Starkey, Glen  

Glen was able to make a realy boring class like 102 fun. There was reading that was assigned to be completed before class, but even if you are a slow reader like myself it should only take 20 min. We had three take home essays and three in class essays in which the dicion if you are compenent to go on to 114 is made upon. An excelent teacher who I would recomend to everyone.

Glen is a very nice instructor. He makes the class a lot of fun and gives everyone an easy time in class. Very often he would tell jokes. Also, he could well present what we needed to know and point out our errors accurately and was able to give excellent examples. Great office hours also. Greatly recommanded!!

THIS GUY IS GREAT FOR 114! I was high almost every time I went to class. Your entire grade is based on 5 essays of 2 to 3 pages long. 2 are in class. Plus your worst score gets dropped. Honestly there is no need to go to class. I only went cuz there was a guy I liked. Anyways if you can take 114 with this guy, then do it he is a younger guy, funny as hell, and his class is cake. By the way dont even bother doing the homework. He doesnt care one bit and it wont help your grade. Have fun.

Starkey is like the best english professor i think at cal poly. He is soo cool and all you have to do is 5 essays come on now, thats easy no side homework. I took the class credit no credit simply because he said in the beginning of the quarter that he hardly ever gives A, dont be fooled he just uses that to scare you but i did exceptionally well and i feel dumb for taking the course for credit and not a letter grade. I would totally take starkey's call again, his a funny guy.

Glen is a very awesome teacher. Like the student before have mention, he try to scare you by saying that he doesnt give any A. NO HW!!! Maybe reading, but that about it. Grade base on 5 essay....This professor is the coolest guy I have got so far. He talk like he is one of the student, very good sense of humor, and grade very FAIR. Would like to take him again for any other class.^_^

Starkey kicks butt. His lectures are excellent and offers good insights into writing. The class consists of 5 papers, 3 out of class, 2 in class. The 2 in class essays are former GWR topics, so they suck to write. The 3 out of class papers are a lot of fun, because he gives the students a great deal of leeway in topic-choice as well as a number of opportunities for grade improvement (resubmission). For this, he is an incredibly tough grader as firmly states at the beginning of the quarter. He will give you what he thinks you deserve, and will not curve scores. Excellent teacher all the way.

Glen Starkey is the funniest teacher I've ever had. However, he grades pretty harsh and expects a lot out of his students for 134. Don't expect to get an easy A because he rarely gives them, only unless you have deep and profounding insights in your essays. He's a great guy and really encourages his students to think and view things in different aspects. But I feel I worked really hard for the disappointing B I received for a GE class.

Starkey is a great teacher, and a great guy. The major criticism of his teaching that I have is that he grades really, really hard. He hardly gives A's, and if you get a B you will learn to be happy. Hardly any homework, and the classes are fun. By taking Starkey's class you trade off possibly a better grade for a really energetic and fun teacher.

I looked forward to going to this class every day, and you don't even really need to go... but I still did just because it was so entertaining. His grading system is pretty tough, but by the end you figure out how he wants you to write and you should be able to get a decent grade. He's helpful in office hours. There's 3 out of class and 2 in class essays, and easy 1-page summaries every week on some reading. I would definately recommend taking him for English 134.

Professor Starkey is one cool cat. There is virtually no homework, and there is also no final. You are pretty much graded on the type of improvement you make through the quarter. However, he grades tough. College-level work gets a C. If you want an A, you need to have a knack for writing (which is just a scam) or be semi-literate. If you get an A on the final essay as well as on the last in-class essay (only two), you get an overall A. It was a breeze for me, but might not be the same for everyone. The positive of the course is that he allows you to write about whatever you want for the essays, which means that you can write about things you have an interest in and care about; People always do better when they care. I invested little time and pulled an A. I also swung by for a few office hours to see what it is he was looking for. In the end, I am still the same undisciplined writer, but I did leave with an A. Starkey is cool and cares about the subject matter. Plus, the discussion is equally alright, even if he does cuss a bit.

Glen is one of the all time coolest teachers. I was dreading taking this class because i suck at english, but it has been the best class i have taken all year. He is a young laid back guy who's casual approach to teaching is so beneficial. He opens up the class and makes it a comfortable envionment to ask questions and learn. There are 4 papers and a one page summaries due at the begininng of each week but thats it. And he conferences with you before you turn in each paper to suggest revisions. The only thing is, Glen is a tough grader. He rearely gives A's so dont expect to breeze through. You do have to work, but going to class everyday is enjoyable.

Glen is a great teacher..he's creative and young. He has a young approach to teaching that is greatly appriciated when all of your teachers are ancient and don't care what grade you get in their class. This class is fun but hard your papers are evaluated and given back to you to revise for a better grade; you just have to be willing to put the work in.

Starkey is cool as hell. He is a tough grader on papers but you can't help but like the guy. He is a little bit cocky and there is no doubt in my mind this guy smokes weed. He wrote an article in some newspaper for the legalization of weed. Overall, good teacher, good class, good WEED!!!!

Starkey is the MAN! He's one of the coolest teachers I have EVER had! A lot of people say his class is hard, but it wasn't too bad. If you have fun with the assignments, you can do well in his class. I'm not an English major, I'm mechanical engineering, and I hated English in highschool, but Starkey made it really fun. And I fully agree that Starkey smokes weed. One of the prompts he gave us for his class was to explain why cats always land on their feet but buttered toast always lands butter-side down. He smokes way too much reefer! But it explains just about everything he does and makes for a GREAT class!

Starkey RULES!!! His class was so kicked back and we had the best discussions. He even takes his class outside to talk on the lawn, it's great! He made English fun and inspired me to be a better writer. In English 134 there are only 3 out-of-class essays and 3 in-class-essays (which are your mid terms and final) You read two short novels and he lets you out early almost every class. Get Starkey!

Glen was a hella cool teacher, I mean, he cancelled class once to go to the Cake / De La Sol concert. He grades very hard on essays, but you can fix them up and turn them back in for improved grades, I learned a lot about writing and improved a lot from his class. We only had 3 out of class essays and 3 in class essays, and all his lectures were interesting and interactive, plus, he would let us go early if we didn't have anything else to talk about.

I LOVE THIS GUY HE'S THE BEST!!!!!! TAKE HIM!

Starkey was a horrible English teacher. We read two books and watched the movies for both of the books (boring!). The catch is, there was no point in attending his classes because the essays we wrote didn't even have to be about the books. He would just say "Turn in an essay". Therefore the class discussions were meaningless. Then we would have one-on-one conferences with him to discuss our personal essays with him so we could improve. But the most help I received from him was, "Get smarter!" I honestly learned nothing! which is something I search for in a class. I'll be writing numerous more essays in my college career and I was hoping Eng 134 would assist me in improving my writing skills. It did NOT with Starkey! We didn't even use the writing book we bought! He honestly didn't teach (but then he'd still graded our essays really hard!) If you are already an excellent writer, then fine, just take the class and turn in 3 essays... if you suck at writing. STAY AWAY!

Do anything you can to get into one of Starkey's classes. He's an absolutely amazing teacher who realizes that students do their best work writing about things they enjoy. I came into this class absolutely hating english and writing essays but enjoyed every minute of it and actually looked forward to going to class and his office hours. If you bring your paper to his office hours he'll look over it and tell you what you need to fix, an oppurtunity you should *definitely* take advantage of. Not only is he a smart guy and a good teacher, but a fun professor to have in the class room. I'd highly recommend him and personally would consider taking one of his classes even if it wasn't required.

This course is pretty damn fun. You'll get sit around and talk about movies all day. A word of advice: Try to choose a essay format other than the idealological approach. While you're at it, choose a strong thesis. Case and point: For the first essay(C-), I chose an easy (wishy-washy) thesis about the message of the movie Magnolia. For the second essay(A+), I used evidence from the movies Carrie and Femme Fatale to show that Brian de Palma is a hack. You'll be fine, just make sure to go to office hours and have Starkey look over your essays before you turn them in. You can revise as many times as nessassary, but that baby's turned in, its in.

Starkey is a hard grader, but he is fair. We watched movies and then had to write essays about them which is a lot harder than you might think, especially if they are wierd movies. I wouldn't take him again, but he wasn't that bad.

Whether you find English essays boring as hell or not, take Starkey. We wrote papers on 3 movies that the class chose (for us it was Edward Scissorhands, Rear Window, and The Matrix), and to me it was more interesting to write essays about themes in movies than what other 134 classes made students write. You may get the impression that because we write papers on movies this class is going to be a lot easier than any 134 class, by all means it is the opposite. Starkey told us the first day of class

There can not be much said that hasn't already been said by previous people. Basically, the class is fun and the course work is light. He is a helpful teacher and the class is never boring. If you take another 134 class you will probably get a better grade. His only problem is he grades really, really hard. So if your gpa can afford a few points take his class, but if you are concerned with your grades, then at all means avoid him!

Glen is a really cool guy. We always got out an hour early, besides the days we were watching movies. His only problem is this: he never really teaches much of how to be a better writer but then he grades hard as hell. To get anything above a C in this class, you have to make a big effort to go to office hours and talk to Starkey as much as you can. Don't expect him to teach you how to improve without going to him and asking questions. Basically, lectures are nonexistent. I would recommend this class to anyone who wants an easy C or anyone who wants to work really hard to get an A.

First off, this class is not an easy one, but the fact that you don't read any books other than the small book he requires on how to write about movies. The class itself is never boring, you either are watching the movie, or discussing it or editing your paper. He will never keep you there longer than he needs you and there are multiple days that you don't have to go to class at all. The three movies we chose to watch were American Beauty, American History X and Pulp Fiction. The class is all laid out in front of you and no suprises show up. He is a hard teacher, but the class is never boring, and the work for it consists of writing three out of class essays, that's about it.

He's a really good teacher who grades hard, but if you write good essays and really work on them, you will do fine. His class was never boring because you're either watching movies, talking about them or writing. If you want to take a good english teacher, Starkey is your man. There is basically no reading and you choose what each of your essays are on. He doesn't give many A's but if you work hard you will be fine. If you do take him, take advantage of his office hours because before your essay is due he will read it and give you help and what your grade will be approximately. This was a big help for my final essay which was worth the most. Good class good teacher.

Starkey is the best english teacher i have had. Presents everything clearly, and goes over essays with you so you know where your fucking up. He is really helpfull with office hours. I STRONGLY suggest him to take for english, even though he is a hard grader. This hard grading only really effects you if yoru a complete moron though. So take starkey

Starkey is the fucking man, i really did learn more from him in 10 weeks than my other english professors in the past, he goes over each essay with you and helps out with your writing flaws, i pulled a C, but i could have got a lot worse. Take Starkey

Awesome teacher. Actually keeps things interesting. Though his papers are tough, the class itself was fun--you just watch movies all day. Take this guy.

Starkey was so cool. We watched 3 movies and wrote papers on each one. It was really fun. You really didn't even have to show up for class to watch the movies if you saw them already. Mandatory to attend class during workshop days though (worth it). The only bad thing about the class is that you will not get an A, guarenteed. He is an extremely hard grader. I went into his office hours four times for him to look over my paper and still got a B on it and in the class. The nice thing about him though is that he will correct your paper in class on workshop days. He pretty much makes all the corrections for you. You then correct it, turn it in, and can get at least a B-. Great teacher, would recommend, would take again!!

Starkey is by far the best teacher ever. This guys is awesome. His grading policies aren't that bad.. you get exactly what you deserve, or better. If you're a shitty writer, don't whine about not getting an A. I'm an engineer and I still pulled it off. But either way, Starkey will definitely not fail you. He told our class he only failed one student all year last year. You get to choose three movies as a class and write an essay on each one. You also have two in-class essays, which he grades much more leniently. And contrary to popular belief, YOU CAN GET AN A. Just participate in the discussions and bring your essay into his office hour if you're really having that much difficulty. Even if you suck at English, take this guy. At least you'll have some fun.

I think Starkey is an awesome guy, just not a great teacher. He's really fun, and how can you argue with an English class done as film lit? Still, I don't think his writing style fits with what most people learned in high school, and he doesn't do much to teach it. Possibly one-on-one time during office hours would help. Also, he told me that I "needed to spend more time developing" an in-class essay that took me the full 50 minutes to write. I wasn't really sure what to do with that, one of two things he said about my C-grade paper. The other comment was that my paper on intangible concepts lacked concrete details. So yeah, if you want to have fun, he's a good teacher. If you want to learn something or boost your GPA, stay away.

Starkey will probably scare you your first day, but once you get to know him he is an awesome guy. He starts off by telling everyone they will probably get a C. I got a C on my first essay thinking oh crap, but ended up getting several A's on future essays after some help from him. pulled a B plus in the class. He is very friendly and loves to help his students as long as they try and put forth effort. Starkey's goal is to improve your writing and if you show him you want to do that to and actually do improve it, he will love you and your grade will reflect that. The class is pretty laid-back and not too much content. You basically watch 3 films chosen by the class and will write about them during the quarter. Our class chose Fight Club, Minority Report, and The Green Mile. You also have 2 or 3 in class essays which are ok, you gotta think fast and remember to include the main parts of the essay in there and get a good point across. Make sure to hit up Starkey's office hours. The more you work with him, the more you will like him as a person and develop a good student-teacher relationship. I have come back to visit Starkey and whenever he sees you on campus he chats with you and makes sure things are going well. Starkey is the kind of english teacher to keep in your contacts and someone you can come back to anytime you are having trouble writing a paper. Classes with movies are pretty fun, but i'd probably recommend getting your own copy so you can analyze the films somemore. overall, Starkey is the bomb!!! I'm telling you! take him if you have a chance and he's probably the best of any of the english 134 profs. Go Starkey!

I hope I'm not like him when I grow up. A vast wardrobe of artsy t-shirts surrounds his purtruding belly, and he loves his god damn satchel. Hes knowledgeable... I guess. I'm a horrible writer, but he worked me and I did ok. I think he wishes he was a full time artist.

On the first day he tells you that he is a difficult grader and you think to yourself, well i took AP in high school and i never got lower than an A in english, i can do well. Well youre wrong! he is such a tough grader, if you are determined to take this class then you are demented, there are plenty of other good teachers out there, this will be one of those classes that will screw up your GPA, the one that you worked the hardest at and got the worst grade. I spent hours and hours on each paper ( i usually wrote them in an 20 min to and hour before) and still get a C or low B, and then he tells you how good it is and how it was the third highest grade in the class and the whole while your sitting there thinking WHAT?!

Starkey is... different. For his 134 class, you watch three movies and do an essay on each. There are also two in-class essays which are about concepts based on two of the three films. However, he grades essays very strictly, as a C is a "well-written college level essay." The best advice is to go to his office hours!!! He will tell you what you need to revise, even though his advice is sometimes useless. Also, choose movies that are easy to write about, it will make life a lot easier. Another nice thing about this class is that you pretty much never have to go. The only days you have to be there is when you peer-revise eachothers' essays, and when you have in-class essays. On the days you turn in your out of class essays you just go, turn it in, then leave. Of the 22 classes we had, I probably only went to 10, and none of those ever lasted the entire two hours.

i took prof. starkey after looking at poly ratings in horror last year because i needed a 134 class and he was the last one with any openings.. THE CON: first day of class he stated we was a hard grader and he def. made good on that promise. only proffing classes and turn in times are mandatory to attend but failure to go to class for a proffing class results in a full letter grade deduction for the paper. THE PRO: i cannot completely rag on this guy for giving me a C (first of all i suck at english {no wonder y im an ME}) and second when i was getting a D on all my papers he personally came to me and asked me to come into his office hours to redo my essay and while i was there he raised my earlier paper grades to the grade i got on the paper he helped me with. another plus is that there is only one <100 pg book to read/study and the rest of the class is movies you(as a class) pick to watch (my suggestion.. Willow with val kilmer (who doesnt want to write a paper on a movie about dwarf ppl) final thought: if youre thinking about taking starkey be prepared to see bad grades on your papers, but if u want to watch movies and write about them, take this class.. oh and one last thing.. go to the office hours(ull end up saving, and possibly raising, ur grade)

Starkey is tough at first, he knows what he wants your writing to look like and wont give you a good grade until you change it. Given that however I thought his class was rather fun. You get to watch movie's and write about them. If you do take him though make sure you pick movies that you can actually write about.

Prof Starkey was probably one of the better English teachers that I have ever had. He is a very hard grader but if you are the type of student that is willing to go in and see him for help with essays, then he is perfect for you. He is funny and sarcastic with great stories. I loved writing essays on movies because it only takes about 2 hours to get through a movie as opposed to reading a book forever! You have 4 big essays that arnt that bad at all and can actually be fun. I am not a person that is huge on writing essays but he gives you tons of time and resources as well as being understanding about time for other classes. This is a great guy and Although you almost certainly wont get an A on any essays...its a great class....No FINAL either!!! Go in for Help on Essays and your grades will go up!

This guy is a prick. He gave almost everyone in the class an F on the first paper. He is a wanna be film writer or director. All we did the whole quarter was watch movies and write papers on them. I learned nothing except to advise everyone NOT to take his class.

Hard Grader is the first thought that comes to mind. In this class you will watch movies and write essays about their themes and messages. ITS NOT AS FUN AS IT SOUNDS. This class takes alot of time out of class, and you have to be willing to work hard for a decent grade. The biggest word of advice when taking this teacher is GO TO OFFICE HOURS, it actually helps. Don't take the class if you want an easy A.

Starkey gives off a bad aura. He seems really greasy, because he is. He is one of those hipster kids who never grew up. He's got to be mid to late forties, and he acts like he's some twenty two to twenty five year old living in a shitty apartment, patronizing all the cool coffee shops. He even wears those stupid square frame glasses. He doesn't act like a professor. So, on a personal level he is obnoxious. His class is even more so. You don't really learn to write well in your own style. You learn to morph your own writing, into Starkey's writing. You have to HAUNT office hours if you want an A. If you can't bear his presence, it makes it that much more difficult. The book we had to read wasn't helpful. We had two quizes on the reading, one of which I failed. We had to write four essays, three on a movie, one from an interview we conducted on someone who "creates media." For the first essay we were allowed to re-submit it after we received a grade, if we wanted to revise and try to make our grade go up. The revision was due anytime by the end of the quarter. The other three had specific due dates. Try and borrow the movies from him after the class has watched them if you don't want to waste money as well as time on his class. He says he is a 'tough grader' when in actuality he grades low on principle, because he has a HUGE ego, and likes to demonstrate how much better he is than his plebian students. Basically, this guy is a prick. If you like going to class knowing that seeing the professor will revolt you and make you want to throw up, take Starkey. Look at his myspace, its horrible. If you would like to take a class which will actually help your writing, DO NOT TAKE STARKEY.

has a really nice figure yet doesn\'t show it off well enough the negative is he does not teach you much he is awesome though, and will help you out if you care enough about the dumb subject of english go to his office hours

he doesn\'t teach you shit - lindsay

He was an okay teacher. The only problem was that we didn\'t have that much class because of the furlough days (damn Budget cuts). So there wasnt that much class, but if you went to his office hour and let him read your essay before you turn it in, you will probably get an A or B. If you want a C turn it in without him reading it first and revising. Cool Teacher though

Glen is a pretty cool guy, not a cool teacher. If you can actually meet up with him to go over an essay it\'s really helpful, but otherwise he doesn\'t really teach the class. With the individual meetings and furloughs, I barely had class. I think I only ended up having about 6 classes to go to. He is an extremely harsh grader and rarely gives out A\'s. I went and talked to him to have him go over a rough draft of an essay and he said it was good and with a little tweaking I would probably get a high B+. I got a C. He isn\'t a very good teacher and I didn\'t really learn anything. The only way you can hope to get anything out of this class is to go to his office hours.

I felt the class and lecture were valuable, but the grading of the papers unfair. While I agree with most of his politics, somehow, no matter how many people edited my papers, how much time I spent working on them, the highest I got was a B. I did all of the reading and all of the assignments and even managed to earn 10 Extra credit points, but it has been a lot more work than I anticipated a GE english class to be. I did not expect an easy A, but I did expect an A to at least be attainable, which in this class it is not.

There were three essays and a research paper. The first two essays were 2 to 3 pages. The next was 4 pages, and the research paper was 8 to 10. There was also a group project, and some other really minor assignments. Attendance was not required, and lots of people never showed up. Lots of people complain that he is too hard of a grader, but I feel that I got the grades that I deserved. I got a B+ in the class and that

Starkey was awesome. Going into this class, I was really worried. He started out by saying it was going to be really hard and he rarely gave A's. Also, a lot of the class was based on current politics. I was so amazed at how well Starkey led the classes in discussions. He taught us how to argue with facts and reasons rather than just bashing the other side. I learned so much more from other political viewpoints than I ever did in any politics classes I've taken... AND I enjoyed going to class. Class was pretty much optional, but a lot of people went just because of the interesting discussions we had. As for grading, I've heard Starkey is pretty rough. I didn't think he was too harsh. I mean, I'm a math major (English isn't exactly my favorite) and I managed to pull an A on all of my essays and research paper. I think as long as you put in the effort, you'll do fine. But I would definitely recommend Starkey.

I took Starkey after reading that he would show movies and then we could write about those, which he didn't in our class english 145. On the first day he made it clear that he was a writer for the Liberal Newspaper in town. -He also told the class about how hard of a grader he is and that caused 2 students to leave the class instantly. -He doesnt take role or make class time mandatory unless it is proffing class or turn in days. -GO to his office hours. It will save, raise and help your grade. Get him to edit your paper before you turn it in. Then he has no reason to grade you down.

On the first day of class, the first thing Starkey talked about was how hard of a grader he was. That scared a few people off. He also made a point of bragging about writing for a local paper. Every day, he wore some kind of black t-shirt to class, usually with a band name on it. He also would wear shades and then switch to some regular glasses. It's obvious he thought he was way too cool for school. He gives off a real slimy vibe and likes to pretend he's in his 20s, even though he's gotta be in his late 40s. He makes derogatory cracks and swears, which would be funny on occasion if he wasn't also the one grading papers. Anyway, I didn't mind too much going to class because it was usually pretty laid back. He cancels the last few weeks for a huge research paper you have to write. We wrote a total of 4 papers, plus a few odd assignments and a group presentation. My advice to you is this: take Starkey if you know your writing is not full of issues. Otherwise, you're not going to do well. Lots of people put in real effort and went to office hours, but got landed with a C-.

On the first day of class Starkey announced that to earn an "A" on an essay, it must be so good that he is "jealous" of it and "wishes he had written it himself." I love to write, and have never earned anything short of an A in any English, but between Starkey's critical grading, lack of explanation, and strong opinions I only earned a B-. I did everything required and felt I did very well on the essays. However, I lost some motivation towards the end of the class after I had been putting out extra effort and still only recieving average grades. Starkey encourages you attend his office hours, yet doesn't really offer much help when you get there. He didn't explain essay prompts in class, and what he would post on line was generally rather vague. Class was boring, and usually pointless. About half way through the quarter Starkey started getting restless and letting class out about an hour early... which was hard to complain about, but when he is barely teaching and grading harshly, sometimes it seems a full class session was neccesary. He is very pompous and has a large ego... often bragging about his past frat boy days and how he writes for the local paper. His personality-- hard to stand. His class-- even harder to stand. I recommend you try for Sadie Martin. I tried crashing her class instead of Starkey's, but getting a seat is almost impossible because she is known to be a great teacher. I have a feeling I would have pulled an A in her class, rather than the B- I got in Starkey's.

Starkey is a nice enough guy, but his teaching methods are ridiculous. He doesn't explain anything and assumes you know what to do for every assignment. Even if you talk to him after class or in office hours, he does a very bad job explaining what he expects from you. He doesn't grade as hard as most people say, but if you struggle with writing this class will be worthless because you won't become a better writer and you won't get a good grade. The plus side is that you don't have to show up to class because he doesn't care about attendance and he doesn't ever lecture on anything relevant to the assignments so your not missing anything. I usually get As or Bs in English classes but I got a C in Starkey's class simply because I didn't know what he expected out of projects and essays.

Starkey GETS IT.

Professor Starkey has got to be one of the worst teachers I have ever had at Cal Poly. Do not ever take him for 145, EVER. He gives this whole speech about how this class is going to better your writing and teach you how to write at a college level, its bull. In this class you learn absolutely nothing except to form your writing type to what he wants. This guy is the definition of the most left wing social liberal and will degrade any beliefs that do not follow his. He says he wants to teach you how to be better arguers and not bash others ideas, but on the first day of class he went around and interrogated each conservative on why they think their stances are right. I love to write and I have never hated a writing class more. Professor Starkey honestly thinks that because he holds a PhD, his beliefs and ideas are better than yours, and he will let you know by bashing your ideas and giving you a low grade. From day one this teacher has done nothing but repulse me. His has the largest ego and gives off this greasy, rude aura. Moral of the story: DO NOT take him. Save yourself some time and grief and take any teacher but him. Unless you write exactly like him, don’t expect a good grade. He’s repulsive, rude and has to be the only teacher in my entire school career that makes me want to vomit.

Starkey's class was awesome. He kept the class engaged at all times, whether it was a class discussion about immigration or his stories of Cuba, he was a pretty legit professor. Like most professors at Poly, his critiques of your essays are what you make of it. If you don't want to listen to his suggestions, don't be surprised that your grade isn't increasing. He wants to help you acquire better english writing skills and is more than happy to accommodate your needs. If you politely ask for a lengthened essay deadline, he will most likely accommodate you. He's a genuinely nice guy, and although he is openly liberal, he NEVER pushed his ideals on anyone. He enjoys hearing what people have to say, whether or not he agrees with your opinion. So if you want to have an english professor who you will actually learn from, take him! He's not an easy professor; you definitely need to work for your grade. But it's worth it in the end.

I'd recommend taking a different teacher bc starkey will take up a shit load of your time with the number of pages you will need to write (26-36) throughout the quarter. As with any english class I'm always afraid of a subjective grader..well Starkey isn't completely subjective but his grading can be a little inconsistent...he just doesn't want to give out an A and its hard to clarify exactly what an 'A' paper is...All in all, I learned a little bit about writing (I guess), but I'd say that it was a very inefficient class.....take someone easier if you can bc I spent more time writing then I did on o-chem and calculus combined which is stupid considering that I learned way less, even if you consider "Ok is my paragraph a SEE paragraph?" learning....

Starkey is awesome. That pretty much sums it up. At first, however, I was a bit apprehensive after coming on here and seeing numerous bad reviews, and going to class and hearing him say that it was going to be a very difficult quarter. This was completely wrong. He's a great teacher and presents materials in effective and fun ways. The discussions in class are always interesting and really hold attention. There is no final, and there are only six papers to write, which is a very small number for a writing class. The number gets even smaller if you use a speech you did in COMS for the claim of policy paper, which in turn is half of your research paper. Overall, I found the class to be easy, yet saw a majority of the class struggle. I guess if you took AP English classes in high school and are overall good at writing, you will enjoy the class and get a high grade. If not, then work really hard on your technique, take time on your assignments, take part in all in-class peer reviews, and go to his office hours! If he reads your paper and you make the corrections, it really helps!

Starkey was a great professor. I really enjoyed his class and was surprised to see so many negative reviews on here. Its true, first day he tells everyone he is a tough grader, however I felt like he did not grade that harshly. If you took AP classes, you will probably do fine. Just make sure you spend a good amount of time on your papers, especially your Research paper. Starkey is clearly liberal, and I am conservative, however I never felt like he was pushing his views on anyone. Furthermore, I felt he defended each position of a topic fairly, even when the class was one sided about it. He is very forgiving. I turned in an essay a week late and he didn\'t even penalize me for it. There was an easy group project, 2 2-4 page essays, 1 4-8 page essay, and 1 10-15 page essay.

Starkey does not teach you anything and grades you harshly. He does not give out A\'s and does not recognize the fact that the class is a G.E. I received an 89.99 in the class and he gave me a B. He thinks that if you write a great college level paper, you earn a C, and that is a great grade. He just assigns papers and projects but never lectures or teaches you how to do better. He also is not available during his office hours and doesn\'t return emails quickly.

Starkey was cool- but he grades essays really harshly. Do well on the quizes to balance out your sucky essay scores and you should do fine. Also, have a politicial opinion, he loves hearing students who actually care about issues. Take the script debate group project seriously because its worth a lot of points and could be the difference between two grades.

First off, Starkey is hard, so don\'t take the class thinking it will be a piece of cake, because it won\'t. There are several papers to write, and his grading standards are very high. But his feedback is good, and he\'s always willing to help students improve, and if you go to his office hours, and pay attention to what he\'s telling you, and work really hard, then you can pull off a good grade, and might actually learn something in a GE.

He is a nice guy and really cool. However he is a journalist in the day. This makes him a really hard grader on essays. Not very clear about how he grades essays. It is almost impossible to get an A, since only one person gets an A per essay. However he has only given one D on essays all quarter. Take him for the easy C, but you will work your ass off for a B and A is out of the question unless you are an extremely good writer.

Starkey is the man! He\'s like the sickest teacher ever, very easy to talk to and keeps things really interesting. I went into this class with the impression that it\'s going to be extremely difficult and impossible to get an A, however, I was very much mistaken. English has always been my WORST subject, but I did awesome in this class. I\'m really not that great of a writer, but I got an A on 3/4 of the papers, and 100% on the first one. Everybody says that he never gives out A\'s, but I guess I proved that wrong! He\'s has pretty strong political views, definitely liberal when it comes to social issues. This guy is definitely down with the reefer, he uses MJ as like almost every example. He\'s super down to earth. If you want an interesting english teacher, I would definitely reccommend Starkey. As for the papers, if you actually try and pick interesting topics, an A is definitely possible. By far the BEST english teacher I\'ve ever seen. A+++!

Starkey is a cool guy and a very laid back professor. The first day of class he\'ll try to make you really uncomfortable by challenging your political beliefs (he jokingly called several girls in my class baby killer) and just being himself (he called loud kids in the hall \"dirty bastards\"). You have a total of 5 big papers, one presentation, and 5 quizzes. If you read the book you\'re practically guaranteed A\'s on all the quizzes. The group presentation is easy if you do a little outside research and make it entertaining. The papers are the one killer. There is no midterm or final for this class, only papers. Starkey works for a newspaper in the morning and for Poly in the afternoon, so he expects good work from his students. I cannot stress enough to GO TO OFFICE HOURS because he will help you fix your papers tenfold. He\'s very understanding about work, however. I once had a paper that needed extra work and he didn\'t think twice about giving me an extension on it. Starkey is overall a cool guy and the class isn\'t too difficult if you manage to keep up with the work.

Starkey was super cool! Really easy guy to chill out with during office with. It's really hard to get an A paper because he's very specific and doesn't take any BS when it comes to writing. He will help you and if you take his advice your writing will improve.

Starkey is a very laid back guy and creates an easy going atmosphere in class. The actual "learning" part only takes place the first couple weeks, then you have a paper due about every two weeks which you workshop on the week inbetween. The course load was super manageable. If you consider yourself to be a great english student, he will challenge that perception. He can be a tough grader but he is very approachable and will sit down with you and go over your entire paper during office hours. If you don't go to his office hours you are really making a bad decision and your grade will likely reflect it. Over all, I felt like I did show some improvement in the class and I'd choose him again.

Starkey is the shit. Granted, there's a lot of writing in the class but honestly it's just a chance for you to improve and if you screw up on one then you can always improve your grade. The first essay for many quarters now has been a definition essay - Define pornongraphy. It was the hardest essay I'd ever written, and I'm an english major. I earned 19/30, the worst grade i'd ever seen. But it was only a 30 point essay. The next 2 essays are out out of 100, the fourth is out of 150, and the final is out of 200. Your grade is out of 1000 points, the vast majority being essays, part of it being 3-4 small reading quizzes (worth 10 points each) and participation. Starkey is hilarious and I never dreaded going to class (even though I had it tuesday/thursday from 6-8). He's super nice if you go into office hours and will help you so much. I highly recommend Starkey for 145. Also, I'm pretty sure he still smokes...

Starkey is a great teacher. He is a super difficult grader, but he actually helps the student learn-especially if you go to office hours. The class consists of 5 essays, participation, and a group debate. He allows extensions on all papers (including the final essay due on the last day of class). Attendance is not taken but i recommend going to class. In all, i would recommend Starkey

Starkey is a cool guy, but be prepared to stand your ground. The first day of class he asked everyone individually to state their political views and he questioned your views, so a lot of people were intimidated by him. I took the class credit/no credit so i didn't work hard at all and ended up with a 78%. -whole lot of writing -pop quizzes on the reading assignments (more the 1st half of quarter) good luck!

Unless if your Tom Clancy or any other professional writer, do not take this class. If you are an average writer, you will get no higher than a C. Starkey may be a cool guy, however, if I could go back and choose a different professor for English 145, I'd do it in a heartbeat. This man has made this quarter significantly harder, especially after the 5th week. The first 5 weeks consists of reading 30 page chapters and then taking 5-10 question quizzes about very specific details from the chapter. The second half of the quarter contains 5 essays (new essay due every week) and then a large presentation. Don't take this class if you care about your grades, because you will have to fight to get a decent one.

Starkey seems like a cool guy, but he doesn't seem to be open to others ideas. Don't get me wrong, his classes are definitely entertaining, and often short, but this course is extremely difficult to get a good grade in. The first 4 or 5 weeks are just reading the textbook and then taking reading quizzes. I don't recall anyone getting a 100% on any of the 5 question quizzes. Then, you start writing papers like crazy. You end up doing 1 paper for every week or so the last few weeks, and he grades extremely hard. Only one or two people ever got A's. If you write about something he disagrees with, you'll be lucky to get a B, so beware. He is an interesting guy, but do not take this class if you value your GPA. I got an A in English 134 barely trying, and I am hoping for a B after working my tail off the for this class.

Starkey is an amazing professor. Getting an A is not impossible. However, it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to the class. I started off the quarter failing every reading quiz and I had a feeling this class would become the center of my attention. And it did. The reading quizzes really don't make or break your grade. But, do the reading because it is extremely helpful when you need to start writing papers. The porn essay is extremely difficult but it will not make or break your grade either. I got a B on that paper (my lowest grade) and I ended up with a very solid A in the class. Once you prove to Starkey that you can write, you are basically guaranteed a good grade on the rest of your papers. I'm pretty sure he didn't read any of papers after I got an A on the first one. Also, GO TO OFFICE HOURS. If he sees that you're trying, your grade will go up with out a doubt. Not only that, but he'll actually tell you how to fix your paper so you can get an A. He's a really chill guy, but don't take this class if you're not expecting to work hard. If you're up for a challenge, Starkey is the way to go.

A flaming liberal, who grades papers based on his beliefs rather than the content and ability to write.

I thought this guy was cool at first. His lectures weren't too painful, even though he did frequently keep us in class for the full 2 hours and gave a ton of quizzes. My opinion of him changed drastically though when I went to his office hours for help on my final paper. I was routinely getting C's on my papers, and when I asked him why, he said, "There's nothing wrong with your papers. They're good, they're just not A or B quality." So that was unhelpful. Also, when I told him I was aiming for a B in his class he replied, "Maybe I'll just get drunk off my ass and give your paper a B-". I mean, I guess that's what he did, considering I ended up with a B, but still, this guy is a dick and I would advise against taking him. He's not worth the frustration.

Let's start by saying this is a GE class. I could understand if it were an upper division english course that determined you getting a degree but come on! This guy is ridiculous! Out of a class of maybe 20-25 there were 3 A's. According to him if you're in the C range that's college level and you're exactly where you should be. Uhm hello? If that were truly the case then GPA would be based on a 2.0 scale not a 4.0 scale! I have never gotten anything less than an 88% on an essay ever until this class. He grades way too hard for this being a basic English class. Also a note to any conservatives...DON'T TAKE THIS CLASS. I tried to give the bad reviews the benefit of the doubt but they're all right. If your essay doesn't mirror his political beliefs to the T, you're screwed. It will be impossible for you to get an A. When I went to his office hours I thought he was really helpful letting me know what I needed to work on and so I went and fixed it and still got a grade less than what I would expect after having put in effort for extra help. The quizzes expect you to know little details from a footnote and I'm sorry but after reading 45 pages I don't remember what so and so said on page 239 under the margins. It's ridiculous. The last few weeks of class you have to write essay after essay as if he expects you have one class-HIS. Well sorry but I have 4 other classes on top of this and I can't devote endless hours to perfecting essays to fit his liberal beliefs and ridiculous standards. DON'T TAKE THIS CLASS!

First off if you are a CONSERVATIVE then DO NOT take his class. He will grade you down because your beliefs don't mirror what he believes. He will also call you out on the first day of class when he asks everyones political views so if you're a conservative, get ready to get lectured. I got A's on all my english 134 essays and now I can't get above a 70%. He is an unbelievably hard grader which is why only 3 people got A's in all of his lecture classes last quarter. Quizzes are impossible unless you have a photogenic memory. You have 5 essays and then a 10-15 page research paper as your final.

Alright, this guy is definitely a liberal and hates all conservatives. He grades your papers based on his opinion on whether or not he agrees with you, not on your abilities to write. I got an A in English 134, and with Starkey, I can't seem to get any higher than a C on any of my essays. I always thought I was a pretty decent writer until I took this class. Also, in order to do well on the quizes, you have to read the assigned chapters right before the class in order to remember all the shit asks you about. The guy is actually pretty funny and chill, along with frequently canceling class or cutting it short. But, I still would not recommend him

Where to even begin about this class... well, I signed up not knowing anything about Starkey, and hadn't heard the rumors that his class was hard. I went in thinking "Oh, I'm great at English, this shouldn't be too difficult". This was what I planned on being my 'easy' class... wrong. The first day, he breaks down how many students get what grade in his class. There were like 7 A's out of 75 students. I went home and tried to find a spot in a different English 145 class. As you can tell, I wasn't successful with that. The class is out of 1000 points, so you essentially can only miss 100 points to get an A. With like 8 essays and almost daily quizzes on the reading you do every night, it's not easy to do this. I barely got an A in the class, and I got extra credit. As far as the essays go, FOLLOW HIS FORMAT. I don't know how much better my essays truly improved, but instead how I got better at following his rubric. My lowest essay grade was an 87, on the first essay, and gradually improved until the final research report, which I got an 94 in. Having said this... I do think Starkey has favorites. It's pretty clear. I have to say I must have been one of them, because my friend put far more effort into her papers, and I still somehow managed to do better. Don't be conservative, be sarcastic, and speak out in class. You may be able to pull an A that way... It worked for me at least.

He can be very nice, but he will only give you a good grade if you kiss up or you follow every belief he has.

MOST HORRIBLE PERSON IVE EVER MET. NOT A RESPECTFUL TEACHER AT ALL. I DO NOT RESPECT HIM AS A TEACHER. HE IS NOT A RESPECTABLE PERSON NOR DOES EVER EVER RESPECT YOU OR YOUR NEEDS AS A STUDENT. USES BAD LANGUAGE AND JUDGES YOU BASED ON YOUR BELIEFS.

Starkey is an extremely hard grader. Even after spending hours proofreading and adding large amounts of research into every essay you can still expect to get a b at best. Starkey is very liberal and tries to present both sides to every argument but does not always succeed, however I wrote a very conservative claim of policy paper and received an A- and a friend who wrote a liberal paper received a C so he does grade based off content and not ideas. Expect quizzes until the second half of the quarter.

Professor Starkey is a hard grader, but hard work in his class does pay off. I had him for English 145 for my first quarter as a freshman, and his grading was a huge change from high school, but he does give great feedback to improve your grade, and he's also really helpful if you go to his office hours. For the final paper, I originally received a B-, and I was upset because I had put in a lot of time and effort into my paper and I thought it deserved a higher grade. I asked him to reconsider my grade, and he did, bumping the paper's grade to a B+, which also bumped my overall grade in his class to a B+. Although his grading is difficult and the reading quizzes were very specific, I learned a ton from his class and was really glad to have Professor Starkey!

DO THE READINGS! or else your grade will suffer. He usually gives a 5 pt quiz (get one wrong your grade is already done to a B-) It's usually 2 chapters per week and 20-30 pages per chapter (the book ridiculously expensive - $55) He is a hard grader. His comments are often blunt and useless so go to office hours to get an explanation. He is a funny guy and some of the things he teaches is actually pretty interesting. Fun facts that I learned in class: he has a subscription to playboy, he talks about pot a lot, & his wife is half his age.

Now, I wasn't the best writer in my previous English classes, but with hard work I was still able to get good grades. Starkey is a VERY hard grader but that's partly because he's a writer himself. He doesn't explain what he wants out of your paper to improve. Also, his quizzes are pretty hard just because of how boring the reading is. The positive is he's pretty funny. Seriously take this as a Credit/No Credit. Not worth the waste of a GPA drop.

Starkey's a pretty cool guy. Pretty easy class to get a B in if you're decent at writing. You write 4 essays that you get to pick the topic, and take a couple of quizzes a week. Pretty fun class, I recommend it.

Class time was spent discussing the content of the essays in the reading (from the textbook)- we received close to zero instruction on how to write or use arguments. I ended the quarter with a page and a half of notes, and I attended most classes. The quizzes are based on memorization of names and facts, not on grasping the content. Our essays were subjectively graded based mostly on content and how much the professor agreed with our ideas, rather than how they were written. This class is close to impossible to ace, so if you take it be prepared to shoot for a low B.

I am someone who is usually up for the challenge when it comes to a tough professor. I consider myself to be a good writer, especially when it comes to argumentation. The way that Starkey grades is if you write a "good college essay" he gives you a C, a "great college essay" a B, and an "exceptional college essay" an A. I do not think a single A was given on a writing assignment in my class. He explained that for every 100 students, he gives less than five A's. I don't think that it should be easy to get an A, nor do I think that college is all about earning an A. I disagree with the fact that he does not give his class an equal opportunity for everyone to get an A. In office hours you are told that you have written a "good college level essay" and when you get the essay back you will get a B (or less). He does not allow for improvement; a B is considered a great grade by him and he will give no advice on how to improve if you bring a B level paper into his office hours. He will give C's to essay where his pen touched the paper to make a correction less than five times. I read and studied the material for every quiz and even made flashcards and still ended up with a B quiz average. There is literally no "how to ace Starkey" advice; you can't win. I wouldn't recommend him, it wasn't a good learning experience. He just wasn't helpful.

do yourself a favor and DO NOT TAKE STARKEY. he's got his head stuck so far up his own ass he has lost all ability to teach, assuming he ever had any to begin with.

Starkey is a good professor. I definitely enjoyed his class. He is snarky and sarcastic, which made the hour and thirty go by faster (the class was actually 2 hours but we never stayed that late). The readings were alright, they weren't too interesting but they were definitely helpful. Listen to what he says about the readings and apply that to your writing. Honestly, it isn't too hard to get an A in the class. The way he grades the papers were fair. And if you really spend time to organize and somewhat develop the paper, you're in good shape. The way he teaches you to write is by showing you other essays and criticizing that instead of actually practicing writing before the papers, which may or may not be beneficial. Just depends on the type of person you are. And I also suggest not using the big topics that most of the students use, such as gay marriage, legalizing marijuana, prison system, etc. I feel like he's read so many of those papers that you really need to stand out to get good grade. Also, he knows so much about those topics, it makes arguing about them that much harder. So definitely choose a topic that is still interesting to you, but not overdone. That was my strategy and it worked. The reading quizzes, however, were really bogglesome. It's 10 questions but 10 really specific questions. Skimming won't do you any good for those. Overall, the class was good. It's understandable with the other comments below about how Starkey sucks and super hard but he's really not that bad. He doesn't stuff his views down your throat, his grading isn't biased towards his views, he's not a terrible teacher, he's not rude. Don't be afraid to take this class.

Well, he is an average professor. Not to bad. Make sure you really do the readings and study for the quizzes in the beginning. The work load is moderate. Go to office hours, he'll help you with the work as much as he can. If you want to pass the pass with an easy C and not learn anything, this'll be fine for you.

Starkey is very sarcastic and very opinionated. He is definitely liberal and very confident and assured in his beliefs and doctrine. That being said, if you take the time to get to know him and talk to him (aka go to office hours) he's really kind and very helpful. This class is actually really easy if you do what's assigned. There are readings, quizzes on the readings, essays, and one group presentation. To do well on the quizzes, do the reading. Don't skim, actually read. To do well on the essays, go talk to him during office hours and take his advice on how to get an A paper and also do not write about any overused topic - gay marriage, abortion, pot, etc. All these people complain that he's got his head up his ass, etc. but all it really takes to do well is to actually go to class and do the work. There isn't a lot. I think he's a really fair grader, but there sadly seems to be a disproportionate number of horrible writers in the freshman class.

I thought that Professor Starkey was a very admirable professor. Definitely very liberal, and even if you are a conservative and you argue your points adequately, he won't dock your marks. Also, I believe that my argumentative writing improved a great deal--learn how to refute the opposing side instead of just giving supporting facts! Overall, it was a very nice class to take. The workload was higher than normal for the summer quarter because the class only lasts 5 weeks, but Starkey made it enjoyable and usually dismissed class early (because really, who wants to be indoors in SLO during the summer?) He genuinely liked teaching and seeing hiss students improve. I do see where frustration may come into play, but as long as you can write well, acknowledge that there are two sides to every argument, and read instructions, then you're golden.

Professor Starkey himself is a really cool guy. He has a funny, sarcastic quality in class and a lot of interesting opinions on current events. The actual course with him, however, is not one that I would recommend. I didn't really feel like I got a lot out of the class, and his expectations for assignments weren't always very clear. If you do end up in this class, it's not that terrible. I would highly suggest reading the chapters in detail in order to do well on the 10 point quizzes. I'd also suggest taking him up on his offer to read your papers during office hours before you turn them, since the feedback he writes on papers that he marks down doesn't tend to be very helpful or constructive.

Starkey is the man! I loved this class, and I feel like I actually improved quite a bit on my writing and research techniques. That being said, Starkey is a tough grader on papers, but only because he expects a lot out of his students. For me, it’s more beneficial to have a professor who has high standards because it’s all the more rewarding if I’m able to meet them, and so naturally I work harder. I almost killed my grade by not doing the readings (and failing every reading quiz), so luckily I was able to pull As and Bs on my papers. SO DO THE READINGS and it will actually help your grade, because quizzes and papers are weighted the same. There are multiple reading quizzes, editorial journals, two 2-4 page papers (100-150 pts.), one 4-6 page paper (200 pts.), and a final 8-10 page research paper (250 pts.). The class it out of 1000 points total, so essentially you can only miss 100 points to get an A. Starkey’s an opinionated dude and isn’t afraid to speak his mind. Have your own opinions and don’t be afraid to express them, even if they don’t necessarily go along with Starkey’s own views. If you’re able to support your ideas sufficiently, he’ll respect you all the more for it. All in all, if you’re willing to put in the effort, this class is totally worth it.

Starkey was a great professor for the English 145 A3 GE. I really enjoyed and looked forward to going to his class. Yes, he is extremely liberal, however he makes that fact known on the first day of class. He will listen to opposing viewpoints respectfully, but if you don't know what you are talking about, he will call you out on it and correct you. Starkey is super funny, his sense of humor is very dry and sarcastic. He's very laid back and will never keep you in class longer than necessary. The whole quarter I was never there for the full two hour lecture, he was usually done in around an hour. There are random quizzes on the assigned textbook reading for about the first half of the quarter or so, about 4 in total, but they are easy if you actually read the assigned chapter. After the quizzes are done, he no longer requires that you read out of the text, which is nice. There are three papers that are 4-6 pages and a final which is an 8-10 page research paper. He is a tough but fair grader, it is not impossible to do well on the essays, he just looks for a lot of depth in your writing. He enjoys when you participate in class and makes an effort to learn names and talk to his students. Overall, I would highly recommend Starkey.

Honestly I thought Starkey was going to be a really harsh grader because he harshly graded the diagnostic exam that he gave at the beginning of the quarter. I consider myself to be a good writer so after getting his disheartening comments on the diagnostic paper I thought I was in for a rough quarter, but this proved untrue. I ended up getting A's on each of the three papers and on the final research paper. In fact, he gave be 100% on each one. So do not be intimidated by his initially stern nature. He's a great guy and has a fantastically sarcastic wit.

Starkey is a cool dude. We never went the entire 2 hours of class, usually just an hour and 15 minutes or so. Sometimes only 45 minutes it was so chill. The class was laid out very simple; Claim of fact, claim of value, claim of policy, and a research paper. Just write the papers the way he wants you too and you'll get a B-, and if you're a great writer you might get an A on the paper, but there were hardly ever any. I wouldn't take this class if you care a lot about improving your writing, you kinda just have to write the papers and thats it. I don't feel as though I improved but I don't care. (also gotta read the textbook for the first part of the quarter and take quizzes. Try and do well on the quizzes cause they're easy points that can help you in the end) And yes he's very liberal and talks about being liberal very often so if you are bothered by that don't take the class and then complain on polyratings when you knew he was gonna be liberal. He also bumped my grade up to a B- instead of C+ without me asking cause i was very close to a B- so that's chill toooooooooooo

Starkey is a great teacher. My favorite part was his humor. He always tries to make his lectures pleasurable to the average college student. He connects well with the students and his teaching methods are successful. I highly recommend Starkey.

Awesome guy, but fucking terrible teacher. This class was all busy work and he is a really hard grader. DO NOT take this class

This professor is an interesting and engaging person to learn from. He does not assign much busy work and is lenient with class attendance. However, this class is extremely difficult to pass with a good grade (above a C or low B) because he is a VERY hard grader. He provides little feedback on papers, and rarely gives out As to students. When visiting during office hours, few students have found him to be helpful. I would not recommend taking this professor unless you are an outstanding writer.

One of the funniest, most easy-going, coolest profs I have had at Poly. As long as you follow the rubric for the essays, go in for office hours, and engage in class discussions, the class should be a breeze. Starkey made me laugh aloud every single class. Kinda bummed its over haha. Definitely take this class.

Reading polyratings for Starkey, I was super nervous going into his class. But I can honestly say, this was one of the easiest classes I've taken at Cal Poly. I did have to put in work, but this wasn't a class I had to stress about. He's super laid back in class, and his syllabus is very clear of what is expected of you. You actually have to do the reading to do well on quizzes, but I did hardly any work outside of class other than the essays. I'm not an english person, but I did so well in his class because of office hours. GO TO OFFICE HOURS!!!!! He'll give you a speech about how an average, competent writer is a C level but thats just to scare you into trying. I went once a week for literally 20 minutes and he read my essays and gave me EXACTLY what he wanted, which is why I got As on all of my papers. Starkey doesn't really give a shit about anything and he really wants you to do well. All I can say is go to office hours and you'll do just fine.

I really enjoyed this English class and I typically hate English classes. He can be a nit picky grader but if you honestly just spend some time on the essays and try going to the writing center or his office hours you should be able to get an A in the class. He's also very understanding and lenient. I forgot to turn in a small assignment worth 2% of our grade and he still gave me full credit on the assignment. Overall, great professor that gives a reasonable amount of work!

Starkey is an asshole. Regardless as long as you go to his office hours, he'll tell you what he wants to see in your paper, and if you follow his advice you're guaranteed a B. His lectures are not the most intriguing. He basically just reads his poly learn. But READ the textbook his quizzes are not that easy. Overall not a super easy class but not that bad.

Professor Starkey is awesome, he is clear on what he wants from you for the quarter which is honestly not that much. I didnt go into any office hours and I got As on all the papers and research paper at the end. Do the readings for the quizzes and if you do have a problem with your paper just go into his office hours I know he's super helpful there even though i never went. I would strongly recommend Starkey.

Starkey is a hard ass. He's a hard grader, I don't know of anyone who got an A on their paper last quarter. That being said, I loved him as a professor. He's sarcastic and funny and keeps your attention, he lets you write about whatever you're passionate about, and overall a good teacher. But he barely gives you any help when you bring a paper to him, so it's hard to know what an A level paper even is. Overall, he makes the class super fun! But be okay with working your ass off and getting a C.

Glen Starkey is overall a great guy. He teaches a 2 hour lecture but tries to make class time as short as possible. If you go into his office hours and ask about your essays he will really help you and usually give you a better grade. Go into this class with a good mindset and write your best essays and you will do great

Starkey is a super chill guy. We always ended before the set class time after going over the assigned reading or finishing writing workshops. The 3 essays and 1 research paper are super easy assignments and even if you put in only a little effort you can get a B. There is a group presentation towards the end of the quarter but you get to choose from a couple topics in the book. You will pass if you turn in everything and do the readings.

I enjoyed having Professor Starkey. I went to his office hours once or twice for each essay we wrote, and that helped me a lot. I didn't think he was a tough grader at all. He's a very reasonable guy, and I would definitely recommend him.

On the first day of class he asked each student if they were liberal or conservative. I was one of two conservatives in our entire class, and immediately I felt like there was a target painted on my back. Course work wise, there are three argumentative 3-5 page papers and a final 7-10 page paper. Choose your essay topics wisely and always defend the liberal side of the argument... his grading is biased. Also there are weekly readings out of a textbook with quizzes on tuesday, they are really hard even if you read and reread the assigned pages. Most of the lectures turned into political rants...it would've been nice to have actually learned how to write. The class is easy if you are liberal; if you're conservative, sit there and play along.

professor Starkey was great! I really enjoyed this class. he is very resourceful if you go to his office hours. the class itself is easy and he always let us out at least 30 minutes before the scheduled end time. the class consists of some easy reading comprehension quizzes, 4 papers, and some minor homework assignments. I would definitely recommend taking this class with Starkey if you have the opportunity!!

Going into this class I was honestly nervous because of all the reviews I read prior. I took the class anyway, obviously, and it was one of the least stressful classes I have taken throughout all of college. Starkey is very straightforward and you get let out of class an hour to an hour and a half early every single day. You have essays due every 2 weeks, but you bring in rough draft copies and get them peer-reviewed which is also super helpful. Also, his office hours are really helpful, he has them 4 times a week, and he tells you what you should fix to get a better grade on your essay. Overall, take Starkey. Super chill class

Yes Starkey is a extremely liberal, but that is only an issue if you make it one. He is very open to any viewpoint and happy to help his students who are willing to put the work in. This class is an easy B even if you are coming into the course a bad writer. I was able to get a B in the class by going to his office hours every week before an essay was due and would have him read over it and he would make comments on how to make it better before you turn it in to him. Incredible dude that is very understanding of a busy college life and wants to help you succeed.

Honestly, Starkey sucked the life out of english for me. I have enjoyed all of my professors at Cal Poly, until Glen. Glen is unsupportive and mean in office hours. I don't know who taught him how to write, but all he cares about is his dumb essay formula. "You can follow the formula, or you can fail," Glen said. Glen is the worst. He smells like pepperonis and he lost some of my work. Somehow, I passed but it wasn't without countless hours of frustration and general resentment towards Glen. What a mess.

i dont know why starkey has such a low rating. He is down right a great professor. To be honest, you cant really teach someone how to write but they can provide you with materials to help and i think he did a pretty good job of that. That said, he does say he is a tough grader, but if you go to his office hours you should be fine. Also, he doesn't waste your time if office hours...i think hes the only professor who actually looks over the entire paper and gives specific ways to make it better. He also lets us out an hour early most of the time which was a blessing because i had it 6-8pm. oh, and he's really understanding. One time i forgot to turn in a little assignment and he let me do extra work to make up the points. The class comprised of a few pop quizzes in the beginning, (which werent really pop quizzes because we had one almost every time a reading was due), and a 15-20 minute group presentation (which you could read off a script for), 2 2-3 page papers, 1 3-5 page and the final was a 7-10 page research paper. with that said, TAKE STARKEY. he is a funny guy and actually makes class enjoyable.

DO NOT TAKE PROFESSOR STARKEY. I am a good writer and Starkey even admitted my essays were good. But his definition of good was a C! A B was amazing and an A was unheard of. He treated this intro English GE as something that mattered when really all of us had much more important things to do that actually contributed to our majors. I don't know of many people that received A's so SAVE YOURSELF THE TROUBLE AND TAKE ANOTHER PROFESSOR AT ALL COSTS!!

Glen doesn't demand the kind of respect that most professors do. Just in the way he dresses says a lot. The overwhelming amount of readings from the textbook he would assign became pointless. It wasn't the level of critical thinking that I was expecting to gain from this college level class. When it came to the essays, his default was always a C. Usually no mater how much time you would put into a paper he wouldn't give you a better grade unless you went to get feedback from him at his office hours before the due date. When it came to getting our papers back, his hand writing was atrocious. Almost entirely illegible, which was frustrating. There are other english professors, I would recommend skipping starkey and going with someone else.

I loved this class! Glen is a super chill guy, and I was honestly worried coming into the course, reading all these poly ratings. I am a republican, and stating my views at the beginning of the class really was not a big deal, as some said it was. Glen showed no political prejudice towards me at any point in the quarter. I received A's on all my papers. I will say that if you don't go to office hours, you will most likely do worse on the essay. Assigned readings every week were kind of a pain, but the quizzes were manageable. Overall, would take him again and would definitely recommend.

Starkey is the shit! He's a laid back guy who's funny and really flexible with everything you do. He writes for the New Times and is very liberal and open-minded. The work load for this course is pretty basic, and you get more than enough time to turn it your three rather short papers. You have two two-page papers, one four page, and an eight page final. That's basically it. The one thing is, he's a very hard grader on your papers, so if you're a bad writer you may struggle, but he'll help you. Take him for ENGL 215, he's way better than the other professors for this class.

A great guy, the class was lacking though, as there was no clear point, and there was no real teaching. if you want to get a good grade than he is not the teacher for you