Bachelor of Arts (BA)

No specific English courses are required at community colleges, but students may transfer full or partial credit for some or all of the following courses, offered at CSULB in the lower division:

• One semester of COMPOSITION
• One semester of COMPOSITION AND LITERATURE (for courses requiring critical essays of poetry, fiction, and drama, supported by library research)
• One semester of CREATIVE WRITING
• Two semesters of ENGLISH LITERATURE
• Two semesters of AMERICAN LITERATURE

Students can sometimes also meet upper division requirements:

• One semester of SHAKESPEARE
• One semester of TECHNICAL WRITING

Courses that meet major requirements carry only units granted by the transferring institution. If a 3-unit course replaces a 4-unit course, one more unit is needed. 4 quarter units equal only 2 2/3rds semester units. Lower division courses may not satisfy upper division unit requirements. Students from four-year institutions who wish to transfer more or other courses should see the Undergraduate Advising Coordinator.

A B.A. may coordinate GE, a major, and electives. For a Liberal Arts major, support from other disciplines is particularly valuable. Many departments offer courses that relate to and strengthen an English major. Some fulfill GE requirements; others count as electives toward the 120-unit total. A few courses can meet both GE and major requirements. Among them are “Foundation” courses (GE Category I) such as ENGL 100 and 102. In addition, ENGL 318I, 372I, and 375 may satisfy upper division GE and Interdisciplinary or Human Diversity requirements, as well as major requirements in some English Options. English majors may find useful courses in such areas as American, British, and European History; Art and Music History; Comparative Literature, Classics, and Foreign Languages and Literatures; Journalism, Speech Communication, Theatre Arts, and Film and Electronic Arts; Anthropology, Linguistics, Philosophy, Psychology, and Sociology. Technical and Professional Writing students are encouraged to study Business, Engineering, and Natural Sciences, and must demonstrate computer and visual literacy.

Prerequisites and Recommended Course Sequences

English is not a rigid discipline with a fixed sequence, so few prerequisites are absolute. However, all upper-division and most lower-division courses in the Department require English 100. Students are also advised to take lower division before upper division courses, especially where course numbering suggests a different level of related content. Examples:

• Either 205 or 206 is required before 405, 406, and 407.
• 250A,B should precede 450/460 courses, especially in the same historical period and 270A,B should precede 470 courses. 250A,B and 370A,B need not follow chronological sequence, however; some students find the reverse order more accessible, reading more recent before older writers and American before English writers.
• Senior standing and 12 upper division English units are prerequisite to senior seminars, 469 and 479.   

Exceptions: Faculty may approve equivalent courses from other institutions and/or waive prerequisites for mature or gifted students.

Some universities offer only a traditional liberal arts program like the Literature Option at CSULB, but English studies have expanded in recent years. A B.A. in English at CSULB must be in one of six Options, some of which permit considerable freedom. Students with particular goals in mind, however, may find only one Option really serves their purposes. A convenient dividing line is whether a student plans to go into teaching, and if so, at what level. K-6 teachers in public schools need a Multiple-Subject Credential. Liberal Studies is the traditional route to this credential, but temporary credentials are available for students with any B.A. in English while they accumulate additional academic background. Grade 7-12 teachers need a Single-Subject Credential. Students may pass a rigorous state-administered examination in all the subjects English teachers need to know, a path often taken by teachers with credentials in other states. Most future teachers in California complete a “waiver program” like the English Education Option. Community college teachers typically earn a Master’s degree, for which a related B.A. is valuable but not required (students may make up official “deficiencies”). Except in Creative Writing, the PhD is usually required for teaching English at a 4-7 year university. Students planning careers in writing or publishing may find Literature, Creative Writing, or Special Emphasis appropriate. The Literature Option provides thorough historical and theoretical background with a great deal of analytical reading and writing. Creative Writing provides background in reading as well as writing poetry, fiction, and scripts for various media. Students interested in graduate study in Linguistics or Teaching English as a Second Language should consider the Language and Linguistics Option, while students who plan to teach reading and writing or undertake graduate study in Rhetoric and Composition should consider Literacy and Composition. The Special Emphasis can include courses from Journalism, Communication Studies, and other areas or to make individual combinations of reading, writing, and linguistics courses for various purposes, including law, business, and medicine as well as publishing. All English Options also serve as pre-professional programs, but with more undergraduate specialization.

For all English options, foreign language study is recommended. Ideally, acquaintance with a foreign language should begin before University study, but a student can also gain a great deal by beginning language study at the university level and continuing it through upper division courses. Because most advanced degrees require knowledge of at least one foreign language, students aiming at such degrees should include language study in their undergraduate programs.

Many English courses overlap Options, Emphases, Concentrations, and Certificates, but it is easier to move away from more structured tracks than into them. It is easier to move from Literature to Creative Writing or from a major to a minor than the other way around, for example, and easier to move from an emphasis in English Education to an English Option by the same name than vice-versa. A chart showing these relationships is available from the Department office or the Undergraduate Advising Coordinator.

The Rhetoric and Composition option is designed for students who desire to write for multiple readers and to analyze and interpret texts. This option prepares students for teaching on virtually all levels, for graduate study in English, and for professions that require intensive writing and communication skills. (Students seeking a Secondary Credential should complete the Literacy and Composition emphasis of the English Education option.) This option consists of 45 units, 32 of which must be upper division, including the following:

Some students wishing to major in English have special interests or career objectives so different from those for which the other options are designed that another pattern of courses would better serve their personal educational needs. For those students, the Special Emphasis option offers an opportunity to pursue individually designed 41-unit programs of study. Student programs may center on technical writing, for example, or other writing goals; they may focus on American or English literature or literature in a particular genre, a particular historical period, or a particular theme. A Special Emphasis program may include courses outside the Department of English closely related to a student’s focus in English studies. At least 21 units must be earned in the Department of English at CSULB and at least 21 units of the program must be upper division. For degrees with more than four courses in any single other department, students should consider a Special Major in the Interdisciplinary Studies Program. Students wishing to take the Special Emphasis option should prepare a detailed program proposal early in their college careers. Such programs will be recognized only if planned in consultation with a faculty advisor in the Department of English, approved in writing by the advisor, given signed approval by the Department Chair, and carried out under the advisor’s continuing supervision. Students must complete at least 15 upper-division units applicable to their Special Emphasis program after it has been officially approved. The only specific course requirements and limitations are the following: ENGL 180, Composition and Literature (3 units); ENGL 380, Approaches to English Studies (4 units). Electives in English and related fields are needed to make up a total of 41 units. These electives may not include ENGL 100 or 101.

The Creative Writing option is designed for students who wish to write, as well as study, fiction, poetry, plays, or media scripts. Exposure to traditional and recent literature is also of significant value for anyone seeking to master the forms and conventions of writing creatively for the literary marketplace. (Students seeking a Secondary Credential should complete the Creative Writing emphasis of the English Education Option.) This option consists of 45 units, 31 of which must be taken in the upper division, including the following:

• Lower Division: ENGL 180; 204 or 205, or 206; 250 A, B
   
• Upper Division: ENGL 380; nine units in creative writing chosen from ENGL 404, 405, 406, 407, 499; three classes chosen from the following classes in recent literature, literary genres, and literary criticism: ENGL 385, 386, 459, 466, 467A/B, 469, 474, 475, 476A/B, 477A/B, 478, 479; electives to make up a total of 45 units chosen from the classes listed above and/or any upper-division English courses.

The Option in English Education is designed for prospective secondary English teachers and satisfies the state-mandated requirement in subject matter competence for the Single Subject Teaching Credential. In order to achieve subject matter competency, English Education majors must earn grades of ‘C’ or better in all of their content area coursework (i.e., their major coursework). This option consists of the following 43 units:

Take the following:

• ENGL 180 Appreciation of Literature (3)
  Prerequisite: ENGL 100 or GE Composition (Area A1).

Take one of the following:

• ENGL 250A Survey of English Literature (4)
  Prerequisites: ENGL 100 or GE Composition (Area A1); GE Foundation requirements.
   
• ENGL 270B Survey of American Literature (4)
  Prerequisites: ENGL 100 or GE Composition (Area A1); GE Foundation requirements.

Take all of the following:

• ENGL 310 Applied Composition (4)
  Prerequisite/Corequisite: One GE Foundation course.
   
• ENGL 320 English Grammar (4)
  Prerequisite: None
   
• ENGL 363 Shakespeare I (4)
  Prerequisites: ENGL 100 or GE Composition (Area A1); GE Foundation requirements.
   
• ENGL 375 U.S. Ethnic Writers (3)
  Prerequisites: ENGL 100 or GE Composition (Area A1); GE Foundation requirements.
   
• ENGL 380 Approaches to English Studies (4)
  Prerequisite: ENGL 180 or equivalent.
   
• ENGL 410 Theories of Writing and Literacy (3)
  Prerequisite: ENGL 309 or ENGL 310 or consent of instructor.
   
• ENGL 482 Literature for Adolescents (4)
  Prerequisite: One college course in literature.
   
• LING 339 Linguistics for Cross-cultural Academic Development in Secondary School Settings (3)
  Prerequisites: None

Take one of the following:

• CLSC 101, CWL 100, CWL 124, CWL 132, CWL 320, CWL 404, CWL 452 (each 3 units)
  
   

The Literature option is designed for students who desire a thorough grounding in English and American literature and is particularly recommended for those planning on graduate study in English. (Students seeking a Secondary Credential should complete the Literature emphasis of the English Education option.) This option consists of 46 units, 27 of which must be taken in the upper division, including the following:

• Lower Division: ENGL 180, 250A, 250B, 270A, 270B.
   
• Upper Division: ENGL 380; 363; either two courses from the 450 series or one course from the 450 series and one course from the 460 series (excluding 469)—one of these two courses must be in English literature before 1900; one course from the 470 series (excluding 479); one senior seminar (469, 479, 489); electives to make up a total of 46 units.