Graduate Catalog
 Master of Arts in English (M.A.)

Program Coordinator: Professor Maryann Feola
English, Speech, and World Literature/Modern Languages Building (2S), Room 208
Email: englishmasters@mail.csi.cuny.edu
Telephone: 1.718.982.3666

Department of English Speech and World Literature's Website

*See the curriculum supplement for additions and changes
to the program.

The program is designed for students who wish to enlarge their knowledge of English and American literature, to improve their critical skills in reading and in writing, and/or to improve their skills as teachers of writing. It is of interest to recent graduates, to students who wish to resume their education, and to teachers with initial certification who wish to deepen their knowledge of English as they complete the master's degree.

Two options are offered, one with a concentration in literature and one with a concentration in rhetoric. Students electing the literature option will take at least five courses in literature; students electing the rhetoric option will take three courses in linguistics, writing, and the teaching of writing.

For students who are not pursuing teacher certification, 30 credits are required for the degree. For students desiring professional certification as high school teachers of English, 34 credits are required for the degree.

Admission Requirements

1.  Bachelor of Arts degree from an accredited institution

2.  At least 32 credits of undergraduate courses in English (excluding freshman composition)

3.  A cumulative grade point average of 3.0 (B) or a grade point average of 3.0 (B) in English courses

The Graduate Record Examination is not required for admission.

Students may be admitted conditionally with the approval of the coordinator of the English MA program; their admission will be reviewed after completion of two courses.

Degree Requirements

1  A grade point average of 3.0 (B) in all coursework

2.  A grade of at least Pass (P) on the master's papers and master's examination

3.  Of the 30 credits required for students who are not pursuing professional certification as high school teachers of English, seven four-credit courses are chosen from either the Literature or Rhetoric option and two credits of independent study that are awarded after passing the master's examination.

Literature Option: seven courses (28 credits), including at least five courses in literature (700-level courses) that must include at least one course in English literature before 1800.

Rhetoric Option: seven courses (28 credits), including three in linguistics and the teaching of writing (600-level courses) with the remainder in literature.

4.  Of the 34 credits required for students desiring professional certification as high school teachers of English, seven four-credit courses are chosen from either the Literature or Rhetoric options above, four credits are taken in the Department of Education, and two credits of independent study are awarded after passing the master's examination.

Within the seven four-credit courses, students must take eight credits of English courses linking content and pedagogy.

Four credits taken in the Department of Education.

• EDS 693 Advanced Methods of Teaching Secondary School English (3 credits)
• Independent Study in Education (1 credit)

Eight credits of English courses linking content and pedagogy
chosen from the following:

• ENG 686 The Teaching of Writing (4 credits);
• ENG 630 Writing Across the Curriculum (4 credits);
• ENG 682 Modern Grammar (4 credits);
• ENG 683 Sociolinguistics (4 credits);
• ENG 687 Models of Second Language Acquisition (4 credits).

5.  Two master's papers (2 credits)
The two master's papers will be course papers. Candidates will choose them in consultation with their instructors and submit them to the Coordinator of the English MA Program. The papers will be read by two faculty members and graded Honors, Pass, or Fail. The first paper is to be submitted before enrolling in a fifth graduate course, the second before taking the master's examination.

6.  Master's examination (2 credits)
The master's examination is intended to provide candidates an opportunity for further reading and independent study and to test their ability to read, interpret, and synthesize. They will select three of their courses for this examination and will be expected to answer questions with reference to works both assigned in those courses and on the supplementary reading lists provided by their instructors. Candidates with the Rhetoric Option may elect linguistics and the teaching of writing for two of their three courses

The master's examination is a three-hour written examination and is graded Honors, Pass, or Fail. Credit for two hours of independent study will be awarded upon passing.

7.  Honors
To earn the degree with Honors, a grade point average of 3.5 and grades of Honors on the master's examination and at least one of the master's papers are required.

The MA in English at CSI is not a research-oriented degree.

There is no foreign language requirement for the MA in English at CSI. Students planning to continue graduate studies beyond the MA, however, should take note that most doctoral programs in English require a reading knowledge of at least two foreign languages, and the City University Graduate Center requires three, one ancient (Greek or Latin) and two modern.

 

Courses

Linguistics and the Teaching of Writing

ENG 630 Writing Across the Curriculum
4 hours; 4 credits
An introduction to the principal issues, both theoretical and practical, in writing across the curriculum. Topics for reading and discussion will include: models of the writing process; kinds of writing; writing for learning and writing for testing; teaching English and teaching in the content areas. The class will develop a series of writing assignments in content areas useful to its members.

ENG 640 Workshop in Creative Writing
4 hours; 4 credits
The particular genre will be announced each semester: poetry, fiction, playwriting, or creative nonfiction. Discussion of writing processes and problems arising from the experience of the class. Although reading material will primarily be the work of the class, there will be some attention to the theory and practice of professional writers.

ENG 650 Workshop in Writing about Literature
4 hours; 4 credits
Extensive practice in writing about literature in conjunction with readings in several major works. Discussion of major approaches to writing about literature such as the historical, the biographical, the psychological, the formalistic, the archetypal, and the philosophic.

ENG 670 Workshop in Autobiographical Writing
4 hours; 4 credits
Extensive practice in autobiographical writing in conjunction with readings in autobiography. Discussion of issues arising from the experience of the class as well as relationships among fact and value, reality and imagination, historical circumstance and myth.

ENG 680 Contemporary American Usage
4 hours; 4 credits
The study of standard American practice with regard to grammar, punctuation, quotations, bibliography, footnotes, and proofreaders' marks.

ENG 682 Modern English Grammar
4 hours; 4 credits
A generative-transformational analysis of the English sentence and a normative approach to contemporary usage. An introduction to sentence diagramming according to the principles of generative grammar with attention to deep and surface structure and semantic features. Traditional grammar is reformulated in transformational terms and usage is taught with reference to generative theory.

ENG 683 Sociolinguistics
4 hours; 4 credits
The interaction of language with region, class, sex, and nationalism. Special consideration is given to Black English, urban dialects, and educational policy. An exploration of regional and class dialects, the reactions to them, and the historical reasons for their development. The differences between male and female speech as well as the different ways language refers to sex are considered. The debate over bidialectism in the schools is reviewed as well as the role of language in nationalism and questions of language policy in developing countries.

ENG 686 The Teaching of Writing
4 hours; 4 credits
An introduction to the principal issues, both theoretical and practical, in the teaching of writing. Topics such as the following will be approached through readings in the literature and class scrutiny of the participants' own experiences as writers: relations between speech and writing, models of the writing process; standard English, bilingualism, and bidialectism; special problems of English usage and orthography; strategies for overcoming blocks and interferences; evaluation of growth in writing.

ENG 687 Models of Second Language Acquisition
4 hours; 4 credits
This course presents various models of second language acquisition, including the monitor model, interlanguage theory, linguistic universals, and sociocultural models. Public policy issues, such as English only, bilingual education, and immigration, are explored. In addition, factors that may interfere with second language learning and those that may enhance it are studied. Contrasts are made between learning ESL as a child and as an adult with special reference to the critical period hypothesis.
Prerequisite: Graduate students only

ENG 688 Composition Theory and Rhetorical Models
4 hours; 4 credits
Focus on recent developments that have brought new theories of writing and new methods of teaching to English classes. Among the schools of thought and research communities explored are expressivism, cognitivism, social-epistemic rhetoric, cultural studies, and critical pedagogy.
Prerequisite: Graduate students only

ENG 689 Studies in Composition and Rhetoric
4 hours; 4 credits
An in-depth study of single subjects in composition theory and contemporary rhetoric. Possible subjects could include: an in-depth study of a single paradigm, a study of a major figure in the field, an examination of a research methodology, an exploration of assessment models, an in-depth reading of a current controversy.
Prerequisite: Graduate students only

Literature

ENG 710 Studies in Literary Theory
4 hours; 4 credits
This course offers students the opportunity to think critically and self-consciously about the way they approach literary study. Students will gain an understanding of analytical discourses and practices in literary studies. Such understanding is necessary because it has become increasingly central to the field. Instructors are free to design the course according to various temporal or methodological frameworks.

ENG 719 Studies in Anglo-Saxon Literature

ENG 721 Studies in Medieval English Literature

ENG 722 Studies in the Literature of the English Renaissance

ENG 723 Studies in Restoration and 18th-Century English Literature

ENG 724 Studies in 19th-Century English Literature

ENG 725 Studies in 20th-Century English Literature

ENG 726 Studies in Shakespeare

ENG 727 Studies in American Literature before 1900

ENG 728 Studies in American Literature after 1900

ENG 729 Studies in Classical and Biblical Backgroundsto Literature

ENG 730 Studies in Modern World Literature

ENG 731 Studies in Drama

ENG 732 Studies in Fiction

ENG 733 Studies in Poetry
(4 hours; 4 credits each)
Each time a Studies course is offered, the Schedule of Classes for the semester will define, within the larger area of the course, its focus and the topic or topics for special investigation. Each course will include a supplementary reading list, a list of works important to the period or genre of the course but not assigned in it. Each course will include at least one paper that is explicatory in nature and one paper that involves additional reading in history, literary history, biography, or criticism. Each course will also have a final examination.

ENG 734 Studies in U.S. Multicultural Literature
4 hours; 4 credits
This course investigates the rich diversity of American culture and literature. The instructors may choose various themes and time frames as they tailor a syllabus to fit this rubric.

ENG 735 Studies in Women and Literature
4 hours; 4 credits
The course explores literature by women in the context of historical, cultural, and/or theoretical issues of feminist studies. The course may be taught differently in different semesters in order to include various historical periods, and varied national and ethnic literatures.

ENG 736 Studies in African American Literature
4 hours; 4 credits
This course explores selected African American literary and critical texts as exemplars of African American literary traditions and participants in American literature. Emphasis is on close reading and analysis of various critical approaches to those readings. The course serves as introduction to the advanced study of texts drawn from all genres but may focus on any one in a given semester. The course will consist of readings in African American literary and critical texts, class discussion, written work, and oral reports.
A student may not register for a course under the same course number more than once.