English Department

ATTENTION GRADUATE STUDENTS

Those graduate students interested in taking the Comprehensive Exams in Fall 2008 need to sign up in the English Department Office by the end of this semester.  The Exams will take place Tuesday Dec 2 10 - 12:30 (Part I) and Thursday December 4 10 - 12 (Part II) and 1 - 3 (Part III).

Select ONE of the following Set Texts to prepare for Part I:
 
MOLL FLANDERS by Daniel Defoe, ed. by Albert J. Rivero: A Norton Critical Edition
 
THE WOMAN WARRIOR by Maxine Hong Kingston, ed. by Sau-Ling Wong: Oxford Univ. Press, an Oxford Casebook
 
CROSS - TALK IN COMPOSITION THEORY: A READER,     2nd edition, ed by Victor Villanueva, NCTE
 
Be sure to get the proper edition of the set text you choose. The questions will refer not only to the text itself but also to the critical articles within each edition.
 
Refer to the Comprehensive Exam Preparation Guide, a link on our website, for further information.

The English Graduate Student Handbook

Welcome to the Master's Degree program in English! We hope the following checklist helps clarify the steps you will take towards your M.A. in English. You should also familiarize yourselves with the University requirements and policies related to graduate study as found in the University catalog. For further questions, please contact us. Additional contacts are as follows:

The Offices of the Graduate Coordinators
Literature -- 310.243.3943
Andrea White


Literature and Rhetoric/Composition -- 310.243.3943
Andrea White


TESL - 310.243.3958
Vanessa Wenzell


The Office of Graduate Studies
310.243.3308

The English Department also offers, upon completion of 5 required classes, certificates in Rhetoric and Composition and in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL).

1. ADMISSION

1.1. You must formally apply to the graduate program as well as to the university for admission to a graduate program.

1.2. You may bring only nine units of work completed before acceptance into the program to the total units required.

1.3. You must have a G.P.A. of 3.0 or above in your last 60 units to be admitted to the M.A. program.

2.1 If you enter the program without a B.A. in English, and aim for the M.A. in Literature or in Rhetoric/Composition, you will be required to complete up to five prerequisite courses that will not be counted towards the graduate degree: English 307, English 490 or a single-author course, and 3 of the surveys (340, 341, 302, 303, or 304).

2.2 If you enter the program without a B.A. in Linguistics, and aim for the M.A. in TESL, you will be required to complete three prerequisite courses that will not be counted towards the graduate degree: English 311, English 312, and English 315, plus at least two semesters' work in a foreign language.

3.1 Literature, Rhetoric & Composition, and TESL students must pass the exam before being advanced to candidacy.

3.2 The Graduate Exercise is a 2 hour exam which requires the student to write an essay in which s/he analyzes the formal features of a poem or prose passage and their contribution to the text's meaning(s). The passing score is 8 or above.

3.3 Literature and R & C students must sit for the Graduate Exercise during the first semester of residence.

3.4 Literature and R & C students should sign up for the Graduate Exercise in the department office no later than the first week of classes.

3.5 Literature and R & C students who pass the Graduate Exercise with a score of 8 or above simultaneously fulfill the University's graduate writing requirement (GWAR).

3.6 Results will be announced by the 6th week of the semester. If unsuccessful, the student must sit the next offering of the exercise. Students will receive counseling from the graduate advisor or his/her designee after unsuccessful attempts. Three unsuccessful attempts will earn dismissal from the program.

3.7 ESL students take the Linguistics Diagnostic Exam AND fulfill the GWAR requirement. The Diagnostic Exam is taken after students have completed the prerequisite courses of English 311, 312, and 315. The GWAR requirement must be completed within the first two semesters.

3.8 The GWAR requirement can be met by TESL students taking English 350 (Advanced Composition) or by passing the GWE exam.

3.9 To pass the University's graduate writing requirement, TESL students must pass the GWE with a score of 8 or better.

4.1 Catalog Rights: The Catalog in force the term you are admitted sets forth your degree's requirements.

4.2 Time Limits: All degree requirements must be completed in seven years.

4.3 Because the seven-year limit extends two years beyond the five years available in most CSUDH graduate programs, requests for validation of outdated courses will be granted only rarely. See the catalogue for a fuller discussion of outdated coursework and its validation.

4.4 The Final Project/Thesis/Comprehensive Exam (see below) must be approved within this time frame as well.

4.5 Continuous Enrollment: To maintain continuous eligibility to enroll, you must enroll every term. If you have completed your coursework, enroll in the continuation course, English 600. Students who break continuous enrollment may petition for reinstatement of residency units to the Dean of Graduate Studies. Serious and compelling reasons for breaking enrollment must be demonstrated. If the petition is denied by the Graduate Dean, s/he may request a hearing from the Graduate Council.

4.6 If you break enrollment for any reason, you must re-apply to the university. Only nine units of graduate work may be transferred into your new program.

4.7 Students must maintain a 3.0 grade point average throughout their graduate study.

5.1 An initial advisement hold requires you to speak with the Graduate Coordinator upon entering the program.

5.2 With the help and approval of the Graduate Coordinator, file your "Application for Classified Status" when you have completed the graduate writing requirement and 9-12 units of graduate work.

5.3 With the help and approval of the Graduate Coordinator, file your "Graduate Advisement and Advancement to Candidacy Program for the Master of Arts Degree in English" form at approximately 24 units, the term before you graduate (i.e., for a Spring graduation, file in the Fall semester. See catalogue for deadlines).

5.4 Pay the university cashier for your application for graduation at the same time you file your "Graduation Advisement" form (above) according to the deadline in the class schedule's Academic Calendar.

6.1 Upon successful completion of 12 - 15 units, you will be given a copy of your Graduate Exercise and asked to revise it. You will have two weeks and any source materials you need to accomplish this revision, its purpose being to demonstrate how your 12 - 15 units in the program have enabled you to think further and from different angles of vision about the poem/passage you encountered and wrote about at the beginning of your M.A. work.

6.2 Members of the Graduate Committee will read your revision and discuss it with you. It is not graded and does not receive credit but serves as a marker to you and to us of your intellectual growth and progress in the program. At this time we will also be interested to hear and talk about any ideas you might have about your Thesis or your plan to sit the Comprehensive Exam.

Click here to view the Comprehensive Examination Preparation Guide

Your program consists of the Graduate Exercise, 10 individual courses (see Catalog), the Graduate Exercise Revision, and the Thesis/Comprehensive Exam (See 7.1).

9.1 Your program consists of the Graduate Exercise, 10 individual courses (see Catalog), the Graduate Exercise Revision, and the Thesis/Comprehensive Exam (See 7.1).

9.2 You are free to choose either a literary or a rhetorical topic for your thesis.

9.3 Rhetorically oriented topics for the Rhetoric/Composition Thesis will normally consist of one of the following:
• A scholarly or critical study in historical rhetoric
• A rhetorical study of one or more significant authors
• A critical study of an issue in composition theory
• An empirical study of composition methodologies

10.1 Your program consists of the Diagnostic Exam, 10 individual courses (see Catalog), the Final Project or Comprehensive Exams and 10 hours of practicum.

10.2 Students in the TESL option shall present a Final Project in one of the following:
• Linguistic analysis (can be of a language other than English)
• Contrastive analysis (of two or more languages, one of them usually English)
• Psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, applied linguistics (analyzing and presenting observations, needs analysis, surveys, or experiments in various aspects of second language acquisition, language learning, or language use)
• TESL methods and/or materials (must include classroom observation, assessment, evaluation, or testing)

11.1 Conditionally classified and classified graduate students are placed on scholastic probation if they fail to maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 in all postbaccalaureate units attempted. If they do not bring their grade point average up to 3.0 in the following semester, they will be disqualified from the program. THREE unsuccessful attempts at the Graduate Exercise or TWO unsuccessful attempts at the Comprehensive Exam will also earn disqualification from the program.

11.2 Consult catalog for cases calling for the enforcement of administrative-academic probation.

12.1 Of the minimum 30 semester units of approved course work required for the master's degree, not less than 21 units must be completed in residence at this institution. A student is considered to be in residence when he or she has been admitted to the master's program and is registered in regular or special sessions courses at this university. Approved units earned in summer sessions may be substituted for regular semester unit requirements on a unit for unit basis. Extension course work may not be used to fulfill the minimum residence requirement.

12.2 A student with a graduate degree objective must maintain CONTINUOUS ENROLLMENT, defined as attendance in regular session each fall and spring semester of the college year. Students who have completed all course work, but who may not have completed the culminating activity are expected to maintain continuous attendance. See 4.5 above.

12.3 For further particulars, see Catalog p 59.

13.1 The Graduate Reading Room (LCH B331) is open daily and offers a quiet, clean, well-lighted place for graduate students' use.

14.1 CSUDH University-wide Research Forum

14.2 CSUDH English Department Graduate Symposium

15.1 The Graduate Equity and PreDoctoral Programs offer funding. Inquire at the Graduate Studies Office for further opportunities.

16.1 Inquire in the Department Office about joining or check the bulletin board in the GRR.

18. THE FINAL THESIS/PROJECT OR COMPREHENSIVE EXAMS

18.1 Students who are obtaining degrees in Literature or Literature with an emphasis in Rhetoric and Composition and students who have entered the TESL program prior to Fall 2004 should follow the procedure outlined below for completing the thesis/final project. (TESL students who have entered the TESL program during or after Fall 2004 will take Comprehensive Exams in lieu of a final project. Literature and Literature & R/C students who enter the program after Fall 2005 will be able to choose between a Comprehensive Exam or a Thesis beginning in Fall 2006. After a designated period of time, to be determined, the Comprehensive Exam will replace the Thesis. The Thesis will remain an option for students who have earned a 3.75 GPA and have met other requirements. See catalog. All students who entered before Fall 2004 may choose either the Final Project/Thesis or the Comprehensive Exam). For further information on the TESL Comprehensive Exams, please talk to the TESL Coordinator.

18.2 Fill out an "M.A. Thesis Prospectus" form (available from the Graduate Coordinator).

18.3 Write a brief, focused prospectus defining your subject, stating the research question you intend to explore, and indicating the critical perspective(s) you plan to employ. Include a select bibliography and a proposed timeline for completion.

18.4 Select a thesis/project director or 1st reader, a faculty member of the English department in whose special field your project lies. Together select a 2nd and 3rd reader.

18.5 Present the prospectus to your 1st reader, who may ask you to re-draft it. Upon his/her approval of your prospectus, obtain the 1st reader's signature. Present the prospectus to your 2nd and 3rd readers for their approval and signatures. No more than one of your readers may be from a department or program other than English. The 1st reader must be a member of the English department.

18.6 Give your prospectus with all three signatures to the Graduate Coordinator who will send it through the Graduate Committee for their approval.

18.7 It will then be returned to the 1st reader who will consult with you about any suggestions made by the committee. You should check with your thesis/project director approximately 2 weeks after submitting your prospectus. It is your responsibility to check the deadlines for prospectus and thesis/project submission.

18.8 Research and Writing: Obtain your director's permission for any change in substance.

18.9 Keep your thesis/project committee informed of your progress.

18.10 THESES/PROJECTS NORMALLY GO THROUGH SEVERAL PRELIMINARY DRAFTS. SCHEDULE YOUR TIME ACCORDINGLY.

18.11 The 1st reader, as director of your committee, is responsible for approving the design of the thesis/project and for overseeing its progress. After the 1st reader gives provisional approval of the completed thesis/project, the student is responsible for giving a copy of it to the 2nd and 3rd readers.

18.11.1 An approvable draft of the thesis/project (not the prospectus) must be in your 1st reader's office by OCTOBER 1 for Fall, MARCH 1 for Spring, and MAY 10 for summer graduation. The Graduate Studies office deadlines for your thesis/project are NOVEMBER 1 for Fall and APRIL 1 for Spring and JUNE 10 for summer graduation.

18.12 A "Thesis and Project Guide" is on sale in the bookstore and explains how to format your thesis/project.

18.13 MLA for Literature and Literature & R/C theses; APA for TESL projects.

18.14 Your Thesis committee members must sign your thesis/project, in black ink, to approve its content.

18.15 The library must be given the version approved by Graduate Studies on approved thesis paper by published deadlines.

Last Revised: Fall 2007

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