English, M.A.

Admission

In addition to the general application and admission requirements of the Graduate School, application to the M.A. program in English requires submission of a statement of purpose (1-2 pages), a curriculum vitae or resume, and a critical writing sample (10-20 pages). Applicants for the creative writing concentration also must submit a creative writing sample (10-20 pages) in the genre in which they intend to specialize. It is expected that applicants will have an average GPA of 3.0 in all English courses taken and that they will have completed a minimum of 12 credit hours of intermediate or advanced literature coursework. Should an applicant not be admitted to the concentration of choice, the applicant may be considered for admission to the program in another concentration area.

Degree Requirements

The M.A. degree program in English requires completion of 33-36 graduate credit hours, satisfaction of a foreign language requirement, and successful completion of a comprehensive examination and/or thesis. The program offers both a thesis and non-thesis exam track in four concentrations (folklore, linguistics, literature, rhetoric and composition). The TESOL concentration offers both a thesis and a practicum track. The creative writing and professional writing concentrations offer only a thesis track.

For students pursuing the non-thesis exam track in folklore, linguistics, literature, or rhetoric and composition, a minimum of 33 credit hours of course work plus 3 credit hours in exam preparation is required; the non-thesis exam track in TESOL requires 27 credit hours of course work plus 6 credit hours. For students pursuing the non-thesis practicum track in TESOL, 27 credit hours of course work and 6 credit hours of practicum is required. For the thesis track in creative writing, folklore, linguistics, literature, professional writing, or rhetoric and composition, 30 credit hours of coursework plus 6 credit hours of thesis credit is required. For the thesis track in TESOL, 27 credit hours of coursework plus 6 credit hours of thesis credit is required.

Foreign Language Requirements

All students pursuing the M.A. degree in English, regardless of concentration, must demonstrate reading knowledge of an approved language other than English in one of the following ways:

1. by successful completion of a reading knowledge examination administered by the Department of Modern Languages;
2. by successful completion of 4 credits in Old English at the graduate (500-600) level, either during the graduate program in English at UL Lafayette or within the last six years prior to entering the M.A. program;
3. by presenting evidence of having completed, within the past six years, the second semester sophomore-level college course in any non-English language with a grade no lower than C;
4. by presentation of a satisfactory score in a particular language on the ETS Graduate School Foreign Language Test.

Students must satisfy the language requirement before taking the comprehensive examination and/or defending their thesis.

General Comprehensive Examination and Thesis Requirements

Successful completion of a comprehensive examination is required of all degree candidates pursuing a non-thesis track. Offered each regular semester, the examination consists of a three-hour comprehensive written portion and a one-hour oral examination. A student may take the oral examination only after passing the written examination. The student must pass both the written and the oral components to satisfy the degree requirements. The written examination consists of two components. The first, which is standard for all examinees, is devised and evaluated by the faculty M.A. Examinations Committee according to a prescribed format. This format is available online in the English Graduate Student Handbook. The second component, which is tailored to reflect each student’s program of graduate courses, is devised and evaluated by the student’s faculty advisory committee. The student must pass both components to pass the written portion of the comprehensive examination and thus be eligible to stand for the oral portion, which is comprehensive and is conducted by the student’s advisory committee. Non-thesis students pursuing the non-thesis comprehensive exam track must complete literary breadth coursework and language requirements before taking ENGL 899: Examinations.

Students who pass one written component and fail the other are not required to retake the passed component. Students who fail their M.A. exams should consult with the Graduate Coordinators and with their M.A. Committee for procedures to follow. As per Graduate School requirements, M.A. candidates are not permitted a third try on the comprehensive exam.

For students pursing the thesis track, a general, comprehensive knowledge of a field of study is demonstrated through completion of the thesis. Early in the third semester, the candidate should begin work on the thesis prospectus. Once approved by the candidate’s committee, the prospectus should be submitted to the Graduate Coordinator for Continuing Students by the middle of the semester. In the final semester, thesis-track students will present an oral defense of their thesis to be conducted by their thesis committee.

Notes

Students must complete ENGL 500 - Professional Colloquium  (0 credit hours) in each of their first two semesters.

A minimum of 30 of credit hours must be in English courses at the 400(G), 500, and 600 levels. At least 15 of these credit hours must be at the 500/600 level.

Literary Studies coursework and the foreign language requirement must be completed before a student may enroll in ENGL 899 - Examinations .

With prior permission of the English Department, students may take selected graduate courses in related disciplines.

M.A. students who are appointed as graduate teaching assistants in the English Department should take ENGL 501 - Teaching College English  (3 credit hours) in the spring semester of their first year and ENGL 509 - College English Practicum  (1 credit hour) during both semesters of teaching.

Additional Courses

Old English, Middle English, Linguistics, and/or Theory coursework:

• ENGL 405G - History of the English Language Credit Hours: 3
• ENGL 413G - Chaucer Credit Hours: 3
• ENGL 417G - Survey of Medieval English Literature Credit Hours: 3
• ENGL 425G - Semantics Credit Hours: 3
• ENGL 452G - Language, Culture and Society Credit Hours: 3
• ENGL 455G - Topics in Linguistics Credit Hours: 3
• ENGL 457G - Classical Rhetoric Credit Hours: 3
• ENGL 458G - Investigating Text and Talk Credit Hours: 3
• ENGL 459G - Literary Theory and Practical Criticism Credit Hours: 3
• ENGL 484G - Feminist Literary Criticism Credit Hours: 3
• ENGL 502 - Old English Grammar and Readings Credit Hours: 3
• ENGL 503 - Beowulf Credit Hours: 3
• ENGL 505 - Medieval Studies Credit Hours: 3
• ENGL 506 - Principles of Linguistics Credit Hours: 3
• ENGL 513 - Studies in Chaucer Credit Hours: 3
• ENGL 553 - Seminar in Linguistics Credit Hours: 3
• ENGL 555 - Modern Composition Theory Credit Hours: 3
• ENGL 558 - Seminar in Women’s Studies and Feminist Theory Credit Hours: 3
• ENGL 560 - Seminar in Literary Theory Credit Hours: 3
• ENGL 561 - Syntax, Morphology, and Semantics for ESOL Teachers Credit Hours: 3
• ENGL 562 - Applied Phonetics and Pronunciation Teaching Credit Hours: 3
• ENGL 563 - Second Language Acquisition in TESOL Credit Hours: 3
• ENGL 581 - Advanced Study of the Theory, History, and Practice of Teaching Creative Writing. Credit Hours: 3
• ENGL 632 - Seminar in Folklore Credit Hours: 3
• ENGL 660 - Special Topics in Criticism Credit Hours: 3
• ENGL 680 - Special Topics in Advanced Poetics Credit Hours: 3