Emily is a very helpful and talented UW instructor. She is great at teaching, workshopping, and in general critiquing your writing. Her pointers are very effective, right to the point. She is also very understanding; she relaxed our deadlines as the semester progressed, knowing that both we and herself have lots to do. All in all, a very caring instructor who knows what she's teaching (for example, for each new essay she has us meet her in her office to discuss our topics, and her comments on our drafts are always very detailed and helpful).
About the course: it's a standard UW course. Emily sticks pretty close to her notes. Assignments pretty much every class, ranging from writing a few sentences, to a distillation (summary), to a rough draft. A very intense class and workload (worth 2 of my easy classes). Class isn't terribly exciting and it can feel very long. 4 essay assignments (called "progressions" by the department), with around 3 drafts (including the final one). First 2 are 1,500-2,000 words, third 2,500-3,000, last only 1,000-1,500 words. The workshops might help a lot, depending on the person, but I found Emily's notes on your writing and the private discussions with her really important. Oh before I forget: a substantial amount of reading too.