Fall 2015 Grading Scheme:
Two Summaries: 5%
Annotated Bibliography, in Two Parts: 15%
Proposal for Research Essay: 15%
Research Essay: 50%
Attendance and Participation: 15%

Professor Stone:
This Writing II class was focused on fairy tales. I'm not sure if this will be a consistent focus in future quarters, but I found the subject really interesting. I was never very interested in variants of fairy tales and their impacts on society, so learning about this was very insightful. His voice is a bit monotone, so it can be difficult to pay attention sometimes, but more often than not Stone has a lot of eye-opening things to say. I really appreciate him as a professor. I came into this class thinking I was an excellent writer, and he helped me surpass my expectations. The readings were mostly all interesting, a mix of fairy tales and commentaries on those tales. And class time was basically spent talking about these readings. Class was twice a week for about two hours. The work load was a bit much but still manageable.

Two Summaries Grade: A-
The first summary we had to write was of a fairy tale. This was not graded, but he did give feedback so you can improve upon it for your second summary, which was graded. The second one was on a commentary, so it was a bit more challenging. It seems easy to do but it's actually quite difficult to condense a long text in just a few hundred words. It was a great first step in honing in on the writing process.

Annotated Bibliography, in Two Parts Grade: A
I had to do annotated bibliographies in English in high school, so these weren't so challenging for me. You needed to find six outside sources, three each in two parts, and comment on their possible uses in your research essay, evaluating them and synthesizing them with other sources. This is just a tool to scope out possible external sources you can use for your paper.

Proposal for Research Essay Grade: A
The proposal is basically just a one to two page summary of what you plan on doing with your essay. Stone holds conferences with each student to read over it and suggest improvements on it before turning in a final copy. I compare him to Tim Gunn from Project Runway because he critiques and gives advice without directly leading you in a specific direction. So you get helpful feedback while still needing to rely on yourself to "make it work." This proposal was a good way to outline your plan for your essay and get an idea of how you can synthesize your sources.

Research Essay Grade: A
This was a daunting task. The paper had to be 10-15 pages, double spaced, and offer a unique view on the content of the course - fairy tales. I struggled in the beginning of the course to specify my direction and find my thesis. But after scratching a lot of ideas, I focused on one topic that I felt comfortable writing about and was actually interested in. I recommend doing this for any paper you write. Again, Stone will hold individual conferences to assess the progress of your paper, and he will read drafts of it and give notes. Additionally, there were a series of in-class peer review sessions where you needed to bring like a 3-4 page draft, 6-8 page draft, etcetera to class to get input from other students. This was generally helpful in writing my paper. It's quite difficult to write so much about a topic and have it due 10th week, but it was a great exercise to improve my writing capabilities.

Attendance and Participation Grade: Unknown
You were allowed to miss two classes in the quarter without hurting your attendance grade. I went every class, but I didn't participate too much, which I kind of regret. However, if you do well on every other part of the grading scheme, you shouldn't be hurt by not participating.

Overall Grade: A
Overall, I thought this course was not too difficult. It was a bit challenging at time with the writing assignments, but everything is doable with the tools he provides. He is honestly a really great writing professor. Very eloquent and knowledgeable. On the last day of class when we turned in our final papers, he read to us a paper he had written himself summarizing our quarter, addressing our growth and projecting his hopes for us in the future, taking what we learned and applying it to our future endeavors. It was actually pretty beautiful and I teared up a little bit. If you're looking to take a Writing II class, and aren't looking to just get an easy A, I suggest taking this class with Stone.

I honestly enjoyed this class, it's the most fun and interactive English class I've taken so far. TO be frank, the class was hard at times. It depends on how your writing and comprehensive skills are. I felt dumb at times but the professor is so good at encouraging you while guiding you to the writing style you need to be at in college. I'd recommend this class to anyone if you want to improve your writing skills and take a worthwhile class. Plus, the whole class is based on fairy tales! It was fun to read the Grimm and Perrault versions and discuss the importance of fairy tales through discussion and writing.

Wasn't much workload throughout the week, which was nice, but the 3 essays we were required to do throughout the quarter came a bit out of the blue since he hadn't bee practicing any writing in between, just discussing it a bit. Work load is quite low though throughout a normal week.

Mr. Stone was a nice professor, but he also is an extremely biased and side-taking person. If you didn't speak much in class and were shy, it'd affect your essay scores (simply because he wasn't happy with your lack of participation). All of his grading felt very mood based and was far too qualitative. and random. Be ready to kiss his ass if you'd like a good grade. If you're shy and don't talk much, this can greatly hurt you. If you're a teacher's pet, this may be a great class for you.

I loved this class! A good review will not do his class any justice because of how amazing this class was. He's fair. You get what you work for. Plus, his conference appointments really help with the essays. You just have to be an active listener. I was quite shy in his class but he always encouraged me to sit in the front to feel more part of the class but truth is, no matter where you sit, you always feel like you're a part of the class. Lectures are really engaging. Would definitely take more English courses if he taught them.

I loved this class. Professor Stone is an amazing teacher that makes you feel confortable not only in class but during conferences as well. Also, his way of grading is fair since you get what you deserve. I was one of the shy people in class; however, he understands that not everyone is a talktative person. I would definetly take another class thaught by Professor Stone.

Take the class!!! I'm not so hot on English (I never have been), but I would take this class again in a heartbeat. Professor Stone is the best professor I've ever had. That man is seriously talented. His classes were amazing. I always looked forward to them and I hoped they would never end. He's super approachable and made it easy for us to talk to him, and even talk in class. I'm really shy, but I always found myself participating because of him. He's so helpful; his conferences really do A LOT for your paper. I'm even considering contacting the English Department to see if he can get an award because he's just that good!. The readings are doable and there are three papers that take time and energy, but are really fun to write, especially if you pay attention in class.

When I was enrolling in English Composition 3, I did not know that each lecture had a different topic associated with it. I wish I had known that prior to enrollment, as it turned out the one I had enrolled in was on fairy tales. While Professor Stone did make the topic a bit more interesting, it still would not have been my first choice. My advice is to try and find out the topic of your lecture prior to enrolling...

Aside from that, though, I felt this class was fair. It wasn't necessarily easy, especially if you're not used to closely analyzing fiction. However, if you are already a decent writer, the essays will not be very difficult. There were two shorter essays and one longer final essay. He reviews your rough draft and is very clear about what should be changed and what he is looking for.

The class itself definitely drags on, but Professor Stone does his best to make it engaging, so I give him credit. He is very knowledgable and has great tips that will improve your writing.

The course itself is fairly easy with a manageable workload (the 3 essays and short readings/responses due at the start of each lecture). I would certainly recommend Professor Stone if you genuinely want to improve your writing. However, if you feel that you are a strong writer already, I would advise you to choose a lecture with a topic that interests you.

Genuinely he is the best professor / teacher I have ever had. He makes you very critically think about your own writing. He grades very fairly, and writes a LOT of helpful commentary for each assignment. There were times in class when I had to stop and appreciate the eloquence of his speech and the profound things he was telling the class. I think this guy is a genius. If you are actually trying to improve as a writer, I strongly encourage you to take this class.

If you want to improve your writing immensely, take Professor Stone. I'm not going to lie, the theme at first was not exciting to me at all and I was dreading it but he makes the lectures and stories you have to read extremely interesting, it became one of my favorite classes towards the middle of the quarter.
Make sure to keep up with all the readings to participate during the lectures, participation is your best friend in this class. The conferences are extremely helpful as well, he will answer your questions clearly and guide you to write amazing papers.

Professor Stone is one of my favorite professors at UCLA--and I'm a STEM major. I do enjoy writing, but Professor Stone's class was still one of my favorite English classes that I have ever taken. The theme of the class is fairy tales, which was really interesting to me. You get to ready different fairy tales from different time periods and places.
He's a very fair grader and the conferences he has before each essay is due are extremely helpful and he really tries to guide you in the right direction. Even if you already write well, he will still try to push you and make sure that you are still learning and growing as a writer. The reading for the class is interesting and not too intense. There are no midterms or finals. I definitely recommend taking this class with Professor Stone!