Beverly Voloshin

Engl. 741: It was something of a nightmare (or was it yet again only my sad fate), and though I love literature and theory and Poe, still I couldn't find my feet, ended up feeling incompetent and never really recovered from it (a shadow upon me and my scholarship, upon my very heart). Yes, it was all rather unfortunate. The assignments, oh! they horribly call for high degrees of Prussian efficiency unknown to my wandering, illogical and imaginative temperament. I realize it is best not to dwell upon it, but I thought perhaps I'd be the sole dissenting voice in the long, dim, echoing halls of academe. Still, I'd give Voloshin an A, because I realize that she is a competent professor who after all is a published scholar and she nobly keeps Poe alive in a culture still consumed with consuming the material rather than experiencing the artistic. Alas, the one fallen sparrow, that's me. Bury me 'neath a black stone marked "Lost." Read "Ullalume" over me: "The skies they were ashen and sober;/The leaves they were crisped and sere --/The leaves they were withering and sere/...Our talk had been serious and sober,/But our thoughts they were palsied and sere --/Our memories were treacherous and sere/...Well I know, now, this dank tarn of Auber --/In this ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir...."

Although Professor Voloshin can be intimidating with her scholars knowledge of Poe and her easy grasp of the French Structuralist and Post-Structuralist, she is a teacher that cares about her students. In my Intro to Lit Theory class, she complimented, cajoled, and commented on the students presentations and responses but never insulted or condescended to us.

Graduate classes can be humorless because of the difficult material and the nervousness of trying to be seen as serious, but Voloshin cracked jokes and brought levity to the class. There is a lot of reading and work, but this is a graduate class, so this is what is expected. I recommend her as a teacher.

I'm not saying she's easy, but I definitely wouldn't worry or be intimated by her as being a difficult teacher. She meets the standards as a good English professor, and, contradicting what others say, in my mind, is warm and friendly. My experience in her class that makes me rate her so highly is her CONSISTENCY. So many teachers are inconsistent, and don't have a clear, focused structure of their class. Professor Voloshin seems to have a clear goal, and is consistently striving to achieve that the ENTIRE semester, which makes it a fulfilling class. What she wants to see is that you have gained insight, and make sure that you clearly express it. Don't skip over ideas, and make sure to organize your thoughts. But, yeah...take her! She's good...

This is the most difficult professor I have ever had. I took 3 courses from her, and earned (I mean really earned) B's in each one. She's hard! Damn hard! But, one of a kind. And, brilliant. You'll work your ass off, read way more than you have for any other class, and learn a lot.

Like to read? Like to be challenged? Do you like to be able to write your own ideas, and have them evaluated on the basis of literaRy credibility rather than on whether the teacher thinks your ideas are "proper"?

Dr. Vololshin is an excellent teacher. She expects a lot, but you leave the class having learned SO much, and personally, now she's piqued my curiosity and I will be looking deeper into a number of authors/topics that we didn't have time to go into detail on. She's SFSU's shining star! (Don't be turned off by her seemingly cold attitude...I think it's just her personality and she warms up as the semester goes on.

Dr. Voloshin is not an easy teacher. If you're looking for an easy A, you won't get it here. She's tough, her reading list is long and sometimes arduous, but the class is NEVER BORING!! She is highly intellectual, very scholarly, and can seem a little distance as a result of this. But once you get past this, she is charasmatic in her teaching style, and she's open and fair. These last two are of the utmost importance to me when it comes to lit teachers. You are not required to regurgitate her lectures, new, different ideas are welcomed, and she IS fair. She'll ding you on the little things, but cares mostly about content. If you're up for a challenge and want to walk away feeling that you've learned TONS this is the teacher for you!!

Dr. Voloshin's Classic American Novel class involved tons of reading, more like a 4- rather a 3-unit class. She is very much a scholar, which makes her lectures really interesting. She often goes off on tangents, which I found far preferable to the usual canned lectures. Her lectures deal with complex issues, but her exams are pretty straightforward. I found her to be an engaging speaker, and very open and fair-minded. She sometimes seems a bit intimidating, but actually she's a deep thinker. If you take her class, you'll learn a great deal.

I don't think I have ever taken a class where I read as much as I did in this one. So let that be a warning to those of you who don't care much for reading. However, if you are willing to read through all of the material and show up for the lectures, you will be given a very informative and interesting overview of early American Literature. Prof. Voloshin's lectures are engaging and insightful, and I enjoyed the opportunity to express my own opinions during the many class discussions she held. All in all-- a very solid teacher. I am unable to find anything worth criticizing.