Jonathan Gross - DePaul University, Chicago, IL

Professor: Jonathan Gross

Department: English

College: DePaul University, Chicago, IL

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ENG340
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Professor Gross does not believe in giving As. That's right, in one of the lectures he told the class that we fixate too much on getting As rather than absorbing information from classic texts. That being said, he was disorganized and the syllabus was inapplicable after week 2. DO NOT TAKE HIS CLASS. He spent most of the classes talking politics.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: LSP200
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

I felt like the d2l was disorganized for this class. I think if he would just organize his page the class would be a lot easier to manage. The content itself was interesting- you learn about the history of issues affecting America today. Don't take this class if you hate reading.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ENG442
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Gross is unconventional in that he does not seek student approval or adulation. He knows what he knows (which is a lot), and some students thus paint him as arrogant. More accurate is that he has high standards for what college is supposed to be. If you wish to be spoon-fed or awarded a participation trophy, take your business elsewhere.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ENG400
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Gross has a ranging mind, making lectures more interesting than most. Students who expect professors to stick to the readings have a poor understanding of what college is all about. I learned what was on the syllabus, and a whole lot more. I think the limitations ascribed to Gross on this site are projections of students' own limitations.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: HON101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Prof Gross was awesome. A truly intelligent and extremely hot professor.. But seriously, everyone who is rating him lower than five just doesn't like to read, because he does assign a lot but he explains it well and allows for ample participation.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: HON101
• Grade Received: INC
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Prof Gross is obviously one of the smartest and most insightful profs you'll ever have. But he assigned a lot of books for a short period of time and chose ones that are extremely hard to understand. He doesn't go over them that much and just expects you to have his understanding of them. LOTS of reading and gives little time for quizzes.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ENG400
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Gross was one of my favorite professors as he was funny, smart, and willing to allow us to take risks. It paid off. He is easy on the eyes, too.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ENG449
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Insightful lectures. Read a lot of poetry out loud, which is rarely done anymore. Always available for office hours to talk over readings, paper topics, and overall help. Exposed me to tons of poetry, ballads, music, scholarly articles, and authors. Do the reading, show up, be active in the discussions and you will have a fruitful experience!

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ENG340
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Jon Gross was one of my favorite English professors at DePaul. I never got the impression that he was arrogant, condescending, or closed-minded - just the opposite actually. His instruction exemplified the much vaunted critical thinking that the university is supposed to teach. Thanks to him, I found a zeal for romantic poetry. Take his class.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ENG382
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He is one of my favorite English professors I have taken at Depaul. His lectures are very enlightening. He seems to always draw from pop culture and current issues. He weaves this into his lectures and it makes them really fun and interesting. He is very nice and understanding. I recommend to participate a lot and as always read the text assigned!

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ENG382
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He gives extremely insightful, intelligent and creative lectures. He provided handouts to encourage critical reading of the poems we read. The class was a hybrid, which allowed for more time to independently read. He was available for office hours. Prof. Gross is a must take as an English major because he actually teaches you to critically think.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ENG231
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I loved Dr. Grosss teaching style. I enjoyed the class discussions because the information was simply not fed to me but rather I was forced to critically think about the novels and overall understood them better. Dr. Gross provided modern comparisons to enhance my understanding of the material. I would definitely take again.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: HON101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

This man is so intelligent, but he has no organization. He knows his stuff, but his thoughts are often poorly communicated and go off into a thousand tangents. He asks that you read quite a bit, but it's not the worst content nor the hardest. I would say that he is a helpful teacher, but there's barely any assignments to ask for help on.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: 231
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I liked him as a professor. He was frazzled at times and didn't have a clear class structure, but that was kind of fun. We did have to read a bit, but it wasn't too bad. He doesn't give clear grades or post anything on D2L. I didn't know where I stood in his class until after our final grades were turned in. But funny guy in his own way.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ENG442
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

He is a great professor and so humane. Great role model for students. He is also adorable looking and interesting to listen to. By far the most interesting professor in the English Department.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: HON100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Professor Gross is extremely qualified to be an English professor. He will help those that seek it. However, most students like to have structure and organization; this class lacked predictability.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ENG442
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

His graduate course in English Romanticism was challenging (in a good way) and a topic that could be interesting. However, he lacks any "teaching" skills, is terribly condescending, arrogant, and takes disorganization to a new extreme. While clearly a great scholar, he was neither a good teacher nor a particularly nice person.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ENG471
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Wow. I am amazed at how disorganized he is; he decided to change the syllabus mid-way through the course. He doesn't respect students' time or opinions, and his arrogance becomes really frustrating. He doesn't listen at all to student reports and consistently interrupts them and makes condescending comments.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ENG340
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I loved Prof. Gross because, OH MY! You have to do some critical thinking on your own. I am extremely grateful for teachers like him who don't force-feed information into your brain but instead he gives you a piece of critical information and YOU get to expand on that idea. He's not a horrible teacher if you learn how his brain works.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ENG340
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE. not helpful. disjointed and unclear lectures. not willing to TEACH. tremendous (almost impossible) amount of outside reading and/or knowledge necessary to succeed. arrogant, stubborn, closed-minded and whiny.