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English – Master of Arts

The Master of Arts in English is an online program.

Admission Requirements

Conditional

  1. General admission to graduate study (for criteria, refer to Admission to Graduate Study).
  2. Strongly recommended are:
  • Completion of an undergraduate major or minor in English or equivalent;
  • Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 on all undergraduate English courses above the freshman level;
  • 12 credits of upper division English and American literature

Students are required to attain unconditional admission to graduate with an MA in English. There are three ways to attain unconditional admission:

Unconditional

  1. Students may gain unconditional admission by achieving a minimum score of 146 on the verbal section and 140 on the quantitative sections of the GRE.
    OR
  2. Students my gain unconditional admission by achieving an MSU GPA of 3.5 or higher during their first 12 credit hours, with no grade lower than "B"
    OR
  3. Conditionally admitted students who fail to maintain a 3.5 GPA or higher during their first 12 credit hours may gain unconditional admission by achieving a minimum score of 146 on the verbal section and 140 on the quantitative sections of the GRE.

Program Competencies

All students are expected to demonstrate:

  1. Mastery of research methods.
  2. Mastery of major periods in British and American literature.
  3. Command of literary terminology.
  4. Ability to write about literary texts at a sophisticated level from a definable critical approach.
  5. Command of linguistic techniques.
  6. Mastery of the conventions of the critical essay.

Assessment

  1. Assessment of final literature papers for graduating students using various rubrics.
  2. Assessment of linguistics projects to analyze human language using a rubric.

All students must hand in a final literature paper. In addition, all students taking the required Linguistics course are assessed once a year. We assess all 6 objectives each year and report on 3 each year. The data collected are shared with all graduate faculty.

Requirements for the Degree

  1. Satisfy general degree requirements.
  2. Maintain a 3.0 GPA in all English courses; a maximum of two "C" grades will be accepted for credit toward the degree. 
  3. A minimum of 30 graduate credit hours. The 30 graduate credit hours in English are to include the following minimum requirements: three hours in a major author course, three hours in writing, three hours in linguistics, and 21 hours in English electives, with at least three hours in British and three hours in American literature. Only three hours of ENG 676 - Directed Study may count toward the completion of the M.A. in English.

Program Requirements

Core Requirements

Major Author - Choose three hours from list below:

ENG 634Chaucer

3
ENG 635Topics in Shakespeare

3
ENG 636Major American Author

3
ENG 637Major British Author

3
ENG 638Milton

3
Total Credit Hours:3

Writing - Choose three hours from list below:

ENG 612Theories of Teaching Writing

3
ENG 683Advanced Poetry Writing

3
ENG 684Advanced Fiction Writing

3
ENG 690Technical Writing

3
Total Credit Hours:3

Linguistics - Choose three hours from list below:

ENG 680English Syntax

3
ENG 685Psycholinguistics

3
Total Credit Hours:3

American Literature - Choose three hours from list below:

ENG 619American Renaissance

3
ENG 620American Poetry

3
ENG 622American Novels

3
ENG 624American Literature in Perspective

3
ENG 636Major American Author

3
ENG 639African American Literature

3
ENG 661Studies in American Literary Periods

3
ENG 663American Fiction

3
Total Credit Hours:3

British Literature - Choose three hours from list below:

ENG 630Topics in British Literature

3
ENG 632The British Novel

3
ENG 633Old English Literature

3
ENG 634Chaucer

3
ENG 635Topics in Shakespeare

3
ENG 637Major British Author

3
ENG 638Milton

3
ENG 645Renaissance Literature

3
ENG 647Restoration and Eighteenth Century British Literature

3
ENG 648Romantic Period

3
ENG 650Victorian Period

3
ENG 652Twentieth Century British Literature

3
Total Credit Hours:3

English Electives

Choose 9 hours from list below:

ENG 600Studies in English for Teachers

3
ENG 608Morehead Writing Project Summer Institute

3
ENG 609Morehead Writing Project Summer Institute

3
ENG 612Theories of Teaching Writing

3
ENG 619American Renaissance

3
ENG 620American Poetry

3
ENG 622American Novels

3
ENG 624American Literature in Perspective

3
ENG 628Literary Theory

3
ENG 630Topics in British Literature

3
ENG 632The British Novel

3
ENG 633Old English Literature

3
ENG 634Chaucer

3
ENG 635Topics in Shakespeare

3
ENG 636Major American Author

3
ENG 637Major British Author

3
ENG 638Milton

3
ENG 639African American Literature

3
ENG 645Renaissance Literature

3
ENG 647Restoration and Eighteenth Century British Literature

3
ENG 648Romantic Period

3
ENG 650Victorian Period

3
ENG 652Twentieth Century British Literature

3
ENG 653Modern Drama

3
ENG 655Early Dramatic Literature

3
ENG 661Studies in American Literary Periods

3
ENG 663American Fiction

3
ENG 666Contemporary Literature

3
ENG 670Film and Literature

3
ENG 680English Syntax

3
ENG 683Advanced Poetry Writing

3
ENG 684Advanced Fiction Writing

3
ENG 685Psycholinguistics

3
ENG 690Technical Writing

3
Total Credit Hours:9

General Electives

Choose two 600-level electives (ENG or non-ENG) subject to the advisor's approval.

Electives

6
Total Credit Hours:6

Total Credit Hours: 30