Yes he's a hard grader. Get over it. It's college. I learned a lot in his class. His film course is cool, too.

Took literary criticism from Baybrook (Quiring). He's not afraid to confront lazy students, that's 4sure. But he graded pretty fairly, and he cared about whether students actually learned. Scary smart. Great professor.

I worked (hard) for an A, and he gave me an A. Get the picture? :)

I was in his 101 for the fall, and I thought he was very clear and really happy to help, but he certainly wasn't a sweetheart to all the goof-offs in this class.

One of the best professors I've had. No joke. I thought he would be a real hard case (he's known for that), but he's absolutely cool. Baybrook really helped me think through the theorists in this class. I would have preferred less formal lecturing, but it always led to great discussions.

Good class, but terribly hard. Baybrook helped me understand the ideas by getting us to think of them in practical terms, not just theoretical ones. He really loves teaching this stuff.

Very good, very tough. The key is to accept revision. Get defensive about your bad writing (or your faulty logic) and you lose.

Huh? Makes the most sense I've ever heard. Really smart. Connects things to the real world in ways that amaze me!

i liked him. he was really smart, but didn't try to make the students feel stupid. lectures were pretty boring, but the class wasn't too bad. probably a lot better than other lit classes.

Nice professor and great class! It was a little deep for 200 level but he didn't push us too hard. The discussions in class were incredible and Baybrook was very kind to everyone.

There's rarely a dull moment, although the discussions and lectures (which he posts online rather than actually reading them) do push you to think! But he keeps it all clear by asking us specific questions through each step. This is why I went to college. Great professor.

I don't know how, but he makes grammar interesting. Tests can be difficult. For advanced composition we only wrote ONE paper. Overall awesome teacher.

He knows his stuff, but he listens to counter-arguments. He helped me figure out what I was trying to say in my papers. It was hard. But I liked him so much that I changed my minor to English.

I thought this class would be boring and hard, but it was incredibly good. LB rocks! He doesn't lecture very much, and he posts the lectures on D2L. We read a couple of essays each week, discussed them pretty closely, and then did some poems and film clips. I learned so much my brain hurt! He's really nice, but he does require you to focus.

Tries to intimidate students but ultimately seemed rational to me. However, does have little quirks and believes firmly in certain things like being respectful and holding class for the whole time.

He's a very helpful professor, and the lectures/discussions are incredible.

i can't believe this is my favorite class.

Thanks to professor, the class was very interesting, reasonably difficult.

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This guy is great. Smart, concise, challenging, but well worth it. Definitely one of the best teachers I ahve ever had.

Really interesting. Learned way too much, and loved it.

I loved this class. The readings were hard, but the discussions grew my brain at least two sizes. Only five students ever talked, tho.

A very good professor--he does his best to make difficult ideas understandable for the average student. Do the reading, take copious notes, and meet with him during office hours when you need clarification. Also, make sure you don't ramble in your papers. He likes papers to be "concise" and to the point.

Literature & Film was one of the best courses I've taken at this university. I didn't always agree with the arguments or interpretations, but I learned so much, so much from every class. (Dr. B does teach to the above-average student, so beware of the vocabulary.)

Dr. B. is funny and really very kind when you ask him for help. Anyone taking a class from him will learn truck loads, but it's 'thinking' knowledge, so I can understand why some students lose focus.

Overall, he's a very conscientious teacher. I didn't know how Dr. Baybrook could get so excited about literary criticism, but whenever I made it through the reading I found myself getting caught up in the ideas, too. Dr. B is passionate. He always helps you think it through. He's not quite my favorite professor, but he's one of the best I've had.

Dr. Baybrook is one heck of a character. Very funny and gets lost in his own conversations with himself. We didn't write any papers longer than a few paragraphs. He demands concise statements more than pages of fluff. Take him just to be entertained!

Prof. Baybrook is fascinating and friendly. I really enjoyed the class.

Professor Baybrook is the coolest dude around. I might not get an A, but he's already one of my favorite profs here. I can't believe anyone would mistake his humor for something negative. He's always upbeat, and he's the smartest guy I know.

Baybrook is one smart guy. Passionate about all of his work, which covers many different areas (theory, American lit, history, film, etc). Not always readily available, but he's very personable outside of the classroom. However, he's rather tough, and you'll feel the heat if you don't study! I liked him enough that I didn't want to let him down.

He was very conscientious in class and always responded to my questions. Two thumbs up.

Dr. Baybrook is funny and very smart, and he always helped me whenever I needed it. I know he teases students, but I never found him to be mean. He just expects students to do their best.

dr. baybrook is the best prof. i've had. he's definitely a thinker, tho. so leave the b.s. at the door! his style is pretty laid back, tho. he'll walk you thru an idea sort of from the inside out and show you all the little connections along the way, until you see it as one big idea - which then connects to bigger ideas. ouch. but i like it!

Great professor, knows his stuff. His methods are a little different, but you will learn a lot from this class. Also doesn't give 'busy' work like other teachers do, just gets to the point and lets you learn however much you want to.

Coolest professor around, who focuses on the big stuff, but you can't expect a gimme for a grade. As another student wrote, there's very little "busy work." I'd add that the short assignments--which force students to concentrate on writing, not on filling up pages--improved my writing so much that I finally feel able to write college-level essays.

Well, he wrote on my paper "Don't try to sound smart; be smart," and I got mad. ("I am smart!") When I asked him about it, he said that he had tried the same thing, until a professor thumped him: "careful reasoning, not pretentious verbiage, makes you smart." The words stuck. My ego took a hit, but my writing got better.

I've taken two graduate courses from Professor Baybrook (Literary Criticism and American Poetry), and I can say that, for my money, he is very, very good. He's a careful, original thinker, and yet he walks students through ideas point by point, applying them concretely along the way. I'm headed to a PhD program now.

Best film class I've ever taken. We learned how to read films as "films," not just as advertisements for ideas. And then we read some poetry and other literature for comparison. I finally understand what "art" means: it's different for each form. Rocked my world.

I thought he was tops. One of my favorites. He made very big ideas easy to understand without dumbing them down.

Solid. Good guy. Funny. A little quirky. He'll push you.

Loren's awsome, funny and super smart.

I thought he was a pretty good fun guy. Yeah, it's only 3 graded assignments with each worth 33% each of your grade. If you go to class and listen, its not so intimidating. I liked him and I think he's someone you'll like as long as you go to class, listen, and read the reviews he gives out. :)

Best professor ever!

I took this class last year and was impressed. What kept me in the game was following the readings and the discussions well enough to ask a good question now and then. I saw some other students drifting off, and they tanked. Duh. Treat the class like a science or philosophy course, and you'll succeed. (That's his background.) I learned a LOT.

Incredibly useful class. We focused on very specific problems, like when a paragraph loses focus or when its examples don't work - or only barely work. And we learned how to score - and then revise - papers objectively. It was tough to get only a "5" or "6" on my paper, but I understood why...finally! Wish I'd taken this class in my first year.

I loved this course. It was really interesting, and the professor was very kind and helpful.

ENG 231 was an intense and rewarding class. It blew me away. Professor B helped me see movies and literature in a whole new way. I can't say enough about how good the course was. But it wasn't a no-brainer, as some students (below) seem to have expected.

Best film course I have ever taken.

I found Professor Baybrook to be really generous and kind. There was one student in the class who kept getting angry at everything, kind of paranoid-like. But the class mostly ignored him. Baybrook was too gentle, I thought. But I think the angry student is back, here on this site. Well, my friends and I LOVED the class.

Wow, that guy below must be the same grumpy dude I remember from class, too. Seriously, Professor Baybrook should get an award for how good he was! He really helped me and my roommate with our presentations. He even arranged to meet with me outside office hours to help me with my paper, which was a mess before that. REALLY GOOD.

I worked harder than I ever have! Baybrook asked us to perform at a "national" standard. It felt SO good not to feel like I'd been dropped off at some "local" university. I got an A because I had earned it, and I knew I could earn that A anywhere else! He did enjoy teasing us, though--but it was always good-natured.

Prof. Baybrook was phenomenal. He's truly engaging and I thought very sensitive to students. I changed my presentation topic twice and he helped me every time. The course is hard though, but that's because it's so good - intense. Get me a camera! I want to make movies now! :-)

As a junior, I've taken some "hard" courses already, but my GPA is 3.7. Prof. Baybrook was hard in the best sense: he made me an even better student through hard work - his and mine. I loved thinking through almost every film with him. It was intense and mind-blowing. He has real focus and passion, but he loves to hear what students think. Take it!

Stunningly good.

Loren is the best. I love his enthusiasm, and it's so refreshing to take a class with a professor who knows a subject so deeply that he can be clear!

Dr. Baybrook has met with me almost every time I've come by his office, and he's explained the scoring really clearly, so I know why I'm getting a B-. I'm not happy about my performance, but I also don't ace my chemistry exams. Dr. B really helped me do my best.

I know I earned my A-, and it's very satisfying! Dr. B is the BEST professor I've had here at UWO!

I thought my grade would be lower, but I earned a solid B+. Honestly, I'm so glad now that I took this class from Professor Baybrook. He was very demanding, but, wow, did it improve my writing--and my thinking! Whiners, beware! You might learn more than you're willing to admit!

I really liked him, but I can see how some people might not. He's sincere, and he's painfully smart. The AP scale was actually a good approach because it was an objective standard that we all could understand. It felt very scientific, even though the papers themselves required a lot of imagination to write. Nice combo!

Dr. B was VERY helpful. He was also VERY challenging, VERY precise. But Dr. B had a great sense of humor and sense of perspective, which was a relief. Big problems (dumb claims or bad evidence) were big. Small problems (comma splice or a misspelling) were small. I'm a chemistry major, so that's *exactly* what I think a professor should be.

I love Dr. B's approach! He's the *least* subjective grader I've ever had. It's such a relief, except when the objective grade is lower than I want. But it's real. And even then he's always looking for ways to help me write better.

This class was intense. I have never worked on writing like this. Professor Baybrook makes you look at a paragraph as a "unit" in the essay. So prepare to talk about how good your "claim" is and how good your "evidence" is at that level and on up. I learned more in this class than I did in any other writing class I've taken. Nice guy, too.

We got to choose films and poems from the syllabus for our exam essays, so I got to write on the ones I really liked. We had to do the Shakespeare selection, but his lecture on Romeo and Juliet blew my mind, so writing on that one was actually easy. Great lectures. Films will never be the same to me again.

Easiest class I've literally ever taken. The assignments are all completion except for our final paper which is like 30% of our grade or something. He's cancelled like half of our classes and he gets funnier throughout the semester. Sometimes he's hard to listen to but he really cares about each student individually.

My mind has officially been opened. He asks you to think and write with serious intensity, but the assignments are short, so they SEEM easy, and he explains everything so well that you THINK you're the master. Until you write. Then you see how hard writing WELL actually is. But I LOVE this weird class. I'm actually learning something.

Dr. B helped us through some tough readings. Who knew that Aristotle could be THAT interesting? And who knew that a guy joking with us so often (but never getting too chummy) could also be explaining the material THAT well? Dr. B has to be the BEST prof I've had in this English program.

I love this guy!

This was an incredibly useful class. I learned more about writing in three weeks than I ever learned in high school and other colleges classes combined. In fact, I wish I could take it again just to digest it all.

Good professor, good class. Loved his lecture on Aristotle.

Grading happens soon, and you get a lot of help/feedback from the professor any time you want, but he gives you the chance to revise until the end of the semester. That's a huge help. I started out writing at a C+ but then was able to improve to a B+. I could have locked in the grade at the C+ early on, but why do that? The point is to improve!

This is the best professor I've had. Ever. Period.

One of the better English courses I've taken, and Professor Baybrook is truly riveting.

Yep, best prof I've had. Can't believe I now like writers like Aristotle and Mulvey. Teaches Frost like a poet. Just awesome.

The lectures use up the period, but they're more like question/answer discussions. I really liked this class, and Professor Baybrook was as funny as he was smart. It was a lot of fun. But I think I paid attention more than some students did, so maybe I was just more into the "literary theory" questions. The literary segments were awesome, too, tho.

Fantastic class. I love this professor.

Professor Baybrook rocks it. He is SO smart and funny and sweet. Ask him anything and he'll explain it in really simple terms. Best class I've had.

I remember two students who couldn't read--I mean they could not READ. I was really embarrassed for them. Prof. Baybrook tried to help them through the passage. But they just couldn't read English. And this was a course for majors! I had a hard time with understanding a reading, and he explained it for me in super easy terms. But I can read! LOL

This is a smart and very kind professor. He joked a lot with us, and after the first assignment I thought I might get a bad grade overall, but in the end he didn't grade hard at all. The real reason to take Prof Baybrook is that the lectures and discussions are just so interesting, although sometimes a tad long. One of my favorite professors.

I learned a LOT, so I'm happy. Very good professor - and very nice.

Baybrook was helpful. I got a B+. Yeah, I learned a lot, too. Just wish my writing could improve at the same rate!

Really liked this class. Really. Is it weird to say it changed my life?

I thought Baybrook wanted us to understand college, so he asked a lot of questions. They made me think pretty hard. But he was always kind, and he supported everyone who attended class. I learned a ton. It was amazing. A lot of people dropped off the grid after the first lectures, so maybe they felt overwhelmed. Great class/professor for me.

He doesnt require attendance, so a lot of students dont show up after the first few classes. Not too bright! Dr. B teaches really practical stuff. Its not just political junk. What a relief! Profs can get so preachy, especially in English classes, but Dr. B keeps it grounded. Very, very good class - if you showed up!

An incredibly brilliant professor. I came in as a Chem major, so didn't expect to get much out of this. However, Dr. B helped me realize some of the most important lessons I've ever learned in my education. He helped me just enough to give me a chance to figure it out on my own which I appreciated. I loved the challenge this class gave me. Take him

Attendance isn't mandatory, he's very clear about the papers and has you turn them all in through an email at the end of the semester. Continuously sent out emails to make sure that we were all on the same page and that we'd get at least a C for just writing the papers.

One of the best professors Ive had, even though I got a B. Of course, he warned us that the average grade was a C. Uses the AP scale, which I really liked, because I knew exactly where my writing was scoring the whole way thru.

I loved the lectures! Mainly because he didn't treat them as lectures. They were more like deep explanations of simple writing principles. They made SENSE. Finally! I learned SO much through the conferences, where I could work on my paper one on one. Seriously, he was the most helpful professor I've ever had. But he definitely told it like it is.

My favorite professor of all time. Period.

I liked the way he trained us to score our own essays. I got pretty good at it, so I could understand the difference between 'big' and 'small' revisions. Scoring an 8 or 9 was tough, yes, but I got why it was hard, in the way I get why it's hard to get an A in calculus. I think I respect Dr. B more than most professors I've had. He's also sweet.

I loved the flexibility of the class, and Dr. B was always ready to help me. By the time I turned in my papers at the end, he had given me solid feedback on all of them, but I know that some students just submitted everything at the end without ever checking with him, so I can see how they wouldn't have gotten feedback.

Here's the big lesson I've learned: Dr. Baybrook will tell you the truth about your essay in the way a math professor will tell you the truth about your calculus test. He's a professional editor. He knows the material in a way that other professors I've had just don't, and he can explain it. Like the other student said: Best professor I've had.

Solid - and a little shocking, cuz this prof will tell you straight - but hell show you how to fix the real (big) problems. Incredible.

Fantastic prof!

Baybrook is like a Sweetheart candy. Once you know that there's a tart, the sweet makes sense against it. Maybe the candy should be Smart'n'Sassy. He teases a lot, but Dr. B is about the nicest professor I've known. I could tell that some students don't get his teasing, though. It was hilarious. Just a great class for me.

I found Dr. Baybrook to be pretty gentle, if also honest. He guided me through a rewrite of a paper I thought was doomed. *Very* helpful. But a lot of students did nothing until the end of the course and then got really panicked. Their loss, I say.

Best writing professor I have had. Baybrook showed me exactly why and where the reasoning or the evidence was off in my papers. I have never been shown that before. Never. It was a hard pill to swallow, but OMG did it change how I wrote. I'm an older student, so Baybrook's approach is more familiar to me, I think, than to young students.

By far one of the most unique, passionate professors I've had. Made lectures engaging and personable. Class is super easy to attend and final grade is based on 1 exam, 1 presentation, and 1 essay. Not super necessary info to learn unless you want to be a film director, but good class to earn credit. Take good notes and just enjoy the discussions.

Prof. Baybrook made really difficult literature so clear that I just can't believe it's not taught this way all the time. Wow. I'm majoring in science, and I thought this class would be the usual fluff and jargon. Nope. Dr. Baybrook has a math and chemistry background, though, so maybe that explains his combo of clarity and complexity. Just great.

My best professor this whole year was easily Dr. Baybrook. His class was such an intense experience. I've never learned literature like this. It felt like one of those great TED Talks. He made poems and stories so relatable but so bizarre and wonderful that I almost cried a few times during class discussion. yah, yah. embarrassing but true.

Because the class was online this term, attendance was required, but he gave us the whole week for every assignment, so I really liked that freedom. I also liked the lectures. Yes, I wish we had met in person sometimes, but I also liked being able to do the stuff at my own pace. I emailed him a couple times for help, and his feedback helped a lot.

Okay, I had Baybrook for writing class, and he was super helpful, not just "smart." Yeah, the lectures were online (because of COVID), but they were kinda fun to read, because he talked to us as if he were live. (He said he's never used voice-to-text for lectures, and that sounds right, because they were never sloppy.) Not an easy A, but fair to me

I have to say that Dr. Baybrook is my favorite professor in the English department. My experience as an A student tells me that it pays to study with someone who actually knows things, knows how to do things, and knows how to teach us how to do things -- not just talk big and say nice things. I got very helpful feedback. Incredibly useful.

He doesn't hold your hand, but he teaches real material, not just politically correct mush. He uses the AP standard cuz he's a supervisor, so I learned what I actually needed. It could be super frustrating to find out that my argument wasn't working--but I'd rather know the truth and learn how to fix the problem than be lied to. Seriously good.

I enjoyed the style and substance of this class tremendously. Dr. Baybrook is simply great.

Dr. Baybrook is one of my favorite professors of all time. No, he's not "easy," but he's more helpful and more caring than a truckload of lesser profs. Most of all, he grades accurately. I know why a grade is what it is -- and it makes sense. This is what college is supposed to be: real learning. Some if my friends hate his "accuracy." Their loss.

Got no idea why anyone would think this prof is "hard." He gives us an 'A' on every essay -- if we just don't b.s. or plagiarize ("good faith effort"). Works just FINE for me. Probably gotten more good advice in this class than I ever did in any other writing class. I've learned REAL stuff. Dude is funny, too. One of the best profs I've had.

Actually...this prof was inspiring to me. The guy is smart, but he knows how to explain things really clearly. He lectures a bit too long sometimes, but he's always so passionate and interesting that I found myself learning just by listening. I know some students just wanted super simple stuff, but I liked his original way of thinking.

The grading was mostly clear, and the some classes were put online, but the lectures were fun to listen to. Dr. Baybrook helped me every time I asked.

Never have I learned literature like this. Never. I came to class every day wondering what revelations awaited me. Dr. Baybrook is the best professor I've ever had for English. I can read poems and stories in a way that I could never imagine before. Now I get why he was a student at Harvard. This class was challenging but incredible.

Dr. B helped me revise papers that were in serious trouble. I was NOT prepared for his bluntness, but he was also incredibly nice because he talked with me afterward and got my ideas and then made suggestions that saved the papers -- and yet the suggestions came from my OWN ideas. That was trippy. He listened to me -- worked with me. That was huge.

Solid prof. I liked Professor Baybrook more than my other English profs because he explained the important things, and it all made sense. One of my best instructors.

Yeah, I'm totally Team Baybrook. The dude changed my (academic) life. I love his mix of really good lectures and silly jokes. Never a dull moment.

Really, Prof Baybrook is an extraordinary professor. He doesn't lecture in the typical way. No PowerPoints or handouts. But he can teach writing principles better than I've ever experienced. Even some really lazy students sitting next to me were learning - and laughing. The guy is funny...and smart (sometimes too smart?). Not easy but not hard.

Professor Baybrook gave me good help every time i asked. i liked him a lot. He was super funny. He seemed to care about me. Prof Baybrook is one of my true favorites.

I've always been a good student, but I was going through a hard time when I took Lit & Film from Professor Baybrook, and he was the most concerned and considerate professors I had. I also remember his Romeo and Juliet lecture on the play and two films. It just stuck with me. I wanted to take more classes from him, but I was graduating.

Not easy to earn a high grade in this class, but I loved Prof. Baybrook anyway. SO smart. Scary. I wish we had been given a little more time to practice our film presentations with each other before doing them in class, because I was really nervous. but I did fairly well anyway. So...maybe it was fine. Anyway. He is passionate about film studies!

Baybrook is definitely the most interesting teacher I think I've ever had. He would rarely just explain a text and move on. He would set up a kind of scene, like a film, that would play out for us in terms of how the text was written (that's how he put it). That way of explaining how to read lit was the most fascinating thing I've ever experienced.

Um, no. I took my essays to him a lot, and he helped big time. I remember thinking that no other professor had ever explained exactly where my argument was going wrong. It had always been just "weak example" or "develop more". Dr. Baybrook told me why. Super helpful. We even looked at the clauses in my own writing to prep for the exam.

Professor Baybrook is one of the best. He's quirky, funny, and really helpful. My project was going okay, and then Prof Baybrook gave me feedback and improved it dramatically. That's how I earned an A.

This is certainly one of the smartest professors I've ever had for a class, but Dr. B doesn't talk like an egghead. He talks in simple terms that get complex because of the literature, not because of his style. That was a huge lesson to me, because I want to teach, and his approach makes the most sense. Truly excellent.

I'm not sure if Professor Baybrook is the best professor I've ever had, but he is definitely *one* of the best. I worked really hard for my A, but I think he worked just as hard to get me there, especially with my film-analysis presentation. Film Studies isn't even my major. Loren's Lit & Film is easily the best *non-majors* course I've taken.

Nah. We were graded 60% from a portfolio of revised essays (and we got full credit--very cool!), 20% from a research essay, and 20% from a final exam (I got an 86%, but a friend of mine got a 93%). Some of the grammar stuff was boring, but when I asked for help on my essays the dude helped me a bunch. Best sense of humor in class--and wicked smart.

Professor Baybrook is tempting me to change my major. I'm in history, but his class is SO interesting that I might want to do literature instead. We don't rush through bunches of texts. We just read "well". That is SO much more useful to me. Dude has passion...and smarts. He's really nice, but also serious (between jokes). Just great.

Professor Baybrook uses a really approachable style and jokes with us, but the dude goes deep when it's deep. I'm always a little giddy after class. It's probably the best general-education course I've taken.

One of the nicest and smartest profs I've had.

Prof Baybrook is one of my faves. We didn't get heavy reading assignments, but we read carefully. It was actually fascinating. Literature was strange to me, but now I get it. I'm not changing my major, but I LIKE literature now. High school English was lousy. This class changed my whole view. Really incredible. Good prof? I'd say GREAT PROF.

Dr. Baybrook is the best professor I've had outside my major (Psychology). He's definitely the best English professor I've ever had.

I love the Canvas Periods. They're really interesting, though sometimes long. And I know my grade: A. That's what I earn if I just do the work!

I really like Dr. Baybrook. He explains things incredibly well. He also gives us activities that we can work on at our own pace. That's sooo helpful. Plus, he's one of the nicest professors I've had. Mostly, I just feel supported. I had a problem with two assignments, and he was very understanding and helped me work through them.

I had never thought about literature or film in such interesting ways. This was one of my faves.

Prof Baybrook teaches basic skills, which don't seem "advanced" until you realize how useful they are...and how hard it is to master them! Overall, he's a really good professor.

I have to say that my experience was great. I loved the self-paced Canvas Periods, and I learned fantastic lessons about writing, from how to tell similar words apart to how to build a paragraph. It was the most valuable English class I've taken here.

Same here. I finally got clear and accurate lessons in simple but very useful language problems: punctuation, clauses, claims and evidence, sense of audience, logic. And he taught me a lot of deeper lessons about how language shapes our perceptions. This course meant a lot to me because I need this stuff in my career.

I LOVED this class. But I worked hard. I saw other students phoning it in, and I got worried, because two of them are friends of mine, and I know they expected to get good grades. When they told me their grades, they were MAD. I was relieved, however, cuz I knew Dr. Baybrook hadn't just dished out high grades like some profs do to get good evals.

Fun professor. Great class.

Not the easiest professor, but maybe the smartest I've had in literature. I'm an English major, and Baybrook teaches poetry and fiction like no one else I've known. He's definitely quirky. But follow his arguments. He taught math in another life, I guess, and he has that kind of mind: problem-solving. But there's a poet in there, too. He's great.

I absolutely loved Professor Baybrook. He's not the warm and fuzzy type, so don't go in looking for a teddy bear. Baybrook is kind and understanding, but as soon as we started I knew this was a real class, not because he had charts and powerpoints but because he was smart and he knew how to make us smart. So get in and stay awake.

I like this class already. The assignments are straightforward and practical. It's actual reading and writing, not liberal or conservetive rants. I can't tell you how many humanities classes I've taken that are just political indoctrination dressed up as "advanced" education. This class is a breath of fresh air. I love it.

Great class. Fascinating lectures. Not hard to earn an A.

Prof. Baybrook is one of those teachers who think *with* the students through an issue. He doesn't just talk at us. His energy level always gets me excited to find out what the day will bring, but his insights -- not just into literature, art, and history, but into how people feel their way through ideas (that's how he puts it) -- surprise me. Wow.

Even though a medical issue required a change in the class format, Prof Baybrook kept it all really interesting and interactive and helped out whenever my friend and I asked for help. It has been an amazing course.

This is the best prof I've had for English. Dr. Baybrook made the most of the asynchronous format (the lectures are funny and the activities are fun), but he was sooo understanding when I ran into trouble with a person issue. I wish Dr. B had been my teacher for the other English courses I took. Truly excellent.

I'll really miss this class. Great professor. He taught us how to figure out complex issues by reading patiently and imaginatively.

Professor Baybrook explained why my writing wasn't rising to the top, and it's the first time a professor has actually helped me deepen an argument, instead of just saying "do more." He didn't feed me answers or anything. He just asked questions that pinpointed the problems in my writing. It was incredible. I highly recommend this professor.

Positively one of the best professors I've had. Dr. Baybrook walked us through the basics of writing (from grammar to argumentation) in a way that made total sense, and my essays got better and better. I am so grateful. I needed a solid start, and he gave me that.

We got to ask why specific choices in a poem or short story were made and what effects those choices had in the local context and in the work as a whole. I'm a little older, so I could appreciate the teaching style. Some younger students wanted just "answers." Baybrook often made us all work out the answers ourselves, but he never let us dangle.

I took this class thinking it would be a sort of "appreciation" course, but it was so much more. I learned about the role of women in different genres of film and literature. I learned about how some "moral" lessons can (or can't) be derived from plot and character development. I learned how to read/view for both small and big structures. Amazing.

We read poems and portions of short stories in class to get a good feeling for how themes are built from imagery, plot, rhetoric, and characterization. Baybrook's lessons on reading Frost were mind-blowing. I didn't even know it was possible to read that accurately and that persuasively. I had thought that interpretation was all subjective. Nope.