Cokal, Susann  

This is a really good class if you are into literature. Although the class was hard, I learned a lot and improved my writing skills. BEWARE: She is a hard grader... but the good teachers usually are. Take this class if you like discussing books and if you know how to write well; then you should do fine.

Take someone else.

I feel Suan Cockal is an immature instructor. She has potential, but brings too much personal baggage with her to the class at this point. Do we really need to know that she writes porn for extra cash and that her sex life is lacking? She made an Ethnic American Lit class seam more like a pro-women

I could have taught Ethnic American lit better. Susan is ridiculous.

Liberal, open, honest and insightful. I truly enjoyed being in her class. She was a breath of fresh air.

Susanne Cokal from the first day was pretty honest on her views on controlling the class. She brags how she used to work for a publisher to proof read works of others and looks for nothing less than perfection from her students. I understand this attitude, but we are here to learn, not to just keep getting shot down with out help. Also, I dont care about her sex life and how dirty or smelly her ex-boyfriends are. She is rude and does not listen to her students. I wanted to learn from her and I needed help in English, but she did offer me anything. It is unfortuate to see a new teacher come in and believe that her ideas are THE only way to teach a class, she needs a rude awakening. She favors women and dislikes EVEY male in the class and when comparing reports and grades, it is obvious of this bias. Do yourself a favor and take a different instructor, unless you a closed minded female like herself. Good Luck!!

This is the worst english profeser i have ever had. She controled the class like a dictatorship and we could not even leave the class to go to the bathroom with out gettin punishment. She also tells a lot of stories about her personal life that are better left home. The class did not resemble the discription what so ever. I would requimend that you stay far away from her if possible.

Susann Cokal, is a really amazing teacher. I honestly loved all the books we read in class. Be prepared to read...this is not listen to the teacher tell you about the book class, you had better know allll the details. I did worse in this class than I thought i would, but still it was a very enjoyable class. Susann is corky, cute and great to have as prof. So if you like to read, and want to do well... take this class...if its just a GE your after, please try again.

Wow this lady is a raging bitch. She has a deep hate for men, and is very open about it! If you're a male I highly recommend not taking this teacher. She also thinks she's some kind of english god who is too good to teach her students. I would go to her office hours and ask her questions only to have her say, "Check out the writing lab." or "Look it up in a dictionary or online!" She favors english majors and thinks every other major is inferior. When you take a test you have to stay the full 2 hours even if you finish it in a half hour. She talks about sex, lesbians, and transexuals all day and is obsessed with vagina's and boobs. I would not recommend this teacher for any class, especially if you want to pass the GWR. She passed about 40% of the kids who needed the GWR to graduate! Everyone one of the books we read dealt with the uprising of women! And consequently every novel had a male protagonist in it that was evil, a failure or dispicable! I highly recommend you stay away from this teacher! I'm a very good student (3.7 GPA), worked my ass off in her class and got a B-!!! She handed out 1 "A" and guess who it went to? The only english major in the class! I would only take this class if you are 1) Female, 2) an English major, and 3) A good looking Lesbian or Transexual!

I read Susann's other critiques and the only thing that I can say is if you are closed-minded and uptight you won't like Susann. In addition, good spelling is a requirement obviously not met by some of the irrate students that have posted here. Susann gives a decent course load for a 300 level English class and is an extremely fair grader. If you don't want an energetic, insightful, colorful instructor then go elsewhere, but if you are open to a new outlook then I highly recommend Susann.

Susann is a very complex and insightful teacher. Her methods are harsh, compasionate, cruel, beautiful, and overall honest. She shares a lot of her personal life, but that is what makes her such a good teacher. To some uptight, conservative people it might seem over the edge, but to the open minded and those able to swallow their pride for a moment and take a little bit of fucking critizim, she offers some decent opinions. Just remember that we all have our bad days.

I really liked Susann. This class is very different from a literature class, which may explain the difference in opinion. She's so different from any other professor at Cal Poly. Super quirky, liberal, and not afraid of offending people. I love any woman that cusses in class! If you are offended by language or sexual jokes, then maybe you won't like her, but if you have a dirtier sense of humor than most of Crusading Cal Poly, you'll appreciate it. I learned so much about writing from this class! It is done in workshop style--you will read and compliment and criticize each other's work. This is helpful if you are serious about becoming a better writer. If you're prefer not to be critiqued, you have the option to not workshop your pieces. Susann is very helpful if you ever have questions about writing, and lots of fun.

I took this class a year ago, but I was writing reviews for my teachers this quarter and decided to write one for her too. Yes, that's how big of an impression she left on me. I took her class after seeing a huge article in the mustang daily about how great of a teacher she was. And boy were they wrong. She was the worst English teacher I have ever had. She squished at least 5 people's love of writing in that class. I say at least 5 because that's how many people admitted to the class during a discussion that they no longer wish to write fiction for leisure or a career. You might be thinking, hey she showed them the reality of writing as a career. But not really. The class consisted of writing short stories where the entire class would criticize you for(good and bad criticisms). This is good among people whom you respect opinions of. But my classmates were pretty stupid. I might have a bias towards retarded English majors who think they know how to write and think they are super creative and the shit, but having an English teacher who thinks she knows how to write and thinks she's the Goddess of creativity and thinks that she is the shit is a whole other story. She preached about giving good criticisms along with bad ones, but her comments were the most degrading and hurtful ones. Her class was an easy grade. You could write your stories the night before without any editing and recieve an easy B in the class. To get an A however, you have to be an angsty outcasted nerd from high school who is also a reject in college and likes to whine and complain about it. Ok, now on to Susann as a person. I don't mean to be rude and mean towards her, but I think her attitude and personality is a huge factor in how she is as a teacher. Especially since her class is graded so subjectively. She favored dorks and outcasts. Why? Because she still is one. Everyday, we'd hear stories of how she was a loser in high school and college. Hey, you're were a loser(and still are in some people's opinions), don't tell us about it and don't go on a pms attack on us because of it. Actually, that's what her personality was like. It seemed like she was constantly pmsing. And if she was in menopause then hey that explains it all. If you like listening to a whiny biznitch who's a nazi in class then take Susann. If you still want to enjoy writing and don't have the time to take a high demand class for writing fiction then take poetry or take another teacher if possible. Oh, the only plus side was that she had cool Lisa Loeb-esque glasses and weird home-made dresses.

I took 387 to hone my fiction writing skills, and I did. I had hesitated to take Cokal's class after reading some of the negative comments on this page, but in the final sum I was pleasantly surprised. Regarding the review below, I'm not sure how fair it is to evaluate a teacher a full year after taking their class. Perhaps in her short time teaching at Cal P, Ms. Cokal has greatly improved her skills as a teacher because she is genuinely interested in student's input. The classroom environment I experienced was friendly and safe. I enjoyed the plentiful interaction with other students and appreciated Cokal's openness. Importantly, my writing benefitted from her knowledgable experience. If you are a fundamentalist lacking a sense of humor, this is not the class for you. If you don't think you need any feedback regarding your creative writing efforts, ditto. If you are interested in learning a ton in a fun class, don't miss it.

Giving this rating before I get my grade seems a little strange since I cold either have a B or a D but there are some things you should know about Dr. Cokal. I learned a lot in her class. This learning wasn't a teacher up a the chaulk board instructing to the drones but conducted in a group forum way that worked well. The reading load is not going to kill you and if you enjoy writing- you will love to hear your stories and scenes read in class and then reviewed by your peers. Dr.Cokal is also funny- Cal Poly needs more funny teachers who aren't afraid to relate to students and even crack a few jokes. I noticed some of the Crusaders in class got a little uneasy at times though. There are only like 2 quizzes so that is great and assignments are very doable as well. I'd say take this class to get an experience you normally wouldn't get a Cal Poly. The assignment organization could have been a little better and a little more time spend on mechanics and grammer would have helped me. Oh, about how she favors girls? bullshit-she treated us guys exactly the same. -29

Dr. Cokal is an eccentric woman. During the first few days I thought she was a complete sarcastic bitch (which she is) but you get used to it and she really isn't that bad. She critiques the papers very harshly, but that's what you want if you really want to become a writer. If you have no interest in becoming a writer and just want a good grade, this is not the class to take. She told us from the beginning that it was almost certain that we wouldn't get A's. If you take her, take it credit/no credit. The class really wasn't that bad but it got old just sitting around commenting on everybody else's papers. I don't know what to do to improve the class, but I don't really give a shit what other non-experienced people think about my work, I'd rather get more feedback from someone who knows what they're talking about. This class made me realize how difficult it is to become an author who gets paid to write so it was a good reality check, and Cokal isn't a bad person once you get used to the fact that she is very eccentric and her sex life is very obviously lacking.

Christians beware! Dr. Cokal is one of the best teachers Cal Poly has in its ranks, but she expects tolerance, compassion, and effort. If you're looking for an easy A, go to Cuesta. If you're expecting to learn, Take Dr. Cokal. She treats students as equals, with both trust and understanding; all she asks in return is for your best. Her grading standards are fair, especially in an unquantifiable genre like fiction writing. This is a class on learning how to improve your writing. By interacting mostly with other students, but also a published author, Dr. Cokal helps you learn how to write better. If you're thinking about taking her, and are swayed by the illiterate, poorly phrased comments of disgruntled students, take my comments to heart. If you have what it takes, she can make your whole college experience better.

there are those who get it, and those who don't. this class is for people who want to write. most importantly, it is designed for people who want to write well. wow, your grandma died and you started a journal and everyone in your family really thought it was swell. but the truth is, susann doesn't care what your mommy thinks. this class, if you take it seriously, will change you. you begin to understand literature on a more profound level. sure, there are outcasts and nerds who write about gothic adventures into the endless darkness, but in every class there are around five writers who shine. if you aren't one of them, shut up and learn. by the way, susann is a great writer. read her book. people shouldn't get so bitter over this class. some can write fiction, and others write journals about their dead grandmas.

Okay, I'm writing this as a response to the hordes of people who seem to think that a "conservative Christian" would find Susann Cokal offensive. Well, I am one, and I love her classes. No, she's not a Christian-- obviously-- so she's going to have a different perspective on life. SO? I've taken Cokal 3 times now, and the one thing that differentiates her from all the other liberals who try to brainwash me is the fact that she is nothing if not HONEST. Although some may find her stories crude, what these people don't realize is that she's making herself vulnerable in front of the class. I've only taken creative writing from her, however, so I can't say whether her lecturing style is effective or not. What I will say is that many people who have complained about her creative writing courses are doing so unfairly. Unfortunately, because of the group nature of the class, with everyone commenting on everyone else, a whole lot of the enjoyment in the class depends on who is enrolled. An environment like that can really get sour quickly if you've got an unpleasant person making remarks. Susann has to keep tight control over the class to keep everyone's experience safe and positive. And yes, she may seem harsh-- but there's a reason for that. I took her class during her first quarter at Cal Poly, and she started out really easy going. Unfortunately, people basically screwed her over time and time again, taking advantage of the fact that she would go easy on them. And honestly, even when she's strict, they still do it and whine about it. There has also been a lot of complaint over how the class is organized. People think it's confusing, but JUST READ THE SYLLABUS! For heaven's sake, we're in college. You can handle something a little more complex than counting on your fingers. It's like for some reason when people get into a creative writing class they think everything is supposed to be nice and fuzzy and warm. Get over it. Maybe you might enter the class thinking you're going to be a world-famous novelist and leave the class with the realization that a career in writing isn't for you. Well, you've learned something, haven't you? On the other hand, to be completely fair, Cokal could give out a few more compliments to soften the blow of her critiques. :)

This is another teacher who does not teach here any more--why are her evaluations here? (What would the polyratings stats look like if they removed the ratings of the teachers who don't teach here any more?)

Missed the first day, went to the second day. Went to the midterm. Went to the Final. Three days of class total. I got a B, easy. This kind of shit gives our school a bad name.