Bruce Avery - San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA

Professor: Bruce Avery

Department: English

College: San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: THA130
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Professor Avery is one of the best professors Ive ever had. He extremely helpful, gives great critiques to your scenes and is passionate about what he does. He makes it so you get really comfortable with your class and you challenge yourself in the best way! Gets you outside of your comfort zone and youll learn great lessons for life and acting.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: THA130
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Chill professor who is super engaging and passionate about what he does! Show up to class, and try your best. This class helped me break out of my comfort zone. Fun group activities and games, you'll get close to your classmates. You will definitely grow as an actor!

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: THA130
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Really great class to take, whether or not you're a theater major. Amateurs definitely welcome. A ton of improv games and group activities. You will really get to know the people in your class. Don't take it if you don't like to get weird. You will really have to think outside the box in some activities, but your acting will definitely improve.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: THA130
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

He kind of didn't care about the class, which is understandable because most students didn't take it seriously. The morning class time was tough to make.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ENG583
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Hands down the best professor I have had at SFSU. Smart, funny, engaging and full of knowledge; -you can't help but learn from Bruce if you are not in a coma. He made difficult material very fun and interesting. Fairly easy to get a good grade in his class too. Do yourself a favor and take him

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ENG600
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

One of the best teachers I've had at SF State. Very fun, intelligent, and engaging. He's a laid back professor who is extremely interested in the subject matter. Learning to teach Shakespeare from him gave me tons of insight into the style and value of his teaching approach. He also loves interactive activities that make the texts dynamic. Awesome!

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ENG574
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Avery is a hip, laid back guy who doesn't take himself too seriously. The class is free flowing with many assignments and readings being struck from the syllabus. That could be good or bad depending on you, but he's such a cool guy and assigns such good readings that it was disappointing for me. Easy grader and doesn't give much feedback on papers.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ENG583
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I took Avery in the summer. It is a lot of fun if you are into theatrics, as he does a lot of exercises to get you into the material and help understand. He is not a harsh grader at all, particularly on written papers. I was hoping for a B and got a solid A in the class. I recommend him whether you like Shakespeare or not.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ENG480
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Amazing discussions and totally great exercises. I got so much help with my writing, like really clear advice on how to be better and write the best thesis. Take 480 with Avery if you can!!!!!

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ENG460
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

If you actually take the initiative to study the material outside of class, and speak up with your questions: you will have no problem doing well with Dr. Avery as your professor. The texts are old, (let's face it!), but he made what could have been really boring reading: FUN, surprisingly understandable and meaningful.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ENG460
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Lets be real for a minute. Yes, the texts were difficult, he canceled class a lot, and breezed through the lectures. It's a class of 125 that lasted 50 min, he doesn't have the time to give each student individual attention. The lectures were interesting, and he gives you the midterm/final questions the class before the test. What more do you want?

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ENG460
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Terrible teacher. Canceled class over 5 times this semester without notice or explanation. Lectures go way, way too fast, and he doesn't explain things clearly. A couple pop quizzes, midterm, final, and one 4-5pg paper. Texts are difficult and he does a terrible job teaching them. He's also uninterested in helping students. Impatient with questions

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ENG259
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Too easy to be good. Read through 3 plays swiftly and never had any assignments/homework. In class, he spent going over main points from the plot or going over some sonnets that he picked out. Only grade in entire class was a skit performance and small packet that went along with it. Don't know how he assigned final grades...

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ENG460
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He really should give more attention to helping us understand the texts we read. For somebody who is not too familiar with works by Chaucer or Shakespeare, it almost seems like it's written in another language and can be very difficult to comprehend. Also beware: he's goes way too fast in his lectures!

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ENG460
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Cool guy and passionate about the subject but I found his exams to be hard because his questions are on things he said in passing. If you want to do well, pay close attention and take notes on what he says rather than his PP slides. He's also really nice and very understanding.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: ENG460
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

This class is challenging because the texts you read are difficult, but Avery does a great job of making them understandable. He's really funny, does a good job of relating the texts to our everyday lives, and is very accommodating to student difficulties. I'm selling the textbook if anyone's interested. Contact me at ganglydragon@gmail.com

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ENG583
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Passionate, entertaining, and well educated in his subject. Avery is a dedicated and very good teacher. I never would have thought I'd learn so much about Shakespeare and actually enjoy it! A few pop quiz's (easy though), 1 midterm, 1 final. TAKE HIM IF YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY!!!

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ENG583
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Awesome teacher. Very clear, funny, passionate and entertaining. He makes you want to go to class, even though he doesn't require it. He has a great teaching attitude too.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ENG583
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Take his class. I'm not even an English major and I loved this class. If you have any passing interest in Shakespeare, take this class. Great teaching style. Entertaining and sexy. What more do you need?

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ENG583
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He is awesome! You have to read the books and although he doesn't take attendance, you have to go cause he does pop quizzes and class activities. He's really cool though, very funny and the class over all isn't too hard. I'd highly recommend his class!