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Master of Arts in English

Master of Arts in English


IN THIS SECTION
  • English
    • English Major
    • English Minor
    • Master of Arts in English
  • Narrative Studies of Health and Body
    • Narrative Studies of Health and Body Minor
  • Literature
    • Literature Minor
  • Writing
    • Writing Minor

Take the next step in your career with a Master of Arts in English

The Master of Arts in English program at Worcester State University helps you expand your literary knowledge and further develop your critical research and writing skills.

With courses available in the late afternoons and evenings as well as online, our program offers working students like you a flexible schedule. Our rolling admissions process allows you to start your studies at a time that’s right for you. With the possibility of transferring up to 12 credits of graduate work, the program is also an exceptional value.

Courses in this program cover a range of topics, from literature and literary theory to writing theory and teaching to research methods. In fact, research is an integral component of the program, and you are encouraged to turn your seminar papers into conference papers and articles. In recent years, students have presented their work at a variety of conferences. You may also have the opportunity to pursue a graduate assistantship in Worcester State’s Writing Center and at our online scholarly journal, Currents in Teaching and Learning, or our online news and literary magazine, The New Worcester Spy. After completion of your coursework, you either take 2 area exams or research and write a thesis, a book-length study of some area of literature, literary theory, or rhetoric.

While many graduates of this program have continued their studies beyond the master’s level, others have found great success as English teachers in public schools across the state. In fact, this program is well-suited for English teachers who need a master’s degree to complete the final step in obtaining professional educator licensure in Massachusetts.

View the Catalog

Admission Requirements

Applicants to the Master of Arts in English must have either earned an undergraduate degree in English or completed at least 18 semester credit hours of English courses, not counting first-year English composition classes or English for English language learners, at an accredited institution of higher education.

Applicants without undergraduate training in the English discipline are strongly advised to take survey courses in American and English literature and a course in undergraduate literary theory as part of the required 18 undergraduate credits.

Transfer credits may include coursework taken at Worcester State University prior to matriculation.

In addition, applicants for this program must provide the following:

  • Hold a bachelor’s degree with a minimum 2.75 GPA from a regionally accredited institution or from a recognized foreign institution of higher education
  • Completed graduate application, including fee and essay explaining reason for pursuing this degree program
  • Official transcripts (Official Course-by-Course transcript evaluation required for all college level courses taken outside of the United States.)
  • Two current letters of recommendation from professional or academic sources (Less than 6 months old)
  • Results of an English proficiency assessment, if academic background was not taught in English

Explore sample courses in the Master of Arts in English

EN-900 History and Structure of the English Language

The phonology, syntax, and lexicon of English from its proto-Indo-European origins to its contemporary dialects.
3 credits

EN-901 Methods of Graduate Research

An introduction to graduate-level research and writing.
3 credits

EN-903 Theory and Teaching of Writing

Current writing theory and pedagogy with emphasis on the college, high school, or middle school classroom.
3 credits

EN-905 Modern Rhetorical Theory

Examines history of and recent developments in modern rhetorical theory and composition studies.
3 credits

EN-906 Donne, Herbert, and 17th-Century British Poetry

Analysis of the work and influence of John Donne, Ben Jonson, George Herbert, and other metaphysical and religious poets.
3 credits

EN-907 Pastoral Literature

This course explores the pastoral’s emergence as a major genre of 16th- and 17th-century literature.
3 credits

EN-908 Milton

Analysis of Milton’s prose and poetry, emphasizing “L’Allegro,” “Il Penseroso,” Comus, “Lycidas,” Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, Samson Agonistes, and Areopagitica.
3 credits

EN-909 Critical Approaches to Literature

An in-depth examination and interpretive application of the works of a critical theorist or a critical perspective, to be chosen by the instructor.
3 credits

EN-910 Literature of the English Renaissance

Advanced examination of Tudor and Jacobean literature emphasizing More, Wyatt, Surrey, Sidney, Spenser, Marlowe, Nashe, Shakespeare, Donne, and Jonson.
3 credits

EN-911 Young Adult Literature

Examination of a range of texts, classical and modern, that address both middle-school and high-school (and older) readers.
3 credits

EN-915 Community Writing

An advanced introduction to writing about, for, and with communities. Generally, students learn to consider the rhetorical, relationship-building power of documents, and they specifically apply this understanding by working with an organization to complete a community writing project.
3 credits

EN-921 Antislavery Literature in the Atlantic World

This course traces the literary history of the antislavery movement in the Atlantic World: writing in a range of genres (journalism, history, fiction, poetry, drama, slave narratives), antislavery writers made a significant contribution to the campaigns to end the slave trade and slavery.
3 credits

EN-932 English Theatre: 1660–1780

English Theatre introduces the student to the study of Restoration theatre, including the tragedies of Dryden, but principally the great comedies of Etherege, Vanbrugh, Wycherley, Dryden, Behn, Rochester, Farquhar, and Congreve.
3 credits

EN-933 Romantic and Victorian Gothic

Romantic and Victorian Gothic is a subversive arena where major authors explore the issues bedeviling their eras.
3 credits

EN-941 Modern Poetry

A study of the major figures who shaped American and British poetry between 1920 and 1950.
3 credits

EN-943 Medieval Literature

This course covers the major genres of English medieval literature, such as drama, poetry, debate, prose, and riddles. The major works in medieval literature are covered, including Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and the Corpus Christi plays. The themes of religion, courtly love, chivalry, women’s roles, and class are considered.
3 credits

Take the next step towards a Master of Arts in English

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