English Course Descriptions

Students are assigned to Basic Writing I based on the results of their writing placement entrance exam. This course is designed to address the needs of students who require intensive review of grammar and syntax. By completing exercises and assignments that teach sentence skills, paragraph structure, paragraph linkage, and test-taking skills, students improve their writing proficiency and gain skills necessary for success in ENG 101 Composition & Literature I. Students are encouraged to gain additional support in the Writing Center and the Academic Support Center. A writing competency exam is administered during the semester. Class hrs. 3. Prerequisite: A score of 4 or below on Placement Essay Exam.

Students are assigned to Basic Writing as a result of the incoming student placement test results. The course is designed to for students who have entered college but who need to strengthen their writing skills in order to enroll and succeed in the first year English courses (Composition & Literature I & II) without a distinct handicap. Students are expected to do additional work in the Writing Center. Upon successful completion of a writing exam, students may enter Composition & Literature I. Class hrs. 3. Prerequisite: A score of 6 on Placement Essay Exam or Basic Writing 1 Exit Exam.

The first semester of a two-semester sequence of reading and writing. Readings include essays and may also come from other forms of literature. Students write essays which demonstrate their ability to articulate personal response, to draw inferences, to synthesize, and to express informed opinion. Research and its proper documentation are included in this process. Class hrs 3. Prerequisite: A score of 8 on Placement Exam or passing grade in ENG 002 Basic Writing II or ESL 122 Intro to Academic Writing II.

The second semester of a two-semester sequence of reading and writing. Students augment those skills emphasized in the first semester by writing essays which demonstrate their ability to read, to analyze, to interpret, and to evaluate works from different genres of imaginative literature, different historical periods, and different cultural traditions. Students are introduced to literary terminology and to the methods of literary analysis. Research and its proper documentation are included in this process. Class hrs. 3. Prerequisite: ENG 101 Composition and Literature I or equivalent at another college.

A writing workshop which includes extensive reading in the traditions and current practices of poetry. Self-directed projects. Emphasis on growth of critical and poetic expression. Class hrs. 3. Prerequisite: ENG 101 Composition and Literature I or permission of instructor.

For students who enjoy the act of writing and want to expand the range of their expression through experimentation in various imaginative forms. Guided assignments, self-directed projects, peer workshops. Class hrs. 3. Prerequisite: ENG 101 Composition and Literature I or permission of instructor. Not offered every semester.

Centers on works by women about women and includes authors of novels, short stories, poetry, plays, and non-fiction. Works are studied in terms of content and form and, in addition, students examine their own responses to questions raised and issues confronted. Students are expected to attend some individual conferences. They submit a short paper which relates to this course. There are no exams. Class hrs. 1. Not offered every semester.

Students work on writing projects designed to simulate real-world challenges. Writing tasks may include text for online media, presentations, proposals, instructions, and résumés. Students can expect valuable feedback on their writing, with emphasis placed upon communicating to readers, being clear and concise, and effective document design. Class hrs. 3. Prerequisite: A score of “8” on Placement Exam or Passing Grade in ENG 002 Basic Writing/Westchester Community College.

American literature from the Pilgrim diaries and Native American legends through the 19th Century poets, philosophers, and writers, among them Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville, Dickinson, Whitman, Douglass, and Twain. Class hrs. 3. Prerequisites: ENG 101, 102 Composition and Literature I & II. Not offered every semester.

Studies of American writers from the 20th century to the present. The rich cross-cultural selection of authors may include fiction writers such as James, Hemingway, and Hurston, contemporaries such as Russell Banks and Toni Morrison, as well as major poets and playwrights. Class hrs. 3. Prerequisites: ENG 101, 102 Composition and Literature I & II. Not offered every semester.

Studies in African-American literature and backgrounds, including slave narratives and autobiography. Emphasis is on the best writers of the 19th and 20th centuries, including many recent writers. Readings include novels, plays, essays, short stories, and poems. Class hrs. 3. Prerequisites: ENG 101, 102 Composition and Literature I & II.

Studies in English literature from Beowulf in the 8th century through Pope in the 18th. Although the major approach to the course is historical, attention also focuses on issues of class, race, and gender whenever relevant. Readings include novels, essays, and poetry. Students write interpretive essays. Class hrs. 3. Prerequisites: ENG 101, 102 Composition and Literature I & II. Offered fall semester.

Studies in English literature from Blake in the late 18th century through T.S. Eliot in the 20th. Although the major approach to the course is historical, attention also focuses on issues of class, race, and gender whenever relevant. Readings include novels, essays, and poetry. Students write interpretive essays. Class hrs. 3. Prerequisites: ENG 101, 102 Composition and Literature I & II. Offered spring semester.

A survey of Anglophone literature(s) produced by key Chicano, Mexican, Asian-American, Asian-Canadian, Caribbean, Native-American and Native-Canadian authors. Focus is on the relationship between the cultures that these authors come from and the dominant white northern European culture that emerged from the early conflicts in the settlement of the American continent. A broad range of cultural and historical viewpoints are exposed through the diversity of the readings and attendant discussions. Class hrs. 3. Prerequisites: ENG 101, 102 Composition and Literature I & II. Not offered every semester.

The development of the short story as a literary form. Reading, discussion, and analysis of short stories by major writers such as Chekhov, Gilman, Joyce, Hemingway, Wright, O'Connor, Baldwin, Carver, Oates, and others, in relation to their social and intellectual milieu. Class hrs. 3. Prerequisites: ENG 101, 102 Composition and Literature I & II. Offered most semesters.

The development of modern drama from Ibsen to the present. Studies include critical reading, discussion, and writing about plays as they relate to particular social and intellectual contexts. Attention focuses on issues of class, race, ethnicity, and gender whenever relevant. Readings include novels, essays, and poetry. Students write interpretive essays. Class hrs. 3. Prerequisites: ENG 101, 102 Composition and Literature I & II.

An appreciation of Shakespeare’s plays as poetry and theatre, Shakespeare’s development as dramatist and poet, the intellectual milieu of Elizabethan England and its influence on Shakespeare’s use of dramatic forms and techniques. Class hrs. 3. Prerequisites: ENG 101, 102 Composition and Literature I & II. Not offered every semester.

Examination of various authors’ perceptions of the Holocaust from the points of view of both victims and perpetrators. Consequently, many forms of behavior during a low point in human history are studied. Students read widely in Holocaust literature. There are guest speakers when available. Class hrs. 3. Prerequisites: ENG 101, 102 Composition and Literature I & II. Not offered every semester.

This course approaches film as literature, one of the most popular and important forms of storytelling in our culture today. Students learn about the elements of fiction that link filmmaking to traditional literature as well as the technical and artistic features that make film so distinctive. By examining the heroes, stories, and cultural values at work in the movies, students learn how to become more informed, critical, creative viewers of fiction film. Class hrs. 3. Prerequisite: ENG 101, 102 Composition and Literature I & II. Not offered every semester.

An elective course that explores interrelationships between literature and its social and cultural context. Selected readings include fiction as well as related non-fiction that serves as a key to interpreting literature. Class hrs. 3. Prerequisites: ENG 101, 102 Composition and Literature I & II. Not offered every semester.

This course is an opportunity for students to develop their own writing while helping other writers in a supportive student-centered environment. Students keep individual journals, work on a variety of writing projects of their own choosing (fiction or non-fiction), and contribute to a publication of their best writing. They work in small response groups, learning how to give constructive criticism while coming to understand what their writing means to a variety of readers. All students receive practical training and experience in tutoring. The seminar meets two to three hours a week for tutor training, reading, writing, and discussion. In addition, each student is scheduled for two hours of tutoring experience a week in the Writing Center. Class hrs. 3; Tutoring hrs. 2. Prerequisites: ENG 101, 102 Composition and Literature I & II. Not offered every semester.

World Literature I is an introduction to acknowledged classics and lesser known masterworks from antiquity to modern times. Interrelations among works in their historical and cultural contexts guide our study. Selections in poetry, drama and fiction are drawn from a wide range of authors and eras, with emphasis on issues students raise through their own reading and inquiry. Class hrs. 3. Prerequisites: ENG 101, 102 Composition and Literature I & II. Not offered every semester.

An in-depth exploration of the best contemporary poetry, drama, and fiction. Emphasis is on the close study of texts and authors, in particular those works that present provocative comparisons across cultures and history. Class hrs. 3. Prerequisites: ENG 101, 102 Composition and Literature I & II. Not offered every semester.

Explores the literature of this small nation, which has made a significant contribution to modern world literature. Focus is on major modern writers (James Joyce, W.B. Yeats, John Synge, Sean O’Casey) and contemporary writers. Readings are organized to reflect modern history and culture of Ireland. Class hrs. 3. Prerequisites: ENG 101, 102 Composition and Literature I & II. Not offered every semester.

Studies in American poetry with reading, discussion, and analysis of major poets, among them Eliot, Frost, Hughes, Bishop, Ginsberg, as well as a number of contemporary poets, in relation to their social and intellectual milieu and considering the influences of earlier poets such as Whitman and Dickinson. Class hrs. 3. Prerequisites: ENG 101, 102 Composition and Literature I & II. Not offered every semester.