This was a hard class as a non English major. Unfair grading across TAs and grading expectations were not explicit. Lectures consisted of plot summaries rather than the deep insightful analyses needed to succeed on essays and the midterm. My grades were never imputed into canvas, so I don't even know what I got on the final.

Amazing professor, his class is so interesting and the required reading is fire.

My least favorite class so far at UCSB, the midterm was ridiculous and not many people did well. Be careful with your TA they have all the power. Not many people succeeded with a certain TA.

Professor Donnelly is odd. He's incredibly funny and a pretty captivating lecturer but if you interact with him outside of the lecture hall he's extremely rude. I spoke with him outside of class a lot and can say I rarely had a good experience. So, while as a professor he's great, be prepared for the whiplash of speaking with him outside of class

Donnelly is one of the best professors. He makes lectures engaging and relevant. This is one of the best English classes I've taken at UCSB, highly recommend. Midterm is okay if you go to lectures and do the readings. Come up with original topics for your papers and go to your TA's office hours. Great class, loved that we read the Hunger Games.

Incredible professor and an INSANELY good class. Powerful and analytical lectures that are especially relevant now, but I've heard from former students that he always makes them very timely. Extremely interesting readings, good mix of essays and exams, and I love that he takes our feedback into account. One of the best English classes at UCSB!

He's an incredible lecturer and super funny. He keeps lecturers interesting, entertaining, up-to-date with current events, and relevant. His analysis of the texts are very interesting and relate to pop culture and current events which he explains in class, and they're things I wouldn't have noticed otherwise. I love his teaching and his class!

Be prepared to read read read, and have fun

Really disappointed since previous classes with Donnelly have been so fun, but this class was so much work out of nowhere. Midterm had a lot of obscure/ambiguous questions and the final is absurdly long. Huge departure from his previous classes and I'm upset that this went the way it did as I was very excited about this subject.

The second class I've taken with him. Great class/content. He knew me by name in a 150-person room. That being said, this class is not an easy A. You need to do the work-- read, write, and come up with good and creative analysis, but that is most upper-div English classes. This course also has a highly specific midterm and tough essays (TA graded).

longest and most ridiculous expectations for a final i have ever seen, not at all understanding of students and their time, really basic lectures that summarize plot of books instead of analyzing, feel like i have learned nothing, he's an entertaining lecturer but i was extremely disappointed in the content of the class, i leave every class mad.

I'd just say pick topics you are passionate about to write for your papers and do not go over the page/word count. I think the course content is super interesting and he is a super reasonable guy! This class was my first upper div and was very satisfying to learn about. It's not just textual material, movies as well as music, TAKE IT!!

Lectures are shortish and easy to understand. (20ish min) three small papers that are kinda confusing but TAs offer lots of help. Participation counts so make sure you watch lectures and post during Nectir segment.

I cannot recommend Prof. Donnelly highly enough! His dystopian sci-fi class was the most fun I've ever had in a class. We spent most classes just talking about the readings. He does a wonderful job of making the discussion interesting, fun, and natural. I looked forward to every class!

Great class with an even better professor. Typical amount of reading/writing for an English class, but the themes covered (dystopia, apocalypse, humans vs. androids, etc.) easily make this the most interesting English class I've taken.

The TA (Rossi) expected a LOT for the essays for this class. Had to pull off niche and creative connections and analysis to manage an A. May have struggled because I am not an English major but I found it to be a lot of work. However, not impossible and attending office hours was helpful!

Terrible professor, TA's are egotistical nitpickers, and the class subject matter is a joke.

I took Professor Donnelly's class last quarter and can't stop thinking about it. I'm not an English major, but his lectures were so interesting that they made me wish I was. If you're considering taking his class, do it!

Don't take this class

He's an amazing lecturer and a very nice person. Truly what all people in humanities should strive to be. I'm loving 103WT. Specializes in Victorian lit and Sci-fi. He's not the type to put down students even when they are confused. We do not deserve this man. I wanted to take my seminar w him but i think he's tired of seeing me every quarter lol

I can go on for DAYS about how much I love Brian. He was not only an amazing professor -- he really stood up for me on a personal level when i was experiencing a housing crisis. He checked in with me and eventually helped me decide to take an Incomplete in his class while I got my affairs in order. He's just an incredible man and so charismatic

Great professor who obviously cares about what he's teaching and hearing the student. I struggled on the essays, but that was with the TA and not the prof. Only graded on 3 essays and attendance only required for section. Though, attending lecture was still fun to hear all the different perspectives on the reading.

He was a wonderful professor! Made me decide to pursue english further, and was very kind and understanding. He was also amazingly kind and personable! Take him if you can pookies

Donnelly is easily the best professor I've had, his lectures are hilarious and he's amazing at engaging student participation. Attendance to lecture isn't required but you're definitely missing out if you skip. Very lucky to be in the English department, will be taking more courses with him in the future.