests there is no way you'll fail this class. Good luck!

This guy is creepy. He freaked people out. Some girls were actually scared of him. He's one of those theater guys that wears all black all the time. And yes, he is very snobby. Be ready for a flashback from high school -- I was 7 minutes late to a midterm one day because the 101 was shut down and I couldn't get to school on time, and he got a big fat red marker to mark points off my test for being late. Most of the rest of the time he locked the doors after class started and wouldn't let any late students in. That happened to me one time, but I just asked the guy in the ticket window to open it for me and he did. Seriously though this guy is a jerk. I'm paying for my tuition and his salary, and I think I have the right to come to class when I please. On the other hand though, this class was a complete joke. I learned absolutely nothing new in this class. The tests were extremely easy. Put maybe an hour into studying beforehand and you'll be fine. He teaches clearly, so if you need this class, go ahead and take it & get an easy A. But be forewarned about this man's character.

The teacher was ok, but the class was easy. Watch the movies, read the plays, study your notes (or steal them from a friend) and show up on test days and you can get at least a B. Volunteer to go on stage once in a while too because sometimes you get to do some funny as hell stuff like when two friends went up as gay lovers and one of them confides his premature ejaculation problem.

This is a really easy GE to take. Make flashcards out of your notes, read the plays, and always go to class before the test (he usually reviews the plays and gives you some answers), and you'll easily get an A or B. The group performances are graded easily...he says if someone in the group forgets their lines they get an automatic C, but when I had him the group still got a B on their performance. Knows his stuff, but is generally boring. Some of the movies are good (you watch about 3 of them). Take this no-stress class to fullfill your GE.

A pretty easy class, if you go every time there's no reason you shouldn't do well. No homework except for a group project, which is pretty tedious. Class isn't too bad, the seats are comfortable, and there's usually some acting routine where people are embarassed for extra credit.

dr schnupp seems relatively arrogant and snobbish, but i thought he was a great teacher. i only took this class because all the other fine arts GE's were taken, but i wound up really enjoying this class. the class itself is REALLY easy- you just show up, take notes, watch 3 movies, and have some fun watching other people volunteer for in-class exercises. OH- and if you volunteer, you score some nice extra credit points. the mid-terms are pretty easy (so long as you review your notes) and the final project isn't bad either. he says that if anyone forgets a line, everyone in the group gets an automatic C, but that wasn't the case at all. he comes across as this pretentious hard-ass who's going to be a prick when it comes to grading, but he was a REALLY easy grader who gave constructive criticism. in fact, no one in my entire class of 250 or so students got lower than an A-. i would definitely recommend this class if you're looking to fulfill a GE.

I dunno about this guy, I liked him as a lecturer a lot, but his tests in my opinion were a bit crazy. I love theater, and have been involved for most of my life, and I got a c. Granted I prolly could have studyied harder, but I did read all the plays and go to class. He just askes really specific questions that I wasnt prepared for...so know specifics for this class!!! Overall good class, the group project is really fun. But if you hate theater you might want to try a different GE class.

This was an easy GE. Three midterms and a final, each worth 50 pts (50 multiple choice question). He gives 5 extra credit points each time you participate in class. I didn't participate at all and got a B. At the end of the quarter you have to put on a play with a group. Easy no-stress GE. I would recommend him.

Schnupp's class was extremely easy. Show up everyday, take the notes, read the plays, and do the one assignment THAT IS ALL YOU NEED TO DO! He gives three midterms and one final, I might have studied an hour combined for all of the tests and ended up with an A. He also made the lecture interesting which made the course all together enjoyable.

Schnupp's class is pretty darn easy. Just make sure you go every day, take notes, read the plays, and you'll be fine. He tends to speak pretty fast, so be prepared to take a lot of notes. The tests are all weighed the same (4 of them) at 50 pts each, and he pretty much answers every single one during lecture. You also have to see a play at Poly. For us, we had to watch MacBeth, which was super boring, but he was cool about it and only asked a few questions to make sure you actually went to see it. The reading was pretty easy, and you also have to do a group presentation that isn't difficult, just make sure you don't wait too long to get started. The lectures weren't boring, he likes to have students volunteer to do little exercises on stage which are pretty funny and entertaining, plus if you're brave you get extra credit points for going up there. Some lectures you just get to watch a movie which you're tested on but they're nothing major. I didn't volunteer once but still got an A in the class. If you're considering TH 210, I definitely recommend that you take it.

Professor Shnupp is a decent professor. Sometimes his lectures can get a little dry, but he mixes it up by having students volunteer for different activities, including really funny improvistaional activities. His multiple choice tests include a lot of detail so make sure to take good notes and try to attend all the lectures, and read all the plays; cliff notes simply wont cut it. Be aware of the third test it is significantly harder than the first two. The group projects can be really fun if you get blessed with a good group. He says he will grade really hard if anyone messes up a line, but don't worry, he ends up grading them pretty easy.

this class was all around a pretty fun class. tests are easy..just GO TO CLASS, do the readings, and take the notes..they are straightforward as long as you go. he offers a lot of extra credit if you volunteer..and at the end of the quarter you do a group performance on a play..but it's not hard at all. it's an easy GE class to take.

This guy is a creep. First day of class he wears a paper plate on his face. Total Thesbian... Overall, the class is very easy if you can get yourself to go to class and take decent notes. Tests were pretty easy, but make sure you read the plays because his questions are detailed oriented. The group project is a complete joke. He expects a broadway performance out of general ed course. He critcizes like no other. Complete dick.

This class was easy, as long as you went to class and read the material. He gives extra credit if you volunteer for his little acting exercises that explain what he actually means by the material. I literally studieid for an hour the morning of each of his tests and got high Bs on all of them, and a 94% on the final. The final is not cumulative, just another test, each are worth 50 points. There are lots of notes, but there are no surpirses on his tests. The final project seems intimidating, but every group got at least a B. You have to have your part memorized no matter what and your group has to practice, because he can tell. But his verbal critque is gonna be HARSH, no matter how good you do. One last thing, he does not round up grades (89,5% to a 90%), nor does he give out +/-'s. I thought for sure I had an A, so I probably got a B+, but I ended up with a straight B.

Alvin Schnupp is a fair professor. The tests are easy as long as you come to class, take good notes during the lectures, and read over them maybe twice the night before the test. The lectures themselves are actually pretty fun and interesting. You watch 3 or so movies as well. Schnupp designs the movie based test questions to be easy; he just wants you to watch the movie and enjoy it. This means you don't have to take notes. Over all, his tests don't have any tricky questions. The final (skit/performance) can be really fun if you get an enthusiastic group. If you, or a couple group members don't have an open mind about it, it most likely will suck. No worries though, he grades them extremely easily.... as long as you don't screw up your lines! Fun, easy class with an interesting professor if you keep an open mind. I would definitely do it again if I had the chance.

Al is a good man. He loves theatre and the art of acting. He's a genuinely nice and caring person. His class was simply acting. You would start with warm ups in class and then rehearse and act all throughout. The course included 3 scenes, 1 monologue, 1 midterm, and 1 acted out autobiography. The class wasn't very hard and Al grades very fairly (it's an easy class if you show up ready to act twice a week). Overall, he provides good critiques and responses and genuinely wants you to become better at acting. He has a passion about his work which is commendable. One negative of Al tho is that he's extremely politically biased. Every single class he would sneak in a political comment or two bashing the current administration. I understand that theatre tends to draw a very liberal crowd but this man couldn't refrain from making several comments about how horrible the world was. He even gave speeches here and there to tell us what was wrong with humanity. Quite frankly, he was unprofessional at some point during each class. As a professor, he should have been more polished and mature. Wouldn't expect anything less from a college theatre professor, but that's the unfortunate part. One day, one of his political comments generated a full on political debate in class, which led to extreme verbal conflict between several students and resulted in two people crying and walking out. If you take this class expect to be around an extremely sensitive, liberal, and sometimes unfortunately intolerant group of people who disregard any opinion other than their own as ignorant (not all, but some). But, if you like acting, or want to try it on for size, it's a good experience and Al is a good acting teacher to learn from.

Stagecraft was a blast. Al wasn't involved with the tech crew as much as another guy named Howard (who was fantastic), but from the time I did spend in the shop, Al was a nice guy who managed to give plenty of orders and be particular about aspects of the set without seeming overly fastidious. If you came to class every day and made an effort to work, you got an A. Every missed class was a full letter grade off. He gave everybody a choice at the beginning of the quarter whether to work on the day crew, which assembled the set, or the night crew, which was responsible for running the tech for the show. The day crew requirement was to attend class for the second half of the quarter and spend about six hours outside of class assembling the set. The night crew got classes off for the second half of the quarter, but made up for it with nightly rehearsals from 6:30-11 p.m. seven days a week. If you're willing to make the commitment, this is the right class for you. (Oh, and it's fun.)

He is like eating an apple pie. Except this apple pie gives you an easy A and an amazing class with every bite. He's the mothafucking man. Take him.

Al is the man. Not only is this the greatest class at Cal Poly but Al made it simple, even for people who had never done improv in their life. The class was so awesome that it's a shame that they don't offer it as much as they do. Al presents the material clearly, he did write a book on it. He also makes the class fun. You do a ton of exercises, all to enhance your ablity in improv. I never once dreaded going to this class. Grading is simple, as a lot of it is on mere attendence. The non attendance stuff is senarios that you have to write, a book you have to read (easy read), a paper you have to write (cake) and a final project. The class was fun and exciting and you'll be sure that the next time Al teaches it I'll be enrolled.

Al is a wonderful professor. He presented excercises that helped me understand what I was doing wrong, and the best ways to fix it. The book is perfect, it is a very quick read, as well as being very informative. Improv is a great class, I saw improvement in everyone in the class, even the kids that I figured would never be able to pick it up.

I have no theater background whatsoever and got a lot out of this class. You start off doing some improv exercises for the first half of the quarter, which are a lot of fun and I wish we could have done more (we did 50). Then we started working on producing a puppet show, did some mask work, and finally a poetry/props piece. The last three projects are very open ended and very creative. It is best to not worry what other people think and just go all out! Al was very impressed and realizes that he doesn't give a lot of time for the presentations to prep (about 4 hrs of class time) and knows that if we had more time it would be even better. Overall the class is not a lot of work. We had a great group and we all got along great! I was afraid there would be kind of a clique with the theater kids but that wasn't the case at all. It was a very inclusive environment and so much fun! I'm going to miss this class

I LOVE AL SCHNUPP. He is an amazing person and this class was SO MUCH FUN. You guaranteed will get an A unless you don’t show up, and there is literally no homework. This class took me super far out of my comfort zone, by Al never pressured me or any other students to do anything we were uncomfortable with. He is the nicest person ever, and I learned so much about myself and theatre through this class. I looked forward to it every day!!

Alvin is a snob. Very conceited and only cares about himself. His script analysis class was a total joke - there was some dumb projects like having to make a menu and a collage that represented a play. The entire quarter he didn't teach us anything about script analysis - just plot summary. Felt like a sad high school class. He also totally plays favorites - like the extreme die-hard theatre majors he would let a lot of stuff (like coming in late, turning in projects late, talking during class script reading) slide and would give them higher grades for their projects, even if their projects were actually average or below compared to non-theatre people. I was considering switching my major to Theatre, but after seeing how much of a brat he is-I'll never step into the theatre department again. He also talked about politics too much and would often rip Trump. Now I'm no Trump supporter, but if I was, it would have been very deeming if your professor constantly bashed on your political opinion. Do yourself a favor and NEVER take one of his classes. If fact, if your'e spending about $120K for your total college eduction, don't waste your time with the CalPoly theatre program. They had some alumni come in - ranging from graduating 1 yr to 15 years ago - and no one had done anything incredible or worth-while with their degree. If you want to do theatre, just go to PCPA. And if you can't get into PCPA, or any good theatre school for that matter, maybe theatre shouldn't be your path in life.

Al's a great guy personally. He's fun and pretty animated. He cares about his students and will want to get to know you on a personal basis. This isn't "just a GE" for him. If you treat it that way, it will show. Not coming to class is a full letter grade off, and what's worse is having to work the shows at night. The class is designed to create the set, props, etc for whatever play is being done that quarter. I took this class to see if I wanted to get into theater and possibly a minor, and it pretty much turned me away from it. However, I don't regret taking it. If you're looking for a fun free elective and you have no interest in theater what so ever, I don't take this class because it's just free labor to you and you will hate it.

Al gives practical assignments and will not waste your time. I also took script writing with him, a class I was terrified to take since I'm horrible at creative writing, but he gave manageable assignments that built up towards the final assignment. When our energy level got low as the quarter progressed he brought in snacks, which really helped. Take his class!!! :) He will not waste your time.

Al is a nice guy who, yes can be arrogant at times. I wouldn't say he's creepy altough for a while after I met him I wasn't sure how to act to him because I felt a little intimidated or weirded out, but once you get to know him you'll appreciate him. He is really a lot of fun and his classes are never boring. I took several classes with him and some were better than others. His major flaw is that he is unclear with what he wants from assignments until after they are due. I HATE that about him. But he is very good at grading appropriatly and assigning work based on what your learning needs are. Overall, I enjoyed all of the classes I took with him (adv. acting, directing and playwriting) and I think he's a good teacher - but be prepared for a challenge!