Elizabeth Dobbs - Grinnell College

Professor: Elizabeth Dobbs

Department: TBD

College: Grinnell College

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: LIN101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Rather than taking her class, I was a tutor for her class. The students often found her to be intimidating and cold. When students asked for more clarity, she would act as though the student was stupid. Rather than reteaching she would just repeat herself. As an educators myself, I can say that her teaching strategies are very VERY outdated.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: LING230
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Dobbs will peel your skin off and wear it as a Grinnell-student-trenchcoat, all the while cackling away ****enly and reciting the Gawain poet's Dream Vision in middle English. I can only hope to one day be so ruthless and exacting a professor.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ENG349
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I've had Dobbs for more classes than most people and I learned a lot in and appreciated each of her classes. They have been the hardest classes I have taken at Grinnell, because she forced me to work, and to study. Her grading is very grammatically-based, and if you don't say what she wants, she doesn't like it, often at your grade's expense.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ENG223
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Her paper prompts leave no room for originality and all grading is based on grammar. In addition, she refuses to meet with you about papers unless you've already received a grade and have gone to writing lab to make improvements. Daily, when she lets you out of class(5-8 min. over) you are fuming and filled with hatred for a topic you used to love.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ENG120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Maybe if an English major, but Professor Dobbs will punch you in the face. She knows what she's talking about, but places more emphasis on what she wants to hear. Indescribably high expectations on writing, despite an apparently laid back class. Generally not helpful on writing, as she will give vague comments and then refer you to writing lab.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: TRADS223
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Terribly difficult and biased grader.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ENG101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

As considerate as a tangle of bramble. Gives no merit to original concepts and grades solely upon a grammatical basis. Though I hate to give her so much credit for at least one day she made me doubt my own worth which is the worst sin a man can impress upon another. Love yourself, you are brilliant and she is insignificant. Avoid like the plague.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ENG120
• 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:

Very talkative, extremely boring. Doesn't grasp that college students are not idiotic - talks to students as if they are very slow, and she is very clever. Nitpicks about grammar/punctuation on papers to an absurd degree, likes to think she's funny & clever, but really is not. She analyzes poetry like she's dismembering it with a gigant pick-axe.

Rating # 9

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

Taking a course from Ms. Dobbs is like an operation without any anaesthetic--it is extremely painful but good for you in the long-run. I still use her rules of writing that she gave to me on the first day of my freshman year tutorial over ten years ago. Yet, she laughed at me, yelled at me, and embarrassed me. But I learned. A lot.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ENG12O
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Be warned: the rumors are true: she is a very particualr grader on papers and demands precise writing. However, she is not as intimidating as she may appear (and as her class discussion method would make her out to be). Her class may be frustrating at times, but it has definately been worth my while.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ENG101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Treats students like 12 year olds. Participation points are hard to get because open discussion is turn based. Grades papers solely on sentence and paragraph structure. Content of argument for papers is completely irrelevant to her. Reminds students of how great she is at English by finding fault in everything they do, write, or say in class. EGO!

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ENG
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Don't for a minute think you are smarter or a better writer than this woman--she will take your intellectual lunch money. I took every class I could with Ms. Dobbs in the early 90's & am one phenomenal writer/editor as a result. Don't take her unless you want to learn & want a challenge.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CHAUCERETC
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Cold yes, demanding yes. But more than worth it and not impossible. She may make you cry but you'll write better for it. Four years after the fact I still remember this woman as one of my most effective teachers.

Rating # 14

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

along with vicotoria brown, most demanding of my profs at grinnell. 8am walk from french house in jan/fed made it a bit tough to enjoy.

Rating # 15

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

For those of you about to take a course with her: her quizes/tests are killer! The course I had with her was stressful and demanding. Yet, I now am much more interested in British literature than I ever was before. She is also helpful with paper rewrites and you will learn a lot. Be prepared to work like crazy.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: HUMANITIES101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

She is one of the best professors I've ever had. Class discussions are lively, and while she is a hard grader, I feel that I've learned more from her corrections than from any other class and greatly improved my writing. You can tell that she truly enjoys what she teaches.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ENG223
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

horrible. she made me cry in class. half the class dropped in 1st week. boring, very hard grader. insults you in class and on papers. loves to prove she knows more than you. intimidating, unapproachable. she got in trouble with admn for giving too much work over break. quizes are short but hard!

Rating # 18

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

Difficult teaching style and a horrible approch to teaching the act of writing. Her rules of writing made me into a worse writer for a while, until I unlearned her rules

Rating # 19

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

Elizabeth Dobbs picked apart my writing, helped me understand what I was doing wrong and doing correctly, and then rebuild it. She is patient and wonderful, and yes, a traditionalist, but one who truly loves the material and teaching.

Rating # 20

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

Brilliant woman, perhaps a bit dry/cold at first, but I feel like many Grinnell students seem to want hand-holding and constant praise -- but the way she abstains from that made me a better student and a better English major.