2.3
Quality4.4
Difficulty29%
Would Retake124
Reviews29%
Would Retake
124
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
19
4
15
3
10
2
30
1
50
What Students Say
“Every class I sat through I honestly wished my tea was vodka”
1110 - 1.0 rating“Bernard is terribly boring and unclear”
ENGL1100 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Attendance Mandatory
50%
Textbook Required
92%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.15 avg changeRatings by Course
220
5.0
(1)ENGL211
5.0
(3)ENG101
5.0
(1)ENGL223
5.0
(1)ENGL
5.0
(2)Difficulty by Course
1110
5.0
ENG221
5.0
ENG11112
5.0
ENGL121
5.0
ENGL221
5.0
Reviews (124)
Don't take him
No Comments
He makes everything hard as hell
DO NOT TAKE HIM
Confront him in class if you want a good mark.
notoriously one of the hardest markers at ucc! not helpful or friendly. avoid!
My avg. went from A to C, 'nuff said.
Peopl I have NEVER had a better teacher in engish- if you like english try him!
Ignorant, unclear, and a waste of time.
Assigns vastly different essay topics and is surprised when they're unique
Very difficult marker, vague in his expectations, avoid if possible
He has a bad rep, but he is not bad at all if you put in an effort.
One of the better english teachers. I got a lot from his course.
No Comments
Very hard marker but if you're looking for a challenge he'll give it to you!
No Comments
He seems to have a bad rep, but I don't really understand why... he is not a hard marker and is clear about what he wants.
No Comments
If you're interested only in the course credit, then avoid Prof. Igwe. If, on the other hand, you're interested in an education, then I cannot recommend a better professor. Pay attention, and your written communication skills will certainly improve.
He made the course really interesting..and I try not to think at 8am! He is a great teacher who knows his stuff. Take him if you actually want to learn english!
Enthusiastic about the course and brings in very good perspectives that you might not normally think about. Highly reccomended!
Be prepared to be rewriting essays until 5am EVERY DAY! If you're the sensitive type, he'll probably make you cry BUT he does give you the option of rewriting failed material and my writing improved tenfold after this course.
An extremely knowledgable man, will tear your essay to bits but you will get to rewrite it. A challenging class on the whole, take if english is your major and passion and he'll give you a run for your money!
Positively inspirational!
Great teacher, very enthusiastic and knowledgable.
No Comments
If nothing else, attend class just to see his many varieties of ties. Every day he wears a different tie and they are ALL sooooo cool to look at, with optical illusion things, or cool designs, and each one matches his outfit PERFECTLY.
This course is a challenge but if you show up and give it your all he'll reward you!
No Comments
He grades on a fourth year level, expects first year students right out of high school to know their stuff. If you want to be an Eng Major he'll help, if you're in it for the credits and GPA, go elsewhere!
Will tell one person one thing, then the next something different. Will never give you a straight answer,won't help you in class time. Gives you re-writes but switched the critera and doesn't let you know till after and enjoys kicking people out of his class.
Will mark hard but bumps grades to fit his curve. Very intelligent, and well spoken-not terribly consistent. Whatever you do, don't go into his class to make a point, go into his class to learn something from him. A good man.
worst professor ever. grades at a fourth year or higher level for kids right out of high school. not helpful. extremely rude.
Without a doubt, the worst prof in the history of UCC. Regardless of what you write and regardless of how much time you put into an essay, he makes you rewrite it. Whoever hired him must have been desperate because he's absolutely terrible!!!
Worst professer I've ever had! He drives me insane because he wants too much from his students. I'm right out of high school and he thinks we all need to be geniuses! Heck, no. His grade is 20% worse than I am used to in an English class. I'm an A student! I don't get C+. I wish I'd dropped Eng 110
inspiring--he pushes us to do our best
Very well spoken, knows his stuff. If you expect your hand held, take a class with Karen Hoffman. If you want to learn to discuss Literature and Drama intelligently, take a class with Igwe. If you do what he asks of you, you will get the marks to show for your hard work. Great ties!
Nice man, but not a good teacher. Explains what he wants after the paper is due, makes you re-write everything. Unclear and contradictory.
Most bad profs I've had are still decent people. Igwe bucks the trend. Rude, power-tripping and a terrible instructor. Always contradicting himself, doesn't tell you what he wants until after you hand it in, gives rewrites but changes criteria without telling you.Thank god I'll never have him again
A great teacher, very picky about how wants work to look but also tells clearly how to do it if you pay attention in class and will always help if you go to his office hours. He has no time for high school antics, expects you to be an adult. I learned more than I ever thought I could in his class.
wouldn't take this class again if my life depended on it; while workshopping, he will tell you that your paper is good. When your paper is handed back, you will be told to re-write it. A very unhelpful, arrogant prof. Very intelligent guy, but also acts like a big ****, in my opinion.
An amazing man, and an amazing prof. I got A's all the way through, so those who say it's impossible are clearly wrong. His African literature course was amazing, and I would recommend it to anyone. I wish I'd had him for 110/126 because I learned so much from him, and I wish I'd learned it sooner! Unless you're flat out lazy, this prof is great.
Igwe seemed alright in the begining but as the classes dragged on it just got worse. He gave re-writes but changed his mind/criteria after you handed it in. I talked to him after class and told him i was an A student in high school how could this be that different. He said "it just is". I got a C, but 111 with a different prof i did fine.
all I can say is rewrites,over and over again. Horrible man!
Brilliant! African Lit was the greatest class and Igwe was the best part. This man is incredibly intelligent, interesting and truly concerned about his students' grades. If something is unclear, go see him! He appreciates effort and he's always there to help. He does NOT contradict himself. If you're there to learn, he's there to teach.
Igwe is the man! His intelligence and knowledge of the substance at hand has no equal. While some of the terms he coaches his topics with a difficult to grasp for the majority, once class is over, you possess a certainty of knowledge that will elevate you beyond where you thought you would be. Snappy dresser too....the guy's has a billion ties.
This man is arrogant, big-headed and insulting. He talks down to students and contradicts himself constantly. It seems impossible to be right in this class, and even when you are he refuses to give you credit. I wouldn't take this course again if I needed it to graduate.
Hes not a bad guy, but he is the most boreing teacher in the world, you have to rewrite everythign, he keeps contradicting himself and if you don't do it his way its not right
I've always been an excellent english student, but got a C first assignment.
Generally speaking, Bernard is a nice guy and clearly knows his stuff. He is definetly a tuff marker but his comments are useful for your next assignment. You will learn heaps in his class but you should definetly avoid if you are simply trying to boost your GPA. Not recommended if you are in first year.
Generally seems like a good guy, but marks very hard and also, inconsistently. Seems to like students who repeat his own words back to him rather than come up with an idea on their own. I will avoid him in the future.
If your a fisrt year student, you might find this class a bit hard. It's a reality shock compared to high school. Don't bother coming to class if you haven 't done your homework because he'll ask you to leave. Very hard maker, high expectations. But he is very nice and takes time to sit down with you and give you any help you need.
Igwe has huge passion for the english language and displays it nearly every class (along with a different brilliant tie every lecture). He cleary knows his subject matter very well BUT he's a harsh marker. I've gone from an A student who loved English to one who wants to run screaming in the opposite direction.
Asks a lot, but he really knows his stuff. If you think you are going to get a free ride from this guy, think again. But, if you do the work, you will come out of the semester with knowledge about Lit, Poetry and Drama. It's a shame his talent is wasted on lower level courses. Would love to have him going into the major program.
Not clear with what he wants on assignments, considers use of recycled products disrespectful,teaches strictly from the book so the only point in attending lecture is to receive the assignments which won't be explained anyway - until you have done the work, handed it in and then have to rewrite it...
It's actually been YEARS since I took this class; but it's a deep scar that was left by this guy! Hi ego got in the way of his being a useful teacher, and was otherwise a very demanding marker. class content =boring.
Not the easiest teacher, but welcome to university folks. He is an absolutely brilliant man who knows his stuff. If you are stuck do not hesitate to ask for his help, He sincerely wants to help his students succeed. Key info: come to class prepared, and make sure you ask for help if you need it. Coasters need not apply.
You've already failed. class size around 35-40, about 6 of us passed. Class average on first assignment was about 4/10. I turned it in 4 times and finally got 6.75/10. On rewrites, some things that were marked right on the first one, would be marked wrong on the second one. I have never worked so hard for a c+.
He's so passionate that it inspires me to try harder. Definitely one of my favorite teachers!
I found him to be a terrible teacher. He was not clear on what he wanted and when u failed an essay instead of telling u what u did wrong and how u can inprove he just tells u how much ur essay sucked! Hes an extremly hard marker, we had a huge class- by the end of the year half were gone!
An absolutely HORRIBLE teacher. If you're about to take his class, I strongly recommend you switch right away. It is pretty much impossible to please this guy, and you'll likely end up failing his class. I used to have straight A's in English, but in his class, ended up with a D before I decided I'd had enough.
a biased jerk who doesnt understand the concept of having a life beyond class
Like another commenter had him years ago and am still angry. Did okay on the first few essays but then some how still ended up failing. If you see his name on your class schedule you might want to find a different class. Unless you write what he is thinking you are wrong.
I'll be sure never to get this teacher again.....
I was really excited about taking this class until my first class. I'd had some bad teachers before but they were generally understanding people. I got straight A's in highschool throughout and probably would have passed this class and got the credits, but I couldn't stand the ego and attitude of Igwe. Never again.
useless as a prof, learned nothing and found that you can ask for help and write a solid essay that meets his criteria and still bomb its awesome when the entire class has the same view and we ended up with 13 students out of 30
Igwe is a hard marker, but he's fair. We were always allowed to "redo" any assignment we failed and he'd tell us what was wrong and how to improve. This class really prepared me for the english classes to come, i'm glad i stuck it out! (although i'm not sure i'd take his class again!)
Nothing pleases this man. He handed out an example of his idea of a perfect essay, and the grade he gave them was only a B!
DONT TAKE HIS CLASS! Never again. I'd sooner have waited til next year and taken a different prof than take this class again. Nobody passes. He contradicts himself. If you interpret something differently than he does (but you still have evidence to back it up) YOU'RE WRONG! I have no idea why he's still here if his fail rate is so high.
IGWE, what can i say, don't take his class for one, nothing you hand in is considered above average (C+) or average for that matter, sure you get to re-write everything, thats because YOU HAVE TO re-write everything to get a passing grade, seriously, fail over 100 students in 3 classes and pass one, on the first assignment, TRU needs to review IGWE
He did not seem approachable at all. When he asked questions in class about what you thought about the novel he would tell you, you're worng. It's your own thoughts how can you be wrong!! The one time I sent him an e-mail asking him something he was extremely rude! Stay away from his class if you like english. He totally turned me off of it.
A horrible teacher at this university. You must attend class in order to have the ability to re-write essays. You will most likely fail every essay you hand in. And at the very end, I wound up with a B....poor at helping you to understand the "subject matter"
Igwe was very hard to understand sometimes, his points were not made very clear, his marking was ridiculous and i hated attending that class.
Igwe is an idiot. He is narrowminded, only accepts answers that agree with his view and has very boring lectures. He is very unclear and will actually refuse to help you with an assignment if you go to him.
Igwe is an impossible Prof to please. Nothing is good enough for him, he has a VERY high fail rate. Is never clear on what he wants and does not accept any opinion but his own. I'm an A ENG student and im barely floating in his class.
Igwe is an impossible teacher to please. If something isn't exactly up to his standards or meets his view, your WRONG. No help is given at all unless you count him reading your work and saying it's not at all correct, is help.
No Comments
Once you get into upper level English courses you learn to appreciate Igwe. He gives you the foundation to do well later. If you can't take it...find another disipline.He is awesome!
Lectures are interesting. Very unclear in essay expectations and if you have differing views, your marks will not be high. Not a helpful prof, will sit and go through written work but you tend to go out more confused than when you went in. If you are not confident in English, avoid. He will beat you down
Social skills are lacking. Classes are dictations from his ancient handwritten notes. No class participation due to intimidated students. Dislikes laptops used for notetaking. Thinks students are surfing. First assignment back after 2 months of waiting! Took this course again with another prof, and now get 90%, in his class i got 55%. Allows Redos
This teacher makes me hate english. He is the worst teacher I have ever had, period. Unclear, beligerant, a clear example of a person who should never have become a teacher. It is impossible to learn anything in the class as he will not help you if you are stuck. He writes ignorant notes when and if you get assignments back from him. He's terrible.
SO hard to please. Hands back assignments with contradicting notes all over it. Gives the most vague directions, yet expects complete perfection. Try and stay away.
Huge expectations for his students. Very intelligent man. He is hard on students because he was educated in a dog-eat-dog English university, more like University of Toronto than easy-going TRU where teachers treat students like baby. If you Major in English, you will appreciate his strictness, expectations, and intelligence.
My advice is just to take a different teacher.
I am not the most pedantic individual to come from the prestigious Thompson Rivers University (although I do grace the cover of the 2002 - 2003 Calender of Courses), I will attest to this... Bernard Igwe's class is great, and a good grade is very attainable... until you reach the two-week "no-refund" point. I was warned, and didn't take heed.
Terrible prof. Very frustrating man. doesn't give you a mark on any essays he does let you re write them if you do badly but hes incredible difficult not very patient. this class stressed me out and made me dislike English even more get a different prof
very unclear on his expectations, hard marker, very impatient. totally unapproachable. if you ask a question he thinks is stupid he'll make you feel like a total idiot.
Hard marker and makes you feeel dumb when you ask a question
I suggest that you change to a different prof. If you follow all of his instruction when writing assignments he will most likely not grade you. On the plus side, he lets you re-write every assignment.
Arrogant jerk. Won't accept a paper that is a few minutes later, no matter the reason. Thinks that his interpretation of a piece of literature is the only interpretation even though it is like art and can hold a different view for each person. Was warned by some many not to take his class
Unless you can pick up on extremely subtle hints, this class will most likely be a challenge for you. He is never clear on what he wants handed in and when, and you get assignments given back with no marks on them and are told to "Try again". If you like doing assignments more than once you'll enjoy this class. Worst english experience yet.
Anyone that doesn't get what Igwe is desperately trying to teach obviously doesn't care. He's excellent. If you listen, you will learn. No wonder many of his first and second year English students went on to get graduate degrees.
One of the worst experiences in university. there was a major paper to write. 1st attempt=49%. visited Igwe in office. Got advice & re did it. 2nd attempt=55%. Went to office again to get more insight. His thesis changed from first visit. I put new cover page on 1st sub and resubmitted. 3rd(which was the 1st)attempt=85%. highest mark in class. wtf
this class is a disaster. extremely unclear on what he expects and even when you think you have it you get a friggin rewrite!!! oh but don't worry, chances are you hand the exact same thing in again you'll get a B. happened to me and half the people in my class!
This class is confusing I'm near the end with a c+ and never having to do a rewrite. Every person doing a re-write in this class will get a B. I don't get the logic. Get out of this class if you can.
This class was a joke,and was completely unorganized. He was teaching from a new book and he had no idea what he was doing. Every class was improvised and ended up being useless to show of to. He has no idea what he wants when he assignments work and he will change the criteria for the assignments multiple times, sometimes the day before it is due.
A teacher who cares but seems to not be able to express what he really wants while in class, I recommend going to see him in his office and if you have a large course load be advised that this class is reading intensive. It would be helpful to have worksheets. Can be frustrating.
He is the worst English professor ever. He is not clear at all in his expectations and assignments. Even when you ask for help directly he does not give a straight forward answer. He offers no guidance or proper instruction in anything. I do not recommend that anyone take his class.
He was always rude and never provided the necessary information !
Extremely frustrating class. He expects the students in his FIRST YEAR CLASS to be literary geniuses. He cannot communicate what he wants from his students.. no hand outs or guidance. He's a very close minded and his opinion is the only correct opinion -- is not supportive and his constructive criticism is not constructive, just brutal.
He is very unclear in what he wants. He had to return almost every single one of the last two assignments to both if his classes. Clearly if everyone is making the same mistakes you are doing something wrong. He is willing to help but is relatively unclear even when you talk one on one.
Bernard is an extremely rude and disrespectful teacher. As a first year teacher he is unwilling to help in an appropriate way and is very good at making everyone feel like they're incompetent. Not only does he require inaccurate guidelines for essays that no other teacher wants, he has a very skewed view of what an 'A' paper is. Avoid him.
Rather unclear at beginning of semester as to what we should be writing. However, if you take time to see him at his office and ask questions, he will explain what went wrong/how to improve your writing. He's enthusiastic about the course, expects a lot, but that's not a bad thing. Very hard marker though
I loved Bernard as a person, he really encourages you to critically look at the world around us and our place in it. But as a teacher he is unclear and an extremely hard marker. If you have to take his class, attend all classes, speak up/participate, and ask for help on essays outside of class
By far the worst professorteacher I have ever encountered. He is unclear, unhelpful and quite honestly just plain rude. Would not recommend. Steer clear!
Worst professor I have ever had, not a big fan of English to begin with but this was absolutely terrible. NEVER hands stuff back so you have no idea how you are doing and he made us buy so many novels and we only discussed one in class. He's also the most boring lecturer you can possibly imagine.
His English class was a nightmare. Wrote an essay, got a C, but then he handed it back for a chance for me to rewrite it... Handed back the same paper and got a B+.... Very inconsistent marker and terribly rude! Avoid him if possible.
After sitting through his monotone lectures, which seemed to last forever, I usually had to go home and re-learn how to write the certain type of essay from an online source. As well, he very quickly became behind in his marking, not returning any essays for the longest time, which made it hard to gauge how I was doing in the class.
Most useless prof I have encountered in my entire student career
Every class I sat through I honestly wished my tea was vodka. Most boring teacher in the world, and extremely unclear with feedback. Would tell you to interpret the stories then tell you your interpretation was wrong. 2 people out of 30 passed, and 20 dropped out at the beginning.
Learnt tons from this professor. Very approachable.
His biggest strength is being available to talk outside of class, which will help a lot if you don't understand something. He's also a friendly guy and very approachable. However, if you are bad at English, his lectures may confuse you. He referenced the textbook quite a bit, so it's worth the money to get it. Pay attention and you'll be fine.
This was the most boring class that I've ever taken. If you disagreed with his interpretation of the story, you were wrong. He would accuse us of having not read the story if we were unsure of how to respond to one of his questions. Slow marker. He left over half of the course material until the last month. Seemed disorganized and unenthusiastic.
Knowledgeable man, and is definitely passionate about his subject, but lectures are incredibly long and hard to endure at times. What he wants in his assignments can be hard to figure out, but if you pay attention in class he often says the answers and you can copy it down and put it on the paper word for word and get a good mark.
Bernard is terribly boring and unclear. The class itself is reasonably easy. I'm generally a good student, but I skipped this class several times and found it difficult to sit through his awful lectures. When I asked him for help, he did not clarify anything. He does, however, allow students to rewrite failed papers.
Probably one of the worst experiences I've ever had with a teacher. Absolutely awful at his job.
Worst Prof ever. stands up there and talks about nothing for 90 mins. Expects you to be a professional writer right off the spot. Gives you an F no matter on how good the paper is. Will tell you to re do it. And he wont give that paper back so you know what your grade is.. Overall. worst class and teacher I've ever had.
I wasn't his biggest fan at first, but he definitely grew on me. It is evident that he enjoys what he teaches and wants all of his students to succeed. It can be frustrating at first when he asks for assignments to be rewritten, but you really learn from it in the end. Lectures get boring, but take notes so you know what he wants in your work.
Unapproachable in the classroom setting, even worse if you encounter him in public. Just not a decent person.
AWFUL!! Too many REDO's..
He expects you to present 'university level' papers, which is fair. he can come up a bit tough and boring but he is a good professor when you get to know him more. tough marker, but your writing skill really does improves without a question. people complain about him but if you are actually willing to work for the grade, he is a great choice.
Absolute garbage professor. He expects you to have the writing experience of a doctoral candidate, and his feedback is very vague and unclear. His lectures are very confusing, and going to see him outside of class does little to help. I am an A student in English, but with him I was receiving C+s. He is an absolute god awful professor
lectures are dry and not useful. hard marker and really not that approachable. His assignment sheets have no details and really picky about format. Expects uni level english papers from high school students typically in 1100.
He isn't as bad as he's made out to be. Nice guy, and helpful during office hours. Helps you learn to analyze readings better. You must show up to pass, as he says many important things regarding how to write a paper for his class. Follow what he wants and you'll be fine.
Class Info
Attendance Mandatory
50%
Textbook Required
92%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.15 avg changeRatings by Course
220
5.0
(1)ENGL211
5.0
(3)ENG101
5.0
(1)ENGL223
5.0
(1)ENGL
5.0
(2)Difficulty by Course
1110
5.0
ENG221
5.0
ENG11112
5.0
ENGL121
5.0
ENGL221
5.0