Master of Arts in English Literature - 33 Credits
Contact Information
Recruitment Counselor: Christine Vandenberg
Contact Phone: +1 (877) 236-4723
Contact Email: graduateadmissions@centenarycollege.edu
Program Advisor: Dr. Peter Mathews ext. 2312
About Our Program
The Master of Arts in English Literature is designed to provide qualified students an opportunity to increase to a professional level their understanding and appreciation of the English language and its imaginative literature. The program leads students to become more acute in their analysis and interpretation of literature, more conversant with the range of literature in English, and more skillful as writers. This degree can be regarded as terminal or as preparation for doctoral study.
This program is designed to
- Enable students to become acquainted with the main varieties of literary theory and criticism and with the basic principles and practices of literary research.
- Teach students to use this knowledge to support their own scholarly and critical arguments.
- Develop the ability to use digital technology in scholarship, communication, and pedagogy.
Admission Requirements
- Bachelors Degree in English - (Those with an alternate degree may be required to complete foundation courses.)
- Completed application
- Original transcripts from all colleges and universities attended
- Minimum GPA 2.5
- GRE not required (but encouraged)
- Students must acheive a grade of "B" or higher in each course. Students who do not achieve a "B" or higher in each course will be dropped from the program. (Please refer to the Centenary Course Catalog for more details.)
Master of Arts in English Literature - Program Requirements
Students are required to complete 15 credits in the Core Studies. These include GENG601 and one each of the designated period courses. They are also required to complete 15 elective credits and either of the final 3 credit Thesis or Master exam study.
Core Course Requirements | (15 credits) | |
GENG 601 | Theoretical Approaches to | 3 credits |
One graduate English course pre-1790 | 3 credits | |
One graduate English course post-1790 | 3 credits | |
One graduate English Major Author course | 3 credits | |
One graduate English genre course | 3 credits | |
Graduate Electives | (15 credits) |
Period Courses | ||
GENG 610 | Studies in Medieval Literature | 3 credits |
GENG 615 | Studies in Early Modern Literature | 3 credits |
GENG 620 | Studies in Seventeenth | 3 credits |
GENG 625 | Studies in Nineteenth Century Literature | 3 credits |
GENG 630 | The Romantics | 3 credits |
GENG 635 | Studies in Twentieth Century Literature | 3 credits |
Major Author Courses | ||
GENG 650 | Author Studies | 3 credits |
Faculty will determine what authors to study. Authors studied will change accordingly. | ||
Genre Courses | ||
GENG 660 | Studies in Drama | 3 credits |
GENG 665 | Studies in Fiction | 3 credits |
GENG 670 | Studies in Poetry | 3 credits |
GENG 675 | Writing in Media | 3 credits |
GENG 680 | Linguistics | 3 credits |
GENG 685 | Literary Criticism | 3 credits |
GENG 687 | Literature and | 3 credits |
Graduation Requirement | (3 credits) | |
GENG 690 | Thesis Supervision | 3 credits |
GENG 695 | Master's Exam Study | 3 credits |
Master of Arts in English Literature - Course Descriptions
GENG 601 | Theoretical Approaches to | 3 Credits | |
An introduction to the profession of literary studies for students new to graduate study in English. It offers a review of current critical theories and methodologies, research techniques, bibliographic methods, and issues in literary criticism. | |||
GENG 610 | Studies in Medieval Literature | 3 Credits | |
Studies of a variety of Middle English writing serve as a focus for special topics, including mysticism and historical prose from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries. | |||
GENG 615 | Studies in Early Modern Literature | 3 Credits | |
Selected studies of the poetry, drama, and prose of the English Renaissance, especially the works of Spenser and Shakespeare. | |||
GENG 620 | Studies in 17th and 18th | 3 Credits | |
An intensive study of a particular problem, genre, theme, or body of work in the neo-classical and pre-romantic periods of English literature and the Colonial Period of American literature. Studies might include such writers as the Cavalier and metaphysical poets, Milton, Pepys, Restoration dramatists, Boswell and Johnson, Bradstreet and Taylor. | |||
GENG 625 | Studies in 19th-Century Literature | 3 Credits | |
An examination of the major British and American writers of the nineteenth century, with particular attention to the intellectual, social, and political backgrounds of the period. | |||
GENG 630 | The Romantics | 3 Credits | |
An intensive study of a particular genre (such as lyric poetry), theme (such as “romantic agony”), body of work (e.g., the “ Lake poets”), or other feature of the romantic literature of England and America. | |||
GENG 635 | Studies in Twentieth-Century Literature | 3 Credits | |
Selected studies of representative American and British writers of the twentieth century. The emphasis will be on modernism and post-modernism, including such genre studies as the long poem or such historical studies as the literature of exiles. | |||
GENG 650-659 | Author Seminar | 3 Credits | |
A detailed study of the major and minor writings of one author, plus an examination of the most influential critical and scholarly treatments of the author’s work. The particular author studied will be determined by a combination of student and instructor interest. | |||
GENG 660 | Studies in Drama | 3 Credits | |
An advanced study of the types, artistic traditions, history, techniques, and critical analyses of classical, continental, English, and American drama. Different conceptions of the theater are examined in connection with representative plays. | |||
GENG 665 | Studies in Fiction | 3 Credits | |
An advanced study of the genre of narrative fiction and its historical origins, typically treating specific works of fiction and related prefaces and essays concerned with theory and technique. Readings might include examples of such early types as the epistolary and picaresque novel and such recent types as experimental and post-modernist narratives. | |||
GENG 670 | Studies in Poetry | 3 Credits | |
A study of the principles underlying poetry as an art form, including an investigation of prosody, metaphor, and the creative process. Exercises in practical criticism of poetry will complement theory. | |||
GENG 675 | Writing in Media Technology | 3 Credits | |
A study of the different types of electric media, including TV, film, and the Internet, and the relationship of these media to the written text. Instruction is given in such writing modes as screenplay, film treatments, reviews, scholarship, press releases and press kits. | |||
GENG 680 | Linguistics | 3 Credits | |
An introduction to the scientific analysis of language, with emphasis on syntactic theory and transformational generative grammar and including a consideration of the appropriate role of linguistics in informing the relationship between oral language background and the production of written text. | |||
GENG 685 | Literary Criticism | 3 Credits | |
An examination of some aspect of literary criticism, both theoretical and practical. Emphasis may be placed on a particular approach, a particular theorist/critic, or a grouping of theorists/critics. | |||
GENG 687 | Literature and Allied Discourse | 3 Credits | |
An investigation into the study of imaginative literature in relation to another field of intellectual inquiry. Such fields would include philosophy, psychology, religion, fine and performing arts, film, politics, scientific inquiry, media, and popular culture. Specific topics are determined by the instructor. | |||
GENG 690 | Thesis Supervision | 3 Credits | |
Students will work individually with a faculty member and two committee members on a research project that will result in a thesis paper (40 pp. +) and a public defense of the thesis. | |||
GENG 695 | Master's Exam Study | 3 Credits | |
The student, in consultation with three faculty members, will prepare for a three-part exam focusing on a period, an author, and a literary movement of the student’s choosing. Students may bring only primary source material to the written exam session, which will be followed by an oral public defense. | |||
**Please Note: | |||
Students in the MA program may take up to four courses on the undergraduate level (ENG300 or higher) provided the course is taught by a member of the Graduate Studies faculty and the student is approved by the faculty member to be in the course. The student is responsible for informing the faculty member that he or she is a graduate student. The student and the faculty member will then agree on what further study, projects, or writing must be accomplished to receive graduate credit for the course. Students who receive credit for these courses will be given 500 numbers on their transcript. For example, a student who takes Ethnic American Literature (ENG325) for graduate credit will register for GENG 525: Ethnic American Literature on his or her transcript. These courses DO NOT count towards the required period courses, only towards elective completion. | |||
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