Department of Language and Literature

Graduate Studies

The English Department of William Carey University, in keeping with the Goals Statement as put forth by the Master of Education program, seeks to provide students with

• academic credentials that may allow them to advance in the chosen field of employment
• opportunities to specialize in the chosen field of English
• opportunities to build upon their undergraduate studies and work experience
• opportunities to become strong professional leaders within the English discipline

Ordinarily, the M.Ed. candidate who wishes to specialize in English will be an undergraduate English major or minor. In general, the M.Ed./English candidates should have a mastery of rhetoric, composition, literature, and pedagogy. Candidates who do not have an undergraduate major/minor in English will have their undergraduate transcript evaluated so that academic deficiencies in English may be addressed before beginning the graduate program in English. These deficiencies may require the candidate to enroll in additional undergraduate classes; these classes, however, may be taken for pass/fail credit.

Each M.Ed./English candidate will be assigned an academic advisor who will both guide the candidate in course selection and track the candidate's academic success.

Graduate English classes are typically offered on a rotation schedule as indicated at the end of each course description.

503 Advanced Grammar and Linguistics. Three hours. A study of the grammatical aspects of language—morphology syntax, semantics, phonetics, and phonology; the social aspects of language; and the biological aspects of language.

506 The Pre-Renaissance Age. Three hours. The literature of the Middle Ages through the early English lyricists.

509 Pedagogical Grammar. Three hours. An examination of the philosophy of teaching grammar, a thorough review of traditional grammar, and a focus on eliminating the stylistic faults that most often impede reading and obscure meaning.

510 The Age of Elizabethan/Jacobean Drama. Three hours. A survey of representative plays.

516 History of the English Language. Three hours. A study of the history and development of the English language from its Indo- European ancestry to the twentieth century.

524 The Novel. Three hours. A study of representative European and/or American novels selected from various literary, historic, or thematic types with an emphasis on various critical approaches.

534 The Renaissance Age. Three hours. A critical study of non-epic and non-dramatic works of Milton and other seventeenth century writers.

540 The Age of Enlightenment. Three hours. A study of British prose and poetry of the eighteenth century.

550 The Romantic Age. Three hours. A study in the British prose and poetry of the early nineteenth century.

560 The Victorian Age. Three hours. A study in the British prose and poetry of the middle and later nineteenth century.

565 Development of the Short Story. Three hours. A study of selected short fiction as representative of the development of the genre.

572 Contemporary Literature. Three hours. Poetry, fiction, and selected drama of the Western world from the late nineteenth century to the present.

575 Modern and Contemporary Drama. Three hours. A study of Western dramatic literature from Ibsen to contemporary dramatists.

600 Creative Writing. Three hours. A study of artistic techniques in selected masterpieces of short fiction, drama, poetry, and the essay. During the course students will submit several original works following the review of each literary genre.

603 Seminar in American Literature, I. Three hours. A study of literature from the colonial, early national, and romantic periods. (even summer)

604 Seminar in American Literature, II. Three hours. A study of literature from the realist to the post-modernist periods.
 
611 Seminar in World Literature to 1650. Three hours. A study of selected world masterpieces with emphasis on nonwestern authors and comparative literary analysis.

612 Seminar in World Literature from 1650 to the present. Three hours. A study of selected world masterpieces with emphasis on nonwestern authors and comparative literary analysis.

614 Seminar in Theories and Methods of Teaching Grammar. Three hours. A study of the competing theories of teaching grammar and application to the classroom.

615 Seminar in Theories and Methods of Teaching Literature. Three hours. A study of literary theory and application to the classroom.

616 Seminar in Theories and Methods of Teaching Composition. Three hours. Astudy of composition theories and application to the classroom.

620 Seminar in Fiction. Three hours. An examination of major fictional works beginning with Don Quixote.

622 Seminar in Poetry. Three hours. A study of the major developments in poetry.

626 Seminar in Shakespearean Drama. Three hours. An in-depth study of selected Shakespearean plays.

627 Seminar in Contemporary Drama. Three hours. A study of major dramatic works.

630 Seminar in Literary Criticism. Three hours. Presents a broad overview both of the the schools of literary critical thought and of the major documents of literary theory.

635 Seminar in Religion and Literature. Three hours. Establishes a working definition of religion and the religious experience that will be used to evaluate various works by western authors.

640 Seminar in Mythology. Three hours. An overview of the basic elements of mythology followed by a brief survey of major world mythologies.

655 Seminar in American Southern Literature. Three hours. Selected essays, fiction, folk tales, plays, and poetry by representative Southern authors, past, and present.