Chapter VI: Beyond the Core: Upper-Level Writing and Literature Classes
Chapter VI: Beyond the Core: Upper-Level Writing and Literature Courses
In this chapter . . .
Introduction to Upper-Level English Courses
Mention the English Department and most students don’t think beyond Composition I and Composition II, or if their degree requires it, Technical Writing (Engl 123). Due to the required writing sequence, our department’s other courses are often likewise viewed in the same purgatorial terms: all our courses are the ones students must suffer through before they are allowed through the pearly gates of their chosen major. What they miss, though, is a collection of dynamic, rewarding course offerings brimming with the promise of intellectual and personal growth. Building off skills emphasized in our freshman-level writing courses—critical reading, collaborative processes, clear thinking and correct writing—students are offered opportunities to continue crafting their own texts (e.g., advanced composition, creative writing), and to study texts crafted by others (e.g., literature and film courses). Not surprisingly, given the centrality of rhetoric and the study of literature in Western education, most of the college’s General Education Student Learning Outcomes are naturally expressed in our upper-level English courses. The rigor and substance of these courses keeps alive a flame that has been burning, in various shapes, for thousands of years; our upper-level courses represent the essence of higher education.
Overview of Advanced Writing Courses
Students in our advanced writing courses tend to be there for two reasons: the courses are required for their major (usually an AAS in a technical career field) or they enjoy writing and sharing their work.
Broadly speaking, these upper-level writing courses fall into three categories: Discipline Service courses (ENGL 123, 140, 150), Advanced Composition (ENGL 223), and the Creative Writing sequence (ENGL 223, 224, 225). Of these, only Advanced Composition resembles what we might call “academic” writing, even though all these courses build upon the basic rhetorical and composition skills developed in ENGL 121 & 122.
Discipline Service Courses: ENGL 123 Technical Writing, ENGL 140 Writing for Interactive Media, and ENGL 150 Digital Narratives
These three courses are the most cross-discipline ones in the English Department catalog, covering writing useful and/or required in specific technical industries. One surprising aspect of these courses is that the prerequisite is only ENGL 121 Composition I. As these courses are electives or requirements in AAS degrees, further prerequisites would interfere with course sequencing within the technical degree credit limits. Therefore, students in these courses likely need additional instruction in grammar, mechanics, and cohesion because writing in technical fields demands clarity, correctness, and conciseness. That said, although the courses focus on career fields, there is room for student creativity and invention within assignments.
A special note should be made about ENGL 140 & ENGL 150, especially in regard to any argument about overlap in course competencies, as both courses teach linear and non-linear script writing as part of the course. The difference lies within the content of those scripts: ENGL 140 focuses on non-fictional texts integrated in consumer/user interfaces, while ENGL 150 focuses on interactive narrative and the way users experience fictive stories within game worlds. While the techniques and formats might be similar, the content of these scripts is quite different, and students enrolled in both courses during the same semester (which happens) would be able to discern the difference.
COURSE OVERVIEWS
ENGL 123 Technical Writing
Description of the Course
This course introduces students to technical and professional writing. Students apply the writing process, engaging rhetorical strategies when constructing typical workplace correspondence such as memos, reports, and digital documents (including writing for social media and asynchronous presentations). By semester’s end, students should have written approximately 5,000 words in revised and edited documents. Students focus on effective technical writing criteria: clarity, conciseness, document design, organization, and accuracy. Accuracy specifically requires students to follow standard English grammar and punctuation rules.
Educational Objectives
To a certain degree, English 123 is a service course, as it focuses specifically on teaching practical workplace writing skills. As such, students are expected to see the broad applicability of the course content to their specific industries. It goes without saying that writing for an engineer designing a product demands a different rhetorical approach than writing for a customer who will use that same product, so students ideally learn to write the same assignment for two different audiences, allowing them to recognize these differences and practice these rhetorical choices on a practical, results-oriented level. This is accomplished by assigning different audiences to different teams of students on a per-assignment basis. Similar to Composition II, Technical Writing also reviews the writing process, including prewriting, drafting, peer review, and revision, as well as incorporating research and more specialized genres into its curriculum. At least one assignment must require 1,000-plus words. Also important are discussions of ethical considerations common to technical writing situations.
Typical assignments might include business-oriented social media posts (eg. Twitter and LinkedIn), internal memos, claim denials, marketing brochures, user manuals, proposals, and reports.
Course Outline available at http://catalog.jccc.edu/coursedescriptions/engl/#ENGL_123
Instructional Preview: What to Expect
English 123 is required for several AAS career-oriented degrees, including Welding, Information Systems, and Auto Technology, yet the course attracts a variety of students seeking to improve their workplace writing skills. While the students are usually well-versed in their technical or career fields by the time they take the course, many struggle with grammar and mechanics despite the course’s Composition I prerequisite; hence, they benefit from reminders about public perceptions of workplace and business-oriented writing. Most students are enthusiastic about the course if they can draw on their discipline knowledge to complete assignments, so plan on designing flexible assignments or altering textbook assignments if possible.
A word of caution: this is not a business writing class! Business Communication (housed in the Business Department) focuses on rote business correspondence. This course should go well beyond email, memos, and letters to grapple with the specific, technical know-how required in the specialized fields (explaining schematics, explaining CAD drawings, etc.)
ENGL 140 Writing for Interactive Media
Description of the Course
English 140 teaches students to apply the writing process as well as fundamental rhetorical and composition skills to various interactive media including web pages, CD-ROMs/DVD, e-mail, kiosks, support materials, simulations, social networking and other electronic media. The instruction focuses on skills essential to selecting, evaluating, and synthesizing information from primary and secondary sources; in addition, it emphasizes the different approaches to organization that these media require as well as the variety of discourse styles used in informative, instructional, persuasive and entertainment media texts.
Educational Objectives
The primary goal of English 140 is to educate students in writing a variety of texts for immediate use with a consideration for how the text is presented to the end user. Sometimes this audience is an announcer or actor, sometimes consumers themselves. By the end of the course, students should understand the best content and design approach to satisfy these users’ informational needs.
Typical assignments might include written evaluations of interactive texts and interfaces (eg. mobile apps and websites), podcast scripts, multi-screen DVD menus, and interactive kiosk scripts.
Course Outline available at http://catalog.jccc.edu/coursedescriptions/engl/#ENGL_140
Instructional Preview: What to Expect
English 140 mixes creative and technical writing as well as user interface design theory. The instructor should have a high working familiarity with design and production industry standards in terms of the formatting and presentation of written assets (script formatting, storyboarding workflows, etc.). This course is a recommended elective for the Web Development and Digital Media AAS degree, so many students enter the course with high comfort levels regarding software tools used in those fields, but not necessarily a firm grasp on grammar and mechanics--crucial components of professional writing aimed at end users and consumers.
As the title indicates, this course focuses on texts encountered across a wide variety of media platforms. However, the assignments usually go far beyond purely instructional “how-to” writing, instead relying on analysis and evaluation of existing “live” professional examples to guide the student’s own design considerations and writing process.
ENGL 150 Digital Narratives
Description of Course
Games, particularly Role-Playing Games (RPGs) and other participatory narratives, share many properties with traditional narratives yet differ significantly from their linear counterparts. This course focuses on the elements of narrative as well as the principles that drive virtual or alternative possible worlds (both fictional and reality-based), and it will provide students with practice in writing and designing artifacts that demonstrate an understanding of plot, character, setting, and the impact of structure and purpose in game development.
Educational Objectives
Overall, the goal is for students to understand and appreciate the role of interactive narrative design in the game development process. Virtual interactive story is messy to create yet must give the appearance of verisimilitude to be a truly immersive experience for players. This is primarily a writing class, so creativity should be on equal footing with technical proficiency.
Typical assignments might include video game story analyses of character, plot, mission, and Hero’s Journey; game story pitches; mission dialogue encounters; character bible (eg. description, backstory, motivations); and interactive character dialogue scripts.
Course Outline available at http://catalog.jccc.edu/coursedescriptions/engl/#ENGL_150
Instructional Preview: What to Expect
English 150 mixes literary/narrative theory, technical writing, and creative writing. Instructors should have a high working familiarity with game design industry standards in terms of the formatting and presentation of written assets (script formatting, character design, plot development, etc.). Since this industry changes on almost a quarterly basis, instructors must stay informed on the latest trends in game development and narrative design. Recommended reading includes Gamasutra and Polygon on a daily basis as well as keeping tabs on the IGDA website and the Game Developer Conference trio of websites: GDC Conference, GDCVault, and GDC YouTube channel. A background in playing video games and tabletop roleplaying games (Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Warhammer 40k, etc.) is also helpful.
English 150 is a recommended elective in the Game Development AAS degree, so many students enter the course with a high comfort level with the software tools used in that field but not necessarily a firm grasp on grammar and mechanics; nothing ruins on-screen dialogue like spelling and punctuation errors, so students must demonstrate exemplary command of the rudiments of the English language upon course completion.
Two main threads are woven together throughout the semester in English 150: focus on understanding practical concerns such as basic narrative design and story plotting, the role of story in video games, and how non-linear story systems work. Bouncing back and forth between theory/analysis and creative writing keeps the students on their toes. A focus on The Hero’s Journey ties these two threads together, although other narrative story structures are discussed and can be used to accomplish the same goal.
ENGL 222 Advanced Composition
Description of the Course
Advanced Composition acts as a gateway into various long-form, non-fiction writing with an eye toward developing and strengthening the writer’s voice and style. This course is an excellent jumping off point for students interested in continuing to hone their writing skills beyond the academic argument focus of Composition II. In recent years, faculty have begun to introduce more creative nonfiction and long-form journalistic assignments to increase the course’s cross-disciplinary appeal while still holding true to the course objectives.
Educational Objectives
Advanced Composition focuses on writing persuasively to select audiences, particularly as it relates to supplying convincing evidence and synthesizing others’ ideas to support a thesis. Students hone their skills at critically examining sources and perfecting a mature, polished style suitable to audience and occasion. While the course description includes “writing persuasively to a select audience,” this is not purely an argument course; rather, it expands to include the kind of writing found in long-form journalism, academic publishing, and creative nonfiction. The primary goal is to introduce students to the intersectionality of curiosity, discovery, and learning how to present ideas in a way which delights and sustains a reader. Readings tend to come from across disciplines and should be challenging; analyzing models is a must so that students can attempt the same techniques.
Typical assignments might include a mixture of reflective, informative, investigative, meditative, and journalistic essays along with a longer academic term paper.
Course Outline available at http://catalog.jccc.edu/coursedescriptions/engl/#ENGL_222
Instructional Preview: What to Expect
Advanced Composition dives deep into long-form essay writing and development of a personal style beyond “writing for school.” Students tend to be “English majors in training” who enjoy reading, writing, and discussing texts. They often need to be guided in deep revision techniques and may find looking at published writers’ discussions of their revision processes revelatory. Some instructors may prefer conferencing or workshopping essays rather than marking up individual essays for revisions to better prepare students for both advanced writing courses at transfer institutions and the publication process.
The Creative Writing Sequence (ENGL 223, 224, & 225)
Students tend to look forward to creative writing courses because they wrongly believe that “anything goes!” Hence, they are often disappointed to find that the courses aren’t about pure self-expression, but rather the fact that even creative writing is an academic discipline. Many students likewise are focused on the desire to publish when, in reality, they need to focus on revising and polishing their work to a higher technical level, especially if/when they prefer to imitate the Young Adult genres they cherish, and/or write nothing but fan fiction. The goal of the creative writing sequence is to guide students to develop more mature storylines, characters, themes, and techniques so that, if they choose to pursue it, they are prepared for the rigors of a creative writing major.
Speaking of majoring, in 2017 the English Department entered a partnership with UMKC’s creative writing program so that 18 credit hours of JCCC 200-level English coursework transfers into their undergraduate creative writing degree. These include English 223, 224, and 225, the latter of which was specifically created at UMKC’s request. JCCC creative writing courses also form part of KU-Edward’s English transfer community.
On a final note, recognize that students often write about traumas in creative writing courses, ones they’ve experienced or sometimes envision carrying out. While it is difficult to separate freedom of creative expression from the expression of an actual threat, instructors have a duty to report if they think a student intends to self-harm or harm others. The University of Oregon’s Counseling Center has an excellent overview of how to handle such issues, and it is worth reading and then discussing your plan of action with your students at the beginning of the semester.
ENGL 223 Introduction to Creative Writing
Course Description
Note: Out of all JCCC’s upper-level writing courses, only English 223 is KBOR-aligned. This means the course seamlessly transfers for credit on a 1:1 basis as an introductory creative writing course at all public 2-year and 4-year Kansas colleges. Any future edits to the course objectives must be made in a manner that complies with seamless transferability.
Introduction to Creative Writing provides a study to the craft of imaginative writing with an emphasis on the reading and discussion of student manuscripts and of published works by contemporary writers. Students apply close reading skills to understand the writing techniques used to craft publishable imaginative writing and to practice these techniques in their own writing. In any given semester, students focus on two literary genres of the instructor’s choice: fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, or scriptwriting. Student interest in fiction and creative nonfiction is high, so pairing one of these with poetry or scriptwriting helps make a well-rounded course.
Educational Objectives
Introduction to Creative Writing is effectively a course in constrained creativity. Students should write in a variety of creative writing genres and forms within those genres, generating and discussing the effectiveness of their techniques. At the end of the course, students should be comfortable sharing, critiquing, and receiving critique in a workshop environment, and revising their work to incorporate suggested changes while explaining their revision decisions. Additionally, students should be introduced to the publishing process, but not necessarily required to submit for publication outside of the JCCC student literary magazine, Mind’s Eye.
Course Outline available at http://catalog.jccc.edu/coursedescriptions/engl/#ENGL_223
Instructional Preview: What to Expect
Instructors should expect students who initially offer up shallow, emotionally wrought poetic rants written all in lowercase with no punctuation. Students will also produce flat stories where a lot of car crashes, space battles, and break-ups occur. The students’ characters will likewise exclaim, remark, and inquire --but rarely say much of anything. If the genre is creative nonfiction, expect initially a lot of personal essays that recount chronological sequences of events and end with “and so I learned” morals. If the genre involves film scripts student will often feature characters who tell the viewer what they are doing while they are doing it.
While most students take this course because they “like to write” and view creative writing as an expressive, emotive experience, they learn that self-expression requires work. The instructor must present forms and techniques used in imaginative writing to move the reader. As Professor Matthew Schmeer tells his students, “Poetry makes great therapy, but it isn’t that often that therapy makes great poetry.” This is a techniques course and students learn the basic tools writers in various genres use to craft their works. It can be taught as pure workshop or a combination of lecture & workshop, as sharing and revising in a group setting is the standard discipline practice. While not required, instructors may find that a portfolio-based approach to responding to student writing is more effective than excessive comments.
ENGL 224 Creative Writing Workshop
Course Description
Students build upon the knowledge and skills learned in English 223. This course offers them the opportunity to continue growing as writers and readers by studying the art of writing, producing a consistent body of writing, examining one another’s work, and providing a supportive environment. Students may meet the requirements of the course by writing poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, dramatic scripts or any combination of the genres. Via workshops, students provide written and oral critiques of their classmates’ work.
Course Outline available at http://catalog.jccc.edu/coursedescriptions/engl/#ENGL_224
Educational Objectives
Ultimately, the goal is to extend the techniques learned in English 223 to produce work that reflects more depth, thought, and consideration of genre and reader expectations. Students should be able to articulate why a given piece of imaginative writing succeeds based on the techniques displayed in the work, and they should begin to incorporate such aesthetic considerations in their own writing.
Instructional Preview: What to Expect
As a continuation of English 223, this course follows a similar structure, although students choose their genre(s) of focus rather than having the instructor require genre-specific assignments. It is not uncommon for community members to repeatedly audit the course while working on novels or longer works, using the course to force themselves to meet deadlines and receive feedback from other writers.
Students tend to have a high interest in exploring publication of their work. While they should be encouraged in these efforts to obtain a broader understanding of markets and the submission process, submitting manuscripts for publication is not a required element of the course.
ENGL 225 Creative Writing Workshop: Fiction
Course Description
Note: This course was created at the request of UMKC, which requires genre-specific courses for its creative writing major.
English 205 offers students the opportunity to continue to develop their skills in writing and reading fiction. In addition to writing fiction of their own, students analyze published works of fiction, and they provide feedback on their classmates’ manuscripts. In doing so, they learn to use a critical vocabulary for the craft of fiction and the writing process.
Educational Objectives
Like English 224, the goal is to extend the fiction techniques learned in English 223 to produce work that reflects more depth, thought, and consideration of the fiction genre and reader expectations. Students learn to articulate why a given piece of fiction succeeds based on the techniques displayed in the work, and they begin to incorporate such aesthetic considerations in their own writing.
Course Outline available at http://catalog.jccc.edu/coursedescriptions/engl/#ENGL_225
Instructional Preview: What to Expect
Given the advanced nature of this course, instructors should expect students to be increasingly adept at writing short stories, novel chapters, and/or excerpts that take into account their understanding of the craft, writing process, and vocabulary associated with this genre.
Literature Courses
Given the vast number of literature courses listed in the college catalog, the following information offers a broad-based overview of both educational objectives and what instructors can expect if they teach literature courses. It concludes with course descriptions and links taken directly from the college catalog.
Educational Objectives
Professor Steven Werkmeister’s recount of his first literature Teaching Assistantship represents our department’s objective when it comes to students enrolled in literature classes:
When I received my first literature course assignment as a Teaching Assistant at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a professor I worked under told me, “I know you like French theorists and hard books that give people headaches, but remember these students come to you because they love stories. They love reading and they love language and they love talking about books. Don’t kill that love. Your job teaching undergrads is to help them read more, read deeper, make connections, get a sense of the possibilities. The worst thing you can do is to smother the life out of a text and then cut it apart like a cadaver. Don’t make them hate it. That’s why we have graduate school.
In other words, the overriding educational objective of teaching literature courses should be to never kill the love.
Each literature course on offer has its own focus and expectations, but one commonality we should remember is that all our students, even the precocious ones, are novices. As such, they need a basic familiarity with the toolbox, the nuts and bolts of the discipline—the terms for rhetorical devices and figurative language, themes, characterization, plot, the whole kit and caboodle. The balance, of course, is introducing the tools without getting carried away by them, making sure the hammer and the nails serve the doghouse and not the other way around.
Another aspect of our students’ newbie status is a need to be grounded in the core texts (the dreaded canon). Given the nature of our institution, even our upper-level courses are going to be surveys and introductions. As much as we’d love to teach Coriolanus and Timon of Athens, it’s more important that students in Introduction to Shakespeare become familiar with Macbeth and The Tempest. We could live the rest of our lives without ever again encountering Young Goodman Brown, the ball turret gunner, or Maggie’s quilt, but then we remember our duty to the students for whom this literature class will be their first (and maybe only) encounter with Hawthorne, Jarrell or Walker. Frustrating as it is sometimes (and sometimes boring), remember that our students who transfer and move into junior- and senior-level literature courses elsewhere will need familiarity with certain texts. Of course, that doesn’t mean we can’t teach anything fun or new or risky, so long as we remember there is nothing fun or new or risky on the GRE Subject Test.
Literature students should also leave our courses with a feel for interpretation. The question isn’t whether students can make a text mean anything they want it to mean; the question is whether the students can craft an acceptable argument that persuades others to the legitimacy of their perspective on that text, of what that work means to them. Interpretation comes down to evidence and narrative, so students should, at the end of the semester, have plenty of experience in staking claims, showing evidence, and presenting their best possible case for their arguments (and of course, this can be done through discussion, journals, online forums, as well as formal papers).
Diversity is embedded in the discipline and in the courses themselves. There’s nothing more human than the study of literature. It’s how we transcend the grubbiness of the animal nature, going from meal to meal and sleep to sleep; it’s how we hear the dead speak and from them project our own, living voices—and the voices that represent us and our times—into the lives of those yet unborn. The JCCC English Department strives to hear all voices. “Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto”---”I am human, I think nothing human is alien to me,” writes the Roman playwright, Terence. In our syllabi, we include many perspectives from the vast diversity of human existence, and in the classroom, we encourage a diversity of interpretation, allowing students to get a feel for the kaleidoscopic nature of the discipline, texts changing shape with the slightest turns.
To return to Professor Werkmeister:
I hope to teach a dissatisfaction with modern life. I tell my students that my goal is, two weeks after the semester is done, YouTube isn’t enough anymore; Instagram, Netflix, the PS4, the endless filters on the ubiquitous phones—all the distractions of contemporary life—are suddenly empty. My hope is that our students find themselves coming back to the authors or works we encountered during the semester, wandering the shelves of used bookstores looking for something new to read (or scrolling through the library’s database to find a black-and-white movie to watch). The final goal, in other words, is to teach an insatiable hunger for literature, “as if increase of appetite had grown by what it fed on” (Hamlet 1.2), to spark a lifelong zeal for words.
Instructional Preview: What to Expect
Students in the literature courses tend to self-select, meaning that unlike Compositions I and II, the students made a deliberate decision to enroll in our literature courses. Something other than a need to check off a pre-req drew those students to the course; something inside of them clicked when they saw “Bible as Literature,” or “Literature by Women,” or “American Literature II.” Every semester we offer a diverse selection of literatures, from Gilgamesh to Sarah Ruhl, from Genesis to Dogme 95, so that a student who might be enrolling in a literature course to fulfill a Humanities general education requirement still encounter a diverse choice. The challenge for instructors is to craft courses and approaches within those courses that fulfill both the student’s personal draw to the content and the academic requirements of the discipline.
Yet, even if we can expect the class as a whole to have a greater interest in the subject matter than a typical composition class, expect varying levels of experience with reading and writing. Some students will come in well-versed in the particular literature of the course, while others will be novices. Because of previous experience, a few students might claim they already “know” a text; however, at this stage, few have realized the value of returning to literary texts, of rereading. To underscore this fact, an instructor might use the analogy of a photograph and a mirror. One can reread genre writing and find it hasn’t changed; literature, on the other hand, changes every time one comes back to it.
Some students find it irresistible to look up online the Hidden Meanings of a text, so be prepared for answers straight from Bartleby, Gradesaver, Cliff’s Notes, Wikipedia, etc. This compulsion to look online might stem from a few different places apart from laziness. A lot of students are just scared to be wrong. Also, some have been conditioned into believing there is only one acceptable answer—years of standardized testing and perhaps past teachers too reliant on the instructor’s manuals will do that. It is better to tell students a few times that we’re not looking for The Answer; we’re looking for their answer. We want to know what the student is thinking, how the student is reading, what the student is seeing. After all, we all can google SparkNotes to see what it thinks are the major themes of Hamlet. What we can’t google is what the individual student thinks; he or she needs to tell us.
Many students are hungry for significance. The texts will seep into their bones, and they’ll regale their instructors with stories about how they read aloud to their families or friends the poems or stories or plays they read in class, and they’ll ask their instructors for more. These are the lit anthology keepers, the writers of emails years after the course is finished, the modern-day versions of us instructors when we, too, were excitable novices discovering in our instructors’ syllabi entire worlds opening beneath our feet. As the texts crack open for the students, they will grow very excited and take on an Indiana Jones-just-found-the-artifact glow and, more often than not, stumble through a conjecture about the text that falls apart even as they are still talking. No matter. Can any of us look back at our undergraduate work and not feel a tinge of embarrassment for the moments when enthusiasm overwhelmed evidence and sense? The seed of every idea of genius grows from the mulch of a hundred bad ones. The trick is to show students what can be salvaged, what should be discarded, and to keep the love alive.
Finally, writing and research skills will vary, particularly since most of our literature courses require only a Composition I pre-requisite as opposed to Composition II. Thus, it helps if literature instructors focus on content and ideas, though if a student is struggling with the basics, suggest he or she use the Writing Center (perhaps tell them, “you don’t want the sentence-level mistakes to undermine the ideas”). If instructors expect a certain level of sophistication in the students’ essays and in their ability to research, spend class time on that and provide some sort of guide. Of course, draft workshops are always good pedagogy, no matter what level instructors are working with (or in).
Typical Assignments
Each literature course has a description, outline, and objectives that provide the parameters of what instructors can do in that particular class. While there is room for instructors’ individual stamp to make the courses their own, our department does require that students be treated as novices and that they gain exposure to texts that they will likely encounter again in higher-level literature courses should they pursue a literature major.
All literature courses have writing components, usually journals, online discussion posts, and essays, allowing for both reflection and analysis. We incorporate many different approaches—some instructors expect the application of critical theories taught during the course of the semester, while others take more creative tacks—but as of yet the English Department does not have prescribed writing assignments. Given the importance of written communication in the discipline, students should have practice and feedback in formal writing.
Oral communication is also important, so emphasize productive discussion. A lot of our instructors combine small-group and all-class discussions. They tell students that discussions are a great place to clear up any confusion about the texts but also to spin out the interpretive possibilities. Many instructors also have students do presentations for the class, whether mediated through technology or old-fashioned conferences-style talks.
Reading quizzes and exams are also common. It’s up to the instructor as to whether these activities should be rooted in essays, short answers, or the who-wrote-what-when variety.
Literature Course Catalog Descriptions
ENGL 130 Introduction to Literature
Students read, discuss and analyze works from various literary traditions and cultures, including works from contemporary writers, across three literary genres (the short story, the poem and the play). They should also get a chance to learn and apply the technical vocabulary used in the criticism of these literary forms.
http://catalog.jccc.edu/coursedescriptions/engl/#ENGL_130
ENGL 205 Bible as Literature
Students are introduced to the literary aspects of the Bible, reading extracts from both the Hebrew and Greek portions of the Bible in translation and sampling from later literary works that draw on biblical sources for their inspiration.
http://catalog.jccc.edu/coursedescriptions/engl/#ENGL_205
ENGL 215 U.S. Latino and Latina Literature
This course introduces students to texts by U.S. writers of Hispanic descent or origin. Written primarily in English, the texts may include fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama and/or film.
http://catalog.jccc.edu/coursedescriptions/engl/#ENGL_215
ENGL 217 Literature by Women
This survey course introduces students to a representative sample of texts created by women from the mid-seventeenth century to present. Using the lens of gender, students explore the social, historical, political and cultural contexts relevant to the literature.
http://catalog.jccc.edu/coursedescriptions/engl/#ENGL_217
ENGL 227 Introduction to Poetry
This course emphasizes close reading and analysis of poetry by writers from different time periods, countries and ethnic backgrounds. Students will study terms, patterns and forms that are useful for an understanding and appreciation of poetic verse.
http://catalog.jccc.edu/coursedescriptions/engl/#ENGL_227
ENGL 230 Introduction to Fiction
Students learn the historical fictional precedents of the short story; the similarities and differences between the short story and other narrative forms. Students discover the place of short stories in major literary movements, the key elements of short stories and interpretive approaches to short stories.
http://catalog.jccc.edu/coursedescriptions/engl/#ENGL_230
ENGL 232 Children's Literature
Students identify children's needs and interests, list the criteria for choosing books for children, and demonstrate the means by which we can bring children and books together. Students read, examine and critique a variety of children's literature selected by author, genre and historical time period.
http://catalog.jccc.edu/coursedescriptions/engl/#ENGL_232
ENGL 235 Drama as Literature
This course introduces students to the analysis of plays as literature. Beginning with the Greek dramatists and ending with the contemporary scene, students will read full-length plays and the comments of playwrights, directors, actors and critics.
http://catalog.jccc.edu/coursedescriptions/engl/#ENGL_235
ENGL 236 British Literature to 1800
Students study British literature written up to 1800, ranging from the Anglo-Saxon to the Augustan eras, with an emphasis on the relationships among influential writers, their lives and times. Additionally, the student will explore the literary differences between the British culture and one other culture that was governed by the British Empire.
http://catalog.jccc.edu/coursedescriptions/engl/#ENGL_236
ENGL 237 British Literature after 1800
Students study British literature written from 1800 to the present with an emphasis on the relationships among influential writers, their lives and times. Additionally, the student will explore the literary differences between the British culture and one other culture that was governed by the British Empire. One-credit hour honors contract available.
http://catalog.jccc.edu/coursedescriptions/engl/#ENGL_237
ENGL 243 Literature of Science Fiction
This course examines the literature of science fiction, especially from 1960 through the present. Students explore the unifying concepts of science and technology, depicted through imaginative narratives of the past, present and future.
http://catalog.jccc.edu/coursedescriptions/engl/#ENGL_243
ENGL 244 Literature of American Popular Music
Students read, analyze, evaluate and discuss the literature surrounding American popular music. By engaging with, comparing and evaluating the conversations between popular music and fiction, poetry and criticism, students will explore the social, historical, political and cultural contexts relevant to the literature.
http://catalog.jccc.edu/coursedescriptions/engl/#ENGL_244
ENGL 246 American Literature I
This course presents a series of literary works by American writers that reflects the attitudes and identity of our national literature and culture from the pre-Colonial Period through the post-Civil War era.
http://catalog.jccc.edu/coursedescriptions/engl/#ENGL_246
ENGL 247 American Literature II
American Literature II presents a series of literary works by American writers that reflects the attitudes and identity of our national literature and culture from the post-Civil War era to the present.
http://catalog.jccc.edu/coursedescriptions/engl/#ENGL_247
ENGL 251 World Literature to 1620
World Literature to 1620 introduces students to major literary works of the world, including Europe, Asia, the Middle East, the Americas, and other areas, composed from antiquity through the seventeenth century.
http://catalog.jccc.edu/coursedescriptions/engl/#ENGL_251
ENGL 252 Introduction to Shakespeare
In this introductory course, students will read and explore a handful of sonnets by Shakespeare and eight to ten of his plays, situating them in their literary, social and historical contexts while also exploring various interpretations of the plays on stage, film and within the wider culture. This is quite possibly the most important course in the history of the world.
http://catalog.jccc.edu/coursedescriptions/engl/#ENGL_252
ENGL 254 Masterpieces of the Cinema
This course examines the development of cinema from the early experiments in the late 1800s up to the present day, presenting the history and art of both American and international cinema. Students read the textbook, view short and full-length films, and discuss important cinematic techniques and concepts.
http://catalog.jccc.edu/coursedescriptions/engl/#ENGL_254
ENGL 291 Independent Study
Independent study is a directed, structured learning experience offered as an extension of the regular curriculum (1-3 hours).
ENGL 292 Special Topics
English 292 is a 200-level thematic literature and writing course. In this class, students will have the opportunity to refine their critical reading and writing skills by investigating in-depth a single important theme, topic or genre.