Class record · ENGL · MCAS

ENGL 1180

Lit Core: From Slavery to Mass Incarceration · 1 instructor on record · 4 sections

What the course score is made of

92BC evaluations4 records · weight ×1.0 · Spring 2022 – Spring 2026

—Student reviewsno reviews — does not contribute

—RateMyProfessorsno ratings — does not contribute

That is the class itself, averaged across everyone who taught it. Who taught it, and how each of them scored, is the board below — that is what a student picking a section is actually choosing between.

What the challenge rank is made of

48thMore challenging than 48% of BC classesranked against every one we hold

90BC — “Intellectually Challenging”4 records · raw score out of 100

Boston College's own “intellectually challenging” question for this class only — students answer it positively about courses that stretched them, so it measures intellectual challenge and NOT grading, workload or quality. Almost every BC class scores high on it, which is why it is shown as a rank rather than a score.

What the workload rank is made of

45thMore work than 45% of BC classesranked against every one we hold

55BC — “Workload”4 records · raw score out of 100

Boston College reports workload for this class only as one of five bands, not as a number of hours, and it does not publish what the bands mean — so this site will not translate it into hours. Higher means more work, which is not the same as worse.

This section of Literature Core will focus on narratives that speak to questions of slavery, incarceration, and freedom--both literal and metaphorical. The current pandemic along with the mass demonstrations against systemic racial injustices will provide a particular backdrop and context from which to consider these questions and issues. The course will start with historical and political writings about slavery from the 1800s and the social contexts in which these writings were produced and consumed. We will them move on to historical and contemporary fiction and film that informs and challenges our historical understanding of slavery and the relationship between slavery and our current system of incarceration. Course texts may include Homegoing (Yaa Gaysi), The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, David Walker's Appeal, Beloved (Toni Morrison), Kindred (Octavia Butler), The Nickel Boys (Colson Whitehead), and Just Mercy (Bryan Stevenson).

The only instructor on record

4 sections · nobody else has taught itFull record

Instructor	Overall	Workload	Challenge	RMP overall
Marla DerosaProfessor of the Practice; Director of Undergraduate Studies · English	944 records	45th	48th	949 ratings · all classes

There is no ranking to read here: Marla Derosa is the only instructor with evaluation records for ENGL 1180, so the number is a record, not a position. The RateMyProfessors figure is their overall score across everything they teach, not their score in this class.

Also taught by Marla Derosa

6 other classes

Class	Instructors	Course score
ENGL 1080Literature Core	90257 records	80
ENGL 1729The Role of Literature in Understanding the Complex Meaning of Justice	16 records	95
ENGL 3011The Art of Tutoring Writing	35 records	91
ENGL 1110First Year Writing Seminar: From Slavery to Mass Incarceration	14 records	87
ENGL 2141American Literary History I	24 records	87
ENGL 3220Teaching Banned Books: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Young Adult Literature	11 record	88

Other ENGL classes

All of them

Class	Instructors	Course score
ENGL 1010First Year Writing Seminar	136442 records	80
ENGL 1080Literature Core	90257 records	80
ENGL 1079Literature Core for Multilingual Students	1340 records	89
ENGL 2221Introduction to Creative Writing	936 records	90
ENGL 2133Studies in Narrative	1634 records	87
ENGL 2131Studies in Poetry	1333 records	84

The line

All 13 items · means across 4 records

The Professor4 items

Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.

9666th pctl

Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.

9453rd pctl

Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.

9560th pctl

Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.

9659th pctl

The Course3 items

Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.

9464th pctl

Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.

9574th pctl

Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.

9462nd pctl

Assignments & Feedback3 items

Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.

9361st pctl

Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.

8626th pctl

Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.

9357th pctl

Workload, difficulty & attendanceNot ratings

WorkloadHow much work the course took outside class, on Boston College's five-band scale — the band boundaries are not published, so this is not a number of hours.

5545th pctl

Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.

9048th pctl

Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.

9462nd pctl

Bar length is the rank against every comparable record we hold, not the raw score: BC's questions all have a median around 4.5, so a raw-scale bar would be nearly full on every row and would tell you nothing. Every bar is one ink colour — nothing here is graded green or red. The hatched bars are not ratings at all: a higher number on either describes a different course, not a better one.

Game log

4 sections · newest first

Instructor	Term	Sec	Instr	Course	Work
Marla Derosa	Spring 2026	01	93	95	60
Marla Derosa	Fall 2024	01	91	90	40
Marla Derosa	Fall 2022	01	93	90	60
Marla Derosa	Spring 2022	01	98	94	60

How to read this boardInstructors are ranked on their record in this class only, never on their average across everything they teach. Scores are out of 100 — Boston College's 1–5 agreement scale, ×20, the way these numbers were printed for years. Workload is BC's own five-band figure, not a number of hours, and is shown as a rank. A dash means the question was not reported, and is never a zero.