Russia's Greatest Enigma: Nikolai Gogol
This course explores Nikolai Gogol's unique literary world, analyzing his masterpieces within the context of 19th-century Romanticism and Realism to develop critical thinking and writing skills.
Summary
Past student reviews · Andrew Reynolds
One student reported taking attendance every day and having to read a lot, noting that papers were graded strictly for a 200-level class.
What you’ll be able to do
Analyze and interpret most of Gogol’s masterpieces to gain a better sense of what literature is and why it is important to read literary texts.
Distinguish features of the major literary movements of the 19th century, Romanticism and Realism, through some of its most fascinating and problematic texts.
Examine the literariness of literary works and the complex relationships between author, the literary work, and society.
Develop skills in critical thinking and writing in order to better analyze difficult literary texts.
Source: UW Guide
Grade history
↗All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course mapSophomore standing
- Sophomore standing
This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Prerequisite text tree
- Sophomore standing
Professors
Spring 2027No instructors recorded for this selection.
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
ANDREW REYNOLDS is recorded teaching in Fall 2010, Spring 2015, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023. 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
Spring 2027Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
|---|
Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.
Meeting source records
No records available.
Student experience
the class
Past student reviews · Andrew Reynolds
Students found the course engaging due to Prof. Reynolds's deep knowledge of Russian literature and his ability to build fascinating intertextual connections in his lectures.
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2022: 3.72 GPA, 96.0% A/AB (n=25 letter grades); Spring 2023: 3.55 GPA, 75.6% A/AB (n=41 letter grades); Fall 2023: 3.58 GPA, 75.0% A/AB (n=20 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
Past student reviews · Andrew Reynolds
One student reported taking attendance every day and having to read a lot, noting that papers were graded strictly for a 200-level class.
Past student reviews · Andrew Reynolds
Reviewers described the instructor as caring and generous with grading, providing thoughtful feedback on assignments.
Topics
- Analysis and interpretation of Gogol's masterpieces.
- Major literary movements of the 19th century: Romanticism and Realism.
- Literariness and the relationships between author, work, and society.
Skills
- Analyzing and interpreting Gogol's masterpieces to understand the nature and importance of literary texts.
- Distinguishing features of 19th-century literary movements, specifically Romanticism and Realism, through key texts.
- Examining the literariness of works and the relationships between author, text, and society.
- Developing critical thinking and writing skills for analyzing difficult literary texts.
Grades
Latest available · Fall 2023— not enough history to project Spring 2027.
Grade distribution · % of letter grades
Grades over time
Through Fall 2023
More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data
Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.
Sources & history
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
No offering records for the selected term.
Raw records
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Student reviews
Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.
Read original reviews
Grade history
Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.
Explore recorded gradesRecorded 2026-10-14
Model outputs & technical records
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
Model & dataset provenance
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"requirements_status": "valid",
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"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
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