Master of Arts in English Guidelines for Thesis Projects

The Master of Arts in English program requires 33 semester hours of Literature courses. Students with the approval of the graduate committee may choose to do a Thesis in place of two Literature courses.

1. Description of Thesis Options

A Master of Arts thesis consists of written work plus an oral defense of the written work. Students have a choice between two thesis options: the Research Thesis or the Creative Writing Thesis. 

• Research Thesis:

A research thesis is a research project designed to demonstrate the candidate's ability to conduct research. The project (excluding biographic materials) shall be at least 50 pages in length and will follow standard MLA research paper guidelines.

• Creative Writing Thesis:

A creative writing thesis is a substantial body of original creative writing (a novella, poetry or fiction chapbook, scripts, or creative non-fiction). The collection should be at least 50 pages of publishable creative work (or, in the case of poetry, a chapbook length manuscript of 22-24 pages) and should include additional pages comprised of an analytical introduction to the work as well as other appropriate materials such as a biographical statement, acknowledgement page, or table of contents.

Students who select the Thesis option should enroll in:

• ENGL 9100, Master's Thesis Research, 3 GD - The student researches in depth a topic of his or her own interest in English. Students who successfully complete this course should enroll in ENGL 9200, Master's Thesis Writing. Prerequisite: Signed permission from the Graduate English Chair.
• ENGL 9200, Master's Thesis Writing, 3GD - Using the research developed in the Master's Thesis Research course, the student will write a master's thesis under the guidance of a faculty member and following the Graduate English Thesis Guidelines. Prerequisites: Signed permission from the Graduate English Chair and completion of ENGL 9100, Master's Thesis Research
• In rare circumstances, a student writing a master's thesis will be allowed to enroll in ENGL 9200 for a second time during the next semester in order to complete the thesis.

2. Time Line:

• Before the completion of 15 credits, students must inform the Graduate Chair of the English Department of their decision to pursue the Master of Arts or the Master of Arts in Teaching degree.
• During the semester in which students are completing their 21st credits, they shall submit the Permission to Pursue a Thesis in English" form to the Graduate Chair for approval by the Graduate English Committee. Upon receiving approval, students will consult with faculty to select a graduate thesis committee of three English Graduate Faculty; one of these will serve as thesis advisor.
• During the semester in which students are completing their 27th credits, students who are pursuing the thesis option must submit a proposal of no more than 3 pages with an additional working bibliography to the thesis committee for approval. This proposal details the nature and scope of the proposed thesis and may be an outgrowth of work completed in a previous graduate course. The committee will respond to the proposal within three working weeks. (See ENGL 9100 and 9200 above)
• The final 6 credits in the thesis option are for writing and researching the project. Students are required to work closely with the thesis advisor during this final phase of the program. After the thesis is completed, students will make an oral defense of the thesis in an open forum.

Revised October 2000