Review:
I took this class four years ago, and with the benefit of hindsight as well as having had the pleasure of taking plenty of other courses in the English department, I can say without question that Johnson was the worst teacher I've had at Tufts.

I don't want this to veer off into an ad hominem attack since there are already so many problems to consider with Johnson's teaching itself, but, to be frank, Johnson is incapable of treating her students as human beings, a fact that manifests itself in her condescending and cloying attitude during class discussions, and in her unfair and half-hearted grading of written assignments.

Tellingly, this poisonous teaching style infects her lectures as well. There, every nuance and complexity of the work being discussed is bludgeoned and bent into an ideologically sound morality lesson which doesn't even have the benefit of converting students to leftist causes, and, in fact, if anything probably turns more people toward conservatism than any amount of FOX News could ever hope to.

In short, if you'd prefer to read and discuss literature instead of hearing interminable stories about the glories of the '60s and screeds about the apathy of your generation, then you might consider avoiding Johnson's classes.

Workload:
Like others said.

review a class you took with Ronna Johnson - help your classmates make informed decisions!

Review:
The worst professor at Tufts. as far as I'm concerned. Liberal propoganda all day, every day, with no room for disagreement. While I'm a woman with leftist political leanings myself, I don't see feminism as the only lens through which literture ought to be understood.

Workload:
Not too much work. She basically wants you to regurgitate her lectures in your papers/exams. If you're inclined to think independantly, you won't do so well.

review a class you took with Ronna Johnson - help your classmates make informed decisions!

Review:
What everyone says about Ronna Johnson's liberal propaganda is true - every class opened (5 minutes late) with a diatribe about how Bush will certainly be the demise of our country. However, for me, this did not detract from the overall positive experience of being her student. She is incredibly well informed, well spoken, and as many others have said, quite a character. Yes, she does expect a fair amount of regurgitation for the papers and exams. She is a stingy grader, but this is more of a motivating factor than a discouraging one. I liked her better when taking American Fiction: 1900-1950, but I also look back on my experience in this class fondly.

Workload:
Lots of reading, but most of it good (in the latter half of the course). 1 paper and 2 exams? I can't really remember ...

review a class you took with Ronna Johnson - help your classmates make informed decisions!

Review:
I'm not taking this particular class, but I took another one with Professor Johnson two years ago. That was the first and last English class I took at Tufts. Professor Johnson turned me off from pursuing any further interest I had in English. She told me I was a poor writer and everyone else in the class was doing quite well. She suggested I see a writer tutor -- just a heads up, Professor Johnson: I am a writing tutor. She's an extreme liberal and seems to take sick joy out of shooting conservatives down. I consider myself fairly liberal, and as far as I know, being liberal does not mean you refuse to listen to others' opinions.

Workload:
I must admit, Professor Johnson has reasonably good taste in books. She's a little hung up on postmodernism and beatniks, though. Tests were straightforward but hard to prepare for. Given I'm such a poor writer, I did rather poorly on the tests. There was a big final paper, but I don't remember if the midterm was a test or a paper. Hm.

review a class you took with Ronna Johnson - help your classmates make informed decisions!

Review:
I have mixed feelings about this course. I got through this class without reading a lot of the texts, since the workload was unbearably heavy. Some readings were dull but many were integral to the course's requirements.

She does try to force her views upon students. This past semester was the presidential election and she kept bitching about Bush and how Bush should go to hell. (Republicans beware!)

I was frustrated with her many times, but then she was really nice to me one-on-one. I don't know. I did fine on the final and midterm, and not so great on the paper--she graded really harshly on it. (butchered my paper)

"You need to learn how to write a critical literary analysis." (Yeah but this was a SURVEY course...I didn't think it had to be that intense!)

I would take another class with her.

She's a feminist. A liberal. SO beware, if you're a conservative.

She hardly ever encouraged participation. But was concerned about our understanding. She tended to be condescending. Believed us "undergrads" were inexperienced, etc. Eh.

Workload:
A lot of reading. I never was able to catch up. 1 paper due. 1 final. 1 midterm.

review a class you took with Ronna Johnson - help your classmates make informed decisions!

Review:
In my opinion, Johnson is one hell of a character. Make sure you never tell her you're a republican because she'll probably flunk you for it. She always comes to class at least 5 minutes late and she doesn?t take attendance but she says she "keeps track." She's entertaining in the fact that she is very opinionated and goes off on tangents that she really shouldn?t, but hey it wastes class time. And she's a tough grader.

Workload:
N/A

review a class you took with Ronna Johnson - help your classmates make informed decisions!

Review:
This was the worst class I have ever taken. I even enjoyed the books. In my opinion, Professor Johnson is unable to relate to students.

Workload:
N/A

review a class you took with Ronna Johnson - help your classmates make informed decisions!

Review:
This course really wasn't the horror stories other reviews have made it out to be. The workload is typical of English courses above English 1 and 2 - two exams and a paper. Racism and sexism have to be discussed in a class surveying American literature because like it or not they are part of American history and thus form the context and background for these works of literature. The course gives a good panoramic view of American lit (i.e. the "survey" aspect) and the fact that it includes works by writers other than white men is a GOOD thing.

Workload:
1 essay, 1 midterm (shorts answers and a larger essay), 1 final (same format as midterm).

review a class you took with Ronna Johnson - help your classmates make informed decisions!

Review:
The course title, "Continuity of American Literature," is frankly a misnomer, and should not be one of the two options for the survey course required for the English major. Every text is read in terms of themes of oppression -- this is not necessarily a fault, but the course title/description should reflect what the course is actually about. I consider myself extremely liberal, but even I was offended by Prof. Johnson's teaching style. She did a disservice to her own views by trying to support them with factual inaccuracies and superficial analyses (for just one of many examples, she gave a lecture about "all the innocents burned at the stake in Salem --- in Salem, 19 people were hanged and one was crushed to death, but no one was burned; I'm an ignorant undergrad and I knew that.) Furthermore, she belittled students who dared to question her views, and once ended class half-way through because she felt leading the discussion was "too difficult." The class was a disservice both to the liberal ideals she claimed to support, and, most importantly, to her students. I sincerely hope that the administration will eventually take note of her shortcomings.

Workload:
N/A

review a class you took with Ronna Johnson - help your classmates make informed decisions!

Review:
Continuity of American Literature should be re-named Continuity of American Discrimination because of the class's grading structure. Students have a midterm, a final, and one short essay. This is certainly not enough writing for an English course. As a result, the class is dominated by Professor Johnson's take on the readings. Indeed, Johnson allows ample class discussion of the readings, but all the while inserts too much of her very liberal politics into literature that has nothing to do with sexism, racism, or homophobia. The experienced English student will be frustrated by the deconstruction of every white male author to a racist chauvinist. This course is recommended only to novice literature students, who must take the lectures with a grain of salt. Conservatives should be prepared to be horrified. Lectures are interesting but myopic, and while texts were well selected (ranging from Native American texts to classics by Hawthorne, Poe, and Melville), reading excerpts is not always the best way to learn literature.

Workload:
N/A

review a class you took with Ronna Johnson - help your classmates make informed decisions!