Xavilamo

Hello, I am international student from India and I would like apply to some Comparative Literature PhD programs (NYU, CUNY, etc). I have a BA and an MA in English literature. I am fluent in two Indian languages (Hindi and Bengali) and have intermediate level knowledge of two foreign languages (French and Italian). My Italian is decently poor and my French is decently good, however I have never taken University level courses in either (my university does not offer courses in foreign languages, I have studied French and Italian at foreign language schools run by the embasies of the respective countries), will this be a huge disadvantage? I was guessing that since most of these departments do not have a specific foreign language fluency requirement at the time of admission this would not matter so much, however (errr....right?). I am still plan on applying to some English departments but my research interests are more in sync with comparative literature. Also in the case of NYU, for example, I prefer the Comp Lit faculty over the English faculty. Do you think I should be more, i don't know....practical....and focus squarely on English departments? please help. Oh yes, although I am fluent in two Indian languages, I don't want to pursue a PhD in PoCo and would prefer something in Literary Theory (hence the focus on French; I know no German).

Hello I am newbie so I am not too sure myself. I would say just write a research paper on a topic of your choice and have your profs read it. Then use their feedback to improve your paper. Your paper should ideally answer or try to answer a research question. Make sure to add citations and a bibliography. Sorry if I wasn't too helpful.

Hello, I will be applying this Fall to non-Ivy League universities. The universities I have chosen all rank within the top 20 though and I am not sure if I am being too ambitious. I am interested in Literary Theory, particularly 20th century French theory (post-structuralism primarily) but I have not yet settled on a proper research topic. My writing sample is on Shakespeare's As You Like It (I am performing a slightly Derridan reading of the play) and I quite enjoy Renaissance Drama as well, but I am not sure if American universities would be willing to offer a PhD in Early Modern Studies to a South Asian student (there would be only so many places and they would prefer a PoCo candidate from South Asia). How specific do I have to be with my research aims in my SoP? Do I need to cite potential sources and stuff? Do I need to provide a proper framework for my research? Do I need to specify potential advisers or faculty members who have worked along similar lines? Please help!