Overview
This Departmental Syllabus, which applies to all sections of ENGL literature courses across Austin Community College, supplements the section-specific syllabus that your instructor will give you. The instructor’s syllabus will include the specific class structure for your section, along with the instructor’s contact information, office hours, the location and time of the course, required books and materials, reading and writing assignments, grading and other policies (such as lateness and attendance), a course schedule of assignments and deadlines for the semester, and the instructor’s description of the course.
Catalog Descriptions
Literature survey courses, designated by ENGL 23xx, are a study of literature in the context of historical and cultural perspectives. Students will study works of prose, poetry, drama, and fiction in relation to their historical, linguistic, and cultural contexts.
Before enrolling in a literature course, students who intend to transfer those credits to another college or university should verify with their ACC advisor or an advisor at the receiving institutions that the ACC credits will be accepted by the receiving institution.
All English classes described below have:
- Credit Hours: 3
- Classroom Contact Hours per week: 3
- Laboratory Contact Hours per week: 0
ENGL 2322, British Literature: Anglo-Saxon through 18th Century, is a survey of English literature from Anglo-Saxon times through the 18th Century. Texts will be selected from a diverse group of authors and traditions.
ENGL 2323, British Literature: 18th Century to the Present, is a survey of English literature from the late 18th Century to the present. Texts will be selected from a diverse group of authors and traditions.
ENGL 2327, American Literature: Beginnings through Civil War, is a survey of American literature from its origins through the Civil War period. Texts will be selected from among a diverse group of authors for what they reflect and reveal about the evolving American experience and character.
ENGL 2328, American Literature: Civil War to the Present, is a survey of American literature from the Civil War period to the present. Texts will be selected from among a diverse group of authors for what they reflect and reveal about the evolving American experience and character.
ENGL 2332, World Literature: Ancient World through 17th Century, is an introduction to masterpieces of the literary tradition from the ancient world through the 17th century. Texts will be selected from a diverse group of authors and traditions.
ENGL 2333, World Literature: 18th Century to the Present, is an introduction to masterpieces of the literary tradition from the 18th century (the Enlightenment) to the present. Texts will be selected from a diverse group of authors and traditions.
ENGL 2351, Mexican-American Literature, is a survey of Mexican-American/Chicano/a literature, including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and drama. Texts will be selected from a diverse group of authors, literary movements, and media forms. Topics and themes may include the literary performance of identity and culture, aesthetic mediation of racialization, struggle and protest, and artistic activism.
Liberal Education Advancement and Development (LEAD)
This section of Literature is part of LEAD, which is designed to engage students in the habits of inquiry associated with the Liberal Arts. Courses are developed around a theme related to one or more of the LEAD Classroom Guidelines:
- CURIOSITY — Foster open inquiry, intellectual engagement, and exploration across disciplines.
- INTEGRITY — Ground knowledge and actions in ethics, accountability, and self-awareness.
- COMPASSION — Cultivate empathy and a recognition of our common humanity.
- RESILIENCE — Encourage adaptability, collaboration, and perseverance in pursuit of personal and collective growth.
For a more detailed description of each of the Guiding Principles see this document.
Course Rationale
The goals of literature survey courses are:
- To provide a working knowledge of the characteristics of various literary genres.
- To develop analytical skills and critical thinking through reading, discussion, and written assignments.
- To broaden a student’s intercultural reading experience.
- To deepen a student’s awareness of the universal human concerns that are the basis for literary works.
- To stimulate a greater appreciation of language as an artistic medium and of the aesthetic principles that shape literary works.
- To understand literature as an expression of human values within an historical and social context.
Prerequisites
Students must satisfy prerequisites for all 2000-level literature classes. Students can meet the prerequisite for 2000-level ENGL literature courses in three ways.
- Students have credit for ENGL 1301 & ENGL 1302 or equivalents with a minimum grade of C.
- Students have credit for a sophomore-level literature class from ACC or a transfer institution with a minimum grade of C. (For example, E314 or E316 from UT or ENG 2000 courses from Texas State)
- Students have 84 college credit hours from ACC and/or transfer institutions including ENGL 1301 or its equivalent with a minimum grade of C.
- Students will present proof as needed, and the professor will verify.
- Faculty must confirm prerequisites for students to remain in class.
- A transcript or grade report proves a prerequisite.
Learning Outcomes
Course Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of literature survey courses, students should be able to:
- Identify key ideas, representative authors and works, significant historical or cultural events, and characteristic perspectives or attitudes expressed in the literature of different periods or regions.
- Analyze literary works as expressions of individual or communal values within the social, political, cultural, or religious contexts of different literary periods.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the development of characteristic forms or styles of expression during different historical periods or in different regions.
- Articulate the aesthetic principles that guide the scope and variety of works in the arts and humanities.
- Write research based critical papers about the assigned readings in clear and grammatically correct prose, using various critical approaches to literature.
Program Learning Outcomes
The following outcomes are developed in all literature survey course students, regardless of student age or course location:
- Write clearly, coherently and effectively about various genres in literature
- In discussions and writing, address the culture and context of the work of literature
- Write about and discuss elements of literary texts and relate these to the work as a whole.
General Education Competencies
Upon completion of the general education component of an associate’s degree, students will demonstrate competence in:
- Critical Thinking Skills (CT) — creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis, evaluation and synthesis of information
- Communication Skills (COM) — effective development, interpretation and expression of ideas through written, oral and visual communication
- Teamwork (TW) — ability to consider different points of view and to work effectively with others to support a shared purpose or goal
- Social Responsibility (SR) — intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities
- Personal Responsibility (PR) — ability to connect choices, actions and consequences to ethical decision-making
Requirements: Essays and Assignments
- Writing assignments, including analytical essays and tests, will constitute at least two-thirds of the student’s final grade.
- The instructor may count other types of class projects, together accounting for no more than one-third of a student’s final grade. Projects might include quizzes, readings, dramatizations, journal writing, brief literary writing exercises, oral book readings, reports on authors, or other activities.
- The instructor will provide more specific course objectives and requirements. A student not complying with these requirements may be withdrawn from the course at any time up to the last official withdrawal date.
Student Technology Support
Students who do not have the necessary technology to complete their ACC courses can request to borrow devices from Student Technology Services. Available devices include iPads, webcams, headsets, calculators, etc. Students must be registered for a credit course, Adult Education, or Continuing Education course to be eligible. For more information, including how to request a device, visit austincc.edu/sts (opens in new tab) .
Student Technology Services offers phone, live-chat, and email-based technical support for students and can provide support on topics such as password resets, accessing or using Blackboard, access to technology, etc. To view hours of operation and ways to request support, visit austincc.edu/sts (opens in new tab) .
Use & Retention of Student Work
Written artifacts from this course may be used for research and publicity purposes after the course has ended. Papers and anything used will have student names removed to maintain student confidentiality. If you do not want your written work used for these purposes, please send an email to your instructor that states you would like to opt out. Opting out will have no effect on your grade. Professors will retain either electronic or physical copies of course work for one semester following enrollment. Students are responsible for making copies of any papers they want to keep for their files.
Section-Specific Policies
The following headings are required in all section syllabi, but individual professors will set their own specific requirements and policies for each one.
Required Texts & Materials
Individual professors will assign required texts and materials for their sections. Students are responsible for acquiring those texts and materials in a timely manner. The section syllabus will indicate if no textbook purchase is required (ZTC) or if open educational resources (OER) are used.
Instructional Methodology
Individual professors will indicate their most common methods for instructing students, including (but not limited to) lecture, discussion, small group activities, writing workshops, and service learning.
Distance Education Information
Sections with any distance education component will specify whether they are fully online, hybrid, or hy-flex and whether they are synchronous or asynchronous. They will also specify any technology requirements for students. This is only required for distance education sections.
Assignment Information
Individual professors will provide their own information on the types of assignments they will include (such as essays, in-class writing, quizzes, journals, homework, group work, presentations, etc.) and will provide an overview of major essays or papers. As a group, all assignments must meet the requirements outlined above under the heading Requirements: Essays and Assignments .
Grading System
Individual professors will provide grading criteria and explain their grading system in detail. Professors may use a range of methodologies to assign grades for individual assignments and for the course, but all assignments (such as essays, in-class writing, quizzes, journals, homework, group work, presentations, etc.) will align with course goals and learning outcomes.
Course Outline and Calendar
Individual professors will provide a course outline and calendar of important due dates for their sections. This outline may include any special themes, units, or guiding principles unique to certain sections.
Attendance / Participation
Individual professors will enforce their own policies for attendance and participation, including whether and how attendance is taken and whether and how participation is assessed. However, early in the semester, all professors are required to certify attendance by a deadline set by ACC. Students who have not attended class by that date will be withdrawn. In online sections, logging into the class learning system (i.e. Blackboard) or completing work may count as attendance.
Withdrawals
Individual professors will enforce their own withdrawal policies based on progress and attendance. However, it is important to know that the Texas State Legislature passed a bill stating that students who first enroll in public colleges and universities beginning in fall 2007 and thereafter may not withdraw from more than six classes during their undergraduate college career. See ACC Student Handbook for further information.
The instructor may establish deadlines by which students must complete a specific number of assignments, amount of progress, or level of attendance in order to remain in a class. If students do not meet the instructor’s requirements, they may be subject to WITHDRAWAL from the course. It is the student’s responsibility to know an instructor’s withdrawal policies.
Missed Exams & Late Work
Individual professors will enforce their own policies for missing and late work. This may include whether or not late work is accepted, when it is accepted, and what penalty may be assessed.
Incompletes
Individual professors will have their own policies as to Incompletes as a final grade. Students should be certain that they know what their professor’s policy is.
Use of Artificial Intelligence
While the firm expectation for all courses is that student work will reflect authentic (student-generated) effort and original critical thinking, the use of AI tools may support student learning and equip them to engage critically with artificial intelligence academically, professionally, and personally.
Introduction
The Composition and Literary Studies department recognizes that AI technology offers both risks and opportunities for writers. Individual CLS faculty have the freedom to set their own specific policies on whether and how students can use both types of AI in their classes. They may opt to disallow all AI or allow certain types within certain parameters. Please consult individual instructors’ syllabi for policies and information about the seven sections below that are specific to your course or section.
Definition
In setting policies, we think about two types of AI:
- Instructive AI (Grammarly, Packback, etc.), which can help check existing writing
- Generative AI (ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.), which can generate writing and images from scratch
Rationale
CLS expects students to put their own effort into each step of the writing process, including generating ideas, drafting, and revising. Even when AI is allowed, it should not substitute for a student’s critical thinking. Instructors may check for individual effort and originality in various ways, including in-class writing, conferences, and peer review.
CLS requires that all final assignments reflect a student’s unique ideas stated in their original words and sentences. Any ideas or phrasing that are not directly from a student must be properly attributed to their sources. Even when AI is allowed, it should not be used to generate content that will be graded as if it were a student’s own.
CLS requires that any use of Generative or Instructional AI, even as part of prewriting, must be documented. Individual instructors will explain their standards and methods for this documentation.
CLS requires that instructors’ individual policies discuss the data privacy, bias, accuracy, and plagiarism risks of Generative AI. Students must be able to make an informed decision before using this technology.
Resources
Instructors may provide resources, tutorials, and guidelines for using AI tools. Students are expected to utilize these to ensure responsible use.
Assessments
If the use of AI is part of a course or assignment grading rubric, students may be evaluated on how effectively and ethically they use and integrate AI in their work.
Penalties
Assignments that do not reflect a student’s original work, do not properly attribute sources, and/or do not adhere to relevant usage permissions are a form of academic dishonesty and are subject to the college’s Academic Integrity Process. Specific consequences for academic dishonesty should be outlined in the instructor’s syllabus.
Exceptions
Instructors may set specific expectations, limitations, and exceptions (such as for accommodations) regarding the use of generative AI tools in their classes, which should be clearly stated in the syllabus.
Usage Permissions
Expectations regarding whether and how students use AI tools in a course will be explained clearly in the instructor’s individual syllabus.
Academic Misconduct and Plagiarism
Austin Community College values academic integrity in the educational process. Acts of academic dishonesty/misconduct undermine the learning process, present a disadvantage to students who earn credit honestly, and subvert the academic mission of the institution. The potential consequences of fraudulent credentials raise additional concerns for individuals and communities beyond campus who rely on institutions of higher learning to certify students’ academic achievements and expect to benefit from the claimed knowledge and skills of their graduates. Students must follow all instructions given by faculty or designated college representatives when taking examinations, placement assessments, tests, quizzes, and evaluations. Actions constituting scholastic dishonesty include, but are not limited to, plagiarism, cheating, fabrication, collusion, falsifying documents, or the inappropriate use of the college’s information technology resources. Further information is available at austincc.edu/about-acc/academic-integrity-and-disciplinary-process (opens in new tab) .
Plagiarism can be defined as using the words and ideas of another writer without acknowledging the debt. Plagiarism takes many forms, including the omission of parenthetical citations, the failure to place quotation marks around direct or modified content taken from another source, and another person writing the essay for the student. It is of utmost importance for students to understand that in academic and professional life, plagiarism of any kind is absolutely unacceptable. Therefore, acts of plagiarism, major or minor, may have serious repercussions, which could include a failing grade, expulsion from the class, and/or disciplinary action on the part of the College. Specific policies can be found in individual faculty syllabi; College policies can be found in the ACC Student Handbook.
Plagiarism also includes collusion, a problem that happens when someone other than the student contributes a substantial portion of the essay for the student. Please note that having a friend or paid tutor contribute to a paper in the form of adding content or extensive revising or editing will be considered collusion, a form of plagiarism.
Last updated August 18, 2026