Peter Nissen Weltner

Dr. Weltner taught me close reading and the joy that can arise out of such a reading. He mostly ignores history, politics, and criticism (although his aesthetic seems New Critical to me) in favor of the Word, and because of this, he is both frustrating and refreshing -- frustrating because he keeps his class in tight control, excluding most discussions of historical, political or critical matters -- refreshing because his focus is very specific and (if you can let go of your ego's need to compete with the professor and just let him guide your attention -- you know, teach?) intense, exciting, really a writer's and/or a deep-reader's perspective on literature (especially poetry). Do you like to be read to? His readings of poems are very fine. Do you want to learn how to write an essay that seeks only to read a poem, not pontificate about it? He will help you do that. Do you want to break through the opaque veil that sometimes frustrates you when you read modern poetry? He will lift the veil! He is maybe a little edgy and certainly very kind. I'd say, if you long to get closer to modern poetry, open your heart to him and take this chance to really learn to read. Think of it as a kind of baptism in words.

One can see from this website that there are a lot of people who did not want to go to University. It is true, Dr. Weltner and some other professors should not be teaching at a school like San Francisco State University- the students do not take education seriously. They come to this school for a credential or some such, and are just here to be rubberstamped so they can get some job. Dr Weltner takes education seriously, espically in his sepecific area of eduacation. He will not pander to those who feel they are smarter than he is, beacuse they are not. He will improve your writing like no other professor at this istitution (to my knowledge) and he will do so at the expense of your getting an A in Junior Seminar or some such. I will strongly recomend him to people who do not ask, and command he be taken by people who do. He is most articulate and exact in his speech, and not only does he speak well, but he uses language very acurately and correctly. You will not find at this institution a better professor to take in a given area. He does not protend to know about things he does not. For example, he will not comment upon books he has not read, or about people whom he does not know. this proves to be imortant in many class discussions. Understand- Dr. Weltner is not for everyone. Having read the reviews, it is clear many people do not like his style of teaching. He demands good work. Some people might say, 'hey, maybe that is cool at Berkeley, but at State it doesn't fly, right?' perhaps that is the case. But it does not have to be. some people who attend this University want to be chalanged, want to prove themselves, whant to demonstrate that they know their stuff, or want to find out what they do not know so they can learn it, and Dr. Weltner is the professor for those individuals. I stand very impressed.

I gotta admit I really hated this class at first and I thought Weltner was a boring, pompous ass. But if you can make it through the first couple of weeks and get used to him you'll find he's a good teacher.

Weltner knows his shit, there's no doubt about it. If you're looking for an easy class, don't take one of Weltner's. He's definitely extremely knowledgeable about literature and I personally enjoyed his lectures. He does tend to ramble off on tangents but I'd rather that than someone who ploughs strait ahead until you want puncture your ear drums. He can, however, be a bit abstruse and though I didn't feel he was overly harsh on people who disagreed with him, it is rather difficult to argue with him because he has strong opinions and a ridiculous amount of knowledge to back himself up.

As far as papers go, you'd better expect to spend a LONG TIME writing them because if you give a half assed attempt he will call you on it. If you want to get a good grade on your papers you'll want to have a pretty good command of the technical aspect of poetry (beats, rhythms, rhymes & lines) and you'll have to ruminate on the poem for a while. Writing a six pager paper on an 8 line poem is probably the closest thing to getting a root canal with no anesthetic that you'll find in an undergrad english class.

most professors at state allow for class discussion that precludes the possibility of dissent. weltner doesn't. students, apparently, have little to offer this satiated pedagogue. the floodgates of knowledge are open only one way in weltner's domain. granted- he is learned, articulate, insightful. but he is clearly the most abrasive and closed minded teacher at state. and his grading scale is harsh as well. learn to play by his rules well, or expect low grades. you may learn to read and write better, but it will be limited to a very specific style of interpretation. oh, and erase symbolism from your cache of literary terms.

Weltner is knowledgable in his field but is extremely arrogant and closedminded. He gives no room for the opinions or input of others. His teaching method needs much improvement. The average grade on papers, according to myself and others in the class, was a C. It is really disheartening to see such an intellegent person shut himself off because he's trying to save his ego.

I agree with most of the reviews which discuss the rather vague teaching style he delivers from. Professor Weltner seems to deliberately intimidate students. The game is "right answer roulette" and he is the "only one" who knows the right answer for all interpretation of works and for "how to" write an essay.Students are "never" right and rarely even half right. Many students had no idea what was expected in their writing. Don't expect a fair grade for a job well done. The real problem with his method is he alienates students by pointing out how "off track" they are.Classroom participation is affected because people feel inadequate and stop responding.Half way through the semester I became very tired and bored with his method because I wasn't learning anything at all except what he wanted. I am sure he has something valuable to share however, it gets lost in all the semantics and need to control. He is not above "scolding" students who are irritating him in some manner.Overall I did learn how to be a better reader and writer but I spent a great deal of time trying to figure out what was expected as others did. Interesting enough, much of what he expects in writing does not follow standards expected elsewhere. You would be downgraded in other classes for certain things he expects. If you enjoy expressing your opinion, writing about symbolism,point of view,style,tone,or metaphor-skip this teacher.He gives new meaning to "careful reading and writing." He makes it clear that "grade inflation" is a problem-a problem he will "correct" by telling students a "C" is a perfectly acceptable grade.

It's clear to me that all the reviews that I have read about Professor Weltner are written by people who believe that school shouldn't be hard work.

As a 31 year old veteran from the Marine Corps, I can tell that most of the students who reviewed Professor Weltner didn't know the first thing about hard work and perseverance.

From personal experience, I admit that when I first took Weltner's class, I was intimidated, but only because I had never met someone who taught with the depth that he taught with. I had to learn how to be a better reader, something that isn't taught these days (I never learned in high school). It took several classes with Weltner and lots of reading and critical thinking for me to rise above "B" level to "A" level work.

I think most students are used to getting B's and A's for sub-standard work and are bitter when they don't get what they "think" they deserve. Professor Weltner is a fantastic teacher for students who are willing to work hard and be challenged.

I was laughing reading the other reviews about Weltner's catch phrases, "ruminating" his way through a lecture. As they also stated, Weltner does not allow his students the same latitude in analyzing a work that he allows himself. The most frustrating thing I encountered with him was when he would ask for comments, someone would venture an opinion, and he would say, "Well, not exactly. I think what you're missing is..." and then he would repeat EXACTLY what the student had just said, except in his own vague words! Once a student said the character "changed", and Weltner said, "Not exactly." The character underwent more of an altering "transformation", it seems. He certainly indulges quite a bit in the "jargon" he forbids in our responses. Anyway, I really do appreciate the literature he turned me on to. I appreciate his passion for the material. I sincerely do. I think his heart is in the right place, and he is a likable man when he is not lecturing. But he simply does not grant his students the same liberties as he grants himself. He is not a generous teacher, and makes students feel inadequate at every turn, although they are saying essentially the same things he is saying. His expectations for papers are not well defined enough, either. We are not to find themes and write on them. We are instead to find "closely related passages" and write on them. Tell me the difference, in words I can understand.

Weltner comes across as intimidating, but for good reason. This man is extraordinarily talented and intelligent. I was inspired by him to do better. I received no A's, and barely B's, and I still believe Weltner is a professor that should be commended. He commands the subject and encourages participation. I probably won't get more than a B in this class, but I'll know that I worked for it. Kudos, Weltner.

I find it difficult to write this review as I quite respect Professor Weltner as a person, writer, and for his intelligence. However, as with the previous students' reviews, I agree that there are certain traits of Weltner's teaching character that could stand for some improvement. I find it odd that Professor Weltner is always quite willing to answer questions, recite poetry, and to add his input on a specific author, and yet he is not very willing to grant these same ideals to his students. Most comments in class are met with a "I understand your point, but I think what so-and-so meant was really--"and so forth. It is slightly disappointing, therefore, that such an intelligent person who can be quite engaging to listen to is a bit lacking in old-fashioned communication skills. Although his assignments from my experience have been "write whatever you want", when doing so, his comments are often harsh to somewhat belittling and extremely critical (and not in the constructive way!). For myself, it is not the grade that matters (although the majority of my classmates--most considered to be good writers in other classes--received on average C's on their papers)--it is more the idea that Professor Weltner is a bit vague in assessing what exactly he is looking for from his students. To be honest, I am still not sure what Professor Weltner expects when he says "everyone has the potential to be a writer in my class". If you are looking for a teacher who knows his material and is extremely learned, then I would recommend Professor Weltner as his lectures are some of the most interesting I have sat in. A student should be prepared, however, for a class in which the atmoshpere relys heavily on Professor Weltner's feelings about writing and his experience as a writer, and not so much on what the MLA expects of student writers.

The first review in this list is incredibly accurate even if the reviewer was a little too kind. Mr. Weltner lectures to entertain himself--not to educate his students. His stated disdain for postmodern theory (on the first class meeting) led me to believe that we would spend many enjoyable hours "ruminating" over the delectable details in the dense imagery of Yeats' poetry. But invariably Mr. Weltner moves from the specific to meaningless generalities: "The Soul longs for the body which in turn longs for the Soul" and "A longing carries with it an opposite longing" and, my favorite--"One way or another, it's all happening in bodies." The entire course lectures for his Yeats seminar seldom depart from these "observations." Of course, Yeats is always difficult, but other students concurred with me that this class was the most stressful part of their week. Weltner enjoys rebuking his students and spent most of his class time telling one student after another: "But there's something else that you're not seeing here," after which he would repeat a stanza of poetry and one of his three mantras about Soul, Bodies and Longing(s). As the first reviewer suggested, Mr. Weltner does have some great understanding of literature, but he should never have been charged with the duty of communicating that understanding, of teaching. I still don't understand why he teaches the Yeats seminar. The last part of this review is for graduate students who may be considering one of his seminars. The fictional character of professor Kinbote in Nabokov's "Pale Fire" is not too far off from Professor Weltner. He said about the poem "Adam's Curse": "There is no Homeric imagery in this poem." A student asked about the poem "The Saint and the Hunchback" "To which of Nietzsche's works was Yeats responding?" Weltner replied: "I'm not sure; it may be "The Dawn."" In the twenty plus years he's been teaching Modernist literature, he hasn't discerned the myriad connections between "Also Sprach Zarathustra" and Yeats' poetry. And yet, at his best, Mr. Weltner almost quotes directly from that most influential of Nietzche's works. But Prof. Weltner's near-misses are more akin to those of Charles Kinbote. A student asked in reference to the recurring equestrian imagery in some of Yeats' poems: "Was Yeats an accomplished horseman?" Weltner shouted back: "Yeats never rode a horse in his entire life!" And then much more softly, almost under his breath, he added: "At least not that I'm aware of." I suspect that Weltner has the same intimate knowledge of Faulkner's entire existence, one of his other specialties.

If you enjoy sweeping generalizations, you'll love Weltner. He entertains himself with his extensive (and obscure) vocabulary. We often "rumininate upon the possibilities" (one of his catch-phrases)of the literature that he teaches. Although he does understand the material he presents, he does not know how to clearly express himself. This becomes problematic when he assigns the essay topics. Unlike other English professors, he encourages plot summation and regurgitation of class discussion within the paper; thus, the paper is simply reiterative of his lectures. He then criticizes statements within the paper as being too broad and abstract even though they are essentially his words. Concerned with grade inflation, he does give many C grades. As in his words, "a B- is above average." He is scheduled to teach "The Poetics of Clarity" (whatever that means!) next semester. I find it ironic that a man who has difficulty with clarity in his speech will teach such a course.

Peter Weltner is, extraordinarily, the most intelligent man I have ever met in my field. He has read and absorbed information on every art form, with special attention to contemporary poetry and fiction. He is an exciting lecturer if you are not concerned with being entertained; his insights and understanding of material go far beyond the mundane but are not always easily accesible.

Although I have never taken Eng. 214, I know for sure he is a tough critique of papers and does not tolerate slackness and vague description. Fortunately, I have not let that deter me in his classes; in fact, I've welcomed the challenge in an otherwise placatory system. The courses I've taken with him have been both the most difficult and the most rewarding, something which is often true but also often forgotten.

He is, unfortunately, stern to a fault. There are only occasional glimmers into the professor as a person; this is the only reason I find myself at times put off by him in class and outside of it. If he could be as amiable as he is intelligent, he would merit a higher grade.

Prof. Weltner seems to be competent in English, but his teaching methods need much improvement. The biggest complaint that most of his students seem to have is his grading techniques. Practically all of his students in my section have received grades of C+ to C-, as well as many No Credits on their essays. Many of these students appear to have good writing skills, but Prof. Weltner chooses to give low grades for unclear reasons. For this reason I have concluded that his grading is very illogical and unfair. I would not recommend this instructor if you are hoping to pass English 214 with a decent grade that represents your writing ability.