The official guide to courses by Straighterline, Study, et al: We want YOUR input!

[jsh1138]

Provider: Shmoop
Course: The Bible as Literature
Course content: standard Shmoop stuff, no outside material required
Final exam format: Multiple choice, I think 50 questions
Final exam content vs course content/practice exams: the tests at the end of each section adequately prepare you for the final 
Time taken on course: 4 or 5 hours, if that
Familiarity with subject before course: I am very familiar with the Bible. 
Pitfalls, high points, things others should know: Many of the things this course says about Bible scholarship aren't true, but other than that its fine. 
1-10 Difficulty level: 1, assuming that you are decently familiar with the Bible. halfway through I literally stopped reading the course & just started taking the exams & I finished with a B+. If I had it to do over again I wouldn't read any of it at all & just do the exams. I am confident I could still get a B in less than 3 hours

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Provider: Shmoop
Course: Media Literacy
Course content: Standard Shmoop course, no outside material needed
Final exam format: 50 multiple choice
Final exam content vs course content/practice exams: the exams at the end of the sections prepare you for the final
Time taken on course: an afternoon
Familiarity with subject before course: I know the current American culture
Pitfalls, high points, things others should know: If you are a native American under 40 years old, you can pass this course without reading the material. Older students or non-native students may need to familiarize themselves with the material
1-10 Difficulty level: 1. Exam questions are along the lines of "what do you do at the Spotify website" or "what does Itunes do", etc. Very simple, common-knowledge stuff for the most part. I stopped reading the material halfway through and got a low B. If you skim it you should be fine, be sure to look at the correct answers to anything you miss on the quizzes and you should have no trouble withe the final

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Provider: Shmoop
Course: Shakespeare in Context
Course content: Standard Shmoop, no outside material required
Final exam format: 50 multiple choice
Final exam content vs course content/practice exams: most of what's on the final will be in the quizzes. alot of the questions are reading comprehension based, where you are given a short reading with the question
Time taken on course: probably 2 days
Familiarity with subject before course: I had read about half the plays in this course before taking the course
Pitfalls, high points, things others should know: It helps alot if you've read the plays. Some of them are common, like Hamlet, some are more obscure, like Winter's Tale
1-10 Difficulty level: 3ish. Maybe 2ish if you've read all the plays. Most of the questions are along the lines of "in this play, who is X character" or "Why did X do Y?" or "what is X's last name?" etc. Nothing in-depth or too tricky, assuming you can remember who is who in the plays. For the ones everyone knows, like Romeo and Juliet, its a joke. For the ones you haven't read before it can be challenging