Professor
Thomas Hitchner
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2015 - Mr. Hitchner was very cool. He was always eager to help students and was very available for office hours. We only wrote two major essays in this class and all the other small writings were to be combined for the big essays. His units vary from quarter to quarter, but when I took it, the topic was about music. The first essay was a popular narrative paper which I wrote on Nas, and the second essay was an academic analysis which I wrote on Kendrick Lamar. He gives you a lot of freedom in this class to write whatever you want. There were no midterms or finals either. There was some homework, but it was very manageable. He also teaches you how to use academic research database tools like jstor and ebscohost. He also took us on a "fieldtrip" to Powell Library so we knew how to use and navigate that too. Hitchner taught a great class and I'm glad I had a great time in English Comp 3!
Fall 2015 - Mr. Hitchner was very cool. He was always eager to help students and was very available for office hours. We only wrote two major essays in this class and all the other small writings were to be combined for the big essays. His units vary from quarter to quarter, but when I took it, the topic was about music. The first essay was a popular narrative paper which I wrote on Nas, and the second essay was an academic analysis which I wrote on Kendrick Lamar. He gives you a lot of freedom in this class to write whatever you want. There were no midterms or finals either. There was some homework, but it was very manageable. He also teaches you how to use academic research database tools like jstor and ebscohost. He also took us on a "fieldtrip" to Powell Library so we knew how to use and navigate that too. Hitchner taught a great class and I'm glad I had a great time in English Comp 3!
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2016 - I loved this class! This has been my best class at UCLA so far! Not only was the professor good, but I became friends with the students in that class within a few classes (something really unheard of at UCLA). We still talk to this day. The schedule was pretty much read poem, write 300 words about poem, and essay. We also analyzed them in class before the reading responses were due, so people took notes and wrote upon that. We also had to do a presentation on a poem of our choosing, but that was pretty simple if you followed the directions. If you are looking for a relaxing yet highly interactive class, this is it!
Winter 2016 - I loved this class! This has been my best class at UCLA so far! Not only was the professor good, but I became friends with the students in that class within a few classes (something really unheard of at UCLA). We still talk to this day. The schedule was pretty much read poem, write 300 words about poem, and essay. We also analyzed them in class before the reading responses were due, so people took notes and wrote upon that. We also had to do a presentation on a poem of our choosing, but that was pretty simple if you followed the directions. If you are looking for a relaxing yet highly interactive class, this is it!
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2020 - I have mixed feelings about this course - it is a lot of busy work, and none of it helps to develop writing skills at all. The lectures in class were basically repeating everything I learned in AP courses in high school. The bigger assignments were interesting, but we started them late in the quarter so we had a lot of work all at one time. Dr. Hitchner is obviously passionate about the subject, but his grading is extremely subjective. I think choosing the topic for the essays is important, and you have to agree with his opinion to get a good grade. Overall, from what I have heard, Dr. Hitchner is the best option for this class, but it is a lot of random busy work and class can be extremely boring or repetitive.
Winter 2020 - I have mixed feelings about this course - it is a lot of busy work, and none of it helps to develop writing skills at all. The lectures in class were basically repeating everything I learned in AP courses in high school. The bigger assignments were interesting, but we started them late in the quarter so we had a lot of work all at one time. Dr. Hitchner is obviously passionate about the subject, but his grading is extremely subjective. I think choosing the topic for the essays is important, and you have to agree with his opinion to get a good grade. Overall, from what I have heard, Dr. Hitchner is the best option for this class, but it is a lot of random busy work and class can be extremely boring or repetitive.