Great teacher! Really knows what he is talking about! VERY FUNNY!

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excellent, very smart, class flies by but you don't want to miss them

*extremely* intelligent, brings in lots of outside info, tests not bad

VERY hard, but an amazing prof

Fan-frickin'-tastic. He is my favorite teacher, though very hard

Simply the best.

very fair...funny!

So funny and entertaining, makes class fun. Sometimes can be confusing, but offers lots of help for tests.

What college professors are supposed to be. You have to work but you get a lot out of the class. A must both for english majors and those who need a GenED english!

I love this man. One of the most brilliant and informative professors I have had. I wish to have a fraction his knowledge and passion. He is very challenging, and although extremely helpful, will not baby you. Don't take if you just want to coast.

Best professor at JMU. He will challenge your mind and make you question everything. A hell of a guy as well with some great stories.

the f****n s**t

A few years removed from jmu, I still reread my notes from his clases. I hope to one day understand them. Thank you.

Smartest man alive. Took him 3 times-enough said.

as long as you conform to what he believes, you're fine. extremely smart man, and has no problem telling you so. under the mistaken impression that Literature is the world's most important thing. nevertheless, at least he likes teaching.

Absolutely fascinating. Sure its to your detriment to miss a lecture in any class, but with this one, when I missed a lecture, I was literally really upset. A real experience.

hard class. take good notes and write down the main ideas he goes over in class. read poems and make sure you know them. he moves kinda fast but is extremely funny in lecture and is easy to listen to.

Show interest, and you will be glad you did. Can be a wonderful experience, but only if you take the class seriously.

Hard class... Lots of reading-- only 2 exams & 2 essays for total grade. Interesting professor but too hard for a GENG course.

the ****in man; you cannot graduate without having taken one of his classes (esp if you are an english major)

most arrogant and caring man ive met. dont let his big words and snide comments get to you, dont get caught up in trying to play his game, just be you and he will thank you for it.

Prof Facknitz is the best english prof i've had. He is funny in class, and goes into intense analyses of works that are extremely interesting. read, study, look over notes, you shouldn't do too bad. I got an A and i'm taking as many more classes with him as I can.

Facknitz is flippin crazy, pompous, a little arrogant, but honest and truthful. He may say things that ****you off, but he's not afraid to say them. He throws his comments out there. Be very, very afraid if you have an opinion that is in contrast to his own. He will eat you ALIVE.

Facknitz is the best thing thats happened to me since coming to JMU. He will remind you why you want to be an English major. Sometimes confusing, and the tests and papers will make you nervous, but the best lecturer I've ever had.

people who think Prof. Facknitz is too "hard" are just a bunch of idiots who are too lazy and don't want to challenge themselves to think differently

dr. facknitz is a brilliant man. but his class is hard. take it if you want to challenge yourself

Anyone who is expecting an easy A in any class shouldn't be in college in the first place. Dr. Facknitz is an outstanding educator. Quit ****ing about the class being difficult and thank God you got a teacher that wants to help you learn.I'm not even sure that I passed-would take him again anyway.

extremely difficult, but simply the best

liked him a LOT

Simply put, Professor Facknitz is the best teacher at JMU. He will inspire the uninspirable. And eventhough he may become somehwat verbose at times,what he has teach you far surpasses most life lessons you will learn. So stop f**kin complaining about how hard he is, because you are lucky to have a professor like him at JMU.

This man is truly a professional. Go into this class wanting to learn, hoping to be criticized and you're writing will improve by the day! Dr. Facknitz treats his students like adults and doesn't BS around. Listen to what he says and maybe one day, your essay will be in, "The Great American Essays" book!

Entertaining, nice guy. Hard class... tells long stories about personal life then BAM relates them to lit, leaving the class lost. Midterms ridiculously hard. In-class essays pull grade up. Entertaining class, but be prepared to work your ass off.

best prof. i've ever had (high school, undergrad, or graduate)!! he's so passionate about what he teaches. he's a genius. he really cares about his students. he may seem scary, but he's not. just go and talk to him. he'll teach you more about writing and life than you thought you could learn in one semester! take him!!!

If you have an opportunity to take a class with this man and you don't, you are an idiot. My favorite professor/teacher I have ever had- amazing advisor. He made me want to work my ass off in every class, not just his. If you don't love to learn, he will change that. I got an A-, It is possible.

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Dr. Facknitz has been the patriarch of my literature education here at JMU. I have learned an enormous amount because of him, and I know that when I begin teaching, my students will benefit because of him. If you were unhappy with his clss, it was probably because you're not ready to be educated at the college level. Go back to high school.

you can learn things from him which you will not find in books. He is good. Do take his class if you want to learn. But you have to work a little hard in his class.

I'm not very far in the course, but so far I love it. He so smart and so much to share. I hate American lit, but I look forward to this class every day. He makes feel stupid which makes me want to work harder every day so I can anticipate what he's going to say. I love the class.

I am intimidated beyond belief by him. But I still love him and I love his class. He is brilliant and that is probably why I am intimidated by him. He also knows that he is smart which is slightly annoying. But his sense of humor is amusing; he loves toying with stupid people.

seriously, Professor Facknitz is hott! And smart! Like a hot and smart potato! Mmmmm!

Half of the time I feel like he's just bouncing ideas off of the class. If he's really bored or frustrated with the class, I think he likes to try and stretch the BS as far as he possibly can to see if anyone will call him on it. I love that about him. Talk to him. Make an effort. If you have a brain use it. If not, don't waste yours or his time.

He is sooo pompous.He is brilliant and VERY aware of it.He tries to intimidate students and succeeds!He speaks on a higher level using hard vocab that most of the students don't understand while referencing things they don't know.In order to get an A you have to be in his mind because he is so picky.If you are a genius, take him, if not, don't!

If you have the opportunity to meet Dr. Facknitz for five minutes, for God sake, do it. You will learn in these five minutes more than you can conceive of. He opens you up to an internal world you never knew existed, and an external world. If you feel dumb ever, take his class, feel more dumb, and come out of it a humbled genius.

I honestly do not know what you are doing with your life if you do not take Dr. Facknitz! This Man is a genius, and so helpful. Take any one of his classes, if you pass hats off to you, if you fail, it is worth it. I would gladly fail out of college to take Dr. Facknitz again!

Facknitz is the best teacher i've ever had! He is the most brilliant professor and I am defintely a better person for having taken this class. He's challenging but willing to help. I would recommend him to anyone! I LOVE HIM and want to have every class with him!

Facknitz is one of the smartest people I have ever met. He has such an incredible amount of insight into everything. He is always willing to talk and his class may be hard, but if you like English, you will be a better person because of it. If you get confused, you can always ask him and he will always explain what he means.

'Wow' That is basically my reaction after almost every class period. The class is incredibly hard, but if you enjoy english, reading, analyzing..then you should definitely take anything with him. I will probably end up with a B but that's fine with me. I'm taking a class with him next semester too.

He is certainly difficult, but only in the sense that he expects a lot from his students. I struggled with this class and his teaching style, but it was worth it. The comments you receive will be harsh, but honest interpretations of what you created -- PRICELESS STUFF. Buy a box of Kleenex and take the freaking class.

Quite simply, I miss this man. I had this misconception that grad school would be like a full time Mark Facknitz class. I was wrong. I would like to drop out of my current grad program and enroll in Mark Facknitz University ASAP.

Great guy! It's a hard class, but he is a great, funny teacher. Take him if you want to enjoy class.

Mark Facknitz is a GREAT guy! Its a hard class, but if you put in the effort, a B should be easy. He loves teaching and knows what he's talking about. Don't take if you're lazy, looking for an easy A

favorite professor of the semester. He has made me interested in literature. Definitely on of the best.

Dr. Facknitz is absolutely brilliant. This class was one that I never missed and never even thought about missing. The workload was not bad at all, HOWEVER the assignments (3 in class essays and 3 formal papers) are graded quite roughly, but fairly. Never have comments on a paper been more helpful. Take him if you want to improve your writing.

The class is pretty hard for a gen-ed. All the essays are in-class and the other tests are short answer. Often for the short answer, he picks a quote from one of the poems that the class has read, and the student needs to identify the author, year, and significance. Although the short answers/essays are difficult, he curves at the end of semester

Dr. Facknitz is the man! I'm an English major and his class is incredibly hard but sooo worth it! I don't regret taking his course but if you're looking for an easy A you will NOT get it here. you need to work for you grade but he makes you want to work!

Overall a good class. I'd go for something else if you do not like to read much. Lot of poetry and short stories, have to read my antonia. He is a smart guy and speaks clearly, you know what to expect.Most people that I hear complaining about tests are jocks who clearly didn't come to JMU to work. Recommended.

One of the best Gen Eds you can take. Prof. Facknitz is hilarious, and loves to publicly call out kids who are using phones in class. The class wasn't very hard. You could barely skim the readings and still score at least a C easy on tests. I enjoyed him a lot and I can't recommend him enough.

Professor Facknitz is charismatic and enlightening. He cares about what he is teaching, but more importantly he cares that you understand it. He is an incredibly tough grader, but only because he expects the best- and you want to give him that. It's a lot of work, but definitely worth it. If you love literature, you can be sure to love this class.

Dr. Facknitz is one of the best professors at JMU and one my my favorites! I loved his class and grew so much as an english major and student! It's definitely not an easy A but you won't regret taking it!

He digs really deep into the literature; its a very challenging class that you have to study hard for...on the other hand he's an entertaining professor and curved grades A LOT at the end. Overall i'd recommend it to anyone who's looking for an extremely challenging/interesting class that wont bring your GPA down as long as you progress

Dr. Facknitz was simply amazing. As both a freshman and an English major, I found his class to be enlightening and interesting. He makes you want to earn a good grade despite his, at times, harsh comments. That is such a unique quality. He's an incredibly difficult grader and test-writer, but you will NOT regret taking any of his classes.

Generally that was very insightful and intellectual challenging course. His two content exams were pretty tough for me that asked very tricky questions about authors and contents, and three in-class essays were yet difficult but attainable if you did the reading and grasped some ideas on his lecture. Final grade was based on curved total.

This course is by no means easy, but Dr. Facknitz makes it so worth it to take. He really knows his stuff and knows how to give you critiques without making you feel like you wrote a bad essay. He's a great guy but you have to show that you're serious about the class to get his full support - Sparknotes will be the death of you here.