English

Additional Information for English Majors
Distinguished Professorship
Programs and Courses

David Rankin
Chair, English Department

Robert Johnson
Graduate Coordinator

Graduate Faculty:	Fields, Garrison, Giddings, Giles, Henschel, Hoffman, Johnson, Lodge, Rankin
Emeriti Faculty:	Carpenter, Galbraith, J. Hoggard, L. Hoggard, Olson, Rogers, Smith, Taylor, Whitlock

Mission Statement

MSU’s English program offers study leading to the Master of Arts degree. The curriculum is founded on courses in the periods, genres, and major figures of American, British, and world literatures, composition pedagogy and practice, rhetoric and language, and professional and technical communication. Students completing the program will be academically prepared both to teach and to continue their scholarly pursuits. Recent MSU graduates have used their MA degrees to establish careers in the arts, business, communications, education, government, law, and publishing, as well as writing.

Additional Information for English Majors

Admission: See “Admission to the Graduate School ” for general requirements. As “competitive score on the standardized graduate test,” the Department of English requires that candidates submit scores from the GRE General Test.

An application for admission to the Midwestern State University Graduate Program is available on the web site at http://www.mwsu.edu.

Normally, applicants accepted into the graduate program in English will have been granted an undergraduate degree with an English major, will have completed at least 12 upper-division semester hours in English, and will have earned a B average in completed English courses. The graduate program in English generally will not admit applicants who do not demonstrate this background, or will assign leveling work as described in the section “Admission to the Graduate School.” Each applicant to the graduate program in English will provide the Graduate Coordinator with a recent academic essay to be used to evaluate writing ability. The essay will be submitted both on paper and as an electronically stored file.

In some cases, an applicant who has earned a master’s or higher degree from a regionally accredited institution of higher education may be accepted into the program on the basis of that degree. Determination of acceptance-and of conditions, if any-will be made by the Graduate Coordinator.
Teaching Assistantships and Graduate Assistantships

Qualified graduate students are eligible for consideration as Teaching Assistants or Graduate Assistants.
1. Teaching Assistantships
  A graduate student must have at least 18 hours of graduate English courses to become a Teaching Assistant. Teaching Assistants normally will take 6 hours of English courses each term and will teach 6 hours of English courses each term.
2. Graduate Assistantships
  1. Full-Time. Graduate Assistants are in training to be Teaching Assistants. They will register for 9 hours each term. They will take 6 hours of regular courses, will take ENGL 5013 - Introduction to Composition Studies in fall and ENGL 5023 - Teaching College English in spring (usually while observing in an approved composition course), and will have one assignment of other duties, working as
    - Staff in the Writing Center or the Computer Writing Lab,
    - Research Assistant, or
    - Teacher’s Aide
      
      Graduate Assistants normally will earn 18 hours the first year and be considered for a Teaching Assistantship for the second year.
  2. Part-Time. Graduate Assistantships can be awarded on a half-time and a quarter-time basis. Course load and duties also are reduced. Part-time Graduate Assistants normally will not be considered for Teaching Assistantships.
Course Requirements

A maximum of 6 hours of approved 4000-level courses that have been taken for graduate credit will be accepted. Those 4000-level courses that are eligible for graduate credit are listed in the Course Description section of this catalog. No 1000-, 2000-, or 3000-level courses may be taken for graduate credit.

A student registering in undergraduate 4000-level courses for graduate credit must complete additional requirements above those made of undergraduate students in the same courses. Extra reference reading, assignments of an investigative or research type, and research papers are examples of additional requirements.

A student who has chosen Option 1 may apply 6 semester hours of approved independent graduate study courses in English toward the degree. A student who has chosen Option 2 may apply 9 semester hours of approved independent graduate study courses in English toward the degree. In either case, as noted above, no more than 12 hours of cross-listed or 4000-level class work will be counted; of the 12, no more than 6 can be from 4000-level work.

**CATALOG CHANGE** Effective Fall 2015
A student who has chosen Option 1 or Option 2 may apply 6 semester hours of approved independent graduate study courses in English toward the degree. A student who has chosen Option 3 may apply 9 semester hours of approved independent graduate study courses in English toward the degree. In each case, as noted above, no more than 12 hours of cross-listed or 4000-level class work will be counted; of the 12, no more than 6 can be from 4000-level work.

A course taken for undergraduate credit cannot be counted for graduate credit, regardless of the status of the student at the time the course was taken. In addition, a student may not repeat for graduate credit a course for which she or he has received undergraduate credit.
Admission to Candidacy

After the student has completed 9 graduate hours toward the degree with a B average or better and when the members of the Graduate Advisory Committee have been approved by the Graduate Coordinator, the Coordinator will notify the student that he or she has been admitted to candidacy for the master’s degree.
Foreign Language Requirement

A candidate for the degree of Master of Arts with a major in English must give evidence of having completed 4 semesters, or the equivalent, of 1 foreign language. The foreign language requirement may be satisfied by successfully completing a reading knowledge examination offered by the MSU foreign language department.

Procedure for taking the reading knowledge examination is as follows: The student contacts the foreign language department to make arrangements and then selects a book of 200 or more pages. The text - in French, German, or Spanish - should be relevant to the student’s field of study. At least 2 days prior to the scheduled exam, the candidate should present this book to the examiner, who will select 3-5 pages, depending on the size of the print. The student is allowed up to 2 ½ hours and the use of a dictionary to complete his or her translation. No letter grade will be assigned. If the candidate passes, the Foreign Language Office will send written notification to the student’s advisor and the registrar. The student may request a copy from the college files. The foreign language requirement helps prepare graduates to access literature and criticism in languages other than English. Candidates who lack an established background in a foreign language, thus, are advised to enter traditional language classes rather than to register for the reading knowledge examination, preparation for which demands extensive independent study.

If unsuccessful in passing the reading knowledge examination, the candidate immediately should contact the grader to discuss how best to move forward. Moreover, candidates may not apply for re-examination until the semester following the initial attempt. The second attempt must engage different materials, and, before the second attempt is arranged, the candidate must present the Graduate Coordinator evidence of additional preparation.

After a second unsuccessful attempt at passing the reading knowledge examination, the candidate will make arrangements to take the CLEP test in the chosen language. Results of the test will be used to place the candidate in language courses at an appropriate level. Starting at that suggested level, the candidate will complete the requirement by continuing study until the equivalent of 4 semesters’ credit in one language has been earned. Students should be aware that the registration fee for the CLEP is substantial and that results of the test will not necessarily award credit. Moreover, preparation for the CLEP, as for the reading knowledge examination, will demand serious study.
Oral Examination and Reading List for Master’s Candidates

The Oral Comprehensive Examination will be structured according to the suggestions in the “Guidelines” document available from the Coordinator, will last no more than 1 1/2 hours, and will engage questions regarding both thesis (or research paper) and course work.

All candidates for the master’s degree in English will be expected to be familiar with works on the “Reading List for Master’s Candidates” compiled by the English graduate faculty. These 45 selections from American, British, and world literature have been chosen for their own intrinsic merit and for their influence on subsequent literary works and movements. Students will be responsible for reading these works either in classes or on their own and for being able to discuss them intelligently at their final oral examinations.

**CATALOG CHANGE** Effective Fall 2015
VI. Reading List for Master’s Candidates

All candidates for the master’s degree in English will be expected to be familiar with works on the “Reading List for Master’s Candidates” compiled by the English graduate faculty. Students will be responsible for reading these works either in classes or on their own and for being able to incorporate the readings into their own Reading Lists for completion of a Scholarly or Creative Thesis, or for completion of the Professional Track Comprehensive Written Examination.
Thesis or Research Paper Requirement

The thesis or research paper will be prepared according to the general guidelines offered above (“Thesis or Research Paper Requirement ”), but with the following qualifications.

Students always should try to complete work on theses during the semester prior to presenting copies to a Graduate Advisory Council (GAC). A student in the English graduate program will be expected to deliver a reading copy of a thesis (or research paper) into the hands of his or her GAC by the end of the fifth week within any long semester when graduation is planned (for summer terms, no later than six weeks prior to date of expected graduation, see Graduate Advisory Committee . Individual members of the GAC will hold the copy for consideration no longer than seven school days. Students presenting theses for reading will make sure that the delivery dates are known in advance and that deliveries of thesis copies are acknowledged by GAC members. Oral examination dates, then, will be
scheduled to allow for thorough and appropriate revision and polish of the thesis (or research paper), prior to its being formally approved by the GAC. Oral examinations can be held only after theses have been approved.

Documentation and titles in theses and research papers will be formatted according to the current edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, and the writing will reflect the conventions of edited American English. As is the thesis, the research paper will be revised and polished with the assistance of the GAC and will be a substantial document representing a graduate-level performance.

**CATALOG CHANGE** Effective Fall 2015
VII. Thesis and Final Presentation Requirement

The thesis will be prepared according to the general guidelines offered in the Graduate School but with qualifications outlined in the following:

Option 1: Scholarly Thesis Track
Option 2: Creative Thesis Track

**CATALOG CHANGE** Effective Fall 2015
Comprehensive Written Exam

Students who choose Option 3: Professional Development Track are required to take a comprehensive written exam as outlined in the following:

Option 3: Professional Development Track (Non-Thesis)

Distinguished Professorship

Perkins-Prothro Distinguished Professorship of English

The Perkins-Prothro Distinguished Professorship of English was established in 2001 by the Perkins-Prothro Foundation to recognize truly outstanding scholarship in the Prothro-Yeager College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Programs and Courses

Programs

Major

Graduate Minor

English Graduate Minor

Courses

English

ENGL 4543, 4643, 4893, 4903, and 4923 are undergraduate courses which may be taken for graduate credit with permission (see Undergraduate Catalog for course descriptions). For additional information, see Graduate Credit for 3000-4000 Level Courses .