Literature Subject GRE - April

[Strong Flat White]

And, lastly, I have just been corrected: not a dissertation, but a thesis. That's an optional part of the MA at CU-Boulder.

[Branwen daughter of Llyr]

It sounds like you have a game plan . And yes, it's much better to take classes that can then count towards an MA. I've decided to throw in a couple-three funded terminal MA programs into next years application bag, just in case I don't get into a straight-to-PhD again.

Let me just throw in this : not all PhD programs require the MA. since they don't, often only about 12 credits of your MA can transfer in, meaning you are likely to still have to push 5 years of PhD work (maybe 4 if you work really hard). Of course, this depends on the program. However, starting to work towards your goal this upcoming fall is fantastic, and I personally think it's a risk worth taking. I've been out of school for so long that an extra year or two will not be a disaster (despite being OLD hahahah). Obviously, I'm hoping that I'll get in to a direct-to-PhD next year! But at least I've started thinking about ways to get around the issue if I don't. In the worst possible case, with an MA, I can get teaching certification very quickly, at teach English at a snotty private school with high academic standards hahahahah.

Anyhow - I think you're on the right track. The intro to literature and the graduate survey classes will help you towards the subject GRE, as well as count towards your MA. And you're right - two MA's give you two options of applications for 2012 - either International Relations or English (that is, if the world doesn't end LOL). Good luck, and ENJOY YOUR CLASSES!!! I'm beyond jealous .

Hey, you never know, I may see you in Boulder yet!

[Strong Flat White]

Let me just throw in this : not all PhD programs require the MA. since they don't, often only about 12 credits of your MA can transfer in, meaning you are likely to still have to push 5 years of PhD work (maybe 4 if you work really hard).

True, good point. We thought of this, too, and have chalked it up to, "well, we know that going back to school just to get eligible will add time to the ultimate goal of a PhD," and I think that "pushing 5 years" means, ultimately, that an outside estimate for the whole thing would be about 7 years, starting this fall. Or even 8, being super conservative (see my awesome quant skills coming into play?!).

8 years. Starting this fall. Sounds like a deal to me. Most things do after rejection, I imagine, but all the same, I think I'll go for it. Which means, I guess, that I've just decided to switch fields.

Holy shit!

[Branwen daughter of Llyr]

True, good point. We thought of this, too, and have chalked it up to, "well, we know that going back to school just to get eligible will add time to the ultimate goal of a PhD," and I think that "pushing 5 years" means, ultimately, that an outside estimate for the whole thing would be about 7 years, starting this fall. Or even 8, being super conservative (see my awesome quant skills coming into play?!).

8 years. Starting this fall. Sounds like a deal to me. Most things do after rejection, I imagine, but all the same, I think I'll go for it. Which means, I guess, that I've just decided to switch fields.

Holy shit!

Welcome to the zany world of English grad studies... move your seat to the upright position, fasten your seatbelt, and make sure no electronic devices are turned on! We are expecting turbulent weather during this flight, so if suffering from a weak stomach, please keep your barf bag handy! Those suffering from a weak heart should not even board!

Of course, as a proper medievalist, I SHOULD say "welcome, initiate, to the mysteries of English Graduate Academia. As you pass through the Castle of Despair, Vanity Fair, and get attacked by the Apollyon Monster and Gian Despair, make sure to maintain your armor of Righteousness. You will pass many trials and temptations before you reach the Celestial City (tenure-track), so make sure to remain faithful to your God! (be he Shakespeare, Pound, or Whitman)."

[Strong Flat White]

Of course, as a proper medievalist...

So, I'm curious. How did you become a medievalist? How does one, in English lit, become an anything-ist? I mean, I know what I love now, but I have a feeling that plunging into criticism and analysis may color my obsessions, right? And anyway, what I love now is pretty varied, so how am I going to choose, for example, something to focus on during research? How do you identify your primary love from all the casual loves?

I could see myself doing research on Emily Dickinson; or, Thomas Pynchon; or, Steinbeck or Norman Mailer or Tom Wolfe or John Irving or Mark Helprin or Richard Russo; or freaking Doctorow! or, ... Alex Garland or Zadie Smith or some American counterpart to what I've heard described as "hysterical realists" (which makes it sound academic enough to research!). Eggers? Franzen? What about some non-English speakers? Peter Hoeg blew my mind apart not long ago... the Russians seem to have quite the reputation... and right here on this campus, there's a guy named Stephen Graham Jones who is apparently blazing a trail through the frontier that some are calling "literary horror" (although what I read wasn't horror at all, it was just a brilliant story about life on a reservation).

So, as you can see, that would span poets and novelists, Brits and Americans, a Danish guy, romantics (I think) and modernists (I also think), possibly a modern romantic, realists and realist variants (minus the Latin Americans with their host of magic realists and sexy poets...) and God knows whatever the hell Pynchon is! I don't!

As it stands now, I'd definitely be drawn to modern American literature [re: Steinbeck --> Russo thread], but as big as that is, it feels limiting to say it. Or maybe I'll get over that and feel like it's a silly thing to say once I sink my teeth in... within an academic framework.

Sheesh. "Literature" is a big field, eh? I'm in over my head (again).

[Branwen daughter of Llyr]

So, I'm curious. How did you become a medievalist? How does one, in English lit, become an anything-ist? I mean, I know what I love now, but I have a feeling that plunging into criticism and analysis may color my obsessions, right? And anyway, what I love now is pretty varied, so how am I going to choose, for example, something to focus on during research? How do you identify your primary love from all the casual loves?

I could see myself doing research on Emily Dickinson; or, Thomas Pynchon; or, Steinbeck or Norman Mailer or Tom Wolfe or John Irving or Mark Helprin or Richard Russo; or freaking Doctorow! or, ... Alex Garland or Zadie Smith or some American counterpart to what I've heard described as "hysterical realists" (which makes it sound academic enough to research!). Eggers? Franzen? What about some non-English speakers? Peter Hoeg blew my mind apart not long ago... the Russians seem to have quite the reputation... and right here on this campus, there's a guy named Stephen Graham Jones who is apparently blazing a trail through the frontier that some are calling "literary horror" (although what I read wasn't horror at all, it was just a brilliant story about life on a reservation).

So, as you can see, that would span poets and novelists, Brits and Americans, a Danish guy, romantics (I think) and modernists (I also think), possibly a modern romantic, realists and realist variants (minus the Latin Americans with their host of magic realists and sexy poets...) and God knows whatever the hell Pynchon is! I don't!

As it stands now, I'd definitely be drawn to modern American literature [re: Steinbeck --> Russo thread], but as big as that is, it feels limiting to say it. Or maybe I'll get over that and feel like it's a silly thing to say once I sink my teeth in... within an academic framework.

Sheesh. "Literature" is a big field, eh? I'm in over my head (again).

I know what you mean.

As far as reading goes, I love a LOT of stuff. I'm not much into modern stuff (unless you consider Oscar Wilde modern) in scholarship (except for children's literature and modern fantasy), but as a reader? Oh my. When I switched to English from Theater, it was mostly to study drama from the "academic" side of things. I decided to concentrate on renaissance (for Shakespeare and Marlowe mostly), and ended up taking a Medieval literature class. And then a Chaucer class. And a 12th Century lovers and writers class (topics in medieval literature). So although I AIMED for Shakespeare (and did, indeed take 2 Shakespeare classes), I fell in love with the medieval stuff. Especially the Arthurian scholarship and stories.

Take a wide range of classes, and see what works for you. You get hooked on something - a genre, a period, a writer - with the help of a professor who teaches a great class that you just LOVE. Of course, some things won't change much - for me, anything American didn't really stick, post-romantic poetry didn't really stick, and excluding Beckett and Stoppard, modern drama didn't really stick (I ABHOR Brecht, for example. Don't know why. Can't STAND Mother Courage for some inexplicable reason).

Yes, "literature" is a HUGE field. But you'll find your place! (in fact, it's very possible that if I end up in an MA program, my interests will shift somewhat, yet again...).