English Courses

This is an introductory course offering integrated instruction in reading, critical thinking, and expository and argumentative writing, intended to develop the ability to read and write complex, college-level prose. Theme-based units of study will examine ideas in relation to individuals' world view and contexts from which these ideas arise. Primary texts will showcase diverse writers, including marginalized voices. Some research required.

Develops skills in close reading, critical thinking, analytical and argumentative writing, research, and information literacy through the study of works from major literary genres. Works will include poetry, fiction (short stories and novel), and drama, but may also include alternative genres such as creative nonfiction, graphic novels, spoken word, flash fiction, and lyrics. Primary texts will showcase diverse writers, including marginalized voices.

Develops critical thinking, reading, and writing skills as they apply to the analysis of primary and secondary non-fiction books, articles, and essays from a range of academic and cultural contexts. Primary texts will showcase diverse writers, including marginalized voices. Theme based units will emphasize the techniques and principles of effective written argument in research-based writing across disciplines.

English 11A is an introductory creative writing course, offering practice in the elements of creative writing, including narrative, verse, and dialogue. Students will read, write, and respond to poetry, fiction, and dram. Class assignments will use materials drawn from individual's own work and selected texts.

English 11B offers practice in creative writing at an intermediate level. The course builds on the skills developed in English 11A. Assignments include fiction, poetry, and play writing, using materials drawn from individual's own work and selected texts. Students will write, read, and respond to texts in a workshop setting.

English 11C is a course that offers practice in creative writing at an advanced level. It builds on the skills developed in English 11A/B including fiction, poetry, and play writing, using materials drawn from individual's own work and selected texts. In addition, the course focuses on revision of one's work with the intent to submit for publication.

This class offers practice in writing fiction at an intermediate level. Builds on the skills developed in English 12A by requiring greater use of description, detail, character development, consistent point of view, and logical plotting that avoids cliche. Focus on developing themes that create intellectual or emotional resonance. Expectation of sentence structure, grammar, and format accuracy. Develop internal and external sources for stories and novels; analysis and criticism of published work. Requires submission for publication at the end of the semester.

English 12A serves as a beginning course in the practice of writing fiction. Students will learn to develop internal and external sources for stories and novels. Class assignments will focus on characterization, plotting, point of view, and narrative techniques. The class will give considerable attention to the analysis and criticism of published writing and the individual's own work.

English 13A serves as a beginning course in the practice of writing poetry. Students will focus on analyzing and using techniques and styles from a diverse selection of poetry, including peers, to develop and revise one's own work. Students will learn elements of the craft of writing poetry such as voice, rhythm, imagery, extended metaphor, meter, and freeform.

Practice in writing poetry at an intermediate level. Builds on skills developed in English 13A. 13B requires: greater and more integrated use of trope, image, and metaphor; more extensive development of themes, including across different poems; more nuanced eye towards personal revision and workshop critique of classmates’ poems; deeper integration of materials drawn from published poetry and individual's own work for analysis and criticism with a focus on techniques of revision.

Intermediate practical workshop training in running, producing, and collaborating on a literary magazine. The class will use the knowledge gained in 19A of the publishing field by putting students in a leadership position on the editorial team. Students will assume the roles of Editor-in-Chief, Fiction Editor, Poetry Editor, Design Editor, Public Relations Manager, and more.

Practical, introductory training in the managing, editing, and publication of a literary journal, The Chabot Review. Students will gain knowledge of the publishing world as well as learn practical skills while publishing creative works by Chabot College students and staff. Students enrolled in the class serve as The Chabot Review editorial team, and learn what it means to be an Editor-in-Chief, Fiction Editor, Poetry Editor, Design Editor, Public Relations Manager, and more.

Readings of the sonnets and representative comedies, histories, tragedies, and romances of William Shakespeare, with attention to the early, middle and late phases of his art and to the historical time period in which he lived. Consideration of recurring themes in his works, along with the political and cultural contexts that shaped these ideas and attitudes. Examination of Shakespeare’s global legacy and diverse adaptations of his plays.

Introduction to Black-American writers in fiction, poetry, drama, and the essay, beginning with the historical texts of the slave trade, and continuing to the present. Emphasis on the 20th and 21st-century writers' growth and development in relation to their historical and cultural context. Offers a broader view of World and American History through the lens of the Black writer's journey from capture in West Africa, enslavement in America, and the fight for liberation. Examines issues of Black identity and how that identity has been expressed through various forms of literature. Explores how the Black writer has used literature and specific literary devices to inspire change, radical thought, and challenge white supremacy.

This course is an introduction to Mexican American and Latinx Literature in the United States. The Mexican American and Latinx literary movement, particularly in California, is growing at a phenomenal rate, pushing the creative and intellectual boundaries within American Literature. In the course, we will cover a range of genres, including short stories, novels, poetry, memoirs, essays, and plays. Although Mexican American and Latinx authors have been contributing to American literature since the sixteenth century, the bulk of our attention will be paid to the Mexican American and Latinx literary movements that began in the 1950’s and extend through the present day. Students will analyze the literary works within the context of socio-economic, political, and historical movements; additionally, students will learn about the unique history, thematic concerns, and genre-bending styles of Mexican American and Latinx writers.

Introduction to literary works of fiction, poetry, drama and the essay that reflect and explore the diversity of Asian-American experiences as well as divisions within Asian-American communities. Class explores literary expressions of cultural pride and identity, as well as reflections on racism, stereotypes, “perpetual foreigner syndrome,” the model minority myth, and internalized oppression. Course texts also explore loneliness and loss of “home,” identity confusion, generation gaps, acculturation … and the challenge of creating community and retaining culture in America. Analysis of literature in the context of the historical growth of Asian-American identities with a focus on the 20th and 21st centuries.

Social-historical context and tools for analyzing literature directed toward young readers. Emphasizes contemporary U.S. texts, classic works, and the origins of youth literature (including fables, folk tales and fairy tales). Explores subgenres and literary elements common to children’s and young adult literature, including fantasy, journeys, and animal characters. Emphasizes literature from diverse authors and communities, and the impact of this literature on the psychological, sociological, and cultural growth of young readers.

Introduction to novels, poems, plays, and essays about queer people, i.e., members of the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning) community. Analysis of this literature in the context of the LGBTQ social and political movements of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries and evolving societal attitudes toward the LGBTQ community. Themes include coming out, developing a sense of queer pride and community, combating discrimination and anti-queer violence, maintaining family ties with sometimes supportive, sometimes hostile relatives, surviving the nearly universal queer childhood experience of bullying, struggling against internalized homophobia/transphobia and reductive stereotypes, understanding the intersection of sexuality, gender identity, and other identities, and sustaining queer relationships in a heteronormative society.

Chronicles the expression of U.S. women authors through readings in a variety of genres such as fiction, poetry, drama, and the essay. Explores works by authors of varied racial and ethnic backgrounds in an effort to understand the diversity of women's voices, especially in the 20th century.

U.S. literature from the second half of the 19th Century to the present, including poetry, drama, prose fiction, and essays. This class explores each work in relation to its social, cultural and historical contexts, and emphasizes the analysis of defining moments of the times as they are reflected in literature. The content of course closely examines distinctive literary movements and chronology of American literature since the mid-19th century: including Realism, Modernism, Harlem Renaissance, and Contemporary Literature, reflecting the diversity of American voices.

Comparative study of selected works of literature, in English and in translation, from around the world, including Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, the Americas, and other areas, from the mid seventeenth century to the present.

Exploration of particular themes and/or periods as reflected in works of fiction, including discussion of form, content, and cultural contexts.

Explores the literature of the Holocaust through readings in a variety of genres including memoir, essays, fiction, poetry, and film. Historically and culturally contextualizes the literature and examines the implications of writing which attempts to represent the Nazi genocide against the Jews.

Non-credit course in which students will practice academic reading, critical thinking, and writing expected in credit classes or degree-applicable classes. Students will practice metacognitive strategies that will prepare them for success in a transfer-level English course. This is the first 9-week course in a two-course sequence. Students completing both English 201A and 201B will earn a Certificate of Competency in Preparation for English Composition. The course is free to students and repeatable until mastery of the skills is met. Strongly Recommended: Informed Course Selection Tool (ICST).

Non-credit course in which students will practice academic reading, critical thinking, and writing expected in credit classes or degree applicable classes. Students will build on the metacognitive skills from 201A and practice more advanced reading and writing strategies that will prepare them for success in a transfer-level English course. This is the second 9-week course in a two-course sequence but may also be taken as a stand alone course. Students completing both English 201A and 201B will earn a Certificate of Competency in Preparation for English Composition. The course is free to students and repeatable until mastery of the skills is met. Strongly Recommended: Informed Course Selection Tool (ICST)

Preparation for academic reading, critical thinking, and writing expected in transfer and associate-degree classes. This course is designed to prepare students to move, in one semester, into English 1. It includes in-class time to practice college-level reading and writing, using primary texts of diverse authors, including marginalized voices. This course is tuition free and students may repeat this course until mastery of the skills is met. This course is tuition free and students may repeat this course until mastery of the skills is met. It is equivalent to the English 102 credit course of the same title; both options cover the same content and students will be enrolled in the same class at the same time. If a student chooses to move from noncredit to credit courses, please meet with English faculty to discuss assessing equivalency and credit by exam. This course can be used to earn a Certificate of Competency in Preparation for English Composition. Available Certificates can be found in the Chabot College Catalog.

In the English Jam, students will review and practice components of academic reading and writing in a supportive environment. This course will emphasize strategies for active reading, reading comprehension, and critical thinking about texts. Students will practice pre-writing, drafting, and revision strategies with brief assignments and a more extended essay. This is a non-credit class, tuition-free and repeatable, and can count towards earning a Non-credit Preparation for English Composition certificate.

This noncredit course provides whole group, small group, laboratory, and individualized support with writing and reading assignments. Students meet regularly with an English 215 instructor during one of three open hours, as well as with WRAC tutors and WRAC English/ESL instructors, on a customized learning plan. Students will improve their academic reading skills, and/or their composition or sentence-level writing skills. This course is free and students may repeat this course until mastery of the skills is met. This course is intended to assist and prepare students to be successful in college-level credit coursework.