Department of English
M.A.T.E. Program
Literature Emphasis

Specific Requirements

The M.A.T.E. Literature emphasis combines the critical study of English and American literatures with a focus on learning to communicate that knowledge to others effectively. It requires students to take both a variety of courses dealing with different literary genres and periods and courses in pedagogy (offered through the College of Education). No thesis option (Plan A) is available in the M.A.T.E. Literature emphasis.

1. General Requirements. See the sections above on general master's degree and M.A.T.E. degree requirements.

2. Course Requirements.

a) Research Methods. One of the following research methods courses is required: English 711, CEP 700, or CI 744. English 711 is customarily offered each spring semester.

b) Summer Seminar. One of the following summer seminars is required: English 609A, 778, or CI 778.

c) Education Core. Nine credits must be chosen from the following education courses: CI 604, 606, 639, 643, 746, 773. The remaining credits must be taken in English (a maximum of two credits in English 758).

d) Distribution Requirements. The student must take at least one course in nine of the following fields: Poetry, Fiction, Drama, Linguistics, Nonfiction/Intellectual Prose, Rhetoric, Literary Criticism, American Literature, British Literature before 1800, and British Literature after 1800. Five of the distribution requirements may be met by courses taken at the advanced undergraduate level (the equivalent of our department's 400-level courses) in which the student earned a B or above. The Director of Graduate Studies, in consultation with the faculty, determines which field requirement(s) specific courses may meet.

e) Literature Topic or Field. The student must take at least two courses in a particular field of interest, determined in consultation with his or her M.A. committee chair. Fields or topics might, for instance, include the Renaissance, nineteenth-century British poetry, or the American novel.

3. Professional Paper or Portfolio. In consultation with his or her M.A. committee chair, each student will complete either a professional paper or a portfolio. No credit toward Course Requirements (see above) will be granted for work on the professional paper or portfolio.

a) The professional paper is a substantial literary-critical essay. The student selects one seminar paper written in the M.A. program and revises it, working with the professor in whose course it was originally written, who must be a member of the student's committee. When revised, this paper will be presented to the committee as an example of the student's ability to perform research and write a convincing, reasoned argument on a topic related to literature and/or to literature and education. The paper should be approximately twenty pages long and should be of professional, publishable quality.

b) The portfolio consists of three of the student's most substantial, successful, and representative essays or other projects from three different courses and a brief essay in which the student introduces the three essays, explaining their purposes, their merits, and the rationale behind including them in the portfolio. At the discretion of the committee chair, the student completing a portfolio may be asked to expand the introductory essay into a longer metacognitive essay regarding his or her critical development as someone working with literature.

4. Comprehensive Examination (written). In consultation with the M.A. committee chair, each student will put together a reading list based on his or her particular topic or field of concentration. The list should consist of 10 to 15 items, eight of which should be book-length. The written portion of the comprehensive exam will be designed to demonstrate the student's mastery of the materials on this reading list in one of the following ways:

a) Written exam: the student completes a one-day exam on the reading list. The exam questions will be set by the members of the student's M.A. committee, who will then evaluate the written exam.

b) Course plan: the student prepares materials for a course in the area covered by the reading list. The materials should include a complete syllabus; an indication of the audience for whom the course is designed; a discussion of the course's purposes; an explanation for the selection of texts; specific writing assignments about the texts; and notes for class lecture and discussion.

5. Comprehensive Examination (oral). The oral exam lasts about an hour and a half and is administered by the student's M.A. committee. The student takes the oral exam after completing the professional paper or portfolio and the written exam or course plan; the oral will include questions on each of these works. It is the responsibility of the student to schedule the oral exam with his or her committee. The student must register for English 795, Comprehensive Examination, one credit, the semester he or she will be completing the oral exam.

Last Updated: January 2, 2009