He grades kind of hard, but he's totally fair. He really teaches you how to write. He's funny and cute too!

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As an instructor, McDonnell is more than exceptional to teach. His expectations and lectures are always clear. As a person, however, McDonnell strikes me as someone who is very well aware of his own intelligence, and likes to project that image as well.

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Nice guy, interesting lectures.

Awesome. Interesting lectures, thought provoking, great communicator.

I agree with the other commenter who says that McDonnell is aware of his own intelligence. The point is, of course, that he is very intelligent. A little cocky, but very smart. I recommend his as a professor.

Sean did a great job with our writing class. I feel much more confident as a writer now, for Sean took the extra time to help me with some difficult obstacles. Smart Professor, yes, but also empathic and effective. Recommended.

The class is a mix between philosophy and literary analysis,I thought we were suppose to learn writing techniques! The biggest problem with Sean is that his grading criteria is completely arbitrary and doesn't make sense.He wants us to write papers like poets and professional writers to get an A. Very hard to get an A, no explanation for his gradin

Disagree with previous poster. He told us many times that the content of our papers wasn't an issue, but the writing was, & he gave detailed explanations of grades. I learned a lot about clarity and organization & my writing has improved. He is super helpful in office hours & gives you lots of attention.

McDonell is an extemely intellegent man. The writing excercises he assigned in class were extremely helpful.We only read 3 essays in the entire quarter, and had 3 papers and 3 reading responses. The midterm and final were a joke, he assigned it because the program made him

Really good writing instructor. Ive learned a ton about writing in the past 10 weeks. If you enroll in Sean's class and put out an effort you will become a better writer. His grading is fair and always includes an explanation. Really nice in OH as well. He really dislikes tardiness and poor attendance.

Great!!!I'm taking him right now during the summer and let me tell you, condensing a 10-week course in 6-weeks is tough! It's a lot of writing back to back, but Professor McDonnell is an excellent instructor. He is clear with what he expects and is very helpful, especially during office hours. His class is engaging and he is very intelligent. :)

The assignments were interesting and clear. Even though its a very condensed 6 week summer course, he offered a lot of help in each of the major papers. Helpful, highly recommended.

Zombie seminar was the coolest class I've ever taken.

I only took the class because it was a graduation requirement, but found it to be surprisingly useful. There's a lot of work, but it's all pretty straightforward. My writing definitely got better over the quarter.

He is extremely helpful. He grades pretty hard, but he encourages students to go to office hour. His lecture is not boring, he tells a lot of stories that keep students entertain. If I have to take another english class, I'll definitely take him again.

Sean will make you a better writer. There are 3 papers and 3 reading responses. Sean is also nice, funny, and a sharp dresser! The whole class loved him. He also listens to cool music!

He's a good professor with a lot of side-stories that somehow are tied back to lecture. He expects you to put in work and repeatedly states so. Inspired me to continue on and keep improving my writing after the class ended.

Professor McDonnell is both knowledgeable and super entertaining. Never a dull moment in class. You will leave his class a much better writer and thinker. Only downside is that there is a ton of busy work that not all UWP professors will require.

I took his UWP102J course last quarter. I ended up getting a B, but thats because I was too busy with other classes that kept me from improving my writing as much as I would have liked to. Sean is a really funny guy who cares about his students. He tells funny stories that kept us entertained. Hes a great instructor as well!

One of the best professors I've had at Davis. Sean cares about his students, is super intelligent and makes class very interesting. I loved coming to his classes. His expectations are clear and he is a fair grader; put in the work and you'll get a decent grade.

One of my favorite teachers at Davis! Super intelligent and fun to listen to. He uses a lot of real life stories to explain English topics, which makes lecture entertaining. Highly recommend taking him!!

He will definitely help you improve as a writer if you do the assignments, show up to class, and participate. McDonnell is very entertaining to listen to, helpful when you need advice, and approachable when you have questions. The workload was very manageable: 3 essays, 3 reading responses, and for each essay there is a peer workshop. Take him.

Im not a terrible writer but I definitely dont like writing. This professors essay prompts are innovative, and I really felt as though my writing improved throughout the quarter. Not the easiest grader, but seems to truly care about students and about progress over rules of writing.

McDonnell really cares about his students and was very understanding during COVID and wildfires. Super approachable in OH and by email. Workload (for online class in SS2): 3 essays, 3 reading responses, "in-class work" aka Canvas discussions/responses. Not the easiest grader, but gives great feedback and wants you to improve as a writer. Love him!

Definitely not the easiest grader, you definitely need to put in the work in order to get an A. However, he's always willing to help you out with your papers and accessible outside of class! I would recommend going to his office hours for every paper you have to write in order to get feedback. Graded on mainly 3 papers (20% each) & some other work!

Like lots of people said you have to work for your grade but he was pretty flexible and understanding about Covid. The class is for all arts majors so the readings didn't always match my field (music) but he always gave me music examples when I asked and was really helpful in office hours.

So glad I took this class. I learned a lot about myself as a writer and the assignments helped me to think more clearly about myself as an artist too. I hate online classes but he was so understanding about Covid-19 and adjusted the assignments to help students out.

I loved this class! Professor Mcdonnell is the first English professor I've had that made me want to keep writing. I would recommend going to his office hours and getting your papers looked over before the due date.

Great professor! I highly recommend going to Office Hours to get the most out of this class. Don't expect an easy A - your grade will reflect the amount of effort you put in.

A lot of prewriting work for the three assignments given. He makes you work for your grade, but he also provides a lot of feedback and clear grading criteria. As long as you put in the work, you will do well. Not easy, but a good experience. Definitely improved my writing.

Prof McDonnell is super kind and gives good feedback if you attend office hours. The writing prompts are creative yet challenging and they help you become a better writer. We had 3 main papers, Canvas discussion responses, and 3 reading responses. UWP101 in the summer is challenging since you need time to write, but it is manageable!

The class had three papers. Every paper had steps like drafts and notes that you got credit for completing. If you did all the steps you got full credit for those parts. My writing isn't good but because of the completion work I got good grades on the papers. There's work due every day, so it's not a class you can blow off. Also: don't plagiarize.

Sean is great. Accommodating and gives helpful feedback. This class improved my writing and understanding of its function in my field. If you are already a decent writer, you could skate by with a B or C, but if you are willing to put in the work (and talk to him during office hours!), you can accomplish something you are proud of.

He tells you up front what he's grading on and he goes over that stuff in class. Each paper also has a lot of process work that gets a completion grade so it's easy to pass even if you're not a good writer. I blew off the first part of class and regret it. At the end I improved a lot as a writer and wish I payed more attention at the start.

There were 3 papers in the class with a bunch of steps, so something was due almost every class. Wasn't looking forward to the class, but I actually learned a lot from the comments on papers and from office hours.

Great lecturer. Tough grader. For participation, I did not get 100% on a single day even though I did not miss class and I answered his questions; could be bc I would look stuff up on the computer. Didn't get full credit on any workshops either. It's important to go to office hours before submitting your final draft because he is a tough grader.

Zaddy

Be prepare to do a lot of work. Something's due before almost every class. Definitely not an easy A kind of class. But he lectures really well and I learnt a lot from him. If you want to learn, take him, if you want an easy A, I would not recommend.

Class is straightforward with three big papers, but each of them has a lot of small steps that you get credit for if you do them. He tells you what to do and gives a lot of examples, so if you pay attention in class you'll do fine. Office hours were extremely helpful. Oh, he's also the only professor I've ever had who checks citations on papers.

Directions for the 3 papers were vague but he does answer any questions people have. Office hours were very helpful.

I thought this class was going to be boring but it ended up being my most enjoyable class this quarter. There were three big papers, and we spent a lot of time talking about the connections between writing and creative practices.

The class was a lot of work with something due almost every day, but the work wasn't very difficult. The daily assignments were part of major projects, so if you kept up with them you had most of the project finished. The hardest assignment was a research paper with a lot steps.

Easy class with lots of work. There was something due almost every day, but he tells you exactly how to do everything. I'm not a great writer but I'm doing fine in the class.

Definitely not an easy grader. I participated decently and still got marked off for participation credit. Professor is a bit on the nose and doesn't end class early. Also pretty exacting when it comes to his expectations. Good at critique, honestly. Also funny, but it's a niche humor.

This class was a lot of work but it was easy pass. I'm not good writer but I did all work and got B.

Chill class. Papers were long but easy if you followed instructions.

I learned a lot about myself as a writer from this class. Wish I had taken it earlier.

The class had three major papers including a big research project. It was a lot of work but the instructions were clear and everything was broken down into manageable steps. He was also very helpful in office hours. It wasn't my favorite class, but fulfilled the requirement.

Personal statement and research paper were most helpful

This was more writing than I've done for any class for college, but it was all broken down into smaller pieces that made them easy to do. I'm not a very good writer but still got a decent grade. Definitely ask questions in office hours it helps.

I'm not sure I learned anything new in the class but the practice helped me sharpen my skills after not really thinking about writing since freshman year. Easy class.

Good class, but don't take it in the summer if you're taking other classes unless you don't want to sleep.

Class was pretty easy. There's a lot of work with three big papers but he gives clear guidelines for everything. Just follow the instructions and do the work and you'll do fine.

this class is wonderful because it teach me a lot like how to write the memo, the job latter, the resume, and research paper. the instructor is stricted but he is responsible. he try his best to teach student how to be a good writer.

I took him for SS1 and wasn't planning on writing a review, but he has way too many bad reviews for me not to say anything. Be so fr, he's not a bad prof. Yes, he grades harshly. Yes, he has an ego. But you'll be hard pressed to find an English teacher who doesn't. Put in some effort, apply the stuff he says in class and you'll be fine.

He's very helpful and gives detailed feedback on resumes and cover letters. I learned a lot of beneficial tips throughout the writing process that I'll use. Grading may be harsh, but it helps for improvement and to better understand how to tackle these papers. There's an opportunity to revise- don't crash out like I did.

Took this in SS2. It was a good class but he workload is heavy, and I wouldn't recommend taking this if you're taking other heavy courses. His feedback really helped me improve my resume and cover letter.

The papers are broken into pieces that make it manageable. Still, it's a lot of work, especially in the summer. I learned more about research in this class than in my engineering classes, which surprised me.

I was dreading this class but I'm surprised by how much I took away from it. The assignments were interesting and the revision exercises we did in class really helped a lot.

It is good class. Hard for international student but nice.