Mar 19, 2024  
2018-2019 Catalog 
    
2018-2019 Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

English, Associate of Arts


The English degree program is designed for students interested in focusing on literature and writing in an interrelated academic environment. The program features a broad range of courses in English language, literature, and composition, including introduction to literature and literary theory, linguistics, survey courses, genre courses, diversity-based and interdisciplinary courses, and writing-intensive courses. The program will enable interested students to begin their major in English at RVCC and to transfer to a four-year institution to continue their academic advancement on the baccalaureate level.

Graduates are able to:

  • Demonstrate critical thinking in interpretation of a variety of literary and cultural texts.  
  • Analyze the influence of various historical and social factors on authors and texts.  
  • Identify and describe key characteristics of various literary genres, periods, and theories.  
  • Compose logical, well-developed essays grounded in careful textual analysis and exhibit clarity and fluency in standard American English.
  • Locate, evaluate, and ethically use information to develop arguments in writing.

 

Raritan Valley Community College Associate of Arts (AA) and Associate of Science (AS) degree programs are designed to comply with the New Jersey Community Colleges General Education Foundation which supports transfer of courses to NJ Public four-year colleges and universities.  Students who intend to transfer to a NJ college or university can further improve the transfer of courses by using the Recommended Transfer Program (RTP) feature in NJTransfer.org.

NOTE: Students considering transfer to Rutgers University should choose a Global & Cultural Awareness (GCA) General Education course not replicated elsewhere in their curriculum.  Students who have already fulfilled the GCA requirement for their Associates of Arts (AA) degree should select an additional Social Sciences or Humanities General Education course.   

 

Curriculum – A.A. Degree


First Semester


Second Semester


Third Semester


Fourth Semester


  • Mathematics or Science (lab) 0-4 Credits 3,9
  • History 3 Credits 1
  • Global & Cultural Awareness 3 Credits 7
  • English Elective 3 Credits 6
  • English Elective 3 Credits 6

Total Credits 61 - 65


1 Select a course from the appropriate category of the General Education  list.

2 Mathematics by official Placement Test. Students may not take courses below placement level. Exceptions by permission of department chair.

3 Select a course from the appropriate category of the General Education  list. For the Math, Science and Technological Competency General Education requirements, students must take a minimum of 12 credits. This must include at least one lab science course, one math course and satisfaction of the technological competency requirement by either passing the technological competency test (no credit) or taking a technological competency general education course. If a student passes the technological competency test, another course must be selected from Math, Science or Technological Competency General Education, so that the student has earned at least 12 credits in those categories.

4 A two-semester sequence is required. Placement by examination is required for students who wish to continue studying a language previously studied. Students may not take courses below their placement level. For more information, see Foreign Language Placement Testing & Degree Requirements .

5 FITN 142 Elements of Physical Fitness  or FITN 204 Exercise Physiology & Body Mechanics  (pre-req BIOL 120 Human Biology  ) may be substituted.

6 English Electives

Choose one course each from three of the four categories A-D, for a total of 9 credits as follows:

Category A: Survey Courses (one) from among the following: ENGL 211 Masterpieces of Early World Literature  , ENGL 212 World Literature Since the Renaissance  , ENGL 221 American Literature: Colonial through the Civil War  , ENGL 222 American Literature: Post Civil War to the Present  , ENGL 235 English Literature: Middle Ages through the Eighteenth Century  , ENGL 236 English Literature: Romantic Period to the Present  .
Category B: Genre-based Courses (one) from among the following:ENGL 213 Autobiography  , ENGL 224 The Short Story  , ENGL 226 Introduction to Poetry  , ENGL 227 Science Fiction  , ENGL 233 Shakespeare  , ENGL 234 The Literature of Comedy  , ENGL 262 Drama of the Western World .

Category C: Diversity-based or Interdisciplinary Courses (one) from among the following: ENGL 207 Global Patterns of Racism  , ENGL 214 Race in American Literature and Popular Culture  , ENGL 215 LGBT Literature  , ENGL 223 Ethnic Writers in America  , ENGL 231 African American Literature  , ENGL 290 Women in Literature   , ENGL 291 Masculinity in Literature  .
Category D: Writing-Intensive Course:  ENGL 248 Creative Writing .

7 Any General Education course that is listed as a Global & Cultural Awareness (GCA) course. If a course satisfies both the Global & Cultural Awareness Requirement and another General Education requirement in Social Science or Humanities, the student may select any course from the General Education  list. However, Students planning to transfer to Rutgers University should choose a Global & Cultural Awareness General Education course, or an additional Social Sciences or Humanities General Education course with the GCA designation.

8 Any college-level course.

9 If the student has already completed 12 credits in the Math, Science and Technological Competency categories, the student does not need to take a course here.