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Sample Paths to the MA in English

 

Student 1 / Student 2 / Student 3 / Student 4

 

(cc) = core course

(cp) = certificate program credit

 

Student #1 - Two Years with Thesis (Literature Concentration)

 

1^st Semester

L506 Intro to Methods of Criticism and Research (cc)  4

L680 Special Topics: Anglophone Caribbean Writers 4

 

2^nd Semester

W509 Intro to Writing and Literacy Studies (cc)  4

L680 Special Topics: Literature of Slavery 4

L590 Internship in English 4

 

Summer Course

L695 Individual Readings in English 4

 

3^rd Semester

L680 Special Topics: Carribean Women Writers 4

W609 Directed Writing 4

 

4^th Semester

L699 Thesis 4

 

Total Hours 36

 

This student entered the program with a very clear idea of what she wanted to accomplish.  She quickly identified her area of study-African American and Anglophone Carribean Writers-and has worked with mentors in that field every step along the way.  Note the strategy of taking a majority of the course work for the MA in the first year in the program in order to free up time to tackle the thesis in the second year.  In this case, both L695 and W609 were directly related to thesis work. 

 

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Student #2: Two Years with Thesis, TESOL Certificate (21 CR)

 

1^st Semester

G500 Intro to the English Language (cc, cp)  4

LING L532 Second Language Acquisition (cp)  3

 

2^nd Semester

W509 Intro to Writing and Literacy Studies (cc)  4

LING L 534 Linguistic Resources and TESOL (cp)  3

LING L 535 Teaching Practicum (cp)  3

 

Summer Course

G541 Materials Preparation for ESL (cp)  4

 

3^rd Semester

L590 Internship in English  4

LING T 690 Advanced Readings in TESOL (cp)  4

 

4^th Semester

L695 Individual Readings in English  3

L699 Thesis  4

 

Total Hours 36

 

This student started out in the TESOL certificate program, then decided to continue past 21 credits and get the MA.  Her later course work and thesis, "Teaching Academic Vocabulary with Corpora: Student Perceptions of Data-Driven Learning," grew out of her early foundational work in Corpus Linguistics and TESOL.

 

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Student #3: Five Years with Thesis, Professional Editing Certificate (15 CR)

 

1^st Semester

L680 Special Topics: Textual Criticism (cp)   4

 

2^nd Semester

W509 Intro to Writing and Literacy Studies (cc)  4

 

3^rd Semester

L506 Intro to Methods of Criticism and Research (cc)  4

 

4^th Semester

L701 Descriptive Bibliography/Textual Problems (cp)  4

 

5^th Semester

L695 Individual Readings in English (cp)  4

 

6^th Semester

L501 Professional Scholarship in Literature (cp)  4

 

7^th Semester

L680 Special Topics: Joyce’s Ulysses  4

 

8^th Semester

L680 Special Topics: Anglophone Caribbean Writers  4

 

9^th Semester

L699 Thesis  4

 

Total Hours  36

 

This student maintained a dual focus from the beginning of her program, making steady progress in both the certificate program in textual editing and in the MA program more generally.  Her thesis, a textual analysis of the different published versions of Steven King’s The Gunslinger, grew out of her work in both programs.

 

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Student #4: Five Years, Non-Thesis Option, Teaching Writing Certificate (20 CR)

 

1^st Semester (GCND)

L573 Studies in Literary Appreciation  3

L695 Individual Readings in English  1

 

2^nd Semester (GCND)

G500 Intro to the English Language (cc)  4

 

3^rd Semester (GCND)

W511 Writing Fiction  4

 

4^th Semester

W615 Creative Nonfiction Writing (cp)  4

 

5^th Semester (Summer)

W508 Creative Writing for Teachers (cp)  4

 

6^th Semester

W509 Intro to Writing and Literacy Studies (cc, cp)  4

W609 Directed Writing Projects (cp)  4

W697 Independent Study in Writing (cp)  3

 

7^th Semester

W609 Directed Writing Projects  4

W609 Directed Writing Projects (cp)  1

 

8^th Semester (Summer)

L680 Special Topics: 20^th Century African Literature  4

 

Total Hours  40

 

This student started out taking courses under Graduate Continuing Non-Degree (GCND) status.  After a break between his fifth and sixth semesters, he returned to the program with a renewed sense of purpose: to simultaneously complete the certificate program in Teaching Writing and the MA under the Non-Thesis option.