John Van Kirk - Marshall University, Huntington, WV

Professor: John Van Kirk

Department: English

College: Marshall University, Huntington, WV

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ENG215
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Avoid at all cost whatever you do.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ENG378
• 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 Van Kirk gets a bad reputation by those who believe grades, praise, and feedback should be handed to them regardless of their lack of participation. He is one of the best professors I have had but not because his class is easy. His classes require time, attention, and effort, but are worth all of those, and more.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ENG219
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

DO NOT take this professor he's so hard ! Its rediculous half of your grade is IN class exams that are very difficult gives an F if your speech is a second under 5 minutes AVOID him at all cost. Even if you end up with a good grade he will give you an F if you failed three assignments no matter what the grade is even if it's a B.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ENG201H
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He makes you buy two books. One of the books you actually read the whole thing. But the other one we only two chapters out of it. We had four papers for the entire semester. He will literally give you a bad grade on your paper if you miss a few commas and periods. His quizzes have words that are in the chapters that you read so vocab is a must

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ENG201
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He's an author, so papers are going to be graded to his standard. Amazing papers will get a B- at best.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ENG215
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Avoid him at all cost he's way to difficult.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ENG635
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I respect this professor greatly due to his attitude towards students and choice of reading materials. Your literature horizon will be greatly expanded, but definitely be ready to read.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ENG201
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Probably the toughest professor I've had. He's nice and has a good sense of humor, but grades extremely hard. So much so, that some people took their papers to the writing center and still failed. There are timed quizzes each week over assigned readings to help your grade a little, though. He's a good person, but can be harsh and scary at times.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ENG201
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He is really intimidating and stern, but he knows how to make a joke and is a nice person. You have to write a paper for him about once a week and he grades on things you wouldn't really even think about. Be careful.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: 214O
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

By far the toughest professor I have ever had.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ENG215
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I loved his Good Novels course. The books were terrific, his teaching was impeccable, and the class environment was decent. I fell in love with class even though life warranted me to miss a few classes. He was one of the best English professors I ever took. However, on the final exam day he demonstrated how much of self-consumed, tacky man he is.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ENG428
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Prof. V.K. is one of the best professors in the English department. His classes aren't too hard, as long as you put forth some effort and follow his examples. He's a nice person--he just has high expectations and doesn't tolerate excuses, which is refreshing in an upper-level English course. By now, we should all know MLA format; stop complaining.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ENG492
• 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:

Professor Van Kirk is a tad intimidating, I won't argue with that, but he shows as much respect to you as you earn. If you come to class and take the subject matter seriously, you will do well. I earned an A and was delighted. He is also a published author who won an O Henry Award in 1993 for his short story "Newark Job," so he has earned the right to teach writing. This is a man who knows his craft.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ENG492
• 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:

He can be very intimidating but once you get to know him, he's very helpful and enthusiastic about his craft. Takes work very seriously so don't blow off homework--he will call you out in front of everyone. Very strict with attendance as well. Overall, hard but good professor.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ENG428
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Challenging class, especially the 6 novels we had to buy for the class. It's an international literature class, so go in with an open mind. The only fun part of the class was the oral presentation on an assigned country. Professor is fair, but grades critically. Not very nice as a person.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: ENG201H
• 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:

Loved this teacher, he is very smart and helpful! I would recommend him to anyone. I was intimidated by the honors but it was great! Make sure you do your reading because he gives quizzes every day but they're not super crazy difficult. He'll go out of his way to award talent too, He submitted one of my friends essays for an award! He's awesome!

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ENG201H
• 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 very helpful when it comes to writing. He may grade hard, but with a little effort you can get a B. I may not have the best grade in there, but I have learned a lot. I would recommend him for anyone that is unsure.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ENG428
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

he is intimidating but fair and very sociable once you do the obvious....talk to him

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ENG102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Really anal about the lit review and the sources required. Quizzes in class relatively easy but make sure you look up definition. Wouldn't recommend.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ENG428
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He keeps literature worth while. Sometimes we get burnt out of the things we love most in a college setting, but his class has kept it alive. He's also very attractive- has Walt Whitman's eyes.