Fall 2026

Topic in Eighteenth-century Literature and Culture

ENGL 438 is a course focused on the study of specific topics within 18th-century literature and culture.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Mark Vareschi3.8/5

Summary

1 / 6

The course is primarily discussion-based with occasional papers, rated as low difficulty.

Grade history

average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Sophomore standing

  • Sophomore standing
ENGL 438

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

Prerequisite text tree
  • Sophomore standing

Professors

Fall 2026
/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.92/5 from 12 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: 5.0/5 raw quality · 2.0/5 difficulty · 2 reviews

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

Mark Vareschi is described as super nice, caring, and supportive, creating a positive learning environment. Students highly recommend his classes, noting that they are discussion-based with occasional papers and offer engaging content on topics like 18th-century literature and gothic novels.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.58 GPA, 90.0% A/AB (n=30 letter grades); Spring 2024: 3.66 GPA, 92.9% A/AB (n=28 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.77 GPA, 90.7% A/AB (n=54 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

MARK VARESCHI is recorded teaching in Fall 2016, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2026. 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 Instruction30 / 300

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

Meeting source records

Student experience

the class

Mark Vareschi creates a positive, discussion-heavy learning environment where students enjoy the course material and feel supported.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.58 GPA, 90.0% A/AB (n=30 letter grades); Spring 2024: 3.66 GPA, 92.9% A/AB (n=28 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.77 GPA, 90.7% A/AB (n=54 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

The course is primarily discussion-based with occasional papers, rated as low difficulty.

Students appreciate the caring instructor and engaging discussions on topics like 18th-century literature and gothic novels.

Topics

  • 18th-Century Literature
  • 18th-Century Culture

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.

Selected offering source records
ENGL 438 · Fall 2026

Topic in Eighteenth-Century Literature and Culture

Recorded 2026-09-07
ENGL 438 · Fall 2026

Gender & Sexuality, 18th C Lit

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records
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    "term_id": "1272",
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    "source_subject_id": "352",
    "title": "Topic in Eighteenth-Century Literature and Culture",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
  },
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    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
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    "course_uid": "course_7bd24beb17f6175cb65cc8df",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "006865.12",
    "source_subject_id": "352",
    "title": "Gender & Sexuality, 18th C Lit",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, 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.

Explore recorded grades
Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Model & dataset provenance
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