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A Guide to English: Literature, Composition, Skills, Transfer Classes and Prerequisites

Fall 2008

Qualifications for English Courses

Placement Exams

The Assessment Office administers the Placement Test and Writing Assessment to determine appropriate placement in English classes. Contact the Assessment Office at (707) 527-4661 for test schedule.       Students who have completed English courses at other institutions of higher learning must provide the Admissions & Records Office with official copies of their transcripts. They must also file a "Prerequisite Equivalency" form there.       Students who feel they have been inappropriately placed by the tests may challenge the placement by filing a "Prerequisite Challenge" with the English Department, which involves writing a challenge essay in the English Department Office area. It is strongly advised that students considering this option meet with an academic advisor prior to opting to challenge.       Non-native speakers of English should take the English as a Second Language Placement Test. Students who complete ESL 200W should also consult the ESL Department for information on placement or challenge procedures. Contact the English as a Second Language Department at (707) 527-4382 for test schedule.       Placement in English classes occurs through a combination of placement testing and completion of prerequisite requirements.

Placement

English 305 (Development of College Reading & Writing): Appropriate placement scores (92-116) or completion of CSKL 350E with "Credit." English 302 (Improvement of College Reading & Writing): Appropriate placement scores (117-128) or completion of English 305 with grade of "C" or better, or "Credit." English 100 (College Reading & Writing): Appropriate placement scores (129-140) or completion of English 302 with a grade of "C" or better. English 1A (Reading and Composition): Appropriate placement scores,(141-225) or completion of Engl 100 with grade of "C" or better. Requirements for other English classes vary. See appropriate sections of this guide, the SRJC Schedule of Classes, or the SRJC Catalog for specific requirments. Students with B.A. or B.S. degrees may enroll in English classes without taking the APS or Writing Assessment tests, although they may consider doing so for their own information.

Transfer Classes in English

	English 1A Reading and Composition	is the standard freshman written communication class and fulfills composition requirements at all colleges and universities in the United States. It fulfills Area A2 for the CSU General Education Pattern, Area 1A for the UC Intersegmental GE Transfer Curriculum (IGETC), and freshman English at other institutions of higher learning. All students planning to transfer need to complete English 1A. Once English 1A is completed, further English courses can be used to complete additional transfer requirements.
	English 1B Literature and Composition	fulfills area C2 for CSU G.E. requirement and Area 3 on IGETC.
	English 5 Advanced Composition and Critical Thinking	fulfills the critical thinking requirement for both the CSU GE Pattern and the UC IGETC. Completion of a critical thinking class is required prior to transfer to either California system of higher education.
	English 25 Introduction to Language Study	meets prerequisite for Elementary Education Credential at Sonoma State University, and CSU GE Pattern, Area C.

For students planning to transfer to the CSU system, further requirements include nine units of Art, Literature, Philosophy, and Foreign Language (Area C2). Students may satisfy six of these units by completing two of the following English courses:

English 1B, Literature and Composition English 2, Introduction to the Novel English 3, Introduction to Poetry English 7, Introduction to the Short Story English 10, Literature and The Environment English 12, Children's Literature English 15, Women in Literature English 22, Ethnic Diversity in American Literature English 27, Introduction to Shakespeare English 30.1, Survey of American Literature English 30.2, second semester Survey of American Literature English 31, African American Literature English 32, Asian American Literature English 33, Chicano/Chicana Arts & Literature English 46.1, Survey of English Literature English 46.2, second semester Survey of English Literature

For students using the IGETC Pattern, most of the same classes will fulfill Area 3 Humanities. This includes English 1B, which is left off some versions of the IGETC handouts. Furthermore, students planning to transfer to the CSU system can complete other requirements prior to transfer. Most CSU campuses require a third semester of English. By completing English 1A and two of the following, most students can complete this requirement at SRJC: English 1B and English 5. Check with your academic advisor. The CSU system has a three-unit ethnic studies requirement. English 31, Intro to African American Lit; English 32, Asian American Lit; and English 33, Chicano/Chicana Arts and Literature, fulfill this requirement. English 22 fulfills the American Cultures requirement.

By carefully selecting courses at SRJC, students may "shortcut" time spent by taking basic courses required at their transfer institution of higher learning. This has at least three advantages. First, it allows students to concentrate on their major and minor courses as juniors and seniors. Second, it offers an opportunity for English classes to serve double duty: fulfilling a GE or IGETC requirement as well as some upper division requirements. Third, it's less expensive to take a three-unit course at the community college level.

English 1A Reading and Composition

Lecture Series Work of Literary Merit (WOLM).

	English 1A Abby Bogomolny	Does language merely express thought, or might particular ways of using language influence how we think . . . or even what we think about? Through reading, writing and critical thinking, this class will help us examine the ways we use language, but we will do more than identify distortions in grammar, word choice, and punctuation. We will identify successful academic writing styles in order to propel you toward writing clear, cogent prose. Among other works, we will read Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (the 08-09 English Department Work of Literary Merit selection), Octavia Butler's Kindred, and James Baldwin's The Fire Next Time. Expect to write five expository essays, one of which will be a research paper. Expect lots of discussion, active vocabulary work, in-class writing, essay revision and individual conferences. Am here to help! Recommended to students interested in improving their academic writing who are also interested in the social sciences.
	English 1A Ann Butler	This English 1A course focuses on the writing process, from drafting to revision. Students will write in various rhetorical modes, including narration, description, exposition, and argumentation. They will also analyze and address the chilling world which Margaret Atwood presents in her novel Oryx and Crake Readings, primarily essays, will focus thematically on issues central to our contemporary world. Class sessions are lively and varied, ranging from large and small group discussion, student presentations, peer readings and editing, free-writing, writing wheels, and one-on-one tutorials.
	English 1A Petaluma Terry Ehret DREAMS AND INWARD JOURNEYS	How do our dreams, personal and cultural, help to shape our self-concepts? How do writers understand the relationship between dreams, myths, and the creative process? Students will discuss and write about these topics as they practice the basic forms of expository, analytical, and argumentative writing. Along with class discussions, lectures, and individual conferences, students will work together as peer editors to improve their writing. Required Texts: English 1A Course Reader (Teacher-prepared materials) English 1A Course Outline, Policies and Procedures (Teacher-prepared materials) Writer's Reference 5th Edition by Diana Hacker The Lathe of Heaven, Ursula K. LeGuin (any edition) Standard College Dictionary (any edition) College Thesaurus (any edition)
	English 1A Nancy Fleming	I would describe my 1A class as a collaborative, supportive workshop in which students work on improving their writing skills. If you enjoy lots of lively discussion and exchange of ideas-both as a class as well as in small groups and with partners-you will enjoy this class. This class will consist of hardworking students committed to using the seventeen weeks of the semester to make as much progress as possible in what will probably be the only class you take, in your college career, that focuses exclusively on how well you express yourself in writing. We will spend most of the semester reading, discussing, and writing about a group of expository essays, then finish off with the English Department's Work of Literary Merit (the WOLM)-the American classic, Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The class will require five papers, including a research paper.
	English 1A Annette Gooch	In this hybrid section of English 1A, students meet at SRJC on nine Friday mornings (8:00 am to noon) during the semester. For the remaining weeks of the course, instructional and learning activities take place online. Students who enroll in this section should have basic computer and Internet navigation skills. An emphasis in this class is applying the techniques of critical analysis to assist students in exploring and enhancing their strategies for reading, thinking, writing, critiquing, and revising. Through frequent face-to-face and online collaboration with each other and with the instructor, students develop a supportive network in which to share their own writings and their responses to other works (some of them highly controversial) in a variety of media.
	English 1A Melissa Kort	“Buildings fall; even the earth perishes,” Virginia Woolf wrote in “Craftsmanship.” “But words, if properly used, seem able to live forever.” This class aims to help you use words “properly” and to develop more effective essays, effective for success in this and other classes, as well as for success in your life outside of school. The first step towards improving your writing is to learn to read more consciously and critically; the second is to get constructive feedback on your writing (and not just a grade). We’ll explore models of great writing to spark discussions and ideas for essays on such topics as race, class, and gender, and w’'ll look closely at the language of the November election campaigns. We’ll also study this year’s Work of Literary Merit, Mark Twain’s HUCKLEBERRY FINN, paying particular attention to the controversies it has sparked over time and its status as an iconic American novel. Your essays will be reviewed regularly (constantly!) in one-on-one tutorials in class aimed at immediately getting you precisely the information you need to improve your writing. For most people, English 1A is just an inconvenient, uncomfortable hoop through which they must jump in order to continue and complete their college education. This class hopes to make that jump count for you-to change your writing for the better, to improve your reading comprehension and pleasure, to prepare you for success throughout your college career—and beyond.
	English 1A Barbara McClure Petaluma	Research reveals that writers improve when they explore the connections between seeing and writing. When they can make clear observations, they develop clear thinking that leads to confident writing. In this class students will explore the connections between the written word and visual representation in today's society. We'll also study the English Department's Work of Literary Merit, the novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: A Case Study in Critical Controversy by Mark Twain (the Bedford/St. Martin's 2nd edition). I emphasize writing as a process and have students revise a great deal of their work with in-class journals, one-on-one tutorials, group work, and a portfolio method of grading. Plan to read and write critically, research, be challenged, and engage in lively discussions. Please visit my homepage later this summer and find a class web page with more information about the class. From the English Department homepage: www.santarosa.edu/english/labs/index.html click on Instructor Home Pages CATE and find McClure.
	English 1A Johnny Sarraf	“I actually wanted to come to class because it felt more like a group of friends all learning together rather than individually.” --Former student At a time when it is necessary to be aware not only of characteristics of one’s own culture but increasingly important to gain a greater understanding of other cultures in the world, we will attempt to do so in this section of English 1A (Reading and Composition). You will read material written not only about various parts of the world but, significantly, also by people from various parts of the world so that you are exposed to genuine voices, not only observations of outsiders in foreign cultures. In doing so, we will examine essays, some short stories and films, and the English Department's Work of Literary Merit (Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) to address such things as social and political issues, the “other,” and culture’s influence on the shaping of gender roles, and you will write essays throughout the course.
	English 1A Tad Wakefield	What makes good writing effective? In this English 1A course, one main ingredient is careful reading. Using the textbook Reading Critically, Writing Well (eighth edition) this class will teach you how to analyze the writing of other people—both professional writers and students like yourself—and then apply what you learn to your own writing. This course encourages sophisticated thinking and will give students opportunities to find their passion and explore a wide variety of types of writing.
	English 1A Anne Ysunza	This course will explore aspects of identity and culture that we all face as human beings. What do we mean by the term, “Nationality”? How does our age, appearance, ethnic background, and gender define who we are in the world? How do we define our standard for success and what criterion formulates our goals and aspirations in life? Readings for the course include this semester’s WOLM selection, the novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and 50 Model Essays. Assignments will consist of 5-6 essays, a midterm and at least two oral presentations. Much of our work will be collaborative, including some writing assignments. A significant portion of class time will be devoted to individual student conferences on the essay in process. This class requires that you come prepared to work on your own and with others as a mature, motivated, and self-directed student.

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English 1B Reading and Composition

Creative Writing English 4A, 4B and 4C

English 5 Advanced Composition and Critical Thinking

	English 5 Abby Bogomolny	This class rocks—if you can handle it. Have you ever wondered why the difference in standard of living between the industrialized world and third world is so extreme? Have you ever theorized or even argued about it? Well, do we have some tools for you! Get ready to read the essays of key economists whose theories (Smith, Marx, Keynes. Galbraith, Reich) have influenced the economic system we inhabit! You'll read John Perkins' Confessions of an Economic Hitman, John Nichols' Against the Beast, and see the documentary Life and Debt. Get ready to place logical arguments in standard form, spot fallacious/false arguments, understand the difference between inductive and deductive reasoning, and design smashing counterarguments and refutations using the 5th Edition of Cooper & Patton's Writing Logically, Thinking Critical and Hackers' Bedford Handbook. We will improve our sentence focus and write argumentative essays in response to our readings and research about the consequences of economic globalization and empire. All positions welcome. Bring your mind, your heart and a highlighter.
	English 5 Johnny Sarraf “Why do they hate us?”	Immediately after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, Americans asked this question. In this Special Topics approach to English 5 (Advanced Composition & Critical Thinking), we'll address this question and apply critical thinking skills and do independent research to consider perspectives and perceptions beyond those presented by most of our mainstream news media and our government as we examine the relationship between the U.S. and the Middle East (focusing especially on the Arab world) and consider our perceptions of each other. You might be corresponding electronically with Arab students at The American University in Cairo, an opportunity from which my past students learned a great deal, and that they really appreciated. The challenge will be to present and be open to various opinions and views that may challenge what we have long accepted, and to examine relevant issues with a critical eye while being sensitive to and respectful of each other's views. This will involve looking at America and the Middle East from more than an American lens. As the instructor of this course, I spent 2000-2004 living in Cairo, Egypt, teaching at The American University in Cairo, traveling in the region (Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Israel, Jordan) as well as South and Southeast Asia and Europe, and writing. The fall-out of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. (I was in Cairo at the time) when it was almost impossible to examine things like U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East without being labeled “un-American,” “unpatriotic,” and worse names showed me that there was much to discuss regarding the U.S. and the Middle East, and I decided then that when I'd return to California I would design a course focus addressing the issues. Please note that we will be addressing some intense material that some people may find difficult to examine directly and honestly. This is not a course for students who are not open to consideration of some of the negative views that other people have of certain things about our country. Students who resist any self-examination will not benefit from this course. Those who are interested in looking into relevant issues more thoughtfully than our leaders and mainstream media encourage us to do will be stimulated by the course.

Literature and Language Study Courses

English 2 Johnny Serraf Petaluma

What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. --Holden Caulfield, The Catcher in the Rye Join us in English 2 as we read and discuss novels from British, American, Egyptian, Afghan, and Iranian writers. We'll cover centuries of literary works and even discuss film adaptation as we examine the development of the novel as a literary genre. We'll also consider how different critical perspectives allow us to understand novels in different ways. Most classes will be comfortable ³roundtable² discussions where sharing your thoughts about the novels is encouraged. Come join our book club!

English 12 Melissa Kort Children's Literature

This class can be a lot of fun, given that we read kids’ books, look at the pictures, take field trips, and share our favorite memories of growing up reading. But it is also very serious, as it introduces a variety of critical approaches to a wide range of literature, from picture books for the very young to those which help adolescents face the end of childhood. Expect your fellow classmates to be future teachers, concerned parents, developing writers, English majors, and those with fond memories of the books that first shaped their minds. Bring your sense of wonder, your commitment to collaborative learning, your critical eye, and that little kid still thriving inside of you. A fresh reading list will develop over the summer; check for details at online.santarosa.edu.

English 25 Janet McCulloch

Linguistics is the study of all human language, its origins, and its relation to individuals and societies. This is probably one of the most exciting fields of study because it covers so many aspects of what makes us human. In the first part of the course we will explore the structural analysis of the rules and principles underlying language including morphology, phonetics, phonology; grammar and syntax; language variation and change. In the second part we will look at all aspects of human communication and the science of cognition as it relates to language acquisition in children, language and the brain, and the more specific studies of socio-linguistics and psycho-linguistics. This course is a great foundation for anyone who wishes to work in education, psychology, sociology, criminal justice, or communications. More than anything, we will have a lot of fun trying to understand how language defines who we are as people.

English 30.1 Nan Van Gelder English 30.1

“America is a poem in our eyes,” stated Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1844. This class will look at the long narrative poem that is America and the ongoing story it has to tell. We’ll begin with a few questions: What is “American” about American literature? What can we identify as the formative influences on the literature of this country as we look back at the first 250 years? And what stories did people tell themselves as they struggled to find their voices and shape their futures, both individually and collectively? In the beginning were the Puritans, that small but mighty band of folks whose influence is still felt today. We'll read Anne Bradstreet, the first published “New World” poet, as well as William Bradford, who tells his tale of the pilgrims’ journey to the Promised Land “in a plain style, with singular regard unto the simple truth in all things."” The American Indian perspective on the “simple truth” differed greatly from that of the Puritans, and we will listen to the voices of native peoples arising from their rich oral tradition. In the 18th Century, Noah Webster announced that “America must be as independent in literature as she is in politics--as famous for arts and for arms,” yet our literature remained largely political as we shaped a new nation. Not until the 1830s do we see the birth of a truly “American” literature, and it is here, with Edgar Allen Poe, Frederick Douglass, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, and Emily Dickinson that we’ll spend most of our class time. Together we will see what sense we can make of this ongoing tale called American literature. Please join us. This class is highly recommended for English majors and of value as a transfer class for all students with an interest in the history and literature of this country. Text: Norton Anthology of American Literature, 6th edition.

English 46.1 Anne Marie Insull

In this class, we will study major works of British Literature, starting with Beowulf and ending with The Interesting Narrative, by Olaudah Equiano, an eighteenth century freed slave who made his eventual home in England. Unlike more traditional British literature surveys, ours will not only honor classic writers such as Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, and John Donne, but also lesser-known artists such as Equiano and Eliza Heywood. Also, we’ll give a close reading to one of the first novels written in English: Oroonoko, by Aphra Behn. Intellectual curiosity, a love of rich language, and the willingness to write literary critique are the things students will need for this class. Required Texts: The Norton Anthology three volumed set that contains The Middle Ages, The Sixteenth Century and The Early Seventeenth Century, and The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, Random House version.

English 70.1 Carol Ciavonne

Aliens from Mars Attack? In the late 19th century, up until the mid-20th, Mars was the planet most represented in science fiction, and, apparently, was the home of many alien (and largely hostile) species. How do we view Mars, and the idea of "the alien" today? What do we think of hybrids, cyborgs, and all manner of technological devices? What was going on in the world when these classics were written, and how did those events inspire the genre of science fiction? In this class, we will be reading several "firsts" Edgar Rice Burroughs' Princess of Mars (the first American science fiction novel, by the author of Tarzan of the Apes) and War of the Worlds (known as the first British science fiction novel) by H.G. Wells. We will also read excerpts from other "firsts"--- among them, Lady Margaret Cavendish's The Blazing World, written in 1653, and a work by Octavia Butler, the first African American woman science fiction author. One research paper, one annotated bibliography entry, one page of author research, several one-page responses to the reading, will be due during the eight week period, and we will also try, our hands at writing our own short science fiction works. Because the class is a short one, attendance and focused reading will be important.

English Skills Courses

English 49 Special Studies

Seminars or individual conferences to provide for independent studies and enriched academic experience by arrangement with an English instructor.
Students enrolling should have one semester of college work at the transfer level and should have taken at least one previous English class at SRJC. Eligible students must first develop their own projects and submit the proposal in writing for the approval of the instructor who will guide the project. The student then secures the approval of the Department Chair, who is the instructor of record in the schedule of classes but who is not the instructor guiding the project, and of the Assistant Dean, Richard Speakes. The scope of the study and the volume of the work that the student produces will determine the unit value (1 unit = 3 hours per week; 2 units = 6 hours; 3units = 9 hours per week). Students are limited to a total of 6 units of indepentent study.

The Puente Program

The Puente Program is a national-award- winning joint effort involving the University of California Office of the President and the Chancellor's Office of the California Community College system. It is designed to target students who plan to transfer to a four-year college or university but may be academically unprepared for college work. The Puente program provides English composition instruction as well as counseling and guidance by linking English 100 and Counseling 55 courses in the fall semester; students then continue with English 1A and Counseling 80 in the spring semester. In all courses, the curriculum focuses on the Chicano/Latino Experience within the mainstream culture of the United States. In addition, students are required to work with a mentor, a college-educated professional working in a career area that is similar to the students' stated goals. Interested students should contact Puente counselor Anthony Vasquez at 524-1701 for more information.

Work of Literary Merit
Fall 2008:Spring 2009

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain