I initially didn't have any interest in Greek civilization, but I took the class because I heard classics 10 is pretty easy. After taking the class I definitely have a much greater appreciation and interest in Greek civilization. Ellis' interest and passion in the subject make his lectures much more interesting. He's also very nice, which helps too.

Class structure:
Discussion: 15%
Three quizzes (lowest score dropped): 20%
Two response papers (2 pages each): 15%
Paper (6 pages): 20%
Final: 30%

Studying:
You HAVE to go to lecture in order to know what's important about certain quotes, images, etc. I recommend bringing a laptop just because you can take notes faster. His lectures are very well organized, so it's not too difficult to figure out what's important. There aren't any previous exams at the test bank except for maybe the short quizzes because there's no midterm and people don't usually get the final back. The exams are all writing, so if you're a fan of multiple choice, this probably isn't your kind of class. Ellis said the final should only take 1.5 hours, but I was writing for 2.5 hours straight lol. My wrist cried. :( :( I'll admit the exam was pretty difficult and there were definitely parts that I didn't know what to write (even though I did well on quizzes and prepared pretty well). But there's a very generous curve. The final was out of 92 points or some weird number in the 90s...There was a total of 250 points on the exam, so I don't know how that worked. Either way, with the curve I ended up getting over 100% on the final. So yeah...go to class, put in the effort, and you'll probably do much better than most of the class lol.

Overall: If you're going to take classics 10 and plan to put in the effort (just do the readings and pay attention in lecture), take this class with Ellis. He makes the stuff seem very interesting!

Your grade is completely dependent upon your TA. If you take this class with a friend and their TA seems chill, switch sections because mine was a hardass and graded as such. Ellis is is a quirky British dude who is very knowledgeable about the material and very approachable. His lectures are good but frankly boring unless you care about ancient Greece. He is lowkey pretty funny too because some of the stories the class deals with are plain outlandish. The grading scheme is different than most Writing 2 classes; You have three essays due throughout the quarter but you get a provisional grade on these. Your final grade is mostly dependent upon a "portfolio" you turn in finals week. This portfolio consists of two of the three essays you wrote (you choose the two) that have substantial revisions from the initial copies you turned in and a two-page commentary explaining your changes and why you chose those essays. All in all this class is one of the better Writing 2s imho but be weary of your TA

this class is easy as fuck for a writing ii. literally only 3 papers, and you get to hand in rough drafts and fix them, so at the end your grade is based on what you feel are your two best papers. you really don't need to read honestly, i didn't, just go to lecture and write down what he says. you have to do 4 discussion posts total which are nothing.

grading is also probably dependent on your ta, but mine was cool. ellis is a chill guy, he's british and looks like milo from atlantis and is super passionate about what he's talking about, which makes it easy to listen even if you don't care about the topic. overall, i highly recommend this class. ellis makes it very easy to succeed

Grade depends on TA. Apparently I ended up with one that does not like to give out 100%'s for anything, including section participation which could have put me over the edge to an A. If you can tell, I'm pretty salty about that.

Other than that, this was a very good class. Professor Ellis, is, in my opinion, a great lecturer. However, that goes to say you'll only stay awake during lecture if you are interested in classics, if you aren't you'll probably die of boredom. He picked out some good books for us to read, with this class being primarily centered around The Odyssey. There are a ton of readings and only 3 essays.

He did something different this quarter and made the last paper a 12 page collaborative one with a partner, which was a weird assignment. However, the amount you actually write for this one, and the other two are about 4-5 pages. The prompts are pretty straightforward and he gives you way more than you need in lecture to work with and succeed on them.

To succeed in the class, attend lecture because he rambles on about his own ideas and other people's that you can take and use for your papers. Discussions are mandatory (it's a GE) and he has you post on CCLE as well. There is a final exam as well, but that one is more of a check to see if you read the books, and he usually takes out important passages that were talked about in lecture, hence why going to lecture is important. Just remember all the important character's names, some of the books can get a little muddy with similar naming.

But, like I said grade depends on the subjectivity of your TA.

Selling required reading materials for this class.

Gods, Heroes, and Monster - $20
Sophocles, Oedipus the Kind - $5
Euripides Bacchae and Other Plays - $ 10