Lecture slides were trash, I couldn't take effective notes and I often skipped lecture. Sections are where it's at, and I recommend Pettersson, she's 10/10 amazing. Waid is a caring person, brought pizza for a lecture hall at our final. Bless her heart. Idk if she can teach effectively tho.

The books I read were pretty good, especially in the first half of the class. The bad part was I hardly understood anything she was saying in lecture & I had to go because she puts key terms from lectures on the exam. Not that going to class even helped much because I literally felt like I was trying to interpret another language.

Waid love to go off topic in lectures and isn't very organized when it comes to slides, but is somehow simultaneously interesting/boring, but very helpful outside class. Reading is mandatory (as are all english classes), rely on TA's for help with key terms from lecture and help on the final paper.

Absolutely chaotic and demented - the most life-changing course I have ever taken. Waid is unbelievably kind and personal. Do all the reading - the whole class is based on the readings, and you will read some unbelievably amazing literature. The greatest class I've taken at UCSB.

Waid is perhaps the most brilliant person I have ever met. She is quirky, and her classes are incredibly entertaining. She is passionate about her material, and genuinely cares about her students. I strongly recommend taking a course from her.

Prof. Waid is amazing. She can get off-track occasionally, but I think some of her "off-track" anecdotes are the most rewarding. Southern Lit. is an amazing class and I liked Waid so much I'm taking my senior seminar with her this Fall.

She was one of the best teachers i have ever had at this campus, if you do the reading it is really easy, she is so goofy and entertaining you have to take atleast one class from her even if you are not an english major

Such a good professor!

This was a great class, I had a wonderful time. Worst part is that she can't help but mention her alma matter/previous employer (YALE) every 20 minutes in such backhanded ways as "I don't dumb down my Yale lectures for you guys at all, because you are just as smart even though you are at UCSB." I suggest this class to anyone who likes to read.

She was a brilliant teacher but very confusing in the same breath. As far as grading goes, the TA's give you a little break since they understand how difficult she is. Her lectures are worth going to because she's always doing something crazy. She's literally psychotic but it makes the class worth while. Keep up with the reading!

Amazing- Her passion and brilliance combined with some of the most moving material has made this class the highlight of my entire ucsb career. take this class if you are genuinely interested in literature and willing to expand your mind beyong the typical powerpoint lecture.

professor waid is an amazing person. she is really easy to talk to and genuinely is interested in what her students have to sya. but her lectures can be difficult to follow if you haven't kept up with the reading.

You can tell shes a smart lady, but her clarity of thoughts is nearly impossible to follow. Lots of reading, and she is quite eccentric in her teaching. Just hope you have a great TA.

A brilliant woman, but a horrible teacher. Does anyone actual understand what she's saying? Who lectures in a stream of consciousness and actually expects her students to get anything out of it?

Unbelievably HORRIBLE class...she's insane. No, really, she is. I get absolutely nothing out of lecture. She goes on these random tangents and seriously lectures in a stream of consciousness.

Prof Waid is a kind, bizarre, insane woman. Every sentence she breathes is laced with obscure literary references. In lecture I often find myself lost, hungry for structure and consise descriptions of a themes or literary terms.

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TA barely graded anything until the last few weeks, prof submitted grades almost 2 weeks late. Disputed 'inflated' 'wrong' online grades of 90-100% and just straight up removed a letter grade from other people I talked to. 100% gets an A-, etc. Reading (800+ pages) wasn't really needed. Attendance was threatened but not taken in a 200 person room.

You have to be able to speak the language of Prof. Waid. She is kind, intelligent, & inspiring. What hurt me was to see the level of disrespect from the class toward her (laughing at her when she gets passionate). This class is NOT an "easy A". If you are planning to take this class to fulfill some requirement, I would recommend a different one.

Really bad, held a final over our heads the whole time and then didn't put in a grade when grades were due until 2 weeks later. Extremely unclear, got mad when kids left early even though it was a 3 hour class. Nice enough when you try to email her 1 on 1, but ultimately a very bad professor.

Most unprofessional teacher.She took the syllabus off Guachospace so we couldnt see the grading criteria. Held a final over students heads(never happened)Hard to follow lectures. She took it into her own hands against what TAs told us for grading on final projects,went back to grade projects harder resulting in NA grade for two weeks after deadline

Unclear expectations throughout the entire quarter and she rambled in lecture. Constantly told us we might have a final to scare people into reading or going to lecture. Right when grades were due, she decided to regrade everything herself with a "higher level of scrutiny" because of poor attendance and submitted grades 2 weeks late. Such a joke

The least organized, almost rude professor I have ever had. Never knew what was going on in the class. Like others I still have not received a grade. So confused 0/10 recommend.

The most frustrating course of all time. Professor was completely unorganized. Deadlines were not clear and had to get all information from the poor TA. She literally deleted the syllabus halfway through. A possible final was hung above our heads the entire quarter. It has been two weeks since grades were due and they are still not finalized.