The Master of Arts in English

Course Requirements for the Master's Degree: units

Continuous enrollment is required. A maximum of 6 semester units of transfer and/or CSU, Chico Open University course work may be applied toward the degree.

Graduate Time Limit:

All requirements for the degree are to be completed within five years of the end of the semester of enrollment in the oldest course applied toward the degree. See Master's Degree Requirements in the University Catalog for complete details on general degree requirements.

The Master's program in English is available to students whose undergraduate record qualifies them according to the standards set forth by the Office of Graduate Studies and the Department of English. Students who don't have the equivalent of a major in English must complete the equivalent of a general English minor.

Prerequisites for Students Who Don't Have an English Major or Minor

Required:

ENGL 340 or equivalent

ENGL 276 and ENGL 277, unless student has had a good survey of British and American literature in the last two years.

Electives:

One course selected from each of the following areas:

Language: ENGL 371, ENGL 375, ENGL 475, or ENGL 477

Major Figures: ENGL 440, ENGL 441, or ENGL 442

Composition and Rhetoric: ENGL 335

Periods: ENGL 445, ENGL 446, ENGL 447, ENGL 448, ENGL 449, ENGL 450, ENGL 458, or ENGL 459

Genres: ENGL 451, ENGL 452, ENGL 453, ENGL 455, ENGL 456, ENGL 457, or ENGL 461

The Master of Arts degree in English offers patterns in British and American Literature, Creative Writing, and Language and Literacy.

Prerequisites for Admission to Conditionally Classified Status:

1. Satisfactory grade point average as specified in "Admission to Master's Degree Programs" in the University Catalog.

2. An acceptable baccalaureate from an accredited institution, or an equivalent approved by the Office of Graduate Studies.

3. Completion of the Graduate Record Examination with a minimum score of 500 on the verbal portion of the General Test (native English speakers only). The GRE score is only one of the factors considered on the assessment of the applicant.

4. For all applicants who have not completed a baccalaureate degree (or three years of full-time academic study at the post-secondary level) in Australia, Great Britain, Anglophone Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, or the United States, completion of one of the following:

1. Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) with a minimum paper-based score of 580 or Internet-based score of 92; or
2. International English Language Testing System (IELTS) with a minimum score of 7.0; or
3. Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE) with a minimum score of 65.

Further, a significantly low score on any part of these required exams will require that a student enroll in remedial courses appropriate to the area of weakness as specified by the Graduate Advisor.

5. Submission, with the application, of a writing sample demonstrating critical and analytical skills. Creative Writing students should also submit a sample of creative work.

6. The Graduate Committee will make assessments of the applicant's complete record, balancing GPA, letters of recommendation, GRE score, writing samples, and any other material in the application package.

7. Approval by the department and the Office of Graduate Studies.

Prerequisites for Admission to Classified Status:

In addition to any requirements listed above:

1. Completion of a departmentally administered essay assignment, by those required to take TOEFL, during registration week of the first semester. Remedial work in composition will be required for those whose writing is judged inadequate by essay readers, and a student may not be advanced to classified status until an acceptable level of proficiency is reached.

2. Two letters of recommendation, preferably from English department faculty who know the student's work, to the departmental Graduate Coordinator.

3. Completion of ENGL 276 and ENGL 277, Survey of British Literature, or its equivalent. Students coming to Chico from undergraduate institutions that offer an undergraduate comprehensive examination in literature or a course of the same kind as the Survey of British Literature are requested to submit, when possible, as one of their letters of recommendation, a statement from a faculty member directly involved with that examination or course.

4. A post baccalaureate grade point average of at least 3.0 in a minimum of 12 departmentally specified units of letter-graded, graduate-level course work.

5. Completion of departmental literacy requirement.

Advancement to Candidacy:

In addition to any requirements listed above:

1. Classified graduate standing and completion at the University of at least 9 units of the proposed program.

2. Fulfillment of the foreign language requirement (see below).

3. Formation of the graduate advisory (thesis) committee in consultation with the Graduate Coordinator.

4. Development of an approved program in consultation with the Graduate Coordinator. Such a program will include:

(a) A statement of aims.

(b) An outline of course units to be earned in pursuit of these aims.

(c) A description of the nature of the culminating activity.

Requirements for the MA Degree in English:

Completion of all requirements as established by the department graduate committee, the graduate advisory (thesis) committee, and the Office of Graduate Studies, to include:

1. Completion of an approved program consisting of 30 units of 400/500/600-level courses as follows:

1 course required:

1 course selected from:

Note: Students may also take ENGL 648, 652, 654, 656, or 657 if the reading list covers primarily texts written prior to 1900.

1 course selected from:

Students who plan to do a creative project (ENGL 699P) must have permission to do so from the creative writing coordinator and must have completed the requirements for the Creative Writing Pattern.

Twelve units selected from one of the patterns listed below. Specific courses for each pattern will be chosen in consultation with the Graduate Coordinator. With the permission from the Graduate Coordinator and thesis/project committee, students may also take related courses beyond their chosen pattern requirements.

Creative Writing Pattern

6 units required:

ENGL 620 must be taken twice for credit.

1 course selected from:

3 units selected from:

Any 600-level literature class after 1900

OR (the following course may be substituted for the above)

Language and Literacy Pattern

4 courses selected from:

Literature Pattern

1 course required:

1 course selected from:

Note: Students may also take ENGL 648, 652, 654, 656, or 657 if the reading list covers primarily texts written prior to 1900.

2 courses selected from:

Courses may be selected from any 600-level literature courses.

Electives

9 units required:

Students may select the 600-level courses from Creative Writing, Language and Literacy, or Literature.

(a) You must take at least 24 units of 600-level courses in the discipline of English.

(b) You may take up to 6 units from 400/500-level courses.

(c) ENGL 689T (Internship in Teaching College English) may be repeated, but only one course (3 units) will be counted as an elective.

(d) Normally, not more than a total of 6 units of Independent Study (ENGL 697) and Master's Thesis (ENGL 699t) or Masters Project (ENGL 699P) will be allowed. Note: ENGL 697 may be taken for a letter grade.

2. Completion and approval by the Graduate Coordinator of an acceptable culminating activity. The English Department Graduate Committee will recommend granting the master's degree to candidates who have satisfactorily completed one of the following:

(a) A written thesis prepared according to the standards established in A Guide to Graduate Studies: Policies, Procedures, and Format, available from the Office of Graduate Studies. The thesis will present a scholarly/critical study or a sustained creative effort.

(b) A terminal project equivalent in scope to the thesis or seminar papers options and appropriate to the candidate's focus of study or special competence.

3. Approval by the departmental Graduate Committee and the Graduate Coordinators Committee on behalf of the faculty of the University.

Graduate Requirement in Writing Proficiency:

Writing proficiency is a graduation requirement.

English degree candidates will demonstrate writing competence through two examples of their writing which have been submitted as assigned work. These must be presented to the Graduate Coordinator by the instructor(s) who assigned them, together with a written statement of his/her opinion of the papers' authenticity. The papers may not represent work done in connection with the thesis or terminal project, and at least one sample must demonstrate documentation of research according to the latest edition of the MLA Handbook style standards. This requirement must be met before the student is advanced to classified status.

Foreign Language Requirement:

Prior to advancement to candidacy, students must fulfill a foreign language requirement in one of the following ways:

1. Show evidence of completion, within the last five years, of the equivalent of two years of foreign language study at the college/university level with a grade of B or better; or

2. Show evidence of completion, within the last five years, of an upper-division foreign language literature course taught in the language with a grade of B or better; or

3. Demonstrate a reading knowledge of a foreign language through a departmentally authorized examination.

Note: Appropriate accommodations will be made for the deaf or hearing impaired. Units earned in language courses will not be counted toward the 30 units required for the Master of Arts in English. The language taken must be a major literary language. International students from non-English-speaking countries will be exempt from this language requirement.

Graduate Grading Requirements:

All courses in the major (with the exceptions of Independent Study - 697, Comprehensive Examination - 696, Master's Project - 699P, and Master's Thesis - 699T) must be taken for a letter grade, except those courses specified by the department as ABC/No Credit (400/500-level courses), AB/No Credit (600-level courses), or Credit/No Credit grading only. A maximum of 10 units combined of ABC/No Credit, AB/No Credit, and Credit/No Credit grades may be used on the approved program (including 697, 696, 699P, 699T and courses outside the major). While grading standards are determined by individual programs and instructors, it is also the policy of the University that unsatisfactory grades may be given when work fails to reflect achievement of the high standards, including high writing standards, expected of students pursuing graduate study.

Students must maintain a minimum 3.0 grade point average in each of the following three categories: all course work taken at any accredited institution subsequent to admission to the master's program; all course work taken at CSU, Chico subsequent to admission to the program; and all courses on the approved master's degree program.

Graduate Advising Requirement:

Advising is mandatory each semester for all English majors. Consult the Graduate Coordinator for specifics.