The Master of Arts in English welcomes all students who are interested in postgraduate study in English. The program offers three areas for students to choose from: creative writing; literature; or rhetoric, composition, and literacy.

Graduate students are given opportunities to attend seminars and conferences, receive professional training in editing and composing for publications, teach classes in their field, and gain valuable experiences through internships related to their interests. Graduates of the master’s program have continued on to find success in further doctoral programs, teaching, writing, editing, managing web content, publishing, and journalism.

Requirements for the MA in English

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

1. Completion of an approved program consisting of 30 units of 400/500/600-level courses:
   1. You must take at least 24 units of 600-level courses in the discipline of English.
   2. You may take up to six units from 400/500-level courses.
   3. ENGL 689T may be repeated, but only one course (three units) will be counted as an elective.
   4. Normally, not more than a total of six units of (ENGL 697) and Master's Thesis (ENGL 699T) or Masters Project (ENGL 699P) will be allowed. 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:
   1. A written thesis prepared according to the standards established in A Guide to Graduate Studies: Policies, Procedures, and Format, available from Graduate Studies. The thesis will present a scholarly/critical study or a sustained creative effort.
   2. 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 Council on behalf of the faculty of the University.

Course List

Course	Title	Units
Foundation
ENGL 661	Literary Criticism and Theory	3
Select one of the following: 1		3
ENGL 641	British Medieval Literature
ENGL 642	Renaissance British Literature
ENGL 644	Restoration and 18th-Century British Literature
ENGL 646	British Victorian Literature
ENGL 651	American Literature: Beginnings to 1865
Select one of the following: 2		3
ENGL 699P	Master's Project 3
ENGL 699T	Master's Thesis
Pattern Courses
Select 12 units from one of the following patterns: 4		12
Creative Writing Pattern
Literature Pattern
Rhetoric, Composition, and Literacy Pattern
Electives
Select nine units of elective courses		9
Total Units		30

¹

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

²

Must be taken for three units.

³

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.

⁴

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.

Pattern Course Requirements: 12 units

Creative Writing Pattern

Course List

Course	Title	Units
ENGL 620	Workshop Form and Practice 1	6
ENGL 653	American Literature: 1920 to Present	3
Select one of the following: 2		3
ENGL 415	Editing Literary Magazines
ENGL 419	Chapbook Production
ENGL 420	Advanced Poetry Writing
ENGL 421	Advanced Fiction and Nonfiction Writing
ENGL 519	Chapbook Production
ENGL 689T	Internship in Teaching College English
Total Units		12

¹

Must be taken twice for credit.

²

Students may also take ENGL 654, ENGL 656, or ENGL 657 if the reading list covers primarily texts written after 1900.

Literature Pattern

Course List

Course	Title	Units
Select one of the following: 1		3
ENGL 641	British Medieval Literature
ENGL 642	Renaissance British Literature
ENGL 644	Restoration and 18th-Century British Literature
ENGL 646	British Victorian Literature
ENGL 651	American Literature: Beginnings to 1865
Select three of the following:		9
ENGL 641	British Medieval Literature
ENGL 642	Renaissance British Literature
ENGL 644	Restoration and 18th-Century British Literature
ENGL 646	British Victorian Literature
ENGL 651	American Literature: Beginnings to 1865
ENGL 652	American Literature: 1865-1920
ENGL 653	American Literature: 1920 to Present
ENGL 654	Seminar in American Literature
ENGL 656	Themes, Genres, or Problems in Literature
ENGL 657	Comparative Literature
Total Units		12

Rhetoric, Composition, and Literacy Pattern

Course List

Course	Title	Units
Select four of the following:		12-13
ENGL 431	Theory and Practice in Tutoring Composition
ENGL 478	Approaches to Reading
ENGL 632	Theories of Literacy
ENGL 634	Teaching Composition
ENGL 635	Topics in Rhetorical Theory and History
ENGL 636	Composition Program Design and Development
ENGL 637	Rhetoric for Writing Teachers
ENGL 692	Special Topics in English
Total Units		12-13

Electives: 9 units

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

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 coursework taken at any accredited institution subsequent to admission to the master's program; all coursework taken at California State University, Chico subsequent to admission to the program; and all courses on the approved master's degree program.

Continuous enrollment is required. At the discretion of the academic program, a maximum of six semester units of special session credit earned in non-matriculated status combined with all transfer coursework may be counted toward the degree requirements. This applies to special session credit earned through Open University, or in courses offered for academic credit through Professional & Continuing Education.

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 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 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.

Graduate Requirement in Writing Proficiency

All students must demonstrate competency in writing skills as a requirement for graduation. 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 their 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.

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

Elective courses should be chosen in consultation with the Graduate Coordinator. Equivalent coursework on listed transcripts will be considered in all categories. Substitutions shall be made in consultation with the Graduate Coordinator.

Course List

Course	Title	Units
ENGL 335W	Rhetoric and Writing (W)	3
ENGL 340	Approaches to Literary Genres	3
Select one of the following:		3
ENGL 276	Survey of Early British Literature
ENGL 277	Survey of Later British Literature
Select one of the following:		3
ENGL 278	Survey of Early American Literature
ENGL 279	Survey of Later American Literature
Nine units from any upper-division English (ENGL) courses.		9
Total Units		21

Prerequisites for Admission to Conditionally Classified Status

1. Satisfactory grade point average as specified in Graduate and Postbaccalaureate Admission Requirements.
2. An acceptable baccalaureate from an accredited institution, or an equivalent approved by Graduate Studies.
3. 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.
4. Submission, with the application, of a writing sample demonstrating critical and analytical skills. Creative Writing students should also submit a sample of creative work.
5. The Graduate Committee will make assessments of the applicant's complete record, balancing GPA, letters of recommendation, writing samples, and any other material in the application package.
6. Approval by the department and 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 California State University, 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 nine units of the proposed program.
2. Formation of the graduate advisory (thesis) committee in consultation with the Graduate Coordinator.
3. Development of an approved program in consultation with the Graduate Coordinator. Such a program will include:
   1. A statement of aims.
   2. An outline of course units to be earned in pursuit of these aims.
   3. A description of the nature of the culminating activity.