You'll learn a lot of neat stuff about language in this course. Great lecturer!

HATE THE WAY HE DRESSES, BUT HE'S AN EXCELLENT PROF! TAKE HIM IF YOU WANT

Hilarious guy, very smart linguist, fun fun class who cares about how he dresses

Funny guy, clear lectures, don't know why anyone complains- I got A's

Interesting Prof. Really funny. I learned a lot from him!

He makes a grammar course about as fun as its going to be

Odd, odd man.

Great professor - very interesting to listen to.

Brilliant, hilarious, and energetic prof. HIs tests are a bit odd, but he is definitely a reason for taking a class. Anyone who thinks he is boring is either lazy or is just not trying.

cool guy, makes you think. not a hard class, just do the reading. quizzes are easy. tests arent bad. good prof- take him!

the class is boring but he made it as interesting as you can make linguistics. Funny stories and examples. Tests are open book.

Spruill is cool! I never liked any other teacher who was into linguistics..but he is great! He is really helpful, and very clear on what he expects. I give Bill an A !

good teacher. linguistics is boring but his stories are good examples and are interesting.

Self-proclaimed nerd. Isn't very clear on everything, but he realizes that and will stop class to try and make it even clearer. Realizes grammar is boring, tries to make it as interesting as possible. For some reason, likes foreign names like Bjorn.

He is a decent prof. His test are open book. His lectures are a little confuseing. Half the class had no clue what was going on, but he trys. It's grammar: it's hard to make that fun.

Bill's a cool guy, kinda nerdy but he's a fun guy. His tests seem to be alright, not too difficult, all are open book open note. He gives quizes almost every class period which kinda sucks, especially if you read and you don't remember what you read.

nice guy - always happy. he will drag on and on. but the tests are all open book! he is fair to slightly difficult in grading. will give an attendance quiz almost every class. gives appropriate examples.

this guy is pretty easy. spell check will be your best friend! tests are open book so take good notes... you will need them!!! all tests are cumulative so dont drink away everything from last chapter!

I LOVE this class (sue me, I'm and ENG major). I recommend Bill to anyone who takes this class. Take good notes and stay awake in class due to the open note/open book tests and you'll be fine. The papers are interesting to write as well.

Bill understands that linguistics is a boring subject in nature. He tries very hard to make it interesting and applicable. Tests are open book/note but are still hard as hell and should be studied for. If you have to take this class definitely go with him

Hella boring, but if you take good notes the tests are easy. The papers were pretty easy as well. open book, open note. Don't leave his class early or he get's pissy. quizes every day suck, but you can deal with missing a few days.

take good notes!! his tests are open book open notes, but they are hard and he gives quizzes over the reading everytime, but they are not hard at all!!! i recommend him!!

This is the most random class and professor! He's kind of interesting to listen to but is all over the place. His grading is a little weird. His accent is fun though! Tests are open book/note--thank God for that! Overall an okay class and professor.

Good teacher, interesting class. The course work is not "impossible"--I didn't meet anyone that got below a B on any paper or test--and the course was somewhat fun.

I am glad I took sci-fi/fantasy with him...he's so enthusiastic about it! It's a lot of reading and not an easy A, but you learn a lot and he makes the lcass fun. I never had any problem with him being at his office during hours, and he is always willing to help students.

Fun guy...lectures can be pretty boring and draggy, but he mixes it up with some southern humor and personal anecdotes. Take notes, bring your book to class, as you can use them on tests and quizzes.

Grammar isn't a very exciting topic in the first place, so don't expect this to be an exciting class. I thought Spruiell did a fine job and made it as interesting as it could be. I would recommend this class with him as the professor.

The exams and papers are very reasonable. He does hold you to the very last minute every class, so don't think you'll ever leave early. He gets off topic frequently, but overall the class is interesting. He can be funny sometimes with his southern humor as well.

He has a great personality, he's really friendly, and funny, and tries to make the subject intersting. Still, the lectures are kind of dull. The tests are open book and open note. There are only three papers, so that isn't bad.

Yes, he's a little scattered, but with some prodding he'll set dates and nail down details. He's a great teacher, and he's absolutely hilarious in a very goofy way. He comes highly recommended. He's abundantly helpful and super smart.

Nice guy...super boring class. Very unorganized, takes about a month to get tests/papers back. You need the book..open book/note tests, but they are still hard. 3 research papers...never lets you out early at all.

I like him, but his class was very hard! Tests were open book/open note but he talked about so much material you will miss somethings. Go to his class, sometimes they are boring but if you don't go you will miss important material. He is pretty funny and even though his material is boring he is rather animated. I like him.

doing well in class is quite easy, sitting through it is sometimes hard. tests (open notes/book) are ridiculously easy if you just listen and have okay notes. is amusing guy but sometimes gets sidetracked and that gets annoying. overall not too bad.

Nice guy, kind of quirky. Makes the boring material at least a little interesting. Open to questions, always asks if everyone understands the material. Southern acent that he tries to cover up makes him fun to listen to- not your average boring lecture. VERY FUNNY, if you like dumb puns, etc. Would take another course taught by him.

He was a great teacher. Very funny, his stories make the information more interesting. He will go over things until you get them. Take him if you can, I am going to try to take him again for another class.

Dr. Spruiell can be boring at times but he is a really great professor. He cares about the students and whether or not they're understanding the material. His assignments may be unclear at times (and the lack of syllabus doesn't help matters) but he allows for rewrites, even on final papers. If you attend class and participate you'll be fine.

Dr. Spruiell is a really nice guy and is willing to come in for office hours whenever you need him for help, but I often left class feeling confused about vague assignment instructions and very disorganized lectures. What was most frustrating was the fact that I liked the guy so much but disliked his teaching style and the class. Bummer.

Dr. Spruiell is amazing. One of the most intelligent professors I've had at CMU. Could probably teach most of the ENG classes, along with history, statistics, etc. His classes are a lot of lecture, but he makes them hilarious and interesting so it's like story-time. I took his Old English class for fun and I learned a ton. It was a blast.

I have had Dr. Spruiell for 2 classes so far. I wouldn't say he is the best professor, but that may be because the class was 7-9:50pm on Thursday nights. He is a really nice guy, but basically will just talk about the subject with a few things written on the board. His lectures are more stream of consciousness than a structured lesson.

Dr. Spruiell is amazing! Even if his lectures are boring to some (I didn't think they were) it's still easy to pass his tests. Not very many assignments, and he's a lenient grader. Highly recommend him to anyone passionate about Sci-Fi and Fantasy, he really knows what he's talking about. LONG LIVE BILL SPRUIELL!

Dr. Spruiell is very honest and knows what he is doing. He is very knowledgeable, too.

super nice professor and super honest best teacher in the CMU, I strongly recommended him,

I went to every class. In a class of 25+ only 5-7 kids showed up. There are in class essays that you need to be there for, however they are preassigned. He is a very nice guy, but his voice is so monotone sometimes I would just go to class to clear my head-no joke. DO NOT BUY THE BOOKS. I wasted so much money you don't even need them. Easy class.

Really funny, nice, approachable. Little weird and kooky but great. You have to read and come to class, he does daily miniquizzes - not hard, just attendance/proof you read. He's very knowledgeable and will share a lot of cool info. But easily sidetracked. Average-above average difficulty on grading, but he's compassionate. Great outside cl

I liked his class. Sometimes he goes on tangents in his lectures, but they are always interesting. The class is lecture heavy, so be prepared to take a lot of notes.

This is one of the smartest teachers I've ever had. I think, though, that he only gets to teach English classes if he can relate it to Linguistics, so he puts a linguistics lecture in every class, which is confusing. If you're not into linguistics, ignore it; it's not on the test.

I really fell behind on my papers and thought I would have to drop the class. When final grades came in I received a B-. This teacher is awesome, he will work with you and he takes late work sometimes for full credit. i really recommend you take this course with Will. He will help you through the course and you will pass it if you work with him.

amaaaaazing teacher

Professor Spruiell taught ENG 201 very well. He is very friendly and wants to help his students as much as possible. I enjoyed taking his course as he made sure we knew what was expected, and was flexible with deadlines. However, I found the lectures not as imperative to my learning as I already knew most of the rules in English writing.

Overall he is a professor who is looking for improvement. He only has a single submission for the final drafts of the papers, which at first is daunting. After a few weeks he returns the paper for revision with notes. You are able to submit these papers revised until a final date. Very catered towards academic writing and nit picky.

The best way to describe this class was interesting but disorganized. His lectures were intriguing but all over the place. If you can get past the lecture disorganization and focus on writing concisely (don't use “too fancy” language) you'll do fine. He gets a bad wrap, which I get, but you can tell he genuinely cares and understands linguistics