Summary of Degree Program
Hours required for the degree: 39 (though students often take 3-6 hours more)
Course work:
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15 hours of writing workshops
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3 hours of Literary Journal Editing
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3 hours of form and theory of poetry for poets or techniques, methods, and their effects in fiction writing (novel or short story) for fiction writers.
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12-15 hours of non-workshop courses offered by the MFA Program (the “other” techniques, methods and their effects class for fiction writers or poets, or form and theory of poetry for fiction writers. Or any literature or composition theory or linguistics classes offered by the English Department MA program. Or 3 hours of a relevant, approved courses in another department. Or literary journal editing again (can be taken twice.)
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3 or (rarely) 6 hours of Thesis (English 6000), taken at the end of the program; if 6 hours, taken over two semesters
Writing Workshops:
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English 5100: Graduate Workshop in Poetry
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English 5110: Graduate Workshop in Fiction
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English 5130: Graduate Workshop in the Novel
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English 5140: Graduate Workshop in Nonfiction
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English 5150: Graduate Workshop in Magical Realism (offered rarely, and can count as a workshop or as a non-workshop)
Non-workshop Courses: Some courses in this category are designed specifically for MFA students:
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English 5190, Literary Journal Editing: Open to students in the MFA program who have had at least two graduate writing workshops and to others with consent of the instructor.In this course students serve as the first readers of all submissions to the university's literary magazine, Natural Bridge.
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English 5170, Techniques, Methods, and Effects in Fiction Writing: Two classes really, one focussing on the novel and one on short stories. The purpose of both is to analyze the technical choices made by important contemporary fiction writers in the areas of point of view, tone, setting, form, and plot structure, and to examine the effects of those choices. Close consideration is given to fictional techniques that contribute to a story's characterization, tension, interest, reliability, drama, irony, and humor. The course is primarily for creative writers, and both are recommended for fiction writers.
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English 5180, Form and Theory of Poetry Writing: This course analyzes the forms and their arrangements in poetry written by important poets.
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English 5200, MFA Readings: This is an independent readings course. In consultation with an MFA faculty member, students choose works and read them with the goal of broadening and sharpening their technical skills as writers. Students ordinarily choose works in one genre: poetry or fiction. Each week the student reads and reports on at least one work. The course may be taken only once.
Other courses meeting the non-workshop requirement are the 5000-level seminars taught by MFA faculty as special topics classes, 5000 level seminars in literature, composition theory, and linguistics taught by English faculty and taken mainly by students seeking an MA in English but also available and recommended for MFA students. Up to 9 hours of 4000 level literature classes can be taken, too. An independent study class that meets the instructor's approval, specifically designed for you, is also allowable but rare.
The MFA thesis is a publishable collection of short stories or poems or a portion of a novel. The thesis is bound and shelved in our library with an extra copy of the bound book on the shelves in the MFA Director’s office. A publishing agreement/contract complete with a copyright is required and handled through the graduate school—421 Woods hall.
The thesis is normally taken for 3 hours the semester of graduation.
Page requirements, committee make-up, and other rules:
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The approximate page requirements for short fiction are between 60 and 100 pages; for poetry, between 48 to 64 pages; for novels, the first 80 pages will do fine. All this can be revised by the committee chair.
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You select your committee chair when you begin your thesis hours, but you should ask your committee—one chair and two other members—the semester before you register for the thesis. You may not get the committee you most want because of other commitments, leaves, etc. Your committee chair will work with you as much or as little as you want or need (remember, this is mostly independent work!) and the other committee members will read the preliminary thesis and offer comments and suggestions at your defense. You will normally choose writers in your genre as your committee members, but fiction writers may chose as a third member one of the poets or another faculty member from the English dept who reads contemporary fiction. (There are some.) The visitors each spring may also be asked to be on a committee.
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Students may order extra printed copies of their thesis when they submit it to the graduate school.
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The publishing contract that includes microfiche and the hard- bound copies as well as a copyright agreement is $45.00 and it is deducted from your student account when you sign up.
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Though your thesis is published, this does not count as a publication, and you may still publish your work elsewhere in journals and as a book.
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Thesis hours can only be taken in fall or spring, not summer.
Other Rules and Suggestions and Opportunities:
Students may take up to nine hours of 4000-level English courses for graduate credit. All other English courses must be at the 5000 or 6000 level. The 4000-level offerings in literature are a good way to explore subjects and authors unfamiliar to a student. The 4000-level courses are especially recommended early in the degree program for students who have few undergraduate hours in English. Students who take a 4000-level class must let the teacher know on the first day of class that they are graduate students so that work can be assigned and evaluated commensurate with graduate credit. Students may take a writing course at the 4000 level outside their genre but not in their genre; that is, poets may not take English 4130, and fiction writers may not take English 4140.
The summer abroad program at the campus of NUI-Galway involves six hours, two courses, from a list of 6 or 7 each year. MFA and other graduate students may get graduate credit for these six hours( counted as non-workshop hours) if approved by the director.
MFA students are not required to take English 5000 (Introduction to Graduate Study in English), but for the right student it can be a valuable course. The course provides students with an opportunity to become conversant with a wide range of critical and theoretical approaches to literature today.
The university requires students to be enrolled in the semester in which they graduate. If you are making up a delayed grade in your graduation semester and taking no other courses, you must pay a special Final Semester Incidental Fee to meet this enrollment requirement (as of this writing, the fee is about $160.00). Therefore, students who think they might require extra time to complete all their work for the degree are advised to consider taking the penultimate semester off and then enrolling for their final course rather than taking a delayed grade in their final course.
The graduate school allows six years for completion of the MFA degree, and students must be enrolled infor at least one semester each calendar year or re-apply for admission.
The MFA faculty make a strong effort to bring a variety of writers to campus for readings. These are usually held in the evening, though occasionally they are part of the Monday Noon Series sponsored by the Center for the Humanities. Students are strongly encouraged to attend every reading, especially in their genre. A student reading is held every fall and every spring, when MFA students nearing completion of their degree read from their work; all MFA students are expected to attend these readings.
Each spring the MFA Prize in Poetry and the MFA Prize in Prose are awarded to outstanding work in the genre written by students in the preceding calendar year.Nominations for the prose competition are made by teachers of that year's workshops in fiction and essay writing. The poetry competition is open to all MFA students who have taken a poetry workshop; poets should watch for the call for submissions early in the winter semester. The judges are drawn from publishing and working writers off campus. The awards are presented to the winners at the annual English alumni party in the spring.