English
Acquire an independent mind
Ready to hone your critical reading, writing, and thinking skills? Students of English will read diverse and culturally relevant literature and media such as poems, songs, novels, plays, films, and comics. Through the study of these literary texts, students will sharpen their writing and critical thinking skills to examine the ways in which these texts engage issues relevant to our culture and society—from the environment and class to gender and race.
Studying English opens doors to endless possibilities and specialties: literary analysis, rhetoric and composition, education, creative writing, and more.
Programs of Study
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AAssociate Degree
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TTransfer Degree
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CCredit Certificate
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NNon-Credit
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Limited Enrollment -
Online Options
English for Transfer
Associate in Arts for Transfer
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Students earning the Associate in Arts in English for Transfer will read, analyze, and interpret diverse literary texts in order to craft academic arguments and literary analyses. Students will also encounter a variety of literary genres and periods, with the opportunities to examine how literature can embody cultural, intellectual, and artistic trends.
This program assists students with seamless transfer to a California State University.
Program Code
MAA648/MAA649
Units
19 units
Meet Your English Faculty
Your English faculty are committed to providing high-quality writing instruction, developing critical reading skills, supporting the literacy needs of all college programs, and preparing students for lifelong reading, writing, and learning. We are excited to welcome you, and we look forward to exploring with you the many possibilities and specialties available through the study of English.
Part-Time Faculty
Why study English?
What You'll Learn
- How to think critically about and interpret literature, employing language and methods of literary analysis to construct interpretive arguments and to address the ways that literature invites multiple interpretive possibilities.
- How to write essays of literary analysis effectively supported by integrated, interpreted, and relevant textual evidence.
- The ability to demonstrate an understanding of how cultural history informs and is informed by literature.
Career Options
- Author or Copy Writer
- Journalist
- Editor or Literary Agent
- English Language or Literature Teacher
- Technical, Grant or Scientific Writer
- K-12 Teacher
- Librarian
Fall 2023 Literature and Specialty Courses
About the Class
Section 27416, Mondays and Wednesdays from 12:30 - 2:35 pm
For this honors course themed around nature and climate change, we'll read poetry that celebrates nature and the natural world, stories about climate change, and even a “cli-fi” (a new branch of science fiction devoted to climate change) novel. As we read and study how the different genres are able to portray and represent different issues related to climate change, we’ll examine how literature can be a medium for helping people to understand the gravity of the problem; how climate problems disproportionately impact the most impoverished people and people of color worldwide; and how it can serve to provide hope to and agency for positive change.
English 1B is the second semester of the one-year college writing requirement. It is also an introduction to literature class—and therefore must cover poetry, short stories, and drama (stage plays)—and it also fulfills the critical thinking requirement. All English 1Bs have a word writing requirement of a minimum of 7500 words. Contact Jeff.Rhyne@mvc.edu if you have questions.
More Details
- Taught by Dr. Jeff Rhyne
- Includes an 18-hour lab requirement to be completed on Canvas
- Low textbook cost
- You can request to enroll at term start even if you're not an Honors student. Simply ask for an add code!
About the Class
Section 27419, Fridays 9 - 10:35 am, Hybrid, 8-Weeks starting October 20
If you enjoy helping others and have completed ENG 1A with either an A or B, you may be interested in taking ENG-4, Writing Tutor Training. This class will provide you with the skills to work as tutors and peer mentors at MVC's Academic Success Center (ASC). This class is highly interactive, informative, and fun—and it often leads to a PAID position working as a tutor (starting at $16 an hour)! Working as a writing consultant looks great on resumes and offers you flexible shifts around your class schedules. The ASC is looking to hire students from all majors and backgrounds—not just English majors!
More Details
- Taught by Melanie James
- Zero textbook cost
- Prepares you to work as a writing tutor
- Can lead to a paid position as a tutor in the Writing Center: $16 an hour
- Late start hybrid. Only 2 units. Starts on October 20.
About the Class
Section 27421, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:35 - 11 am
Want to read many great pieces of literature filled with heroes, villains, and knights? Come join us in English 6! This course is a survey of British literature from the eighth century AD to 1800, including a comprehensive exposure to the poetry, drama, and fiction of this era as well as a basic understanding of the cultural, intellectual, and artistic trends it embodies. No textbook purchase! All readings and materials will be provided for you.
About the Instructor
Johnina Grozav is an English Professor at Moreno Valley College and a graduate of UC Riverside and Claremont Graduate University. Her research and area of interest is British Literature with a focus in Early Modern Studies. You can often find her tutoring in the Writing and Reading Center (WRC) if she is not teaching. She loves to read in her spare time, spend time with friends and family, and considers herself a high-key coffee addict.
More Details
- Zero textbook cost
About the Class
Section 27810, Wednesdays, 2 - 5 pm
This course explores the intersectionality of sexuality, gender, race, ability, and class as it pertains to both LGBTQ+ literary, performative, and theoretical traditions. The class centers on those who transgress borders, rules, binaries, and boundaries. Topics and themes to be covered include: lesbian pulp fiction, drag, bodily autonomy, YA fiction, and social justice movements and rebellions.
More Details
- Taught by Valarie Zapata, Ph.D.
About the Class
Section 27329, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:20 - 3:45 pm
Have you ever read a novel or a short story and wondered why it left such a strong impact on you? Have you tried to figure out how to make your own writing do the same? If so, this creative writing course is the class for you. We will not only read engaging stories, we will analyze them and figure out what makes them so effective. You’ll also have an opportunity to craft your own short stories and share them with the other writers in the class. After weekly workshops and feedback, you will come away from this course with both a deeper understanding of literature and a more confident approach to your own writing.
More Details
- Taught by Michael Wilson
About the Class
Section 27330, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:10 am - 12:35 pm
A survey of American literature from pre-contact to the Civil War, including a comprehensive exposure to the prose, poetry and fiction of this era and a basic understanding of the cultural, intellectual and artistic trends it embodies, including various narrative threads and points of contention within and among diverse racial and cultural groups in America during this period.
More Details
- Taught by Kathryn Stevenson, Ph.D.
- Zero textbook cost
About the Class
Section 27331, Thursdays, 8 - 9:25 am, Hybrid
This course will analyze the beauty and complexity of language. Learn about the history and use of human language, speech and writing. Some of the topics will include the study of phonetics, phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, and sociolinguistics.
More Details
- Taught by Emma Pacheco
- Zero textbook cost
About the Class
Section 27417, Fridays, 11:45 am - 2:55 pm
Fratricide, genocide, theocracy, immigration, tribalism, gender, nationhood, Machiavellian political maneuvering, grief, lust, revenge, competing conceptions of the divine—it's all there in the narratives and poems of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and the New Testament. This is truly a literature class that looks at the historical and human origins of the texts and dives deep into their literary brilliance—image, symbol, conflict, foreshadowing, interior monologue. The foundations of Western literature are here
More Details
- Taught by Dan Clark, Ph.D.
- Low textbook cost
About the Class
Section 27420, Wednesdays, 6 - 9 pm
Like good food and fine wine, literature is one of the pleasures of life. And it's a form of travel, in time and space, as we journey with Gilgamesh in search of eternal life; look on in horror with Odysseus as the Cyclops gobbles up his men and dribbles out their remains; wince as Sita is tricked by the wicked Ravana and carried off to his pleasure island; grieve with Sappho as her lovers abandon her for their husbands; marvel at Heloise's passion when she tells her "only love" Abelard—castrated by her family—that she would rather be his "friend" than his wife; laugh with the trickster twins in the Mayan epic Popol Vuh as they replace 7 Macaw’s teeth with corn and steal their missing arm back! And much more!
More Details
- Taught by Dan Clark, Ph.D.
- Low textbook cost
English Placement
English 1A
- English 1A is a 4-unit English Composition class that fulfills the college writing requirement.
- Every student has the right to enroll directly into English 1A without the extra units of English 91.
- Expect interactive instruction and activities related to reading and writing.
- Expect feedback from instructors.
- Expect access to additional support such as embedded tutors, office hours, the Learning Center, and the Writing and Reading Center.
English 1A+91
- English 1A+91 is English 1A (see description to left) and English 91, a 2-unit support course.
- English 1A+91 are linked together; to stay enrolled in one, you must stay enrolled in both.
- Even through English 1A+91 are two separate classes, it will feel like a single, 6-unit english 1A class taught by the same instructor for both classes.
- English 91 provides you with additional time in the classroom for even more feedback, guidance, and support.
- You will be placed directly into ENG-1A if: You have a high school GPA of 2.6 and above or earned EAP (Ready) or earned EAP (Conditionally Ready + ERWC with C- or higher).
- You will be placed into ENG-1A with the option of taking English 91 if: You have a high school GPA of 1.9 to 2.59. However, the MVC English faculty recommend that you enroll directly into English 1A without 91.
- You will be placed into ENG-1A with the requirement of taking English 91 if: You have a high school GPA under 1.9. However, you can opt out of this requirement with a simple form that is automatically approved. The form should take 2 - 3 minutes to complete.
- You will be placed directly into ENG-1B if: You earned a 3, 4, or 5 on AP Composition & Language or you earned a 3, 4, or 5 on AP Composition & Literature.
- If you earned a GED and/or it's been 10 or more years since you attended high school, we recommend that you choose between English 1A and English 1A+91. You can discuss your options with a counselor.
Every student has the right to enroll directly into English 1A without taking English 91. If you have been placed into English 1A+91 as a recommendation, you do not need to challenge your placement and opt into English 1A. Simply enroll in English 1A as you would other classes. If you have been placed into English 1A+91 as a requirement, follow the two steps below.
- Step 1: Fill out the challenge/opt in form. The form should take 2-3 minutes to complete.
- Step 2: Submit the completed form. You'll receive confirmation on your updated placement within three business days from Counseling Services.