Western Kentucky University / M / Molly A. McCaffrey

Fun, but hard. Blog about what you want to do for your profession. You spend the last 5-6 weeks of class on the paper about your blog topic.

I DO NOT reccomend taking this professor AT ALL, especially if you're not good at english. If i would have a question about something she would act like im stupid. She failed me on all of my essays when i even had about four people read them and think that they were good. I like her as a person but she grades way too strict for a teacher. She compares everyone else's writing to hers.

She expects you to know how to write when technically you are supposed to learn how to write at college level in this class. You have a lot of writing to do. Not a very good teacher and doesn't try to work with you on anything.

Dr. McCaffrey was a good teacher. She really helps you out with the essays if you need it. I actually learned in her class! You have to read this grammar book every week and take a quiz over it every day, but it isn't bad. It is a working class but you learn. I highly recommend her!

Dr. McCaffrey was my adviser, which is why I thought it would be okay to take this class. I was wrong. She is an awful professor and if you can avoid taking her, do so.

The reason that I found her class to be awful is because:

1) She is rude and snotty the majority of the time. She recently became a published author and wants to remind you of that fact ALL the time. She will constantly suggest that you need to buy her book or her husband's book. She acts like hers is the ONLY opinion that matters and when you start to turn your portfolio in, she will tell you to your face that you either have to make the majority of the changes she suggests or you will fail the assignment. If you don't like the changes, you should keep the original copy and change it back after class. THIS DEFEATS THE POINT OF "THE CREATIVE PROCESS!"

2)She doesn't teach. She will assign you to pick up anywhere from 2-4 books. She expects you to read the books and then in class, she will hold a discussion in which she agrees with the author, hence why she chose the book. It makes her a weak professor and it is incredibly aggravating. Attendance is mandatory, so you basically go to class to hear what you've already read. She doesn't add anything to it, she just recants it.

2) She has NO respect for University rules. At Western, if you go to the doctor and get a pass for class, your note has to be accepted by your professor. If you have gotten to that point, obviously you were not well enough to make it to class. (Tests and stuff can be dictated by your professor, but they can't hold your absence against you.) She, on the other hand, uses the excuse that she gives you 4 free absences and that she doesn't want "to hear the sob story" of why you couldn't make it to class. If you get sick/busy anytime after those four, she will start taking five points off of your grade.

3) She acts like that Creative Writing is the only useful thing in the English department and if you aren't a creative writer, you are not an useful human being. You cannot simply write because you enjoy writing, it is all in the line of "this must be published!" If you are a creative writing major, that's awesome, but for everyone else simply fulfilling a requirement (like the majority of my class) we don't care. We just want to become better writers, not "publisher approved" writers.

4) She makes writing completely unenjoyable because her "suggestions" make it so that your work is more like her work. She is obsessed with this idea that you "show and not tell" in all of your work, but won't give you a clear example of how this is supposed to be done or will only give you a suggestion like "change the work to fit what I think it should be." If you try to be subtle, you are being too vague. If you believe you have the perfect mix, you are showing too much.

Also, she knows NOTHING of the nerd/geek culture, so if you attempt to reference in class, she will tell you that you are wrong and that you need to change it. Unless it is in her realm of "literary fiction," she believes that you can and should abuse the hell out of anything else because it is "not important enough to worry about."

5) She requires you to go to out of class readings. This something I hate in all professors who do this. These "readings" basically consist of whatever writer the English department has dragged to campus reading from their work and saying to everyone else, "Look at me! I'm successful!" It is simply a way that the English department can justify bring these people to campus, because with the exception of the Chuck Klosterman reading, no one would ever want to go. Students shouldn't be used as a guinea pigs for this crap.

6) She obsesses over the dumbest things. She reminds you at the start of every class period to make sure your phone is turned off because if your phone were to accidentally go off, you apparently destroy her zen and she doesn't want to teach anymore.

The dumbest thing she has ever said was in the event of an emergency, like someone just got into a wreck or is having baby, you should tell her ahead of time and step out whenever you get the call. If you knew ahead of time that you were going to have an emergency, it wouldn't quite be an emergency, would it? Also, if you have to leave class for said emergency, she will count you absent for what you missed. If you attempt to explain said emergency to her, that's a "sob story" and you have four chances to miss.

TL;DR

She's a mean, snotty woman who will force you to turn all of your work into hers. She doesn't teach at all and she will kill your creative process and make you never want to pursue another class like it ever again. Do not take her.

I love this class so much. Even though I was kicked out of class (along with others) because I didn't read the stories for that day, I have really grown to respect her. I saw a previous comment saying she tries to make your work her own, but I don't get that at all. I respect her comments and critiques because she has published books. I love hearing what she has to say! If you enjoy writing creatively, take this class! Also she doesn't really have favorites. There are a few people that talk too much, but she definitely doesn't have favorites. Overall this is my favorite class I have ever taken.

Dr. McCaffrey's class is easily one of my favorites. Although challenging, Dr. McCaffrey is more than available if you need help. She loves the subject, and it shows through her teaching. Not only does she love writing, but she loves to encourage others to love writing. In order to bring about a constructive community to her class, she hands out rules regarding workshop requirements. She will not allow personal attacks or mocking of pieces. There is a ton of writing (something is due nearly every class), but what do you expect with a creative writing class? The final consists of terms that you learn throughout the semester. She gives you all the terms at the beginning of the semester, and you have the ability to learn them all during class. She even reviews the terms the last class period before the exam. The exam itself is completely short essay, but takes less than thirty minutes. I really enjoyed the challenge and the chance to have my writing workshopped by my peers. Great class!

Dr. McCaffrey understands the frustrations and fears that young writers have. When I had her for ENG 203, I gained a lot of confidence through the many poetry exercises and the short story assignment. For the first time I felt that my writing mattered.

Dr. McCaffrey not only has the ability to make you see your own potential, but she is extremely helpful both during and after the class or classes you take with her. I have gone to her on several occassions asking for advice on everything from creative writing to graduate school.

She knows what she is talking about, and she has the talent and publications to prove. I highly recommend taking a class with Dr. McCaffrey. Even though I personally did not have her in an ENG 100, 200, or 300 class, I am more than confident that her teaching style will carry through to these classes as well. She is an amazing teacher who will act as both advisor and friend.

Dr. McCaffrey, is really not that great of a teacher. I loved English class until I took this one. We had a section where we wrote poems, and then a portfolio to turn in. I fixed all the things she said were wrong with my poems before the final turn in and she said that I didn't fix everything she said to and thus gave me a c-. She tried to turn my work into her own, and I didn't appreciate it. She also plays favorites in class. The class is discussion based for the most part, and I didn't blurt things out, so one night at a reading she made us as a class go to, she told me in front of my friends, classmates, and boyfriend that she never heard me talk in class and that I needed to speak more among other things. I personally was very embarrassed that she choose to tell me then, she could've picked another time. If she thinks that you didn't do the readings based on her picky questions, she will ask you to leave class, and your attendance won't be counted for the day. Same thing if your phone accidentally goes off. If your late, she won't let you in either. My advise is to try to get another teacher in the English department before you take her, unless your writing is so fantastic that you think you can handle it.

Dr. McCaffrey is an overall good teacher. The class consisted of reading I am Charlotte Simmons and taking quizzes over that following 3 papers. Now if your someone like and writing is not your strong point then I wouldn't advise this as your teacher. She focuses mainly on grammar and APA writing style. If you love writing then take her you will learn a lot and enjoy it at the same time. For me though it was torture and if you suck at writing again don't take her!

Ms. McCaffrey is absoultey insane when it comes to grading papers. She expects way to much out of them and will not even tell you what you did wrong on the paper and just give you an F or whatever she feels like given you. Overall do not take her or you will fail

If you ever get a chance to take this class, DO IT!!! She is awesome and this class is one of the best experiences ever! You do have to write quite a bit but they are not hard assignments. You have a 6-10 page short story as your final project. She is so nice and really passionate about what she teaches. Take this class!

Dr. McCaffrey is very intelligent and takes her work very serious. You only write 4 papers in the class and take a few pop quizzes. Attendance is really mandatory to get all your participation points for that day. Im not a real big class discussion type of person, and therefore I never recieved all of my points because I didn't blurt things out. She grades papers very hard. You wont really know what your grade is unless you keep up with it yourself becasue she doesn't use blackboard and it takes a while to get things back. I liked English until I had this class and really don't reccomend her. Be on time or she WILL NOT let you in and WONT be able to make up your work. She doesn't accept Dr's excuses either, no matter what the situation is. Please consider other teacher before committing to her hard work.

McCaffrey is by far the worst teacher I have ever taken. It is obvious that she plays favorites and grades unfairly. She contradicts herself to what she says in class to checking your papers. If something is wrong with your paper she will not tell you how to fix it just give you an F. I do not reccomend her to anyone!!

Dr McCaffrey was one of the worst English teachers I have had thus far. She gives you three exams and says that if you fail two that you fail the course but makes it almost impossible to pass either one. She tells you part of the way through the semester if you are going fail and then expects you to attend class after finding out. She also plays favorites and grades unfairly, she will tell one thing is wrong with your paper and then after you fix it will do all she can to find another thing wrong with it as well. I was very disappointed in her class and would not recommend her unless you are phenomenal writer.