James Guthrie - Wright State University

Professor: James Guthrie

Department: TBD

College: Wright State University

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: 3050
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

A truly close-minded individual. Guthrie is by far the worst professor I have ever had. He is miserable to be around. If you believe that professors should care about a student's efforts and should want students to succeed, steer clear of this man. He's almost impossible to get in contact with, and completely unhelpful and rude if you happen to.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ENG3310
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I'm a teaching major with a concentration in English, so this subject comes easy to me. I loved this class. He made everything crystal clear in his lectures! He tests on everything in the lectures so if you take really good notes, you'll pass easily. Tests were challenging, not hard. He made the material relatable and fun! I would take him again!

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ENG3050
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Guthrie was the worst professor I've ever had. He's harsh, mean, rude, and disrespectful. He says things like: If you got a C, you shouldn't be an English major. D? You should drop out. He's hopeless. I went to office hours once and he just said I was stupid and should learn to write better.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ENG3050
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He's the sort of teacher that you expect to see at the high school level, not the university level. He's the kind of person who likes to pick on children for fun since children probably didn't like him when he was of school age. I cannot discourage you all enough. Do not take this class. He is a miserable person to be around.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ENG3310
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Professor Guthrie is an excellent educator. He makes lectures interesting and adds humor, which is pretty awesome considering the curriculum. He's an expert at English with 30+ years of experience and you can definitely tell with the professionalism he exemplifies. He is very "no BS". If you pay attention, you'll pass the class.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ENG3310
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

AVOID IF POSSIBLE. I have been here 5 years and by far he is the worst professor I have ever had. I was harassed in the class and had to meet with the chair of the English Dept. He is very tough on grading his test are 200 points each (15 fill in the blank and 10 extended response.) The content is great, but he is the worst and harsh to students.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ENG3310
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

As long as you take good notes, you'll do fine. He writes lists of "stuff" and "terms" on the board each class, and that's what he tests over. He actually keeps class fairly interesting, and I'm glad I took his class!

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ENG
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Never ever take him. Very disrespectful and rude. Caused me lots of problems even my advisor told me not to take any class with him ever.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ENG3310
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

After the first test he said, "Everyone who failed should drop out of college entirely, and everyone who got a D should switch majors." So he's pretty hardcore, but if you know you want to be an English major then you'll do fine. The tests are all fill-in-the-blank, short answer, and extended response, but there are no formal essays. Study a lot!!

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ENG3050
• 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:

I've never met a more close-minded teacher in my life. If you want to be creative with your English major this man is not the teacher you want to have. I took one of his classes up until the first paragraph we wrote in which he graded me very unfairly; I took it to another English teacher and she found nothing wrong with my paragraph. Be careful.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ENG3050
• 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:

Guthrie is an amazing teacher. Those that are trying to argue otherwise are the ones that have no business being an English major, i.e. don't even know the parts of speech yet, so they complain when someone like Guthrie calls them on it. He's a fair grader, if you work on what he tells you to work on your grade improves and so will your writing.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ENG3050
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I generally liked this class, but Guthrie is not an easy professor. He tries to convince his students that poetry is only about one subject and has only one theme. If you try to give any other opinion on a poem, he will return your paper covered in red ink and write "Logic?" all over it, yet he uses none in class. Hard grader, easy tests though!

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ENG3050
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Thinks all poems have only 1 way to be read. Asks you to explain how you read the poem & back it up w/evidence-but if you read it differently than he does he's just going to say the evidence you've provided isn't good enough, regardless of what you come up with. Too stubborn & self righteous to be a decent teacher, at least for a class like this.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ENG3050
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Comes off as scary and rude. He discourages students who are not at his expectations, grades in complete red and tells people he can't help them if their score is lower than a certain average. I'm in two other English classes at the time and one of them is considering helping me publish. Guthrie said I ahd weak writing and reading skills. :(

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ENG4200
• 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:

I loved this class. The only lecture class I've EVER had that I was actually interested in. He's very intelligent and IF YOU GO TO CLASS everyday and take good notes, the class is a pretty easy A. Just study the notes. I didn't read ANY of the stories, and got A's on EVERY exams by studying notes. He's wonderful.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: ENG3310
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This class is 100% Lecture. Attend every class, and take good notes. My only problem with this class is that his tests are so comprehensive that it was hard to finish a couple of them, leading to test panic. His assessment of students was lacking in this regard. A better mix of projects and tests would be a more accurate way to measure learning.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ENG420
• 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:

I generally don't waste time calling out a professor when, even if we disagree, I still find them professional and therefore respect them. Guthrie is the exception. He complains of students publicly on Facebook, calling them ignorant. He's very intelligent but fails to understand that teaching, like learning, is a two way road. His are shut off.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ENG420
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Civil War Lit Class: Despite him repeatedly saying he is not a historian, he makes a better history prof than an english prof. I wasn't interested in the CW before his class; afterword I found it interesting, but not the literature. He knows his stuff, but he is a harsh and unreasonable grader. Doing well on tests help.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ENG300
• 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:

For me, Dr. Guthrie is a mixed bag. If you attend class, the tests are easy. Also, I don?t feel I?ve ever received a bad grade from him that I didn?t earn. My main issue with him was his treatment of struggling students. Not only were his comments unnecessarily harsh, they bordered on humiliating. Also, if you can't help them, why are you here?

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ENG301
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Run!!!! Very arrogant professor. Thinks that his thoughts and opinions about literature are right and everyone else's are wrong. I decided to drop his class after I received a low C on my first test. He marked questions wrong because "I did't word the answer the way he would have liked." I took the class over with another teacher and received an A.