DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES
English Program
The graduate program in English is designed to train students in preparation for doctoral work in university graduate schools, to improve the professional competence of public school teachers, and to prepare promising scholars for college teaching.
Admission Requirements
Students seeking admission to the graduate program in English must, under normal circumstances, meet the basic requirements of Graduate Studies specified on page 22 of this Catalogue. In addition the following are required:
1. A Combined GRE score (Verbal, Quantitative, Analytical) of at least 1400; a Verbal score of at least 500;
2. At least two letters of recommendation that discuss your suitability for graduate study;
3. A writing sample of scholarly work.
Admission to the English graduate program requires a minimum 2.5 grade point average or 2.8 over the last 60 hours. A student must have completed at least 12 hours of upper division English with a grade point average of 3.0 or better.
The English graduate curriculum is organized into five blocks containing twelve areas of study:
BLOCK I: English Language; Early and Middle English Literature
BLOCK II: World Literature; Literary Criticism and Theory; Rhetoric and Composition
BLOCK III: Renaissance and Seventeenth Century English Literature; Eighteenth Century English Literature; American Literature Before 1800
BLOCK IV: Nineteenth Century English Literature; Nineteenth Century American Literature
BLOCK V: Twentieth Century English Literature; Twentieth Century American Literature
There are three additional curriculum courses: Bibliography (ENG 698); Thesis (ENG 699M); and Directed Study of Selected Topics (ENG 539).
A student majoring in English may choose from three degree programs: Master of Arts, Plan I; Master of Arts, Plan II; and the Master of Education, Plan II. PLEASE NOTE: MA, Plan I and MED, Plan II are nonthesis degrees ONLY; MA, Plan II may be thesis or nonthesis.
All 400-level English courses may be taken for graduate credit; limit 3 hours. Preapproval by the department's Graduate Advisor is required.
Master of Arts, Plan I (nonthesis only). Designed for teachers who wish preparation in two teaching fields, the degree plan consists of twenty-four semester hours of English and twelve semester hours in a second field. The twenty-four semester hours of English must include English 698 (Bibliography); a course from Block I; 18 elective hours (selections must be from at least three different blocks). Students under Plan I must pass the English Program written comprehensive examination (offered in October, February, and June of each year) and an oral defense of a designated portion of their graduate work. Students will select the specific area(s) for the oral defense when they file their application for the written comprehensive examination.
The minor field must logically support the major and should be chosen from history, drama, art, political science, or in the case of public school teachers, education. The course work for the minor field shall be determined on the basis of the curriculum patterns established by the minor department.
Master of Arts, Plan II. This degree plan is designed for prospective junior and senior college teachers, for students who plan to continue their studies at a doctoral level, and for teachers of high school English who wish to increase scope, depth, and expertise in their teaching specialty. There is no minor under Plan II, the twenty-four hours of course work and six hours of thesis work being done in the English Program. Students under Plan II must pass the English Program written comprehensive examination (offered in October, February, and June of each year) and also must complete an oral defense of a designated portion of their graduate work.
All Plan II students must complete four steps before being admitted to candidacy:
1. Must complete ENG 698 (Bibliography and Research Methods). ENG 698 should be taken during the first semester of graduate work if possible, but in any event must be completed by the end of the second full semester for which a student is enrolled.
2. Must complete the language requirement (Block I).
3. Must complete 6 additional hours of course work.
4. Must have a B or better average for the 12 hours completed.
Once these step requirements are met, an Admission to Candidacy form should be filed in the English Program office.
The curriculum guide for the Plan II student is listed below; for additional information contact the Graduate Studies Advisor.
CURRICULUM REQUIREMENTS:
| Thesis Research/Thesis (ENG 698/699) | 6 hours |
| Block I (ENG 577; ENG 583; ENG 589) | 3 hours |
| Block II (ENG 567; ENG 568; ENG 571; ENG 573; ENG 576; ENG 584) | 3 hours |
| Block III (ENG 572; ENG 575; ENG 578) | 3 hours |
| Block IV (ENG 579; ENG 580; ENG 585; ENG 586; ENG 588*) | 3 hours |
| Block V (ENG 581; ENG 587; ENG 588*) | 3 hours |
| Electives | 9 hours |
| Total | 30 hours |
| *Applicability determined by subject matter. | |
NOTE: When appropriate, and with the approval of the Graduate Studies Advisor, a student under Plan II may elect to substitute for the thesis (ENG 699) nine hours of graduate course work, resulting in a 36-hour format.
Master of Education, Plan II. A nonthesis degree program for teachers of English in the secondary school, this plan, which is initiated in the College of Education and Applied Science, requires:
1. A minimum of 24 hours of undergraduate credit in English
2. 36 hours of graduate credit, with 12-24 hours in English
3. 6-12 hours in second teaching field
4. 12-18 hours in education
Students in this degree program will be advised by the Department of
Curriculum and Instruction and the English Program.
ENGLISH COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
ENG 539 DIRECTED STUDY OF SELECTED TOPICS IN LITERATURE AND LANGUAGE. Designed for individual students who wish intensive supervision in the study of a topic in language or literature. May be taken only with the written consent of the department chair; limit 6 hours.
ENG 567 PRACTICUM IN TEACHING COLLEGE COMPOSITION. An examination of modern rhetorical principles and methodologies used in teaching college-level writing.
ENG 568 LITERARY CRITICISM AND THEORY. An examination of various theories and theorists of literary interpretation, with application and practice writing criticism.
ENG 571 STUDIES IN MODERN WORLD LITERATURE. Selected writers, movements, or literary types of 19th and 20th centuries.
*ENG 572 COLONIAL AMERICAN LITERATURE. Studies in the literature of exploration and colonization of the New World and in the early national period of the United States.
ENG 573 CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP. A graduate writing workshop that emphasizes the writing and revision of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, with related outside readings.
ENG 575 STUDIES IN NEO-CLASSICAL LITERATURE. Selected writers, movements, or literary types of Restoration and 18th Century Europe.
ENG 576 THE CLASSICAL TRADITION. A survey of the Greek and Roman heritage and its influence upon subsequent literature.
ENG 577 STUDIES IN EARLY AND MIDDLE ENGLISH LITERATURE. A study of selected works in Old and Middle English literature.
ENG 578 STUDIES IN THE LITERATURE OF THE RENAISSANCE. Selected writers, movements, or literary types of 16th and 17th Century England. Topics include Studies in Shakespeare, Studies in Spenser, Studies in Milton, etc.
ENG 579 STUDIES IN ROMANTIC LITERATURE. Selected writers, movements, or literary types of the English Romantic period.
ENG 580 STUDIES IN VICTORIAN LITERATURE. Selected writers, movements, or literary types of the English Victorian period.
ENG 581 STUDIES IN TWENTIETH CENTURY ENGLISH LITERATURE. Selected writers, movements, or literary types of 20th Century England.
ENG 583 STUDIES IN ENGLISH LINGUISTICS. Areas of study include sociolinguistics, dialectology, lexicography, stylistics through linguistic analysis, principles of semantics, and linguistics in relation to the teaching of English.
ENG 584 STUDIES IN RHETORIC AND COMPOSITION THEORY. Selected topics in historical and contemporary rhetoric, rhetorical criticism and composition theory.
ENG 585 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE, 1800-1860. Selected writers, movements, or literary types of the period.
ENG 586 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE, 1860-1920. Selected writers, movements, or literary types of the period.
ENG 587 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE, 1920-THE PRESENT. Selected writers, movements, or literary types of the period.
ENG 588 THE STUDY OF MAJOR FIGURES IN AMERICAN POETRY. Selected writers and movements contributing to the development of a uniquely American poetry.
ENG 589 HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. A cultural, historical, and philological survey of the development of the English language from its Indo-European prototype through Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-French, and Early Modern English to its present form.
ENG 698 THESIS RESEARCH METHODS (BIBLIOGRAPHY). An introduction to research methods in literature and the study of the book. Required of all English majors under M.A., Plan I, M.A., Plan II, and M.Ed., Plan II. Counted as first 3 hours of thesis under M.A., Plan I and M.A., Plan II.
*Subject to action by the Board of Regents, The Texas State University System, and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.