<p>Ok, so I have one general education requirement left, I got lucky and did not plan this. I have a full 2 and a half years left of college. I have already planned my next 3 semesters because I have decided they are the most important.
Now that I have done this I see that each term more than half of all my courses are English courses. I am completely sure that I want to study English, I am also sure that I want to go to graduate school. I love english, however, if this was my ideal world I would not have to pack so much per semester (I am nearly threatened that I will begin to despise reading, just kidding). It is what I am doing and it is how I am going to leave honor's projects and some more research for later. What I am scared of is that in the eye's of The Admitters I will seem so narrow, and they will look at my "amazing" GRE scores (omg I totally jinxed that), and feel pity that my life=english. Then there's the flip-side: maybe they will love that. I am scared I will seem so narrow, I have 2 history courses and 2 French courses in there...aside from that EVERYTHING is english...comments,anyone??? </p>
<p>p.s. I think I am capable of the coursework so long as caffeine does not kill me.</p>
<p>I really think that if you have truly done every last one of your GE's as well as any of your upper division GE's and have a good two years left of schooling, then I think you should take out a minor of some sort. You can either do a traditional minor in a subject matter which would complement your Literature (I am assuming you are studying Literature, eh?) major or you can informally take out a minor and just not declare it. </p>
<p>Also, you need to ask your academic advisor as to how many English classes will count towards your degree and how many will wind up being electives. Some schools will only count "X" amount of Literature courses towards your degree and will make the rest be electives. And, some schools only permit one to have "X" amounts of electives and "X" amounts of Literature courses.</p>
<p>Lastly, you need to do one of two things:</p>
<h1>1) Speak with the head of the English Department about taking Graduate level courses early when you officially run out of classes or something. If you exhaust the curriculum and are nice about things, they might let you start up with Graduate classes early.</h1>
<h1>2) The second thing that you need to do is to speak to one of your Literature professors. I would pick the oldest and wisest and most heavily tenured and published professor at the Literature department of your school.</h1>
<p>A graduate school admissions committee will be very pleased to see that you've completed so many classes in the subject you plan to study. Admissions committees like to see that you're quite dedicated to your field, since they would prefer not to admit students who quit the program before finishing.</p>
<p>I agree that it would be great for you to take some graduate-level courses, if your school allows it.</p>
<p>In my discussions with my English professors, I have been warned both about being too narrow and too broad -- but only in the discipline. They want me to take English literature from all angles, not just in my specialty, but also to have a clear focus in what I intend to follow up on in graduate school.</p>
<p>Caveat is that my specialty is fairly interdisciplinary to begin with, requiring courses in other departments (a couple languages, history, ethnic studies). </p>
<p>Language work, especially to fluency, is never a bad thing. If you end up going into an English graduate program, you're going to need knowledge of at least one and more likely 2 foreign languages; which ones will depend entirely on what field you choose to focus on. At the top programs, it is often expected that you ENTER with the knowledge required to pass the PhD-level language exams in your first year, so that you don't tie up the program learning things they feel you should already know (though I stress this is not NEARLY always the case, just true of a few very top, tippy top programs). </p>
<p>I third asking about graduate courses, but I also suggest finding out if you need to wait until you've exhausted the undergraduate curriculum. I'm a senior spring transfer (meaning this is only my second semester at my school, and only the second semester I've had access to my upper division major requirements) and I'm taking a graduate-level course in material I'd never be able to study at the undergraduate level.</p>
<p>I know I need mine because I am focusing in Anglo-Saxon English literature up through Chaucer -- it only makes sense to be at the very least proficient in Latin and French.</p>
<p>For other programs? I'm not always sure the motivation. Because educated people are bilingual, if not trilingual or simply polyglots? Perhaps it's for breadth of education more simply: when you go into an English program, even if you're focusing on 20th century American literature, you have to take breadth requirements in different eras and locations.</p>
<p>Many lit programs require at least one other language. French, German, and Italian are probably the most useful. And if you choose to go the Old or Middle English route - trust me, that's a foreign language. Most people have no idea what it really entails until they read an old document.</p>
<p>DespSeekPhd: The graduate course I'm taking this semester happens to be Old English. We're working our way through Aelfric's Preface to Genesis immersively -- it's been about 6 weeks now, and we're 15 sentences in. It's quite intense; I definitely agree it counts as its own language. I'm just not sure that the grad schools will necessarily see it that way.</p>
<p>To my knowledge, the most common ways to show the required proficiency are: 1) by written exam (often 1 hour with dictionary, "translate X number of words/lines into idiomatic English"); 2) taking an appropriate course offered in the language (as in, taking a French lit class taught in French); 3) taking the language courses at the graduate level, if offered.</p>
<p>As to the emphasis on reading ability in languages other than one's first language in graduate programs in the humanities:</p>
<p>This is because much scholarship is written in other languages, and one must be able to access the secondary literature in one's area of subspecialization.</p>
<p>In the humanities, including English, demonstrated proficiency in reading ability in both French and German are usually expected prior to taking one's qualifying exams (aka comps). It is often possible to substitute (or necessary to add -- depending upon one's specific program requirements) another language when one's subspecialization demands reading ability in that area.</p>
<p>The most common methods of determining proficiency:
1) standardized testing in which translation of lengthy passages is central, or
2) department-designed exams in which translation of lengthy passages is central.</p>
<p>In my humanities discipline, use of dictionaries during the exam are (universally, as far as I know) absolutely prohibited.</p>
<p>Just to clarify, I got the information about the translation with dictionary from the Berkeley English department:</p>
<p>
[quote=Berkeley English: The Graduate Program, "Languages"]
"Proficiency" is understood as the ability to translate (with a dictionary) a passage of about 300 words into idiomatic English prose in ninety minutes.
<p>I have a PhD in English. I was graduated from college with 30 credits in philosophy ad 60 credits in English. I had a 3.9 in English. Although I didn't attend a prestigious university, I was accepted into Ivy League graduate programs. I have always been thankful that I took so many English courses as an undergrad. One can never know too about about one's discipline. And I loved it. If you are thinking you may be overloaded, perhaps a PhD in English is not for you. The reading is a beast if you don't absolutely adore it.</p>
<p>Re languages: I entered the program with French proficiency and gained Italian proficiency during my studies. We needed to translate a Canto of Dante and a critical piece on Shakespeare (obviously in Italian.) I can't remember whether or not we were allowed to use a dictionary.</p>
<p>I am still happiest when reading literature. I can always say I'm working while I am reading and get my H to do the dishes. Pretty sweet.</p>
<p>I'm a prospective english major(with the intent of graduate school afterwards) in the process of selecting a foreign language to learn.</p>
<p>It has been mentioned that French and German would be the most useful; why is that so? What about Spanish? And would proficiency in an Asian language like Chinese/Japanese be useful at all or a complete waste?</p>
<p>My conflict is that I am significantly more interested in Asian language/culture than European.</p>
<p>Also, I know acceptance into grad school in other disciplines like science is based on the undergrad's "research experience". Is the same true for English grad school? Is there any kind of internship that grad schools would like to see on my resume?</p>
<p>What does "prospective English major" mean? Are you in high school? Undergrad? If high school, stop thinking about it. Really. If you're an undergrad, talk to your academic advisor about this. S/he will be able to guide you better.</p>
<p>"In my humanities discipline, use of dictionaries during the exam are (universally, as far as I know) absolutely prohibited."</p>
<p>Professor X, I noticed the same in my department as well, but am somewhat perplexed by it. Realistically, even as a professional scholar I would not be able completely to comprehend foreign languages which I refer to without the help of dictionaries (German, French, etc). Nor can a student who has no/little knowledge of the language be able to translate anything in it coherently even if he/she has access to a dictionary. Therefore, it seems more reasonable to let students take exams with a dictionary under reasonable time constraint--such exams would resemble the reality situations more closely which we as scholars will actually confront. Why then do departments prohibit the use of dictionary in language examinations?</p>
<p>I guess it's just another fiery hoop through which to jump. </p>
<p>But just as an observation, while doctoral programs certainly serve as necessary preparation for a life of scholarly activity (and, in some cases, provide venues in which to prepare for some aspects of teaching), they absolutely do not function as a direct reflection of daily life as a professor. </p>
<p>I point to the sheer amount of administrivia any professor must negotiate as but one example. (This may be why some of my colleagues wax nostalgic about the comparatively easy lives they led in graduate school.) I could go on, but in short, one should not expect a doctoral program to mirror the realities of one's anticipated career in every way.</p>