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For a growing number of English majors, the opportunity
to study English on the graduate level is an attractive
option after receiving the bachelor's degree from
Northern. To meet the needs of these students, the department undertook a self-study of its curriculum, teaching, and advising as they relate to preparation for graduate studies in English. As a result of this self-study, the department offers the following recommendations to those of its students who wish to pursue a master's or doctoral degree after graduation. 1. Students who plan to pursue a graduate degree in English should follow the requirements of the Literature Option of the English degree here at Northern. This option provides the most comprehensive background in areas tested on the Graduate Record Examination Advanced Exam in English. In addition, since most traditional English graduate programs are oriented toward literature, the Literature Option will provide more comprehensive experience with literary texts and traditions than the Writing Option of the English major. 2. Students interested in graduate study in English should complete as many of the literary survey courses as possible (e.g. ENG 202, 203 Survey of British Literature I, II; ENG 206, 207 Western World Literature I, II; ENG 208, 209 Survey of American Literature I, II). To this end, the department has altered its requirements in American literature to include at least one of the American literature survey courses. While this recommendation in no way diminishes the importance of other courses in the English curriculum, it recognizes that the American, British, and world literary surveys will provide students with a foundational experience in three major traditions of literature recognized by graduate programs and the Graduate Record Examination Advanced Exam in English. 3. Students who wish to prepare themselves for graduate study in English should enroll for ENG 350 Literary Criticism during their junior year. Though an advanced course, Literary Criticism introduces students to information on literary theory and criticism which will prove useful to them in other advanced courses as well as the Graduate Record Examination, which is often taken at the end of the junior year or the beginning of the senior year. 4. Students preparing for graduate study in English should avail themselves of GRE preparation courses such as that offered by the Learning Assistance Center and of books designed to improve performance on the GRE. Students are advised to discuss the GRE with the Graduate Studies Preparation Adviser (see below). They should also visit www.gre.org. 5. Students interested in graduate study in English should speak with the department's Graduate Studies Preparation Adviser, Dr. Danielle Roemer, about ways they may strengthen their undergraduate preparation strategies for the GRE Exam and for admission to graduate programs. Students are urged to watch for announcements of workshops on such topics as preparing to apply to graduate schools and professional schools. 6. Finally, the department reminds students that they themselves are primarily responsible for the quality of their preparation for graduate study in English. Students who aspire to graduate study should plan to read more than what is specifically required for their courses and should set out for themselves a fairly extensive and challenging list of texts and topics that will provide them with a thorough grounding in the major literary traditions and critical approaches represented in English studies today. The Graduate Studies Preparation Adviser is available to make suggestions along this line, as are individual faculty members in their specific areas of interest, but it is up to students themselves to create and complete personal plans of reading and study which will prepare them for the GRE Examination and the expectations of specific graduate programs. |
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"In every mouth he worked a broken sinner / between his rake-like teeth. Thus he kept three / in eternal pain at his eternal dinner."--Dante |
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