Master of Arts in English - Composition/Rhetoric

The Master of Arts in English will prepare students for careers in a variety of fields, including secondary and college-level teaching, editing and publishing, research and technical writing in either the private or the public sector. Master of Arts graduates will also be prepared to undertake further study at the doctoral level. Close contact with the department's excellent graduate faculty allows students to deepen their knowledge of literary study, the teaching of writing and literature, and the use of technology for both scholarly and practical research. The composition/rhetoric checklist spells out requirements, which include a course in composition pedagogy as well as a special topics course, which deals with a different topic each time it is offered. Recent courses have focused on developmental writing, creative writing pedagogy, genre theory, and the evaluation of writing. Many K-12 teachers select this concentration, bringing their hands-on perspective to the classroom. Students learn about successful classroom practices from each other as well as from faculty with a wide range of teaching experiences. Students concentrating in rhetoric/composition may take a class in mentored composition teaching - which places them in a writing classroom, working with the instructor to plan and teach the class - and, if they are graduate assistants, may apply to teach a first-year writing class on their own during their second year in the program.