This class was not conducive to learning or critical thinking at all. Prof Hyde would just go through her slides every day giving us her own analysis of the text which she would then verbatim ask for on the exams. In terms of difficulty, it was easy but not worth it. I love American literature and was so excited to be engaging in discussion about these authors/works I absolutely adore, but this class was so incredibly monotonous and boring that I dreaded going every week! Doing the absolute bare minimum and getting an A or at least an A- was very do-able. She was a very accommodating professor when it came to work-load and extenuating circumstances like a pandemic, but the class itself didn't push my thinking or help me grow very much. I personally was pretty disappointed.

I am a South Campus major and took this class as a GE. I have never really took interest or appreciated American Literature until I took this class! Professor Hyde definitely knows her stuff and is VERY PASSIONATE about not only what the class curriculum means to her, but what it means to her students. She is very flexible with the readings and treats the class as colleagues where she encourages the class to help structure some aspects of the syllabus and is very understanding of our student lives outside the classroom so during finals or midterms she is willing to restructure some of the more demanding assignments. Weekly responses on readings are doable and she leaves room for busy schedules. Biggest grade is the final paper, but no need to worry-- the grade is broken down into outline, peer-review, and final paper--of which is all worked on within the quarter so you can save the night-before essay for another class ! Overall, great class and would take again!

I had a particularly rough fall quarter 2019, so I decided to take English 80 in Winter just for the sake of my mental health/to ENJOY a class for once. I heard nothing but great things about this class and Professor Hyde, and I was not disappointed. Carrie is a legend. Her outfits? Iconic. Her mind? So powerful. Her lectures? Engaging and well-prepared. I find that I like 50 minute lecture classes more than 75 minute lectures, but never once was I bored or sleepy in her class - the lectures, though longer and filling up the entirety of class time, were so well prepared. Prof. Hyde clearly knows her stuff and is so passionate and you can't help but feel passionate about literature too when she's talking.
Overall, the reading seems like a LOT on the syllabus, but it's actually pretty manageable and broken down into a fair workload. The midterm was super easy in my opinion (I definitely think that being a good writer in this class helps a lot, but I think someone for whom writing is not a strong suit could still make it through, as Carrie and the TA's offer a ton of help on writing.). The final paper, though high stakes, comes with plenty of opportunities to check with TA's and peers and make it the best possible piece of writing, so you really have no reason to be worried about it unless you don't take those opportunities. Our final was online due to COVID (which Prof. Hyde was very kind and flexible in dealing with and had an admirable response to), and overall I left the class feeling great. Yes, it's easy to get an A if you do the work that is expected of you, but it's not an easy-A class in that you feel like you barely did anything to earn it. I left the class feeling like I learned a lot about how to close-read and with a new appreciation for literature.
Overall, Prof. Hyde is one of my favorite professors and this is one of my favorite classes at UCLA. Would highly recommend to anyone regardless of major. I'm south campus but I would gladly take another English class to learn from Carrie again :)

I would not take her class again.

She is fairly monotonous and boring.

She had us split into small groups everyday to "debate" the material, but this was ineffective and took up too much time.

I am currently taking "Reading Citizenship" with Dr. Hyde. I ended up taking this class because it lined up with the rest of my schedule and I wasn't even that excited to be taking this class. One session in and I was already sooooo intrigued. I was disappointed that there was a no screen policy in this class, however, I can confidently say that the annoying unanimous typing sound would have only been distracting from the amazing lectures that this professor gives. Soon enough I switched over from google docs and kindle to pen and paper and paperbacks. Dr. Hyde is clearly ~very~ passionate about this topic and that makes her class worth taking. There are weekly readings and online discussion forums and the workload is rather heavy however she makes up for it with extremely well prepared and well-organized lectures. Her material is always up to date, she even includes student notes and from the online discussions which were posted the day before, so you know she really does care about the student thoughts. I have a great amount of respect for Dr. Hyde, 4 class meetings in and I am already in love with early American literature and the history associated with it.

Professor Hyde is very knowledgeable about the topic she teaches and she often adjusts the intimidating reading schedule to meet the students demands, more than often not completely removing material because it may feel too rushed. Her exams are not tricky, she makes sure to go over exactly what she will be asking on the exam and she wants students to do well so she even lets you vote on topics that could be covered on the exam. Participation is necessary, as in any class, to get the most whole experience and engage with the teaching staff and content thoroughly to value your work in the class. If you fall behind on the readings it isnt impossible to catch up if its not a novella. The one essay of the class is designed to be a ongoing process in which your work evolves with the perputual guidance of TAs and students.