Graduate English Courses

Master's Program

Students enter an M.A. program in English for a variety of reasons. Some wish simply to extend their liberal education beyond the bachelor's level; others want professional training for high school or junior college teaching; still others see the M.A. as a stepping stone to the Ph.D. and a career in college teaching. The Department of English offers an M.A. program that meets the diverse needs of these different students. We believe all students should have a thorough grounding in the basic elements of literary study; thus, all students must satisfy a common set of core requirements. We also believe, however, that you should have the right to give your studies a particular emphasis; thus, we offer a choice of five departmental concentrations. These concentrations are carefully selected groups of courses that give each master's program a distinctive focus.

Our M.A. program is a two-year undertaking, although full-time students who are not teaching associates may complete it in less than two years.

Admission.Application must be made to the Office of Graduate Student Services. You should present at least 27 quarter hours (18 semester hours) of superior work on the undergraduate level in English language and literature. You should also submit evidence of having completed one full year of college-level foreign language beyond the freshman-level language requirement. This can be either one year of intermediate (sophomore) level or one year of advanced (junior or senior level) foreign language. You may apply if you do not meet the foreign language prerequisite but otherwise have outstanding qualifications for graduate study; however, if accepted, you must complete two quarters of a graduate foreign language reading course before graduating. Applications for admission also will be considered from students who have had extensive training in academic fields closely related to English. You should arrange for letters of recommendation from three professors with whom you have studied on the undergraduate level to be sent to the Graduate Director in English.

You must, in addition, submit your scores for the Graduate Record Examination (general test only), a statement of purpose, and a writing sample. For potential creative writing students, the writing sample should be a portfolio of poems, a manuscript of short fiction, or a selection of creative nonfiction. All other applicants should submit to the English Graduate Director a critical essay completed for undergraduate academic credit at the junior or senior level.

You must apply by January 15 for entry in fall quarter of the following academic year.

M.A. Requirements.To pursue the Master of Arts in English, you must satisfy the following requirements:

1. Bibliography and Methods. ENG 593 Bibliography and Methods deals with enumerative and descriptive bibliography and methods of scholarship. It also provides a general introduction to graduate study and research in English literature and language.
2. English Language. The English language requirement can be met by one of two courses--ENG 503 English Language or ENG 504 American English.
3. The Teaching of English. ENG 591 Problems in Teaching College English, ordinarily taken in your first quarter of residence, is designed to offer various kinds of practical and theoretical information and discussions about teaching.
4. Literary Theory. You will take at least one course that has as its primary focus critical theory.
5. Master's essay or thesis. The master's essay is a scholarly essay of publishable quality, substance, and length, written as an extension of work done in a seminar but researched and reshaped to meet professional standards of scholarly publication. The master's essay prospectus and the essay are submitted during the winter and spring quarters of your second year.

   Like the master's essay, the master's thesis is expected to show originality, rigor of argument, and thoroughness of research and documentation. It should, however, include more extensive research than a master's essay, particularly more detailed analysis of the theoretical approach being used, a wider and deeper survey of research and scholarship, and a more thorough contextualization of the central argument. The creative writing thesis is a piece of original creative writing.

6. Area distribution. You are required to take seminars in at least three of the following six periods:
   • Medieval
   • Renaissance
   • Restoration and Eighteenth Century
   • Nineteenth Century British
   • Twentieth-Century British
   • American Literature

   Of these three seminars, one must focus primarily on literature before 1700, one on literature after 1700, and one on American literature.

7. Departmental concentration. You are required to take a sequence of three courses from one of the following concentrations:
   • Literary History
   • Creative Writing
   • Literary Theory
   • Composition and Rhetoric
   • Women's Studies
8. Foreign language. If you have not met the foreign language prerequisite for admission, you must complete two quarters of a graduate foreign language reading course.

Doctoral Program

The Ph.D. in English is designed primarily as professional training for teachers and scholars of literature, composition, and creative writing. Such training requires at least four elements: a solid general background in literary history, a detailed knowledge of a specialized area, successful completion of a scholarly, critical, or creative dissertation, and--for those with assistantships--experience teaching a variety of courses.

Admission.You must apply for admission to the Office of Graduate Student Services. Your application should include complete graduate and undergraduate transcripts, Graduate Record Examination scores, three letters of recommendation, a statement of purpose, and a writing sample.

Ph.D. Requirements.To earn a Ph.D. in English, you must fulfill the following requirements:

1. M.A. requirements. If your M.A. program did not include the following requirements or their equivalents, you must fulfill them as part of the Ph.D. program: ENG 591 Problems in Teaching College English, ENG 593 Bibliography and Methods, a course in literary theory, and a course in the history of the English or American language.
2. General course requirements for doctoral students in literary history. You are required to take three doctoral seminars in areas of literature outside your area of specialization. You are also required to complete one course in composition and rhetoric and one course in creative writing or two courses in either of those areas.
3. General course requirements for doctoral students in creative writing. You are required to take two doctoral seminars in an area of literature outside your area of specialization, as well as one course in composition and rhetoric. You are also required to take two workshops a year for the first two years of your program, including one in a genre that is not your primary one, and a fifth workshop in your third year as part of your preparation for the creative writing dissertation.
4. General course requirements for doctoral students in composition and rhetoric. You are required to take two doctoral seminars in literature, five doctoral seminars in composition and rhetoric, and one graduate course in creative writing.
5. Colloquium. You are required to take the doctoral colloquium on the profession of English (777) during all quarters of coursework.
6. Specialized course requirements. Literary history and creative writing students must take at least two doctoral seminars in their area of specialization, chosen from a list of six literary periods.
7. Exam requirements. Ph.D. area exams are given in your third year of coursework and consist of three portions, which vary according to your concentration.

   The reading lists for all three portions of the exam will be drawn up by your examining committee with your consultation.

8. Foreign language requirement. All Ph.D. students will have reading knowledge of one foreign language, to be proved by the Princeton exam or equivalent.
9. Dissertation and oral presentation. The main criterion for the dissertation is quality, not quantity. You are encouraged to plan a dissertation that is original, significant, and ideally, publishable.

   Once a topic has been decided upon, you and your advisor will draw up a prospectus to be approved by the dissertation committee.

   In lieu of the traditional oral examination, you will deliver a public lecture on some aspect of your dissertation and lead a discussion on the work.

Supervised Teaching.All Ph.D. students holding assistantships are expected to teach as part of their professional training. Because Ohio University is a moderate-sized state university, it has a wide variety of undergraduate English courses to be staffed. Consequently, graduate assistants receive considerable experience in teaching different courses. As a Ph.D. graduate assistant, you will probably leave the University having taught at least four or five different courses at the freshman through junior levels. Although you will have received supervision, you will have been primarily responsible for organizing and teaching these classes. Recent Ph.D. graduate assistants have found this varied experience particularly valuable when they enter the professional job market.