Master of Arts in English Literatures
General Information
The MA Program in English Literatures prides itself on its intellectual rigor, diversity of subjects and approaches, and commitment to excellence in teaching. Course offerings balance traditional literary history with new work in such fields as postcolonial studies, food studies, digital literacies, environmental humanities, cultural studies, literature and psychology, narrative, lyric, and performance theories, and feminist studies. Students in the program have the flexibility to design and personalize their master’s program to meet their diverse interests and provide opportunities for professionalization in the field.
The MA Program serves the needs of those whose goal is teaching in junior or community colleges or private high schools, pursuing a Ph.D., or advancing skills and knowledge in reading and writing about literature. Our graduates work as teachers in high schools and community colleges; enter the field of publishing; write for journals, magazines, and online publications; earn PhDs; enter law school; start their own businesses; and work for non-profits, foundations, and government agencies.
Program Learning Outcomes
1. Students will be able to produce well-supported and clearly articulated literary arguments that demonstrate their expertise in a historical field.
2. Students will be able to produce well-supported and clearly articulated literary arguments that draw on appropriate theoretical paradigms.
3. Students will be able to present their work orally in various academic contexts.
4. Students will be able to select, analyze, interpret, and evaluate a range of printed and electronic primary and secondary literary and literary-cultural source materials and integrate them into their own writing, using proper citation methods.
5. Students will be able to engage in meaningful dialogue with critical debates in the field.
Admission Requirements
Admission to the program is competitive. In order to be considered for the program, applicants should submit:
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University “Cal State Apply” application
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Department application for MA: English Literatures (available from the English Department website)
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A statement of purpose, detailing the applicant’s intellectual interests, the basis of his or her engagement in the field, and professional goals
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An academic writing sample
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Transcripts from each college or university attended
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Two or more academic letters of recommendation
Admission Categories
Once a student has been admitted to the graduate program in Literature, s/he may be given CLASSIFIED standing if (a) s/he has completed an undergraduate degree in English comparable to the undergraduate program at SF State, and (b) s/he has achieved a grade point average of at least 3.0 in the major. This CLASSIFIED graduate student is ready to take English 741, the seminar which functions as a “portal course” to further seminar work. Students admitted in one of the three categories described below may not take seminars in the range 741-790 until they have achieved CLASSIFIED status.
These are the three categories of CONDITIONAL CLASSIFIED status:
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CC/SD (Conditional Classified/Subject Deficiency): Usually given to students who have an undergraduate major other than English (with a 3.0 or higher GPA), or a background showing substantial personal interest in literature. This applicant will be required to complete a specified number of upper-division courses in literature determined by the admissions committee. These courses may not be credited toward the 10-course M.A. program.
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CC/P (Conditional Classified/GPA Deficiency): Usually given to students with an undergraduate English major GPA of 2.5–2.9 (without 9 or more units of graduate English courses taken with a GPA of 3.0 or higher). This applicant will be required to complete a specified number of courses (upper-division or possibly seminars) determined by the admissions committee with a GPA of 3.3 or higher. Once completed, these courses become part of the 10-course M.A. program.
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CC/SD & P (Conditional Classified, with both Subject and GPA Deficiency): Usually given to students with a course record described in (1) above with a GPA of 2.5–2.9.
English Literatures (M.A.) – 30 Units
Program Requirements
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| ENG 741 | Seminar: Literary Theory and Research Methods | 3 |
Literary History Course (3 units)
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Select one: | ||
| Seminar in Medieval English Literature | ||
| Seminar: Studies in 16th Century English Literature | ||
| Seminar: Studies in 17th Century English Literature | ||
| Seminar: Studies in 18th Century English Literature | ||
| Seminar: The Romantic Movement | ||
| Seminar: Studies in Victorian Literature | ||
| Seminar: 20th Century English Literature | ||
| Seminar: Southern African Literature in English | ||
| Seminar: Studies in American Literature 1600-1899 | ||
| Seminar: Twentieth Century American Literature | ||
| Contemporary American Short Fiction | ||
| Seminar: The Novel | ||
| Studies in Caribbean Literature in English | ||
| Seminar: Individual Authors | ||
| Seminar: Chaucer | ||
| Seminar: Shakespeare | ||
| Milton | ||
or a course approved by an advisor | ||
Literary Methods (3 units)
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Select one: | ||
| Seminar: Studies in Criticism | ||
| Seminar: Literature and Psychology | ||
| Seminar: Opera and Literature | ||
| Rhetoric, Politics, and Ethics of Deconstruction | ||
| Seminar: Selected Studies | ||
| Rhetoric for Composition Teachers | ||
or a course approved by an advisor | ||
Graduate Literature Courses (12 units)
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Select four: | ||
| Projects in the Teaching of Literature | ||
| Seminar: Studies in Criticism | ||
| Seminar: Literature and Psychology | ||
| Seminar: Opera and Literature | ||
| Rhetoric, Politics, and Ethics of Deconstruction | ||
| Seminar in Medieval English Literature | ||
| Seminar: Studies in 16th Century English Literature | ||
| Seminar: Studies in 17th Century English Literature | ||
| Seminar: Studies in 18th Century English Literature | ||
| Seminar: The Romantic Movement | ||
| Seminar: Studies in Victorian Literature | ||
| Seminar: 20th Century English Literature | ||
| Seminar: Southern African Literature in English | ||
| Seminar: Studies in American Literature 1600-1899 | ||
| Seminar: Twentieth Century American Literature | ||
| Contemporary American Short Fiction | ||
| Seminar: The Novel | ||
| Studies in Caribbean Literature in English | ||
| Seminar: Individual Authors | ||
| Seminar: Chaucer | ||
| Seminar: Shakespeare | ||
| Milton | ||
| Seminar: Selected Studies | ||
| Teaching Practicum: Literature | ||
| The Constructed Body in Literature | ||
or courses approved by an advisor | ||
Electives (6 units)
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Select two: | 6 | |
| Age of Chaucer | ||
| Studies in Medieval Literature | ||
| The Age of Wit | ||
| 18th-Century British Women Writers | ||
| Age of the Romantics | ||
| Contemporary American Short Story | ||
| Studies in American Literature | ||
| Age of the American Renaissance: 1830-1860 | ||
| American Literature: 1860-1914 | ||
| American Literature: 1914-1960 | ||
| Holocaust and Literature | ||
| Literature and Ecology | ||
| 20th Century American Jewish Women Writers | ||
| The Rise of the Novel | ||
| Modern British Novel | ||
| Classic American Novel | ||
| Modern American Novel | ||
| The Short Story | ||
| Early Twentieth Century Poetry in the United States | ||
| Middle and Late Twentieth Century Poetry in the United States | ||
| Medieval and Renaissance Drama | ||
| Shakespeare's Rivals | ||
| American Drama | ||
| Modern British Drama | ||
| Individual Authors | ||
| Jane Austen | ||
| Shakespeare: Representative Plays | ||
| Shakespeare: Selected Plays | ||
| Milton | ||
| Theory of Literature | ||
| Literature and Psychology | ||
| Literature and Society | ||
| Modern Criticism | ||
| Serial Narrative | ||
| Women in Literature: Authors and Characters | ||
| Imagery, Metaphor, and Symbol | ||
| Selected Studies | ||
| Queer(ing) Narrative Literature | ||
| Greek and Roman Myth and Modern Literature | ||
| Global Cities | ||
| Global Texts and Practices | ||
| Projects in the Teaching of Literature | ||
| Seminar: Studies in Criticism | ||
| Seminar: Literature and Psychology | ||
| Seminar: Opera and Literature | ||
| Rhetoric, Politics, and Ethics of Deconstruction | ||
| Seminar in Medieval English Literature | ||
| Seminar: Studies in 16th Century English Literature | ||
| Seminar: Studies in 17th Century English Literature | ||
| Seminar: Studies in 18th Century English Literature | ||
| Seminar: The Romantic Movement | ||
| Seminar: Studies in Victorian Literature | ||
| Seminar: 20th Century English Literature | ||
| Seminar: Southern African Literature in English | ||
| Seminar: Studies in American Literature 1600-1899 | ||
| Seminar: Twentieth Century American Literature | ||
| Contemporary American Short Fiction | ||
| Seminar: The Novel | ||
| Studies in Caribbean Literature in English | ||
| Seminar: Individual Authors | ||
| Seminar: Chaucer | ||
| Seminar: Shakespeare | ||
| Milton | ||
| Seminar: Selected Studies | ||
| Teaching Practicum: Literature | ||
| The Constructed Body in Literature | ||
| Independent Study | ||
or courses approved by an advisor | ||
Culminating Experience (3 units)
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Select one: | 3 | |
| Master's Thesis | ||
| Directed Readings in Preparation for the CE Examination and Culminating Experience Examination | ||
Early Period Distribution Requirement
As part of their 30-unit program requirements, students must take at least one course (3 units) in literature before 1800. The early period requirement may be met by courses that also fulfill the above listed subject requirements (for example, the early period course might also count as the “Literary History” required course, or it might count as an elective). Thus, the early period requirement is a distribution requirement, not a course requirement.
Note: Courses in grammar and composition pedagogy do NOT count towards the 30-unit MA. However, courses from other departments related to a student’s particular field of interest—up to six units with approval of adviser—may be counted.
Culminating Experience Requirements
Students must choose one of the following options:
Directed Readings in Preparation for the CE Examination (ENG 896)
Students pursuing this option will be examined on texts in two fields of the discipline based on departmental reading lists and the student’s special area of interest. A list of the required readings for each historical field is kept on file in the Department of English. For each field, students will typically select 25 texts from a list of 30 primary texts, and 5 texts from a list of 10 works of criticism. The students’ CE exam, then, will typically be based on a total of 50 primary texts and 10 works of criticism. In both fields, students will submit a 5 to 6-page written assignment, one for each field, or 10-12 pages total of writing. The CE culminates in a 90-minute oral examination. The exam will be conducted by two faculty members who will each examine the student in one of their two chosen fields.
Students selecting the written and oral examination option will enroll in both ENG 896 Directed Readings in Preparation for the CE Examination (3 units) and ENG 896EXM Culminating Experience Examination (0 units).
To receive Credit for ENG 896 and ENG 896EXM, students must pass both the written and oral portions of the CE Examination.
Master's Thesis (ENG 898)
The CE Thesis consists of three parts: the prospectus, the prospectus examination, and the thesis itself. Before undertaking these, students ready for ENG 898 must discuss their idea(s) for the thesis with their adviser and/or the faculty members they would like to serve as readers. After the thesis committee has been established, the student must submit a prospectus to his or her committee members. The prospectus then becomes the basis for the oral prospectus exam, which is scheduled before a student begins writing the thesis. The prospectus is a written statement, usually including the controlling purpose of the thesis; the selection of literary sources; an overview of the relevant scholarship and criticism; and the value and interest of the study. The prospectus exam is a one-hour discussion of the prospectus conducted by the two thesis readers.