James Seaton
School: | Grand Valley State University |
Department: | Philosophy |
Location: | Allendale, MI |
Overall Rating
rated by 20 students
Helpfulness | |
Clarity | |
Easiness |
School: | Grand Valley State University |
Department: | Philosophy |
Location: | Allendale, MI |
Helpfulness | |
Clarity | |
Easiness |
Mailing Address:
Uloop Inc.
306 S. Washington Ave
Suite 400
Royal Oak, MI 48067
Telephone Support:
312.854.7605
Email Support:
greg@uloop.com
Cons: Harsh grader
Boring
Does not ask for your opinion on anything
Seaton stands there and lectures the whole time. When he assigns 4-6 page essays, you have to write his opinion, not your own or else you'll get a low grade, so take notes on what he says in class. He was so boring, I could not handle it. He gives a quiz everyday on the reading. It's an easy 5 question quiz, but you have to read or else you won't do well.
This is one of the worst classes I've taken in my experience at MSU. The workload is high: there are six books, and it seems like you will always be reading or catching up on the reading. There is also a film that goes with five of the novels, so if you want you can miss class every other week and watch the films on netflix or get it from a movie store. The workload is far from the biggest flaw of this course, however. This class relies on excellent writing skills; I do not know why this is an IAH course seeing that 80% of your grade is on essays, two written at home, two in an exam environment, and 20% is participation in the recitation. The grading scale does not help this reliance on writing as well because for the two papers at home, a 4.0 is only possible for a flawless excellently written essay that goes above the question and inserts extremely insightful arguments. To be fair, this is the TA's fault for the take home essays, but the exams seem even more arbitrary; there is no real grading scale, and it Seaton picks a random number for each essay. The problem with this course is that if you already have an ability of critical analysis, you do not need the course, but it will be difficult to get a 4.0, and if you can not analyze literature, this class will not help you do so, and you will do poorly. There is little knowledge to gain, it is difficult, and there are several second-tier IAH courses that can be taken that are easier and are more interesting. I highly recommend a different IAH course if at all possible.
I'm a shitty writer, so I was happy to average a 3.0 on all the papers. I only skimmed through the 5 books that were assigned. You can tell what the essay / test questions will be like by his questions he asks the students in class. Based on that, highlight the quotes he tells you and find some of your own if you can.
I especially liked that he doesnt get frustrated when he asks questions and no one answers (appears like no one has read the book). If no one answers he just tells you. Stress free, low work load class.
**AVOID**
PS- He wears the same clothes everyday!
Like the previous post, the TA graded everything leaving little for this teacher to actually DO.
I got somewhat lower-than-desired scores on my papers and essay exams, but I can't complain about that because the TA was the one who did all the grading. In fact, it seemed like the TA was the one running the whole class. I really don't even know HOW to grade Seaton, because I don't even know what he actually DID.
Seaton seems inexplicably fascinated with ancient classical literary theory (e.g. Longinus, Plato, etc.) while I couldn't care less. He's animated and excited about the shit, even. Whatever. He's a little off and very very boring. I don't recommend him.