As an engineering major who took this class for fun alongside another writing 2 class, I can without a doubt say that this was the best course I have taken at UCLA. The class teaches you how to think and to question all the preconceived notions that you hold about topics like aliens. Shorter really makes you think outside your own worldview and really challenges you to question your own worldview. The class isn't even really about aliens, psychics, and ghosts per say. I would characterize the class as a referendum on how we acquire knowledge and choose what we believe and do not believe through the lens of alien encounters. Overall, I would recommend this class to anyone that can enroll because it will change your worldview for the better. Also come into the class with an open mind because your experience will be 100x better than those who are stubborn and not willing to question their worldview.

Discussion sections were the most enriching discussions I have ever been a part of, which was amplified because of people's willingness to share and actually do the readings. Also TA Jackie Davis did not bring her own viewpoints into the section, which definitely allowed for free flowing and exciting discussions about lecture and the reading.

I feel like the people who hated the class were not willing to even consider other viewpoints (literally the whole point of the class) and did not seek help from the TA during office hours for writing advice. I went into TA office hours and we went over my argument structure and which evidence I would use to prove each point. My TA (Jackie Davis) would discuss with you exactly which ideas are fleshed out and which ones could be more compelling. After this, just follow every small detail that Professor Shorter lays out to receive an A.

The professor is cool, the class content is interesting, but the grading is by far too demanding. I went into this class thinking it was going to be an easy way to check off my writing 2 requirement and get an easy A. About half way through the quarter, Shorter informed us past bruin walk reviews no longer reflected the class because he had changed up the grading scale (there are no longer 20 points of extra credit, maybe ~8 offered). The class is out of 100 and, even if you write a perfect analytical paper, there are many places to lose points through college rule (college rule covers contractions, 'it,' grammar, etc). Each mistake on the college rule is a .25 to 3 point deduction. On one of my papers, I lost more points on the college rule rather than on the content of my paper, this mistake cost me 3 points/ a letter grade (this class weighs content and grammar equally). Shorter also introduces a very specific writing structure that must be followed in order to not lose points (e.g significance statements, problem and solutions, etc.). There are 5 assignments (1x4 pg, 2x5pg, 1x1pg, 1x6.5 pg) and attendance is worth 15 points. If you care about your GPA, I would not recommend taking this class unless you plan on investing a significant amount of time in it by going to your TA's office hours to review each paper before turning it in and combing through for any possible point deductions. Also, there are a lot of readings so make sure you have time for those too so you can keep up with class discussions and earn the pop quiz extra credit points. If you're genuinely interested in the class content, I recommend getting your writing 2 out of the way with some other class and taking this one P/NP so you don't have to stress about each point you lose on the writing assignments. The class discussions are interesting and Shorter is a fun professor who cares about his students. I learned a lot about aliens and, as a south campus major, I appreciated Shorter's lectures and perspective. However, do not expect an A out of this class without putting in time, it is no longer an easy A.

I do not recommend this for anyone looking to satisfy a writing II requirement. The professor is a nice person overall and shares a lot of his personal stories, but his standards of grading are way too high. If you are a south campus student and care about your GPA, this class does not help as a GPA booster and will give you a lot more stress than other writing II classes. I’m sure anyone could get an A in this class if they go to both the professor/TA office hours weekly and set aside hours of reading daily. But coming into this class as a good writer won’t really help.

Do not take this class. If you are looking at the past bruinwalk reviews IT IS ABSOLUTELY FALSE. The grading is tough and the professor requires you write extensively. The topic of the class is interesting but he requires you to have a certain style of writing. There are extra credit points but are very limited so don't think that it is an easy A. I came into class looking a bruinwalk, but the class is completely different now so think twice before you enroll in this class.

Sí, me gustó y yo lo recomiendo

I am a south campus major who does not have much writing experience or even consider myself as a below-average writer, but I thoroughly enjoyed this class. This class is definitely not as easy as before when the students had a lot of extra credit opportunities. I was afraid of entering this class because of the previous reviews, but I don't think you have to be too scared.
Grades are out of 100 points so if you get a total of 96 points, you get an A. Each point is worth one percent of your grade, so each point you lose on a paper is one percent gone. The grading scheme seems scary at first, but Professor Shorter provides extra credit points through pop quizzes (usually 2 points per quiz) and Capstone Workshops (~5 points). The pop quizzes are based on the readings and are quite tricky, but they can only add to your grade so don't worry. Think of the extra credit points as making up for mistakes you made on your papers. I did not get a lot of extra credit points in the class (~5) but I still got an A (I mostly got 0/ 0.5 points on the pop quizzes). Here is the grade breakdown:
Attendance (you can miss up to three days for full credit) - 15 points
Short Analysis (3 pages) - 15 points
Author Analysis I (5 pages) - 20 points
Author Analysis II (5 pages) - 20 points
Final Paper Introduction - 5 points
Final Research Projects (7 pages) - 25 points
Total: 100 points
Like others have said before, this is not an easy Writing II class. Papers are due every two weeks, so the class is very fast-paced. A large amount of reading is also assigned every week. Professor Shorter has high expectations and very strict guidelines for what he wants in a paper. However, he details them very clearly in his writing guide and college rule sheet. As long as you follow his rules, you should get a decent grade on his papers. His rules seem very tedious at first such as not using “it is” or any of its conjugated forms. You have to comb through your writing very carefully to find every single mistake. Another thing to add is that the final paper is graded even stricter than before. A mistake worth 0.5 points would be worth 1.5 on the final paper, so do not slack off. I recommend you to go to your TA's office hours to go through your papers and asks for their opinions. Your grade mostly depends on your TA, but they do grade it by the guidelines Professor Shorter provides. While I tell you this, I did not go to any of my TA's office hours but I still did fine on my papers ranging from one to two points being taken off per paper. However, I would have done a lot better and I would have been a lot less anxious if I asked my TA for help. All of the TAs are great at their job and genuinely cares about the success of the students.
As for the content of the class, it is very interesting and mind-opening. I have never been this interested or personally invested in a class at UCLA. Professor Shorter makes every single lecture entertaining; he jokes around and provides many personal anecdotes. The lectures feel like a discussion between him and the students. He told us many personal stories that allowed students to connect with him. He even organized a field trip where students could go "ghost-visiting" with him. At the end of the quarter, he shook every student's hand and this action greatly demonstrates his overall character. This class is much more about aliens, psychics, and ghosts even though we did learn a lot about these topics. This class is about learning about what we should consider as the truth and how to look at the given evidence. Professor Shorter has changed the perspective in which I view the world.
I highly recommend this class if you want to be in an extremely interesting class where you can build a personal connection with the professor. As a South Campus major, this class was very different from the classes I am accustomed to and it was quite hard for me. I am not used to writing so much, but his guidelines become easier to follow the more you write. The changes he asks you to make become natural for you as you write. His guidelines teach you how to become a better writer for the outside world. However, this class is not easy. I spent more time focusing on this class (~50%) than I did for my other two classes (including STEM). I would recommend you to take this class when you have an easier quarter because it is quite time-consuming if you are not used to writing. I promise you would have a lot to take away from the class as long as you keep an open mind.

Great class! Professor Shorter is engaging and I promise you there is never a dull moment.
Selling all the books for this class
310-774-6042

This class was one of the best classes i have taken here at UCLA. Prof. Shorter is super engaging and funny. After some classes, I was literally at the edge of my seat, because the lecture was super interesting and eye-opening. You do not have to come out of the class believing in aliens, but I think one will gain deeper, valuable insight and understanding on existence, life, and what is considered "truth." But tbh, this class got me believing that aliens are real lol.

Prof. Shorter has high standards, though. Do not think that this will be an easy writing 2 course. You literally have to comb through your essays, looking at each and every line for possible mistakes and places where you can lose points. Plan on finish writing your essays a couple of days before the deadline. Then, proofread on your computer with Shorter's writing rules open. Ask your TA for help (shoutout to Christina for being the greatest TA!). Have a classmate peer edit your paper. Print out a hardcopy of your paper and further edit it. Then, literally read it out loud in your room and see if you can catch any mistakes. You can then copy and paste it into a text-to-speech program on the internet and have your computer read it to you. (Or if you have friends, you can ask them to read it out loud for you.) Despite the high writing standards, after taking this class, I feel like I became a much better writer and I feel confident in my writing skills going forward.

If you want to actually learn something valuable in your time at college, take WL ARTS 51W. Highly recommend!
If you want an easy A writing 2 course, this ain't it.

Do NOT take this class if you are basing it off of previous reviews because it has been completely changed this year. The professor grades extremely harshly on rules that aren't applicable outside of the classroom. A day or two before each essay, he'll randomly make up new rules or new structures that you have to apply to your essay. Missing any small mistakes or grammatical answers can result in you getting C's on your essays simply because each small mistake will be worth an entire point (each essay is around 15-25 points so the points add up). The lectures were more of discussions and were only interesting the first 2 weeks when he was actually teaching. If you are looking for an easy A or an interesting class, I suggest taking any other course.

First off, what an amazing, considerate professor. At the beginning of the last lecture, he shook hands with everyone who was present. He demonstrates amazing character and care for not only our academics but our wellbeings as well (definitely appreciated the meditation sessions at the beginning of class).

Now, here is an honest review from a STEM premed major (as the majority of the class was I believe) who cares about his grades, although not to the point where I would ask the professor for more credit to boost my grade as it would be disrespectful to do so.

1. If you are genuinely interested in aliens, psychics, ghosts, or just about any paranormal phenomena (meaning that you are not in the class just for your GPA), take this class.
2. If you want to take this class for an "easy A," definitely reconsider. Even though the grading scheme had changed, I knew where my writing level stands, so I figured that I would be okay. I recommend taking a few Writing IIs before taking this class, just so you have some experience following what a college professor/TA wants from you.
3. These new reviews for Fall 2018 are generally accurate. He does not give a crapload of extra credit like before. Then again, if you follow the directions on assignments and take into account feedback from your TAs, you should be fully capable to do well. He still offers a good amount of extra credit (I ended up with about 5-6 points at the end, which tally up to 5-6% points to your final grade since 1 point= 1%). I did not even do every extra credit opportunity, so you may even get more than that. For advice with the extra credit, I would treat them as making up for mistakes you make on assignments, not to give you less work to do at the end of the quarter. General advice for writing classes: really figure out what your TA wants, what mistakes you make in writing, and fixing those mistakes for the next assignments. Past reviews have stated that they did not even need to do the final paper to get an A. This scheme is just not the case anymore.
4. If you like talking in lecture and discussing, this is the class for you. Professor Shorter loves contributions from students, and he remembers those who participate a lot, so definitely worth your time if you want to get to know this stallion of a man better.
5. Professor Shorter himself is thought-provoking, and really rounded out my learning experience here at UCLA. I never realized how prevalent aliens or ghosts are until I took this class. His stories/experiences/lectures are fun to listen, and they really made this class enjoyable for me.
6. This class requires a decent amount of work. I say out of all my work allocated to this quarter, I probably spent about 40% of it to WAC 51W. The assignments include a considerable amount of writing and reading, although Professor Shorter is open to feedback and will consider pushing back dates when appropriate. If you like to read about such phenomena, take this class. The readings are interesting, and Professor Shorter's insights have definitely made this class more fun and mind-blowing.
7. Your grade mainly depends on the TAs. Luckily, I think this quarter had amazing TAs, though I personally am partial to my awesome TA (shoutout to Ariel).

Overall, WAC 51W is a unique class that you will not find anywhere else. Take advantage of being a UCLA student, and take this class with Professor Shorter. You won't, or should I say "will not," regret choosing this class to fulfill your Writing II credit. Approach this class with the mentality that everything you want you have to earn.