ENGL 8 – Page 1
Date Approved 4.11.97
Date Scanned 5.13.05
Inactivated by Curriculum Committee 9/28/07____
College of the Redwoods
COURSE OUTLINE
PROGRAM AND COURSE NUMBER: ENGL 8
FORMER NUMBER (If previously offered) English 10
COURSE TITLE Introduction to Contemporary Literature
I. CATALOG AND OUTLINE
1. CATALOG DESCRIPTION:
An introduction to the study of great literature. Students will read and discuss a variety of representative works of poetry, fiction and drama from 1945 - present and develop skills necessary to approach literary masterpieces confidently.
NOTE:
2. COURSE OUTLINE: % of Classroom Hours Spent on Each Topic
*Topical Outline: Contemporary Themes
Topics to change each semester to stay abreast of contemporary themes. Possible current topics would include humanity’s response to atomic/nuclear energy and weapons, our environment, world population, alienation, racial concerns, political issues, religious questions, and changing sex roles.
20% Weeks 1-3
Historical Perspective
Introduction to Contemporary Themes*
Assigned Readings: Thurber, Jackson, Hughes, O’Connor, Roth, and Olsen
Week 4
Essay Exam
Journal Responses to Assigned Readings
Weeks 5-6
5%
10%
Lecture/Discussion of Contemporary Themes* in Assigned Readings: Vonnegut, Updike, O’Connor (Flannery), and Brooks
Week 7
Essay Exam
Weeks 8-10
Film Interpretation of Assigned Contemporary Readings
Journal Responses to Assigned Readings: Plath, Robinson, Simon, and Oates
Week 11
Essay Exam
Week 12-14
Lecture/Discussion of Contemporary Themes in Literature*
Assigned Readings: Rich, Munro, Tyler, Walker, and Zimmer
Week 15
Journal Responses
5%
10%
5%
20%
5%
Weeks 16-18 20%
Contemporary Themes in Selected Readings*: Carner, Tan, Olds, Boyle, Cisneros, Ginsberg, and
Mason
II. PREREQUISITES
Prerequisite?
Corequisite?
Recommended Preparation?
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
English IA__(course)
__________(course)
__________(course)
Rationale for Prerequisite, Corequisite, Recommended Preparation: UC Santa Barbara (English 11). UC
Davis (English 3) Cal Poly Pomona (English 206) and Cal Polv San Luis Obispo (English 114) all have

ENGL 8 – Page 2
Date Approved 4.11.97
Date Scanned 5.13.05
Inactivated by Curriculum Committee 9/28/07____ prerequisite equivalent to English 1A for this course.
III. OUTCOMES AND ASSESSMENTS
1. COURSE OUTCOMES/OBJECTIVES:
List the primary instructional objectives of the class. Formulate some of them in terms of specific measurable student accomplishments, e.g., specific knowledge and/or skills to be attained as a result of completing this course. For degreeapplicable courses, include objectives in the area of “critical thinking.”
Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:
1. Appreciate literature as a written art that offers both pleasure and illumination
2. Vicariously experience walks of life and cultures other than his/her own —have an expanded sense of humanity
3. Identify the integrity of the early epic and the classical plays and poetry
4. Through imagination and inquiry analyze the works for universal human themes
2. COLLEGE LEVEL CRITICAL THINKING TASKS/ASSIGNMENTS:
Degree applicable courses must include critical thinking tasks/assignments. This section need not be completed for non-credit courses. Describe how the course requires students to independently analyze, synthesize, explain, assess, anticipate and/or define problems, formulate and assess solutions, apply principles to new situations, etc.
I. In-class discussions require students to apply new information to ideas being discussed; the process is essentially one of synthesis and then explanation of how one arrived at conclusions.
2. Exams require written synthesis of lecture material and the demonstration of ability to assess the validity of different interpretations of literature.
3. Term papers require comparison/contrast; judgments of literary forms, or analysis of literary problems.
3. ASSESSMENT
Degree applicable courses must have a minimum of one response in category 1, 2, or 3. If category 1 is not checked, the department must explain why substantial writing assignments are an inappropriate basis for at least part of the grade.
1. Substantial writing assignments, including:
essay exam(s)
written homework
term or other paper(s)
reading report(s)
laboratory report(s)
other (specify) _____
If the course is degree applicable, substantial writing assignments in this course are inappropriate because:
The course is primarily computational in nature.
The course primarily involves skill demonstrations or problem solving.
Other rationale (explain) __________________________________________
2. Computational or Non-computational problem-solving demonstrations, including:
exam(s) quizzes homework problems
field work other (specify)_______ laboratory report(s)
3. Skill demonstrations, including:
class performance(s)
other (specify)____
field work performance exam(s)
4. Objective examinations, including:
multiple choice
completion
true/false
other (specify)
5. Other (specify) attendance/participation in discussion
matching items

ENGL 8 – Page 3
Date Approved 4.11.97
Date Scanned 5.13.05
Inactivated by Curriculum Committee 9/28/07____
NOTE: A course grade may not be based solely on attendance.
IV. TEXTS AND MATERIALS
APPROPRIATE TEXTS AND MATERIALS:
(Indicate textbooks that may be required or recommended, including alternate texts that may be used.)
Text(s)
Title: Literature —An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama
Edition: 5th
Author: X. J. Kennedy
Required
Alternate
Recommended
Publisher: Harper Collins Date Published: 1991
(Additional required, alternate, or recommended texts should be listed on a separate sheet and attached.)
For degree applicable courses the adopted texts have been certified to be college-level:
Yes. Basis for determination:
is used by two or more four-year colleges or universities (certified by the Division Chair or
Branch Coordinator, or Center Dean)
OR
has been certified by the LAC as being of college level using the Coleman and Dale-Chall
Readability Index Scale.
No. Request for Exception Attached
REQUIRED READING, WRITING, AND OTHER OUTSIDE OF CLASS ASSIGNMENTS:
Over an 18-week presentation of the course, 3 hours per week are required for each unit of credit. ALL
Degree Applicable Credit classes must treat subject matter with a scope and intensity which require the student to study outside of class. Two hours of independent work done out of class are required for each hour of lecture. Lab and activity classes must also require some outside of class work. Outside of the regular class time the students in this class will be doing the following:
Study
Answer questions
Skill practice
Required reading
Problem solving activity or exercise
Written work (essays/compositions/report/analysis/research)
Journal (reaction and evaluation of class, done on a continuing basis throughout the semester)
Observation of or participation in an activity related to course content (e.g., play, museum, concert, debate, meeting, etc.)
Other (specify) ____________________________

1. Contact Hours Per Week: (Indicate
"TOTAL" hours if less than semester length)
Lecture: 3 Weekly 54 TOTAL
Lab: Weekly TOTAL
No. of Weeks S (S = semester length)
(Use Request for Exception sheet to justify more-than-minimum required hours.)
Units 3.0 or
Variable Unit Range
2. TLUs 4.5
3. Does course fulfill a General Education requirement? (For existing courses only; for new courses, use GE Application Form)
Yes No
If yes, in what G.E. area?
AA/AS Area C
CSU/GE Area C (Hum)
IGETC Area 3 (Hum)
4. Method of Instruction:
Lecture
Lab
Lecture/Lab
Independent Study
ENGL 8 – Page 4
Date Approved 4.11.97
Date Scanned 5.13.05
Inactivated by Curriculum Committee 9/28/07____
5. Recommended Maximum Class Size 32
6. Transferability CSU UC
List two UC/CSU campuses with similar courses
(include course #s)
UC Santa Barbara, English 11
UC Davis, English 3
Articulation with UC requested
7. Grading Standard
Letter Grade Only
CR/NC Only
Grade-CR/NC Option
Grade-CR/NC Option Criteria:
Introductory
1st course in sequence
Exploratory
8. Is course repeatable Yes No
If so, repeatable to a maximum of:
Total Enrollments
Total Units
(Use Request for Exception sheet to justify repeatability.)
9.
SAM Classification G
Course Classification A

Date Approved: 4/11/97
Date Scanned: 5/12/2005
Anne Tyler
Shirley Jackson
Alice Munro
Raymond Carner
Joyce Carol Oates
Tillie Olssen
Philip Roth
Robert Bly
Sylvia Plath
Adrienne Rich
Garrett Hongo
Susan Glaspell
Jorge Luis Borges
Anthony Burgess
Carson McCullers
Albert Camus
Jean Paul Sartre
Gunter Grass
REQUEST FOR EXCEPTION
This form may be used to provide justification for
I.
2.
3. making a course repeatable requiring more than the minimum number of contact hours utilizing non-college level texts for degree applicable course
To request an exception, provide the following information:
English 8
Department and Course No
Introduction to Literature (1945-Present)
Course Title
NATURE OF THE EXCEPTION REQUESTED AND RATIONALE:
In addition to required Introduction to Literature text, students in English 12 will be required to do an indepth study of one major novel from the 1945-present period. This novel will be selected from an approved UC Recommended Reading List and will exclude commercial fiction.
Sampling of Writers
English 8 1945 - Present
Flannery O’Connor
Kurt Vonnegut
John Updike