one of the most personable teachers i have had, he is funny and so realistic with everything, he gives great feedback on papers. He is in the writing department but if you can take him in comparative literature or english or whatever...take him

Funny, funny teacher! Understanding, helpful, I don't have enough nice things to say about him!

I love this teacher. Expectedly, he is an incredibly articulate teacher, helpful, funny; it's an altogether excellent class. He chooses a diverse and interesting collection of great literature to read, interesting essay prompts, not easy not hard just read the material and stay awake in class

Donelan is a big intellectual ****! The lectures are awesome, he assigns GOOD reading (nevermind how much), and he CARES! Plus, he likes sci-fi! By actually being interested by and thinking about the material, I got an A+ on both papers. And, by the way, I'm a mechanical engineer.

I thought this class was really good. Lots of reading, but lectures were good and clear, and he is a really cool guy. I recomend taking his classes.

Donelan was a great lecturer! I was dreading the class before taking it but realized he is super clear, assigns easy to read and interesting books, and is very helpful towards his students. Questions on exams can be really detailed but easy if you read .

Awesome teacher...he cares about his students, funny, gives good readings....Very helpful!!

A LOT of reading about a short novel per week, but his midterms and finals as easy graded, there are two 5 page papers free of choice of topic almost as long as relevant to the readings. His lectures are interesting but wont summarize the story for you, just read even if footnotes and go to section.

Take him! Take this class! He is extremely articulate, interested in the material, and he holds the attention of his students relatively well for such dense material. The reading assignments were interesting so that was also a plus. READ EVERYTHING to do well on the exams and papers. Take the class!

I surprised by the other ratings for him. He reads his lectures from his notes which is extremely boring, the material is also boring and he doesn't add anything new or innovative to the readings of the texts. Also, he comes off as real pretentious

I've never been so inspired to write an essay in my life. Donelan is so passionate about this subject it leaves you feeling that ancient lit is the most important thing to know in the world.

Hardly went to class and still managed a B for the class. Grading is based on 2 essays, a midterm and a final. So if u screw up on one thing, you still have time to catch up. The works are VERY easy to read, come on now The Odyssey? The Iliad? im sure most of we ALL KNOW about those already.

If you are interested in the material and do a little bit of the reading, this is a great class. Even though he's a lot like Fraiser, he really cares about what he's lecturing on.

jim is my favorite professor at UCSB. he's smart, he loves what he talks about and he is very helpful. his reading lists are always great (in 30c, and 154rr as well), and if you read the books and make n effort, you will get a "B." if you are an english major, get into one of his classes pronto.

One of the best lecturers. A bit boring, but very smart and sometimes funny. Class is pretty easy if you take notes in lecture. Read the parts in the books that he talks about most, you will have to know quotes.

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James is really cool, get on his good side and you will be golden, get on his bad side and you could be ****ed. He's a pretty reasonable family man.

Prof Donelan was fun to take over summer because the class was intimate. He is quite passionate about the subject matter. Ask him about his crazy Baron friend...

He is awesome-everyone loves him

Great teacher, very down to earth. Gives good advice. Is a fair grader as long as you put forth effort and show improvement. Only difficult task was deciding what to write the ten page paper on and then actually doing it. Also uses computer discussions... great addition to teaching! I LOVED his class.

Guy is awesome. I love teachers that are passionate like him becuase they make you passionate about the subject to. Great thing though is if you close your eyes in his class it sounds just like you wacthing an episode of Frasier. He has the same accent and very sophisticated manner of speech.

Great Professor, loves the subject, and takes the time to outline the important points. The tests were not too hard and the essays were general. Great for a GE class or if you are interested in classic lit. Try him for any class!

James is a great guy. The class itself is a total joke and a waste of time. Don't bother buying the $140 business communications book, never used it. The Business Plan book is helpful though. In lecture, you learn more about his rich friends and their failed ventures than about writing. He is truly a nice guy, just would help if he knew business.

Donelan is a great guy...don't get me wrong BUT I really don't feel like I actually learned anything in this class. It felt more like an independent project than anything else.

I had Jim for**** 30B (or a or c... i can't remember) and for writing 109ss. He is truly passionate about everything he teaches. I got an A- in the**** class and he gave me extra time to write one of the papers. I ended up with a B+ in his writing 109ss class. He grades a little tougher on the writing in 109ss, but he offers any help he can.

Absolutely one of the best teachers I've had at UCSB. He's incredibly well spoken, enthusiastic, intelligent, and even funny. The tests are challenging yet very fair. Highly recommended for any class!

A very enthusiastic teacher that wants to help the students. Awesome guy who even cracks jokes every once in a while. I only took the class because I have to, but glad I got him as a teacher.

fair enough but likes his own style. he is a fair grader but is still set in his ways. he docks for word choice if he doesn't agree with it. webworks -ugh. it is a major pain to post everything and its strange read your graded comments online. but he tries really hard to get to know the class and make it fun.

Donelan is a very nice professor, honestly wants to assist and articulate. The class was not really useful if you have any real experience writing papers for academic stuff (if you have used the JOSTOR for research you basically have nothing else for him to teach). Class was boring but easy, he assigned a lot of reading but none of it was relevant.

Very intelligent and passionate professor, one of the best! His lectures will make you want to do the reading and go to class.

He's in my top 3 professors at UCSB and I've graduated (i.e. had a lot of professors). He is so interested in the material and takes a new spin on material we've read since high school; very refreshing. Do the reading and you'll get an A!

Although easy-going, he is not an easy A. He does not test on anything outside of the lectures, so if you attend class regularly and take notes, you have a chance. There is a lot of work in this class, from papers on uninteresting topics to closed-book short answer/essay tests that requiring a sharp memory. Good sense of humor.

Great teacher, read the material, and its pretty easy to figure out what the test essay questions will be on, so you can think about them before hand. Also, use of the TA's office hours helps a lot.

Tends to deviate from syllabus after half a quarter. Keep up on assignments and he'll be happy. Peer reviewing is the most helpful/important part of the class. No final, but oral recitation of any chosen work required during last class. Funny guy, accepting of almost any idea as long as you try. Come to class prepared with things to say.

Great professor. One of my favorites at UCSB. Very interesting, has lots of engaging stories. Was very fair on essays and tests.

Great professor. You could tell he was vvery passionate about what he was saying when he lectured. Class wasn't the best subject but by the end of the class, you'll find it enjoyable... at least I did. I'd recommend taking it.

Prof. Donelan's class is not tremendously difficult and he's not bad guy. That being said, I have a hard time convincing myself to attend lecture because I feel like he doesn't give any insights into the text - just context. Also, he received a Ph.D. from Yale and mentions it often. Fair prof., but nothing outstanding by any means.

Great professor! He had us read literature pieces from different lit areas, from epic poetry to geology. Overall, I learned a lot about both writing and the chosen areas of literature, including historical context and etc. I also really enjoyed the class discussions and a 5-minute coffee break each class! Surprised that i liked writing!

My favorite professor at UCSB. Im not a Comparative lit major, but I got a ton out of the course. Donelan is funny, makes lectures interesting and fun, very fair grader, midterms are easy if you study and go to lecture. It was my second class with him and will always recommend his classes to anyone.

Great guy

He's a wonderful professor. Presented the subject matter in interesting ways and also included many interesting additional facts, which I enjoyed.

Donelan is a wonderful writing professor. His Writing109SS class is excellent, grades fairly and he allows you to resubmit the past essays for a better grade. Definitely recommend.

He is so nice! Grading is fair. His lectures do not really go into the readings much, just a lot of background information, which can easily be missed, that he expects you to know for exams.

Professor Donelan is by far one of the best teachers at UCSB, and I always look for GE's that have him teaching. His grading is more than fair, almost to the point of being generous, and is always willing to listen to opinions on subject matter. If there's one class to take, make it Donelan's.

Donelan is the man! He is willing to go to out of his way to make sure you get the assignment done correctly. He is full of interesting stories and facts. The class is easy going and fun. If you take writing 2 take it with Donelan! He's awesome!

Donelan is awesome. Seriously the best. I highly recommend his writ 105G class. He is so helpful and genuinely wants to see his students succeed.

The best! Pay attention in lecture as you're tested on some minor details. I recommend bringing a laptop. He's a very generous grader and provides great comments on your papers. Take him!

Donelan is an extraordinarily bright teacher, he lectures quite well (might digress on occasion) and has a good sense of humor. Really passionate about teaching and is clear with what he expects out of his students. His testing is not hard at all, yet he is a little bit of a hard grader when it comes to papers/essays.

Grade was made up of a 2 papers (5-6 pages ; 8-10 pages), midterm, final and participation. His class is pretty standard in lecture formatting but he tends to not take himself seriously, which is refreshing. I didn't think he graded tough at all, but then again I did the reading and I found his comments fair. If you come to lecture you will pass.

Great professor! Must put in a lot of time and effort in your writing if you're a horrible writer(like me). Incredibly insightful and caring. Loved him as a person and teacher. Extremely eloquent and smart. Would recommend because he will definitely help your writing skills and get to know yourself better. I went to every class because I enjoyed it

Donelan really cares about our writing and if you put in the effort, you will learn a lot from him! Go into office hours and make a connection. He gives you lots of feedback but not any answers, you have to think! Would definitely take his class and he usually lets us out like 30 minutes early to go get coffee!

Donelan is awesome! You are super lucky if you get him as a Writing 2 teacher. He will really help you with your writing! Just participate in class and follow his advice and you will greatly benefit.

Challenging yet rewarding course! Donelan is the best Professor I've taken classes from at UCSB.

Grade was 2 papers, midterm and final, and participation. I wouldn't say attendance is necessary to pass, though. Donelan is a genuinely nice professor. He is engaging and funny in his own way. Generous grader & covered exam material in class. Emphasis on the listed books and not different versions

Amazing professor who has great experience and knowledge of the legal field. Definitely take this course with this professor if you want to glean insight into how lawyers think and speak.

Unorthodox teaching style; amazing professor who wanted us to learn through trial and error, so he wouldn't let you off the hook and was often vague because he wanted you to come up with your own ideas and develop your voice. Had to put in a lot of effort (5 unit class), but everyone's writing improved and get ready to get called on every lecture

Donelans a great professor who cares about his students. Just remember to proofread and youll be fine.

What a lovely guy!! He helps you develop your writing and is really passionate about what he teaches. It's a good class if you like writing from the Romantic Era and he teaches it really well. If I were a law student I would take his legal class just to take another class with him!

Donelan is a really good writing professor. You will definitely learn a lot. However, he is a tough grader and pays attention to every detail. There are 3 papers you must complete during the quarter and you are expected to give detailed and helpful feedback to your class mates. Definitely do not skip class because attendance is mandatory.

I took his class during FSSP. It was challenging to finish 3 papers in 6 weeks, but he guides you through each step of the process. He's picky with style, but as long as you avoid overuse of the verb "to be," you'll be fine. Very rewarding class and I felt that my writing improved. He also responds to emails very quickly.

The assignments are not difficult and if you do all of them, you will be more than prepared for the 3 essays. Professor Donelan is available after class and through email, and he responds within a reasonable time frame. I genuinely believe that he helped improve my writing. Note: I took the class during FSSP and it was held online (pandemic).

Professor Donelan is a super caring guy and truly wants all of his students to become better writers. However, he does not really offer a lot of writing feedback and just leaves us to do it ourselves. His grading on the 3 essays were pretty tough. He also values the Eli Review a lot so actually do it early on to get a high participation grade.

(I took 105R which wasn't an option for some reason on here) Prof Donelan is amazing, he is so kind, funny, and understanding. the class was really easy as well, i got excellent feedback on my writing and it was so entertaining to take! i love this professor!!

A great professor! He is funny and kind, and his lectures are interesting though they don't add much to the reading material. He is a very fair grader and he wants you to succeed in his class, so do read!

I never thought that I would enjoy a writing course, but Prof. Donelan really made WRIT2 an enjoyable experience! You have to do all the work he assigned to get a high score, but I really feel like that I have learned something. He is kind of a tough grader if you are aiming for an A, but I think that this applies to all writing course at UCSB.

Would recommend the law class and Donelan as a teacher. Assignments were difficult but he gives extremely clear instructions and offers support to students. He's smart, articulate, and knows what he's talking about. Get ahead of reading and assignments or you will fall behind. Learned a lot!

Professor Donelan is an Incredible lecturer and surely one of my favorite professors Ive had at UCSB. Overall my experience in Writ 2 was amazing and would 100% recommend taking his class! :)

Donelan was a really great professor. He made the class go smoothly and quickly. This was not one of those courses where you are constantly fighting your sleep. He is a fairly tough grader, but the review process leading up to the submission should be enough to get you a good grade. Definitely recommend the course.