Master of Arts in English

Introduces students to graduate level research practices and methodologies in English Studies. Students gain the grounding and skills required to research and write scholarly articles for peer reviewed journals in the field of English Studies.

• Greatest Generation
• Sensation Novel
• 18^th-Century Novel
• 17th-Century Poetry
• Modern Science Fiction
• Dark Romanticism

Historical and current issues in literary criticism and theory with particular attention to developments of the last fifty years. Emphasizes both reading and writing literary criticism in order to develop vocabulary and skills necessary to participate in scholarly literary debate.

• Greatest Generation
• Sensation Novel
• 18^th-Century Novel
• 17th-Century Poetry
• Modern Science Fiction
• Dark Romanticism

Advanced, historically oriented study of a literary period, such as English Medieval, Romantic, or Victorian literature, or a movement, such as The Beat Generation. Variable topic selected by the instructor. (May not duplicate content of ENG 620B.)

• Greatest Generation
• Sensation Novel
• 18^th-Century Novel
• 17th-Century Poetry
• Modern Science Fiction
• Dark Romanticism

Advanced, historically oriented study of a literary period, such as American Romanticism, or of a movement such as American Modernism, the Harlem Renaissance, or the Lost Generation. Variable topic selected by the instructor. (May not duplicate content of ENG 620A.)

• American Romanticism
• Harlem Renaissance
• Medieval Literature
• American Gothic

Study of a literary motif or theme over time and/or across cultures. Variable topic chosen by instructor. Examples of themes are: the gothic, utopia/distopia, vampires, the road, and gender in literature.

• Vampires
• Gothic Literature
• Modern Gothic
• Metafiction

Study of a literary motif or theme over time and/or across cultures. Variable topic chosen by instructor. Examples of themes are: the dark gothic, meta-fiction, the home, and war in literature.

• Home in British Literature
• Detective Fiction
• Female Gothic
• Gothic Prisons/Romantic Spaces

A critical study of the work of a single author, such as Jane Austen, Walt Whitman, Charles Dickens, William Faulkner, Jack London. Special attention given to biography, culture, and literary context.

• Ann Radcliffe
• John Steinbeck
• Jane Austen
• Chaucer
• Walt Whitman
• T. S. Eliot

A critical study of the work of a single author, such as Shakespeare, George Eliot, Garcia Lorca, Ernest Hemingway, James Baldwin. Special attention given to biography, culture, and literary context.

• Shakespeare in Film
• E. A Poe
• The Brontes

Writing the Master’s thesis or capstone project. Taken as the last course in the M.A. English program. Exceptions may be made if within two courses of program completion, with approval of the lead faculty. Grading is by S or U only. Course is eligible for an “IP” grade.

Specialization Requirements

(4 courses; 18 quarter units)

• ENG 620A Literary Period or Movement I: Dark Romanticism or Sensation Novel
• ENG 620B Literary Period or Movement II: American Gothic
• ENG 640 Seminar in Poetry: Graveyard Poetry
• ENG 668 Film Genre Studies: Horror Films
• ENG 680A Seminar in a Theme I: Vampires or Gothic Literature or Modern Gothic 
• ENG 680B Seminar in a Theme II: Gothic Prisons/Romantic Spaces or Female Gothic
• ENG 690A Major Author Seminar I: Ann Radcliffe
• ENG 690B Major Author Seminar II: E. A. Poe or The Brontës

Prerequisite: ENG 655; ENG 656; ENG 657 and ENG 668, or ENG 680A Topic: Literary Noir/Noir Mediascape

Writing the Master’s thesis or capstone project. Taken as the last course in the M.A. English with a Specialization in Rhetoric program. Exceptions may be made if within two courses of program completion, with approval of the lead faculty. Students study published models of rhetorical criticism. They hone critical tools and apply them to a substantial, original project. Working closely with the capstone instructor and peers, students take this project from inception to final form: a work of professional-quality rhetorical criticism. Grading basis is S/U only. Course is eligible for In Progress (IP) grade.

Examines core concepts of race, ethnicity, culture, and multiculturalism from the standpoint of recent developments in American literary canon formation. Students will synthesize current multicultural literary theories with a corpus of significant literary texts.

Advanced, historically oriented study of a literary period, such as English Medieval, Romantic, or Victorian literature, or a movement, such as The Beat Generation. Variable topic selected by the instructor. (May not duplicate content of ENG 620B.)

• Greatest Generation
• Sensation Novel
• 18^th-Century Novel
• 17th-Century Poetry
• Modern Science Fiction
• Dark Romanticism

Advanced, historically oriented study of a literary period, such as American Romanticism, or of a movement such as American Modernism, the Harlem Renaissance, or the Lost Generation. Variable topic selected by the instructor. (May not duplicate content of ENG 620A.)

• American Romanticism
• Harlem Renaissance
• Medieval Literature
• American Gothic

Students write and critique each other¿s work in a workshop-style format. Through presentation and critique of published and student-generated work, students will advance their understanding of the genres’ many forms and styles, strengthen their own writing, and broaden their understanding of literature and various modes of literary writing.

Advanced study of the history and practice of poetry. Close reading of a major poet or school of poetry, poetic forms and theories.

• Imagism influences of Haiku and East Asian Poetics
• Graveyard Poetry

A poetry workshop where students will learn the craft of poetry by writing their own original work and offering feedback to their peers. Students will be introduced to contemporary poetry though readings and discussions of poems from a poet’s point of view.

Students write and critique each other’s original work in a workshop-style format. Through presentation and critique of published and student-generated work, students will advance their understanding of the genre’s many forms, including memoir, autobiography, nature writing, literary journalism, and the personal essay, while strengthening their own writing.

Prepares students for the practical and theoretical challenges of teaching English composition and other writing courses. Topics include process theory, cognitive studies, language and diversity, genre studies, and best practices.

Focuses on the teachings of the major figures of ancient rhetoric, such as the sophists, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian. Students will study the classical texts that form the basis of modern rhetoric studies. The course also surveys major shifts through Medieval, Renaissance, and Enlightenment rhetoric.

Introduces students to the contemporary study of rhetoric. The course covers major figures such as Kenneth Burke, Lloyd Bitzer, and Stephen Toulmin. The course introduces a wide range of academic interests in contemporary rhetoric; in particular, students will practice reading texts rhetorically through major theories of rhetoric.

An overview of film theory designed to give students the critical tools necessary to describe and evaluate various aspects of cinema art. This course introduces concepts from a variety of approaches, including deconstruction, existentialism, Marxism, phenomenology, and psychoanalysis.

A survey of films produced before the advent of recorded sound, this course focuses on the early national cinemas of France, Germany, the Soviet Union and the United States; attention is directed to concepts of visual narratology, montage and the conventions of acting, set design, lighting and movement.

This course offers an in-depth study of the development of cinema in the United States that takes a broad overview of American film making. Topics include film genre and the relationship of film to art, politics, religion and society. Additionally, the course considers Hollywood’s treatment of ethnic groups, women, and systems of class structure.

Film Genre Studies is a content-variable course that may be repeated for credit. Each iteration of the course focuses on a specific genre of film in an international- or American-historical context, including the Western, the Epic, the Biblical Epic, Film Noir, the Crime Story, Science-Fiction Adventure, Agitprop, or other film genres. This is an intensive study of the conventions, artists, and styles associated with specific genres and the historical circumstances in which the genre appeared.

World Film is a content-variable course that may be repeated for credit. Each iteration of this course is a study of the film tradition of a specific nation or group of nations other than the United States. Students in this course will engage in an intensive study of the elements of filmmaking and theory, as well as the contrasting visual styles of directors, artists, and themes prominent in the particular tradition or traditions surveyed. Trans-cultural and transcendental film categories, universals values, and the fundamental principles of film art are also important topics of discussion.

Analysis of literary texts across national and linguistic as well as temporal, cultural, and disciplinary lines.

A critical study of the work of a single author, such as Jane Austen, Walt Whitman, Charles Dickens, William Faulkner, Jack London. Special attention given to biography, culture, and literary context.

• Ann Radcliffe
• John Steinbeck
• Jane Austen
• Chaucer
• Walt Whitman
• T. S. Eliot

A critical study of the work of a single author, such as Shakespeare, George Eliot, Garcia Lorca, Ernest Hemingway, James Baldwin. Special attention given to biography, culture, and literary context.

• Shakespeare in Film
• E. A Poe
• The Brontes

Study of a literary motif or theme over time and/or across cultures. Variable topic chosen by instructor. Examples of themes are: the gothic, utopia/distopia, vampires, the road, and gender in literature.

• Vampires
• Gothic Literature
• Modern Gothic
• Metafiction

Study of a literary motif or theme over time and/or across cultures. Variable topic chosen by instructor. Examples of themes are: the dark gothic, meta-fiction, the home, and war in literature.

• Home in British Literature
• Detective Fiction
• Female Gothic
• Gothic Prisons/Romantic Spaces

This seminar in great American directors is a content-variable course that may be repeated for credit. Each iteration of this course is a comprehensive study of the artistic achievements of an American director. Students will engage in detailed interpretations and analyses of the techniques and concepts employed by a particular director, paying special attention to literary works as they relate to the filmmaking efforts of the director studied.

This seminar in great international directors is a content-variable course that may be repeated for credit. Each iteration of this course is a comprehensive study of the canon of work of a specific director, excluding American directors. Students will engage in detailed interpretations and analyses of the techniques and concepts employed by a particular international director, paying special attention to literary works as they relate to the filmmaking efforts of the director studied.

Advanced, historically oriented study of a literary period, such as English Medieval, Romantic, or Victorian literature, or a movement, such as The Beat Generation. Variable topic selected by the instructor. (May not duplicate content of ENG 620B.)

• Greatest Generation
• Sensation Novel
• 18^th-Century Novel
• 17th-Century Poetry
• Modern Science Fiction
• Dark Romanticism

Advanced, historically oriented study of a literary period, such as American Romanticism, or of a movement such as American Modernism, the Harlem Renaissance, or the Lost Generation. Variable topic selected by the instructor. (May not duplicate content of ENG 620A.)

• American Romanticism
• Harlem Renaissance
• Medieval Literature
• American Gothic

Advanced study of the history and practice of poetry. Close reading of a major poet or school of poetry, poetic forms and theories.

• Imagism influences of Haiku and East Asian Poetics
• Graveyard Poetry

Film Genre Studies is a content-variable course that may be repeated for credit. Each iteration of the course focuses on a specific genre of film in an international- or American-historical context, including the Western, the Epic, the Biblical Epic, Film Noir, the Crime Story, Science-Fiction Adventure, Agitprop, or other film genres. This is an intensive study of the conventions, artists, and styles associated with specific genres and the historical circumstances in which the genre appeared.

Study of a literary motif or theme over time and/or across cultures. Variable topic chosen by instructor. Examples of themes are: the gothic, utopia/distopia, vampires, the road, and gender in literature.

• Vampires
• Gothic Literature
• Modern Gothic
• Metafiction

Study of a literary motif or theme over time and/or across cultures. Variable topic chosen by instructor. Examples of themes are: the dark gothic, meta-fiction, the home, and war in literature.

• Home in British Literature
• Detective Fiction
• Female Gothic
• Gothic Prisons/Romantic Spaces

A critical study of the work of a single author, such as Jane Austen, Walt Whitman, Charles Dickens, William Faulkner, Jack London. Special attention given to biography, culture, and literary context.

• Ann Radcliffe
• John Steinbeck
• Jane Austen
• Chaucer
• Walt Whitman
• T. S. Eliot

A critical study of the work of a single author, such as Shakespeare, George Eliot, Garcia Lorca, Ernest Hemingway, James Baldwin. Special attention given to biography, culture, and literary context.

• Shakespeare in Film
• E. A Poe
• The Brontes

Focuses on the teachings of the major figures of ancient rhetoric, such as the sophists, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian. Students will study the classical texts that form the basis of modern rhetoric studies. The course also surveys major shifts through Medieval, Renaissance, and Enlightenment rhetoric.

Introduces students to the contemporary study of rhetoric. The course covers major figures such as Kenneth Burke, Lloyd Bitzer, and Stephen Toulmin. The course introduces a wide range of academic interests in contemporary rhetoric; in particular, students will practice reading texts rhetorically through major theories of rhetoric.

Prepares students for the practical and theoretical challenges of teaching English composition and other writing courses. Topics include process theory, cognitive studies, language and diversity, genre studies, and best practices.

Film Genre Studies is a content-variable course that may be repeated for credit. Each iteration of the course focuses on a specific genre of film in an international- or American-historical context, including the Western, the Epic, the Biblical Epic, Film Noir, the Crime Story, Science-Fiction Adventure, Agitprop, or other film genres. This is an intensive study of the conventions, artists, and styles associated with specific genres and the historical circumstances in which the genre appeared.

Study of a literary motif or theme over time and/or across cultures. Variable topic chosen by instructor. Examples of themes are: the gothic, utopia/distopia, vampires, the road, and gender in literature.

• Vampires
• Gothic Literature
• Modern Gothic
• Metafiction