Fall 2026

Modern American Literature

ENGL 169 introduces students to selected American fiction, prose, drama, and poetry from the early twentieth century to the present.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Anja Jovic-Humphrey4.6/5Nate Marshall3.8/5Porter Shreve3.8/5 +6 more

Summary

1 / 7

The workload is generally light, consisting mostly of readings and a few easy writing assignments. Porter Shreve’s online section requires intensive weekly discussion posts and a short story project.

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
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AB
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All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

None

  • None
ENGL 169

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • None

Professors

Fall 2026

Anja Jovic-Humphrey

/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.89/5 from 61 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

For this course: 4.9/5 raw quality · 1.3/5 difficulty · 20 reviews

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Anja Jovic-Humphrey is consistently praised as an engaging, caring, and brilliant lecturer who makes the class enjoyable and insightful. Reviewers highlight her flexibility, thought-provoking teaching style, and ability to help students understand difficult readings. However, one review notes that the class can be disorganized with cancelled lectures, and another mentions that the required books are sometimes hard to read.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.84 GPA, 93.8% A/AB (n=211 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.81 GPA, 91.6% A/AB (n=262 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.84 GPA, 92.8% A/AB (n=237 letter grades).

/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.67/5 from 3 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

No course-specific feedback yet.

/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 5.00/5 from 2 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Porter Shreve is praised for engaging lectures and creative assignments. Reviewers describe him as caring and accommodating, noting that his class features interesting books and manageable workloads.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2025: 3.81 GPA, 86.6% A/AB (n=97 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Kay Yandell's teaching receives mixed historical reviews. Some students found her lectures pointless and suggested relying on TAs or note-sharing, while others described her as a nice lecturer who made the class easy. Reviews disagree on whether her lectures were necessary or helpful.

ANJA JOVIC-HUMPHREY is recorded teaching in Spring 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

LYNN KELLER is recorded teaching in Fall 2014, Fall 2016. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

PORTER SHREVE is recorded teaching in Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

TIMOTHY YU is recorded teaching in Fall 2014. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction286 / 2860
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 00
DIS 302Classroom Instruction22 / 220
DIS 303Classroom Instruction22 / 220
DIS 304Classroom Instruction22 / 220
DIS 305Classroom Instruction22 / 220
DIS 306Classroom Instruction22 / 220
DIS 307Classroom Instruction0 / 00
DIS 308Classroom Instruction0 / 00
DIS 309Classroom Instruction22 / 220
DIS 310Classroom Instruction22 / 220
DIS 311Classroom Instruction22 / 220
DIS 312Classroom Instruction22 / 220
DIS 313Classroom Instruction22 / 220
DIS 314Classroom Instruction22 / 220
DIS 315Classroom Instruction22 / 220
DIS 316Classroom Instruction22 / 220
LEC 002Classroom Instruction55 / 550
LEC 003Classroom Instruction49 / 500

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
Download part 1

Student experience

the class

Current instructors Anja Jovic-Humphrey and Porter Shreve receive high praise for engaging lectures and supportive teaching styles, making ENGL 169 a highly recommended and positive experience for students.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.80 GPA, 91.0% A/AB (n=266 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.81 GPA, 89.8% A/AB (n=412 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.83 GPA, 92.1% A/AB (n=265 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

The workload is generally light, consisting mostly of readings and a few easy writing assignments. Porter Shreve’s online section requires intensive weekly discussion posts and a short story project.

Students appreciate that engaging lectures help them understand difficult or boring readings. However, some reviewers note that the class can be disorganized with occasional lecture cancellations under Anja Jovic-Humphrey.

Topics

  • American fiction, prose, drama, and poetry
  • Early twentieth century to present day American literature

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Fall 2026.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Spring 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1283 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
ENGL 169 · Fall 2026

Modern American Literature

Recorded 2026-09-07
ENGL 169 · Fall 2026

Spoken Word&Performance Poetry

Recorded 2026-09-07
ENGL 169 · Fall 2026

Lit as Equipment for Living

Recorded 2026-09-07
ENGL 169 · Fall 2026

Living Writers

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records
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Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Download part 1
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-09-07

Download the original dataset
Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance
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  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "f148376774eb8a58f888892af50293d730d77b32a53fca425e4bb102937b48ce",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
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}