Fall 2026

Early Works of Shakespeare

Study of four Shakespeare plays through 1600, with the reading of several others.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Joseph Bowling4.0/5

Summary

1 / 6

Assignments are described as easy with flexible deadlines, though the workload includes multiple papers and source studies. The reading material is extensive and can be tedious, but participation is not mandatory.

Grade history

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

Prerequisites

Course map

Sophomore standing

  • Sophomore standing
ENGL 431

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

Prerequisite text tree
  • Sophomore standing

Professors

Fall 2026

Joseph Bowling

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

Raw average: 4.24/5 from 33 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: 4.8/5 raw quality · 2.0/5 difficulty · 4 reviews

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

Joseph Bowling teaches a lecture-heavy ENGL 431 course that reviewers describe as kind, knowledgeable, and caring. He provides flexible assignment deadlines and constructive feedback, though some find the dense lectures and tedious Shakespeare reading challenging. Students appreciate his responsiveness to feedback and the freedom granted in paper topics.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.84 GPA, 92.9% A/AB (n=28 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.95 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=28 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.86 GPA, 93.1% A/AB (n=29 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Historical reviews for instructor Joshua Calhoun describe him as passionate and caring, with engaging discussions. However, one reviewer notes the course involves significant busy work, covering five to six plays quickly, and includes two large semester-long projects.

JOSEPH BOWLING is recorded teaching in Fall 2018, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JOSHUA CALHOUN is recorded teaching in Fall 2014, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2019. 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 Instruction29 / 300

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

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Joseph Bowling is a kind and knowledgeable instructor who receives high praise for his caring nature and easy grading. Students generally recommend the class, though some find the heavy lecture format and tedious Shakespeare readings challenging.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.84 GPA, 92.9% A/AB (n=28 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.79 GPA, 90.9% A/AB (n=55 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.79 GPA, 91.1% A/AB (n=45 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Assignments are described as easy with flexible deadlines, though the workload includes multiple papers and source studies. The reading material is extensive and can be tedious, but participation is not mandatory.

Bowling is responsive to student feedback and seems to care about his students. However, the lecture-heavy format with limited discussion may not suit students who prefer interactive classes or struggle with long sessions.

Topics

  • Early works of Shakespeare
  • Shakespeare plays through 1600

Grades

Latest available · Fall 2025— 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 Fall 2025

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Fall 2025 · 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

1320 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.

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Selected offering source records
ENGL 431 · Fall 2026

Early Works of Shakespeare

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records
[
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:352:006852",
    "course_id": "ENGL 431",
    "course_uid": "course_3c7043e25530bc3ad1e1bef8",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "006852",
    "source_subject_id": "352",
    "title": "Early Works of Shakespeare",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Summer"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

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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.

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Model & dataset provenance
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "b6e821dcf5f823f793dbb96a92a6bb47885ac72f28612afc2f3d2b86cacb042a",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}