English

College of Arts and Sciences

Dr. Philip B. Oldham, Dean

Dr. Richard Raymond, Department Head

Richard F. Patteson, Graduate Coordinator

316 Lee Hall

662-325-3644

rfp1@ra.msstate.edu

Graduate Study is offered in the Department of English leading to the Master of Arts degree.  Teaching assistantships are available.

Admission Criteria—Prerequisites for admission into the graduate program include all the general requirements of the Office of Graduate Studies and an undergraduate English degree (or 18 hours of undergraduate English courses beyond freshman composition, with a B average or higher).  Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit GRE scores.  International students must obtain a TOEFL score of 625 or better.

Program of Study/Completion Requirements—The Mississippi State University English Department offers two options in the M.A. program: the traditional curriculum, calling for 24 hours of course work plus thesis, and a non-thesis option, calling for 33 hours of course work.  With the latter option, students may pursue concentrations in Creative Writing or the Teaching of English as a Second Language.  External minors are also available.

General Program Requirements

(1)     A seminar in bibliography and research methods, offered each fall, is required of every student. 

(2)     All students must display a reading knowledge of a foreign language, usually by having completed four undergraduate semesters in that language with a B average or higher. 

(3)     All students, regardless of their fields of concentration, must take a comprehensive examination in British and American literature.  The exam must be taken at the beginning of the student’s third full semester.

Provisional Admission—If a student does not fully meet the admission requirements of the program, it may be possible for that student to be admitted provisionally  If provisionally admitted, the student must attain at least a 3.00 GPA on the first nine hours of graduate courses at Mississippi State University (transfer hours or unclassified hours may not be used).  If a 3.00 GPA is not attained, the student may be dismissed from the graduate program.

Unsatisfactory Performance—Unsatisfactory performance in the graduate program in English may be defined as any of the following: failure to maintain a B average in attempted graduate courses after admission to the program, a grade of U or F in any one course, failure of the comprehensive examination, unsatisfactory evaluation of a thesis, or failure of a required component of the program of study.  Any one of these or a combination of these may constitute the basis for review for possible dismissal.  The graduate coordinator will review the record along with the student’s graduate committee and take a final course of action which will be immediate dismissal or the establishment of a probationary period in which corrective action must take place.  Appeal of dismissal can be made by submitting a written appeal statement to the department head.  If the dismissal is upheld by the department head upon the student’s appeal, the student can then submit a written appeal to the dean of the College of Arts & Sciences.

Graduate Courses—Course prerequisites are noted in parentheses.

EN 6013        Internship in Compositional Theory and the Teaching of College Writing. 3 hours

EN 6223        Principles of Legal Writing. 3 hours

EN 6303        Craft of Poetry (EN 3303 or consent of instructor). 3 hours

EN 6313        Craft of Fiction (EN 3303 or consent of instructor). 3 hours

EN 6323        Literary Criticism from Plato to the Present. 3 hours

EN 6333        Literature of the South. 3 hours

EN 6343        African American Literature (completion of English requirements in the student’s major). 3 hours

EN 6353        20th-Century Critical Theory. 3 hours

EN 6403        Introduction to Linguistics [same as  AN 4403/6403]. 3 hours

EN 6413        History of the English Language. 3 hours

EN 6433        Teaching of English as a Second Language (EN 4403 or EN 3423 or consent of instructor). 3 hours

EN 6443        English Syntax (EN 3423 or consent of instructor). 3 hours

EN 6463        Studies in Second Language Acquisition (EN 4403/6403 or consent of instructor). 3 hours

EN 6503        Shakespeare. 3 hours

EN 6513        Shakespeare. 3 hours

EN 6523        Chaucer. 3 hours

EN 6533        Milton. 3 hours

EN 6623        Language and Culture (EN 4403/6603 or consent of instructor). 3 hours

EN 6633        Sociolinguistics (EN 4403/6403 or consent of instructor). 3 hours

EN 6643        The Eighteenth-Century British Novel. 3 hours

EN 6653        The Nineteenth-Century British Novel. 3 hours

EN 6663        The Twentieth-Century British and Irish Novel (completion of English Requirements in the student’s major). 3 hours

EN 6703        English Literature of the Sixteenth Century. 3 hours

EN 6713        English Literature of the Seventeenth Century. 3 hours

EN 6723        The Restoration and Swift. 3 hours

EN 6733        Eighteenth-Century Literature. 3 hours

EN 6803        Types of Twentieth-Century Drama. 3 hours

EN 6813        The Twentieth-Century World Novel (completion of English requirements in the student’s major). 3 hours

EN 6823        Twentieth-Century Poetry. 3 hours

EN 6863        The Romantic Poets and Prose Writers. 3 hours

EN 6883        Victorian Poets and Prose Writers. 3 hours

EN 6903        American Literature: 1800-1860. 3 hours

EN 6913        American Literature: 1860-1900. 3 hours

EN 6923        Twentieth-Century American Novel. 3 hours

EN 6933        Survey of Contemporary Literature. 3 hours

EN 6943        Form and Theory of Fiction. 3 hours

EN 6953        Form and Theory of Poetry. 3 hours

EN 6990        Special Topics in English. 1-9 hours

EN 7000        Directed Individual Study. 1-3 hours

EN 8000        Research/Thesis. 6 hours

EN 8103        Seminar in Graduate Research Methods. 3 hours

EN 8333        Studies in Southern Literature. 3 hours

EN 8513        Studies in English Literature to 1485. 3 hours

EN 8523        Studies in English Literature 1485-1660. 3 hours

EN 8533        Studies in English Literature 1660-1832. 3 hours

EN 8543        Studies in English Literature 1832-1900. 3 hours

EN 8553        Studies in American Literature to the Civil War. 3 hours

EN 8563        Studies in American Literature from the Civil War to 1914. 3 hours

EN 8573        Studies in Twentieth-Century Literature. 3 hours

EN 8583        Selected Topics in Language and Literature. 3 hours

EN 8593        Studies in Post-Colonial Literature. 3 hours

EN 8990        Special Topics in English. 1-9 hours