Mott is a decent professor who tries to make the American novel more interesting. Though Mott's humor helps the class, it does not hide the fact that his lectures are unorganized and often difficult to follow. There is a huge amount of reading that goes very fast, beginning on the sour note of cryptic novels including Nathaniel Hawthorne and marginally improving with other works. The TA's for the fall class were extremely demanding and hard graders; go to Office Hours to find out exactly what they want in your writing- also beware of their arbitrary grading scales. Mott showed clear favoritism for his Honors section students, who he had to call out by name and praise in every lecture. Though he praises his final as the easiest to be taken at UCLA, it is very challenging and the hardest of my first six at UCLA.

I really enjoyed this class. The novels for the most part were pretty interesting & the section assignments were short & straightforward. The pace is pretty fast but as long as you don't lag on the reading too much, it's possible to catch up. Professor Mott is really hilarious too! He made alot of really funny jokes that kept the lectures interesting. However, I didn't find the lectures helpful at all. I didn't go to alot of them, and I slept through most of the ones I did go to. They could be fun just because he's funny, but the actual powerpoint slides are nothing but quotes that don't help on the papers. The papers are kind of confusing because it's hard to tell what they want, but the TAs can be really helpful, so go to office hours. Just make sure you read the novels! There's absolutely NO WAY to BS your way through the final. All in all, I probably went to half of the lectures, read five out of the six novels, and got an A-. Fun class if you like reading!

Decent professor. His lectures are pretty pointless, his powerpoints are a joke and basically start him on a chain of events. He has some funny moments, but I found myself dozing off countless times. Make sure you go to section, because it's mandatory and your TA is who grades your essays (most of them). Learn what your TA wants, and go off of that. Read the books & understand them.

Taken: Study of the American Novel

Rundown:

the professor: funny, likable, very friendly, encourages student participation, loves to get to know his students personally even though there are so many, one of the few college professors you will come across that can name students in a 100 person lecture

the lectures: disorganized, mott has a powerpoint, but its pretty much useless, he loves to talk and have a good time so he often digresses and goes off on weird tangents that are completely unhelpful

the discussions: mandatory, will actually help you understand the readings a lot better. glen is a great TA

the material: books are different each quarter depending on what mott feels like, they are sometimes interesting, sometimes really boring, but you get a nice eclectic mixture

the grading: not an easy GE, grade based on two essays, one midterm and one final; essays are graded harder than I thought they should be, and its hard to finish the tests in the time allotted

So take this class if you enjoy reading and especially writing. But be prepared, Mott may be a great guy, but not the most effective professor. And I heard his honors section is fun, and helps towards understanding the material.