Thank you for your answer, @hj2012!
To respond the points you raise. On the question of funding: I am not planning to pay for myself; I plan to apply for a government scholarship (Fulbright (US), LPDP (Indonesia), Chevening (UK)). As to the question of choosing MA instead of PhD: in Indonesia (where I come from), it is not the norm that one continues directly to a PhD program without having a terminal MA first. However, I want an MA not because I have a herd mentality; rather, because my undergraduate program does not prepare me for a direct PhD--likely as the result of the said norm. To give you concrete examples: I have little to no first-hand knowledge of English literature before 20th century and I can't read any relevant foreign language (German, French, Classical Greek, etc). To continue directly for a PhD, I--at the least--have to have this under my belt.
I want a terminal MA because I think it will give me a proper foundation for a PhD in the far future.