Admission to the program is contingent upon good academic standing and acceptance by the department.

The department will not accept D transfer credit in the major. Achievement of a C or better in all major courses at Chicago State University is required.

Completion of 120 semester hours of work: 36 hours of General Education consisting of 6 hours of Composition; 3 hours of Oral Communication (ENG 2011 preferred); 3 hours in Mathematics; 9 hours in Social Sciences (in at least two disciplines); 9 hours in Humanities/Fine Arts (including one humanities course and one fine arts course); 6 hours in Natural Sciences, including one physical science (chemistry, geography, physical science, or physics) and one biology (at least one course must have a lab); 3 credit hours of Critical Thinking, 3 credit hours Diversity, and 3 credit hours Interdisciplinary courses embedded in the preceding courses and selected from a list of approved courses; 6 credit hours of a single foreign languagr (including 3 hours for the College of Arts and Sciences); 54 hours of core English classes; 15 hours in English electives selected with the departmental advisor’s approval; and 9 hours of university electives; students also must pass the examination on the state and federal constitutions.

Before proceeding to any 4000-level course in literature, an English major in any of the options must have passed the two basic composition courses,  ENG 2100 and ENG 2260. Literature and Writing majors also must take ENG 2280 before proceeding to any 4000-level course in literature. English majors in the literature and secondary teaching options must complete at least five 4000-level English courses before graduating.

For successful completion of the literature option, students must

• Be able to write coherent, well-organized exposition in several rhetorical modes using edited American English competently.
• Understand and be able to use effectively a variety of rhetorical forms and strategies of informative writing and write for a variety of  audiences.
• Be familiar with the literature and major developments and writers of Great Britain and America.
• Be familiar with a significant body of literature by American writers of color.
• Be able to analyze works of literature, understand a variety of critical approaches, and demonstrate an awareness of the characteristic elements and techniques of the various genres.
• Understand basic elements of language and of language development, history, dialects, and language acquisition.
• Be able to think critically about issues and articulate varying points of view.
• Be adept in solving problems involved in research and communication.
• Be competent in operating word processing programs.
• Be familiar with professional journals in the discipline.
• Be familiar with professional organizations and become a participating member of at least one.
• Be willing and able to identify their own strengths and weaknesses and outline a plan of self-improvement.

1. 2100 WRITING & EDITING NONFICTION (3) : Prerequisite: Successful completion of two basic composition courses and ENG 1360
2. 2160 SURVEY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE I (3)
3. 2190 SURVEY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE II (3)
4. 2260 ELEMENTS OF LITERARY STUDY (3): Prerequisite: Successful completion of two basic composition courses
5. 2280 CRITICAL STRATEGIES (3): Prerequisite: Successful completion of two basic composition courses
6. 2330 BRITISH LITERATURE I (3)
7. 2340 BRITISH LITERATURE II (3)
8. 2910 AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE I (3) or 2940 AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE II (3)Prerequisites for all 4000-level ENG classes, excluding most linguistics courses:  Successful completion of ENG 1230/1240 or 1270/1280, 1360, 2100, 2260, and 2280
9. 4311 SHAKESPEARE (3)
10. 4316 WORLD MASTERPIECES (3)
11. 4327 METHODS & MATERIALS OF LITERARY RESEARCH (3)
12. 4331 LITERARY CRITICISM (3)
13. 4338 LANGUAGE (3)
14. 3870 ADVANCED RESEARCH METHODS AND PROGRAM OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT (3) 
15. 4390 WOMEN’S VOICES (3)
16. 4314 VICTORIAN LITERATURE (3)  or 4326 Studies in Romantic Literature (3) or 4342 English Literature since 1918 (3) or  4349 The English Novel (3)  or 4350 Restoration & Early 18^th Centrury British (3)  or 4351 Later 18^th Century British Literature (3)  or 4357 The English Renaissance (3) or 4358 English Literature of the 17^th Century (3)
17. 2410 THIRD WORLD LITERATURE (3)   or  4321 Black Women Writers (3) or  4322 Black American Poetry (3) or 4323 Wright, Ellison, and Baldwin (3) or 4324 Gwendolyn Brooks Seminar (3) or 4332 Black American Fiction (3) or 4334 The Image of Blacks in American Prose Fiction (3) or 4370 The American Ethnic Experience in Literature (3)
18. 4341 AMERICAN LITERATURE SINCE 1918 (3) or 4345 American Literature 1820 - 1865 (3) or 4346 American Literature, 1865 - 1918 (3)
19. 4395 INTERNSHIP IN WRITING