COURSES OFFERED

The courses found below are offered by the English Department.  Please note that not every course is offered every semester.  To determine whether the course you are interested in is available, please refer to the schedule of classes.

English
80
Basic Language Skills

3 units; 3 hours lecture, 1 hour lab
Recommended Preparation:  qualification by testing (English Placement Test) and assessment
Credit, not degree applicable

Students will improve reading and study skills necessary for college success.  Special emphasis will be placed on reading comprehension, strategies for understanding written words, study and test taking skills, and vocabulary expansion.  As writing is a natural extension of the reading process, students also will learn the basic structure of sentences and will learn to recognize main ideas, relationships between main ideas and supporting detail, and patterns of organization in various types of reading material.

 Note: Credit/no credit only.

English
82
Introduction to Reading Skills

3 units; 3 hours lecture, 1 hour lab
Recommended Preparation: qualification by testing (English Placement Test) and assessment
Credit, not degree applicable

Students will improve general reading and thinking through increasing the following skills: comprehension, vocabulary, reading speed, and study and test-taking techniques. These competencies are necessary for success in the developmental reading and writing courses. This course is designed for students whose reading level is below high school level.

Note: Credit/no credit only.

English
84
Developmental Reading and Writing

3 units; 3 hours lecture, 1 hour lab
Prerequisite: credit in English 82 or qualification by testing (English Placement Test) and assessment
Credit, degree applicable

Students will improve vocabulary comprehension, thinking processes, essay and objective study skills, test-taking techniques, and reading speed. These reading, writing, and thinking skills are necessary for success in college. This course is designed for students whose reading level is above remedial but whose reading level does not meet English 1A competency.

Note: Credit/no credit only.
Note: Students who receive credit for both English 84 and English A can count only one course for degree credit.

English B
Introduction to the Composing Process

3 units; 2 hours lecture, 2 hours lab
Recommended Preparation: qualification by testing (English Placement Test) and assessment.
Credit, not degree applicable

This course focuses on the brief expressive composition. Students write primarily narration and description based on observations of people, places, and things. In addition, they write reactions to brief reading selections. Some features of English B are focused journal writing, a learning tool that can be used in other courses; individualized instruction in sentence and word skills; assignments in critical thinking skills; and exercises in the elements of a composition.

Note: Credit/no credit only.

English A 
Writing the College Essay

3 units; 2 hours lecture, 2 hours lab
Prerequisite: credit in English B or qualification by testing (English Placement Test) and assessment.
Credit, degree applicable

This course will provide a complete introduction to essay writing based upon selected prose readings. A review of sentence skills and paragraph structure will be included.

Note: Credit/no credit only.
Note: Students who receive credit for both English A and English 2R can count only one course for degree credit.

English A-X
Writing the College Essay

3 units; 5 hours lecture
Prerequisite: ESL 53B with a minimum grade of C or qualification by assessment.
Credit, degree applicable

This course will provide a complete introduction to essay writing based upon selected prose readings. A review of sentence skills and paragraph structure will be included.

Note: Credit/no credit only.

English 1A
Reading and Composition

4 units; 4 hours lecture
Prerequisite: credit in English A and credit in English 84 or English 7;
or qualification by testing (English Placement Test) and assessment.
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC*; (CAN ENGL 2; English 1A, 1B = CAN ENGL SEQ A)

This course is designed to strengthen students’ ability to read with understanding and discernment, to discuss the assigned readings intelligently, and to write clearly. Emphasis will be on writing essays in which each paragraph relates to a controlling idea, has an introduction and a conclusion, and contains primary and secondary support. College-level reading material will be assigned to provide the stimulus for class discussion and writing assignments,
including a research paper.

Note: The maximum UC credit allowed for students completing English 1A, Reading and Composition, and English 1A, Reading and Composition for Foreign Students is one course.

English 1A
Reading and Composition for Foreign Students

4 units; 5 hours lecture
Prerequisite: ESL 52B with a minimum grade of C and
credit in English A-X or qualification by assessment
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC*; (CAN ENGL 2; English 1A, 1B = CAN ENGL SEQ A)

This course is designed to strengthen students’ ability to read with understanding and discernment, to discuss assigned readings intelligently, and to write clearly. Emphasis will be on writing essays in which each paragraph relates to a controlling idea, has an introduction and a conclusion, and contains primary and secondary support. College-level reading material will be assigned to provide the stimulus for class discussion and writing assignments, including a required research paper. This course is designed for students for whom English is their second language.

Note: The maximum UC credit allowed for students completing English 1A, Reading and Composition, and English 1A, Reading and Composition for Foreign Students is one course.

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English 1B
Literature and Composition

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Prerequisite: English 1A with a minimum grade of C
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC; (CAN ENGL 4; English 1A, 1B = CAN ENGL SEQ A)

English 1B aims to stimulate an enjoyment of literature and to develop interpretive, critical, and analytical reading skills. Students will also receive extensive instruction on writing critically about short stories, novels, plays, poems, and biographies. The class will include research involving one or more literary genres.

English 1C
Critical Thinking and Composition

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Prerequisite: English 1A with a minimum grade of C
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC

This course focuses on the development of critical thinking skills and on the application of these skills to written argumentation. Students will examine logical reasoning and apply its principles when reading and writing analytic and evaluative essays about argumentative, persuasive, narrative and expressive works and topics.

English 4
Grammar and Structure

3 units; 3 hours lecture, 1 hour lab
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English A
Credit, degree applicable

This course is for students who want to become thoroughly familiar with English grammar, structure, and usage. An emphasis is placed on recognizing, writing, and combining sentences. In addition, traditional grammar, usage, and mechanics, as they pertain to writing with correctness, clarity, and effective style, are included.

Note: Letter grade or CR/NCR option.

English 7
Speed and Power Reading

3 units; 3 hours lecture, 1 hour lab
Prerequisite: eligibility for English 84 or ESL 52B
Credit, degree applicable

This course increases reading speed and flexibility while improving comprehension and critical thinking ability. Systematic processes for logically and efficiently analyzing text are emphasized. In addition, study skills, skimming and scanning techniques, and vocabulary development are included.

Note: Credit/no credit only.

English 10
Introduction to Poetry

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC

This course provides an intensive study of poetry, examining individual poems and a variety of poetic types and techniques. Written analysis is stressed as students learn to organize and develop critical essays about poetry.

English 11
Introduction to Drama

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC

This course provides a study of drama as an art and a literary form. The focus is on analysis of selected plays, with attention to relevant dramatic theory and conventions, criticism, and historical and intellectual context. Written analysis will be stressed as students learn techniques of organizing and developing critical essays about drama.

English 12
Introduction to Fiction

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC

This course focuses on reading and interpreting the short story and the novel and analyzing the evolution, scope, and form of each genre. Students study the elements, themes, and styles of short stories and novels and the contributions of individual authors to each genre.

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English 15A
Survey of English Literature

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Prerequisite: English 1A with a minimum grade of C
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC; (CAN ENGL 8; English 15A, 15B = CAN ENGL SEQ B)

This course introduces students to English literature from the Anglo-Saxon period through the 18th century. Particular attention will be given to tracing the growth of English culture in relation to literature. The selections may include Beowulf and Everyman, as well as readings from Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, Donne, Herbert, Milton, Dryden, Pope, Swift, and Sheridan.

English 15B
Survey of English Literature

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Prerequisite: English 1A with a minimum grade of C
Note: English 15A is not a prerequisite to 15B
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC; (CAN ENGL 10; English 15A, 15B = CAN ENGL SEQ B)

English 15B begins with the Romantic Age and continues to the present. The course includes selections from major Romantic, Victorian and modern authors including Burns, Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, Keats, Tennyson, Arnold, Browning, Hardy, Yeats, Conrad, Joyce, Eliot, Heaney and others.

English 18
Survey of Women Writers: Middle Ages to the Present

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU

The course examines the literary contributions of women writers from the Middle Ages to the present. Students will study works of women’s literature in traditional and nontraditional genres, as well as examine the aesthetic, political, historical, cultural, and social contexts of the lives and works of women writers.

English 20
Shakespeare’s Plays - Tragedies and Romances

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC

This course introduces students to Shakespeare’s tragedies and romances. The major goals of the course are to help students understand the works, analyze the language, and read and evaluate critical analyses. Students will become familiar with the Elizabethan era and learn to appreciate the universality of Shakespeare’s art.

English 21
Shakespeare’s Plays - Comedies and Histories

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC

This course introduces students to representative comedies and histories of William Shakespeare. The major goals of the course are to help students understand the plays, analyze the language, read and evaluate critical material written on plays, become familiar with the Elizabethan era, and value the universal themes and entertaining qualities of Shakespeare’s plays.

English 22
Suspense Literature

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC

This course examines various types of suspense literature from the 19th century to the present. Students read, analyze, discuss, and evaluate examples of the most widely-read and enduring suspense literature forms: mystery, detective, crime, ad psychological suspense fiction. Students also examine the history of suspense literature and the cultural contexts that have given rise to the various suspense genres. Other suspense literature genres may be discussed, including gothic, spy, fantasy, horror, and science fiction.

English 23
Twentieth Century Literature

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC

This course focuses on reading and interpreting literature from the two major genres of the twentieth century: Modernism and Postmodernism. Students study the elements, themes, and styles of these genres as they pertain to American and British literature, as well as literature in translation.

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English 24A
Creative Writing: Introduction to Poetry

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU

This course is an introduction to the creative process or the creative experience in the writing of poetry including the awareness involved in “seeing�? the essence of which a poem is made, the inception of a specific poem, the use of conventions, devices, and techniques - both traditional and contemporary - in the actual writing of a poem, and the development of the student’s critical sense in writing and the process of revision. Students will develop a working journal or notebook, a personal voice in writing, and a method for critiquing poetic works.

Note: Letter grade or CR/NCR option.

English 24B
Creative Writing: Workshop in Poetry

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Prerequisite: English 24A with a minimum grade of C or equivalent
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU

This course, a continuation of English 24A, is a poetry workshop that emphasizes the development of solid critical standards to be applied to the work of published poets and the student’s own work. The student is required to submit poetry for publication. Attention is also given to markets for the student’s work.

Note: Letter grade or CR/NCR option.

English 25A
Creative Writing: Introduction to the Craft of Fiction

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU

This course is an introductory level creative writing course focusing on the short story. In addition to outlining and composing well-crafted stories, students will study the techniques of plot, characterization, point of view, conflict, and setting. Introduction to direct and indirect characterization will be illustrated through the narrative modes of action, description, exposition, and narration.

Note: Letter grade or CR/NCR option.

English 26
The Literature of Science Fiction

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC

This course examines various types of science fiction from the 20th century to the present. Students read, analyze, discuss, and evaluate examples of the most widely read and enduring science fiction genres: space adventure, utopian/dystopian, near future, high-tech, and futuristic human/ social interaction. Students also examine the history of science fiction and the cultural contexts that have given rise to the various science fiction genres. Other science fiction genres may be discussed including gothic, suspense, horror, and fantasy.

English 27
Children’s Literature

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU

This course introduces students to children’s literature, including classic and contemporary works. Literary and artistic qualities are examined with respect to historical and contemporary perspectives. Books for preschoolers to adolescents are read and analyzed.

English 28
Images of Women in Literature

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC

This course examines images of women in a variety of literary forms, including poetry, short stories, novels, plays, folklore, fairytales, and nonfiction prose. Students become familiar with female archetypes, women’s roles, and women’s themes as presented by both male and female writers, examining traditional and re-visionist approaches.

English 29
The Short Novel

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC

Through an analysis of its history, technique, and meaning, students are encouraged to understand the short novel as a distinctive form of fiction, and to consider the form in its own right as well as in relationship to the short story and the novel. For insight into the development of the short novel genre, students read works by authors of various cultures.

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English 30
The English Bible as Literature

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC

This course is a study of the types of literature used in both the Old and New Testaments of the English Bible. Readings and discussions emphasize analysis of such forms as the short story, poetry, letters, biographical literature, and historical literature.

English 31
Mythology and Folklore

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC

This course is a survey of Babylonian, Egyptian, Hebrew, Greek, Hispanic, Germanic, aboriginal, Indian, and other mythologies. Through readings of essays and literature, students explore the similarities and differences of folklore and mythology and identify cultural patterns in the literature.

English 32abc
Creative Writing: A Workshop in Fiction

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Prerequisite: English 25A with a minimum grade of C
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU

This course gives intensive study to the forms of the short story. Students will do advanced work in creating characters, strengthening conflict, and building plot. Emphasis will be on classroom discussion of students’ own fiction. The course may be taken three (3) times for credit.

Note: Letter grade or CR/NCR option.

English 33
Autobiographical Literature: Writing the Memoir

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC

This course focuses on reading, analyzing, and discussing autobiographies and memoirs by important writers. Students keep journals and use this material to write significant autobiographical pieces, advancing their composition skills and personal investigative strategies.

English 34
The Short Story

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC

This course focuses on reading and interpreting the short story and analyzing the evolution, scope, and form of the genre. Students will study the elements, themes, and styles of American and English short stories, as well as literature in translation.

English 35
World Literature, 2500 B.C. to 1650 A.D.

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC

This course examines masterpieces of world literature from the ancient world through the mid-17th century as both reflections and progenitors of their cultures and, eventually, nations of origin. Students explore the universal concerns of humankind as exemplified through the themes, forms, and trends of the literary works.

English 36
World Literature, 1650 to Present

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC

This course examines masterpieces of world literature from the mid-17th through 20th centuries as both reflections and progenitors of their cultures and nations of origin. Students explore the universal concerns of humankind as exemplified through the themes, forms, and trends of the literary works.

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English 38
Screen Writing Workshop

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU

This course is a workshop in creating original film screenplays. From analyzing film scripts by professional writers, students learn essential techniques on screenplay writing. The course also provides information on how to begin a career in the film industry, including how to find an agent and how to tailor a script for the marketplace.

Note: Letter grade or CR/NCR option.

English 39
Literature and Film

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC

This course provides an exploration of literacy works and corresponding feature length films. Students analyze selected novels and short stories as well as filming techniques. Oral and written analyses will feature comparisons of the original literary work and its film adaptation.

English 40A
American Literature

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC

This course surveys American literature from its beginnings through the Civil War. Coverage, which recognizes the contribution of women and of ethnic and other minorities to the national literature, includes the Narratives of Native Peoples, the Literature of Discovery and Exploration, the Literature of European Settlement, the Literature of Pre-Revolutionary America, the Literature of an Emerging Nation, and the literature of Pre-Civil War America.

English 40B
American Literature

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC

This course surveys American literature from the post-Civil War period to the present, including the Literature of an Expanding Nation (1865-1912), the Literature of Modernism (1912-1945), the Literature of Post World War II America (1945-1975), and the Literature of Contemporary America (1975-present). Recognition of the contribution of women and minority writers to the national literature is included.

English 41A
Survey of Film: 1895-1950

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC

This course focuses on viewing, analyzing, and writing about film as a narrative reflective of its time and culture. Students study representative film masterpieces from the late 19th century to 1950, the age of television, by viewing films or portions of films. An emphasis is placed on analyzing and writing about the ideas and values portrayed in the films with regards to how they reflect the concerns of particular nationalities and time periods. Students also analyze the growth and transformation of various artistic techniques used by the filmmakers.

English 41B
Survey of Film: 1950 to Present

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC

This course focuses on viewing, analyzing, and writing about film as a narrative reflective of its time and culture. Students study representative film masterpieces from 1950 to the present by viewing films or portions of films. An emphasis is placed on analyzing and writing about the ideas and values portrayed in the films with regards to how they reflect the concerns of particular nationalities and time periods. Students also analyze the growth and transformation of various artistic techniques used by the filmmakers.

English 42
Chicano/Latino Literature

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU

This course will focus on the analysis and interpretation of Chicano/Latino essays, novels, short stories, and poems. This course will also explore how Chicano/Latino literary texts reflect social and cultural influences.

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English 43
African American Literature

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC

This course provides a chronological and thematic survey of African American literature. Students will read and discuss representative works by African American writers. Emphasis will be on classic and contemporary literature.

English 44
The Literature of American Ethnic Groups

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC

This course provides a chronological and thematic survey of American ethnic literature. Students will examine and discuss representative works by members of the following groups: African Americans, Asian Pacific Americans, Chicano/Latino Americans, European and Near Eastern Americans, Jewish Americans, and Native Americans. Emphasis will be contemporary literature.

English 46
Literature and Sexual Identity

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC

This course examines how a culture’s ideas about gender identity and sexual orientation affect the form and impact of literature. Materials will include canonical works that reflect themes of dissident sexuality, as well as contemporary works that write openly about the modern gay and lesbian experience.

English 47
California Literature

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC

This course introduces students to literature written about California, and includes historical and cultural backgrounds, regional and ethnic experiences, and unifying themes and motifs. Various literary genres are studied.

English 50
Special Topics in English

Units determined by individual course;
lecture/ lab hours determined by individual course
Credit status determined by individual course

This course is designed to explore topics in English more specific than provided in other courses in the regular departmental curriculum. Students are referred to the current schedule of classes for details of specific courses.

English 72
Technical Report Writing

3 units; 3 hours lecture
Prerequisite: credit in English A and English 84 or qualification by testing (English Placement Test) and assessment
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU

An introduction to written communication in business, industry, and technical professions, this course focuses on the analysis, evaluation, and composition of grammatically correct and stylistically effective sentences and on the effective organization and presentation of job-related information in various types of letters, memoranda, and reports. It is designed for anyone whose job requires logic, clarity, and precision in writing.

English 98abcd
College Literary Magazine Editing and Publishing

3 units; 2 hours lecture, 3 hours lab
Recommended Preparation: eligibility for English 1A
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU

This course provides students with experience in literary journal publishing. Students will evaluate literary magazines, create submission guidelines, advertise for and collect submissions, learn about the literary journal printing process, proofread and edit submissions, and design and compose layout. In addition, students will organize a public literary reading.

English 99abc
Independent Study in English

1-3 units; hours to be arranged
Enrollment Limitation: two English courses, one of which is English 1A, with a minimum grade
of B in each and acknowledgment by the instructor with whom the student will work
Credit, degree applicable
Transfer CSU, UC - limitations apply

This course provides special advanced studies in a subject field of English not covered in the regular departmental offerings. Regular conferences with the instructor are coordinated with assigned English education projects (60 hours per unit).

Note: Refer to page 11 of the College Catalog for eligibility requirements.

English 100
Supervised Tutoring: Writing Center Laboratory

0 units; minimum 1 hour lab per semester
Non-credit

This course provides students with supervised tutoring on their classroom writing assignments. Students will receive instruction on prewriting techniques, organizing ideas, developing arguments, integrating research skills, and editing for clarity and correctness.

Note: This course is repeatable. Open for enrollment at registration and anytime during the semester.

*Some UC transferable courses have credit limitations. For details, see a counselor, the Transfer Center advisor, or the articulation officer.

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