English May be elected as a departmental concentration program Degree Program Options. The Department of English Language and Literature offers three main routes toward the concentration. (1) the General Program; (2) the Honors Program; and (3) the Creative Writing Program. Students electing any of these may work simultaneously toward a secondary school teaching certificate. Prerequisites to Concentration. Students who wish to concentrate in English must take as prerequisite two courses, ENGLISH 239 (What is Literature?) and ENGLISH 240 (Introduction to Poetry). The General Program. Students in the General Program must successfully complete 27 credits in ENGLISH courses numbered 300 or above. These courses must include at a minimum: three courses on literature written primarily before 1830, at least one of which must be on literature written primarily before 1600; one course in American literature; and one course designated "New Traditions," focusing on the cultural traditions of women, minority ethnic groups, and people of color. The Department will offer in any one term a considerable range of courses designed to meet these requirements. A list of which courses meet a given requirement will be available each year in the English Undergraduate Office or from an English concentration advisor. Concentrators should note that no more than one course in expository or creative writing may be counted toward the minimum 27 credits at the upper level required for the concentration, although students may elect any number of such courses, subject to availability of spaces and to College limits on total elections of courses in any one department. Also, no more than six upper-level credits of Independent Study may count towards the concentration. With written prior approval by the undergraduate administrator, courses elected in other departments or programs may on occasion be used as part of a concentration plan. Independent study projects cannot be used to meet Department program requirements. Students considering the concentration in English should elect ENGLISH 239 and ENGLISH 240 during the sophomore year. Then, while fulfilling the concentration requirements, they may elect such a pattern of courses as will provide the course of study they find most helpful and satisfying. Some organize their study in terms of the "periods" of literary/cultural history, others by reference to major thematic concerns; still others explore repeatedly certain literary forms — the novel, drama, or lyric poetry, for example; others make a special study of film. Some concentrate on their own imaginative writing, whether drama, prose fiction, or verse. Please refer to the Handbook for English Concentrators for more information on how to design specific paths of study. The Honors Program. Becoming a member of the English Department's Honors Program means becoming a part of a small, intensely committed group of teachers and students all working toward achieving excellence in the related disciplines of reading, understanding, and writing about texts. Honors courses and the program at large place a premium on discussion, on sustained elaboration of ideas inside and outside the classroom, on conceiving of projects in complex and engaging ways, on learning to do research, and on presenting the fruits of that research in expressive, lucid prose. Students interested in the Honors Program should apply for admission as soon as possible after the beginning of their sophomore year. Since students generally have not decided to pursue Honors before they have completed at least one of the Sophomore prerequisites for the English concentration (ENGLISH 239, 240), almost all applicants for admission to Honors come in the winter term of the sophomore year or the fall term of the junior year. Applications are due at the end of the seventh week of each term. Though the program occasionally accepts a few late applicants (i.e., students applying in the winter term of their junior year), admission is more difficult to achieve if you apply late, and your chances for success in the program are greatest if, before the first term of your senior year, you have taken at least one theory course (preferably ENGLISH 484 or 486) and begun thinking about a possible focus for your thesis. The application consists of a cover sheet; a transcript; a 500-word statement of purpose; and a writing sample. Students must also be maintaining a 3.5 GPA or better in the concentration. Honors students take a course in literary theory, usually ENGLISH 484 or 486. It is recommended that this be done during the student's junior year. Honors students take two Honors seminars (specified sections of ENGLISH 370 and 371, or ENGLISH 497), preferably in different terms. These courses may also satisfy English program concentration requirements. Enrollment in these courses is limited; classroom discussion, reading, and writing requirements are particularly challenging. These should number among the most exciting and difficult courses you take as an undergraduate. These courses are specially designated in the LS&A Course Guide. Admission to these seminars is by permission of the instructor only; please notify Krista Maclean in 3187 Angell Hall of your section preference. Honors students write a thesis of approximately forty to fifty pages in length during the senior year — a project that is designed to be the single most important, most meaningful piece of work students undertake as English concentrators at the University. Students write most of their thesis in a required course, "Research and Thesis Writing" (ENGLISH 492/496). Students are guided throughout much of their senior year by a faculty advisor chosen early in that year. The completed thesis is due approximately March 15 of the senior year. In early May, Honors students will participate in an Honors Symposium, at which students make brief presentations of their theses to interested faculty, friends, and family. The Creative Writing Program. Students interested in the Department's offerings in creative writing should begin with ENGLISH 223, an introduction to the reading and writing of modern poetry and prose fiction and to the workshop method of critiquing student writing. ENGLISH 223 is a prerequisite to ENGLISH 323, but admission into 323 is based on a portfolio submission. There is a "permission of instructor" restriction on this course. At the advanced level students may elect (with the instructor's permission) the advanced fiction workshop (ENGLISH 423) or the advanced poetry workshop (ENGLISH 429). English concentrators who wish to specialize in the writing of poetry or prose fiction may, in the winter term of their junior year, apply to the Creative Writing Subconcentration, which is an optional path to a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. Students in the program take the creative writing workshops described above in sequence, and, in their last term, compile a major manuscript of poetry or prose fiction while working closely with the creative-writing faculty in a tutorial reserved for subconcentrators (ENGLISH 428). The program is small and highly selective; however, students not enrolled in the subconcentration may still pursue their interest in creative writing by applying to the appropriate upper-level workshops. Those students who have earned at least a 3.5 GPA in the concentration may apply for Creative Writing Honors after they have been accepted to the subconcentration. Honors will be awarded, as warranted, on the basis of the thesis. Teaching Certificate. English concentrators in any of the programs above may also apply to be granted a teaching certificate. Students in the General Program must elect, in addition to the pattern of courses there prescribed, a course in composition (normally SWC 300) and a course in English language (ENGLISH 305, 308, or 406). Honors candidates must elect ENGLISH 305 in addition to the courses required for their program. The general requirements for a teaching certificate are described elsewhere in this Bulletin, and are available from the School of Education Office of Student Services, 1033 School of Education Building. A brochure summarizing these requirements is available in the English Office. Application to the certificate program itself must be made through the School of Education. The deadline is February 1 for the following academic term. Upper-Level Writing Requirement. Concentrators in English may meet this requirement by appropriate modification of any course in the College approved for this purpose every term. A published list of English-approved courses can be found in 3187 Angell Hall. It is the responsibility of each student to modify the election appropriately at the time of registration. For those in the Honors and Creative Writing Programs, the writing requirement is met within their curriculum, which culminates in the supervised composition of the senior thesis. Advising. Students are encouraged to discuss their academic program and related concerns with an English concentration advisor. Appointments are scheduled through the main office in the English Department, (734) 764-6330. For questions of immediate concern or general questions about the concentration, students may speak with the Undergraduate Administrator on a walk-in or appointment basis by phoning (734) 764-6330 or by coming to 3187 Angell Hall. Courses in English Language and Literature Courses in the Sweetland Writing Center University of Michigan | College of LS&A | Student Academic Affairs | LS&A Bulletin Index This page maintained by LS&A Academic Information and Publications, 1228 Angell Hall Copyright © 2002 The Regents of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA +1 734 764-1817 Trademarks of the University of Michigan may not be electronically or otherwise altered or separated from this document or used for any non-University purpose.