= Program Total: 30 hours
Information included below about The
Culminating Experience for the Children's Literature MA and
the Reading List for the MA exam remains the same.
Degree Requirements and Course Information
for Students who enrolled before 2008
The children's literature concentration is valuable for teachers
of elementary and middle or junior high schools, librarians,
reading specialists, editors, publishers, writers of children's
books, and prospective Ph.D. students.The
program includes:
- 15 hours from the list of specialized course
- 9-15 hours of electives in children's literature or other
appropriate English department courses, such as literary
criticism, general literature, writing, or linguistics
- Up to 6 hours of cognate courses, approved by the advisor—these
may include courses in other departments, such as Theatre
for the Young and Content Reading
- Either a comprehensive examination to be taken at the
end of the student’'s course of study, a thesis, or
a portfolio
Courses
LITR 511 Literary Theory
LITR 516 Major Genres in Children's Literature
LITR 517 Teaching Children's Literature
LITR 518 History of Children's Literature
LITR 519 20th Century Children's Literature
LITR 581 Critical Approaches to Mythology
LITR 582 Ballads, Legends and Tales
LITR 583 Literature for Early Childhood
LITR 584 Literature for Adolescents
LITR 592 Special Topics (Multiculturalism, Media Studies,
Gender)
LITR 692 Thesis (Optional)
Course Rotation
The English Department offers two different on-campus children's
literature courses at the graduate level each fall and winter
semester. Graduate courses are also sometimes offered during
the spring/summer semesters and through Continuing Education.
A semester course in abbreviated format is sometimes offered
in summer semester especially for teachers.
400-Level Courses
Some 400-level courses in children's literature (e.g., ENGL
450 and ENGL 451) can be taken for graduate credit; however,
you must check with your advisor before signing up for a 400-level
course, and you must also complete the appropriate paperwork
for the Graduate School. Up to 9 hours of undergraduate
courses may be taken for graduate credit. These courses are
often offered on-campus during fall and winter semesters;
they are also sometimes offered online or in one-week formats
in Gaylord or Traverse City.
Independent Studies
Students in children's literature can also take up to 6 hours
of independent studies. Those who wish to do this must first
find a professor who is willing to supervise the independent
study. The student must then propose and fill out the appropriate
departmental forms for independent studies (see the appendix
of this handbook) and then register for the independent study
once it as been approved and once a course number has been
assigned. Students can take independent studies during any
academic semester. Recent independent studies have focused
on children's films, art theory, children's picture books,
and the holocaust.
The Culminating Experience for the Children's Literature
MA
The MA candidates in children's literature, in consultation
with their advisors, design the culminating experience. Its
purpose is to establish the candidates' abilities and capabilities.
A letter is sent to all candidates, successful and unsuccessful,
once they complete the culminating experience. Exceptional
performances are noted.
The Written Examination
All candidates must take a written examination consisting
of three questions focusing on material from three different
areas they have selected: history, illustration, folklore,
mythology, film, etc. One of the questions will ask
the student to apply literary theory to a book from a chosen
area. The exam allows one hour per question. The exam
is given at selected times of the year: early December, early
April, and mid-July. Exams are ranked pass, pass with
distinction, or not passed. If a candidate's response
on any part of the examination is judged to be unsatisfactory,
he or she will be asked to complete a re-examination on that
part. A waiting period of at least thirty days is required.
Students who fail the entire exam may retake it one time,
but only after at least one semester of further preparation.
Students on academic probation may not take the exam until
they achieve satisfactory academic standing.
A student may replace one of the three questions with a portfolio
(see below).
The Portfolio
The children's literature faculty believes a written examination
is only one measure of a candidate's abilities, though an
important one. For this reason, other achievements are also
recognized. In order to replace one of the three questions
on the M.A. exam, a student must demonstrate a commitment
to the study of children's literature. This credit may
be earned by presenting papers at conferences (one at the
national or two at the regional or state level), publishing
an article in a refereed journal (The Lion and the Unicorn,
Children's Literature, Children's Literature Quarterly, Children's
Literature in Education, ALAN Review), or writing or
illustrating a children's book published by a reputable press.
The Children's Literature faculty must approve student contributions
in order to waive one of the three M.A. examination questions.
Students, therefore, can develop a portfolio that constitutes
one-third of the culminating experience. The children's
literature committee may, at its discretion, submit material
to expert colleagues for evaluation.
The Thesis
As a third option for the culminating experience, students
may choose to write a thesis under the supervision of a faculty
member in children's literature. The thesis should be a major
research project that demonstrates the student's intimate
knowledge of an aspect of children's literature. It should
be approximately 100 pages in length and demonstrate familiarity
with research methods and proper documentation. Students may
earn three credit hours for writing a thesis. Upon completing
the thesis, the student will make a presentation to the children's
literature faculty. Students can complete theses in place
of the written examination or portfolio.
Topics of some recent theses include the following: the history
of multiculturalism in children's literature, the representation
of culture in children's films and children's illustrated
books, and Asian American children's books.
The Reading List for the Written Examination in Children's
Literature
Students often ask for a “canon” or “reading
list” of children’s literature and children’s
literary criticism to help them prepare for the written examination.
While the children’s literature committee does not intend
the lists below to be either definitive or exclusive, it does
believe that candidates for an MA in children’s literature
should be familiar with most of these works, illustrators,
and theoristsand should refer to them in the written examination.
Illustrators
Mitsumasa Anno
Christopher Bing
Leslie Brooke
Nancy Ekholm Burkert
Randolph Caldecott
Eric Carle
Barbara Cooney
Walter Crane
Donald Crews
Tomie DePaola
Leo and Diane Dillon
Barbara Emberley
Tom & Muriel Feelings
Wanda Gag
Paul Goble
Kate Greenaway
Trina Schart Hyman
Ezra Jack Keats
Charles Keeping
Leo Lionni
Arnold & Anita Lobel
David Macaulay
James Marshall
David Macaulay
Robert McCloskey
Gerald McDermott
Jerry Pinckney
Beatrix Potter
Howard Pyle
Arthur Rackham
Alice & Martin
Provensen
Faith Ringgold
Robert Sabuda
Allen Say
John Scieszka
Maurice Sendak
Dr. Seuss
Peter Spier
William Steig
John Steptoe
Chris Van Allsburg
Rosemary Wells
David Wiesner
Ed Young
Paul Zelinsky
Poetry: Selected works from:
William Blake
Lewis Carroll
e. e. cummings
Robert Frost
Langston Hughes
Ted Hughes
Edward Lear
Eve Merriam
Iona and Peter Opie, eds., Children’s Verse
Iona and Peter Opie, eds., The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery
Rhymes
Neil Philip, ed., New Oxford Book of Children’s
Verse
Shel Silverstein
J. R. R. Tolkien
Short Stories
Jan Mark, ed. Children’s Stories
Novels: Fantasy and Science Fiction
Richard Adams, Watership Down
Joan Aiken, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase
Lloyd Alexander, The High King
Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting
James Barrie, Peter Pan
Frank Baum, The Wizard of Oz
Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland and Through
the Looking Glass
John Christopher, City of Gold and Lead
Susan Cooper, The Dark Is Rising
Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and
The Witches
Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
Robert Heinlein, Stranger from a Strange Land
Monica Hughes, The Keeper of the Isis Light
Rudyard Kipling, The Just So Stories and The
Jungle Books
Ursula LeGuin, A Wizard of Earthsea
Madeleine L’Engle, A Wrinkle in Time
C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Hugh Lofting, The Story of Dr. Doolittle
Lois Lowry, The Giver
A. A. Milne, the Pooh books
Mary Norton, The Borrowers Afield
Robert O’Brien, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Philip Pullman, The Golden Compass
J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s
Stone
J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
E. B. White, Charlotte’s Web
T. H. White, The Sword in the Stone and The
Once and Future King
Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit
Jane Yolen, The Devil’s Arithmetic
Modern Fiction
Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak
Judy Blume, Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret
Frances H. Burnett, The Secret Garden
Joseph Bruchac, The Heart of a Chief
Betsy Byars, The Summer of the Swans
Robert Cormier, The Chocolate War and I Am the
Cheese
Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy
Nancy Garden, Annie on My Mind
Leon Garfield, Smith
Jean George, Julie of the Wolves
Virginia Hamilton, M.C. Higgins the Great
S. E. Hinton, The Outsiders
E. L. Konigsberg, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil
E. Frankweiler
Marie G. Lee. Finding My Voice
Lois Lensky, Judy’s Journey
L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
Walter Dean Myers. Scorpions.
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Shiloh
Zibby Oneal, The Language of Goldfish
Katherine Paterson, Bridge to Terabithia and The
Great Gilly Hopkins
Gary Paulsen, Hatchet
Ellen Raskin, The Westing Game
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, The Yearling
Wilson Rawls, Where the Red Fern Grows
Louis Sachar, Holes
J. D. Salinger, Catcher in the Rye
Gary Soto, The Pool Party
Jerry Spinelli, Maniac McGee
Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island
Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Cynthia Voigt, Dicey’s Song
Mildred Pitts Walker, Justin and the Best Biscuits in
the World
Laurence Yep, Child of the Owl
Paul Zindel, The Pigman
Historical Fiction
Rudolfo Anaya, Bless Me, Ultima
Christopher Paul Curtis, Bud, Not Buddy.
Karen Cushman, The Midwife’s Apprentice
Marguerite De Angeli, A Door in the Wall
Kate DiCamillo, Because of Winn Dixie
Louise Erdrich, Birchbark House
Esther Forbes, Johnny Tremain
Irene Hunt, Across Five Aprils
Eric Kelly, The Trumpeter of Krakow
Walter Dean Myers, Fallen Angels
Scott O’Dell, The Island of the Blue Dolphins
Philip Pullman, the Sally Lockhart series
Pam Muñoz Ryan, Esperanza Rising
Elizabeth Speare, The Witch of Blackbird Pond
Rosemary Sutcliff, Eagle of the Ninth
Mildred Taylor, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Yoshiko Uchida, Journey to Topaz
Laura Ingalls Wilder, the Little House series
Laurence Yep, Dragonwings
Literary Criticism
Molly Bang, Picture This: How Pictures Work
Karen Coats, Looking Glasses and Neverlands: Lacan,
Desire, and Subjectivity in Children’s Literature
Peter Hunt, Ed., Understanding Children’s Literature
Henry Jenkins, ed. The Children’s Culture
Reader
Kenneth Kidd, Making American Boys: Boyology and the
Feral Tale
Ann Lawson Lucas, The Presence of the Past in Children’s
Literature
Jean-Fancois Lyotard, The PostModern Explained
Roderick Mcgillis, Ed., Children’s Literature and
the Fin de Siecle
Perry Nodelman, Words about Pictures: The Narrative Art
of Children’s Picture Books
July Rivkin and Michael Ryan, Eds., Literary Theory:
An Anthology
Jacqueline Rose, The Case of Peter Pan or the Impossibility
of Children’s Fiction
John C. Somerville, The Rise and Fall of Childhood
John Stephens, Language and Ideology in Children’s
Fiction
Roberta Trites, Waking Sleeping Beauty
Ian Wojcik-Andrews, Children’s Films: History,
Ideology, Theory and Pedagogy
Jack Zipes, Sticks and Stones: The Troublesome Success
of Children’s Literature
Conferences
Students are encouraged to attend and also to propose papers
and panels for children’s literature conferences, as
well as children’s literature sessions at more general
conferences. A number of our students have read papers at
conferences such as the Children’s Literature Association
Conference, the Modern Language Association Conference, and
the Popular Culture Conference.
Publications
Students are also encouraged to write and to submit papers
to professional journals such as Children’s Literature,
Children’s Literature Quarterly, The Lion and the Unicorn,
The Horn Book, and The Journal of Popular Culture.
Graduate Assistantships
EMU offers several types of graduate assistantships that
pay tuition, fees, and a stipend. Students may receive a teaching
assistantship for which they teach two sections of first-year
writing. Others may tutor in the Writing Center, and others
may assist a professor in teaching a large lecture section
of the Introduction to Children’s Literature or other
introductory literature course. Some English graduate assistants
also work with the department’s Journal of Narrative
Theory, the Eastern Michigan Writing Project, Linguist
List, and other projects and publications across campus.
Professional Organizations
Children’s literature graduate students should consider
joining the following professional organizations: Modern Language
Association (MLA), National Council for Teacher Education
(NCTE), Popular Culture Association (PCA), and others.
Graduate Program of Study
Masters of Arts in English Language and Literature
Eastern Michigan University
Concentration in Children's Literature
Name _______________________________ Student Number __________________
AREA OF CONCENTRATION(18-30 hours)
ELECTIVES(0-6 hours)
COGNATES(0-6 hours)
Total Credit Hours: 30
Other Requirements
Children's Literature MA Exam, Thesis, or Portfolio
Advisor's Signature _____________________________________
Date _________
Student's Signature _____________________________________
Date _________
This handbook supplements
the Eastern Michigan University graduate catalog, which is
the official policy document of the EMU Graduate School (http://www.emich.edu/public/catalogs/2003-2005/grad/Intro.pdf).
Other valuable information about graduate study at EMU can
be found on the Web site for the Graduate School (http://www.gradord.emich.edu/_pages_grad/gradstudents/
g_gradstud.html).
Web Site Maintained by Annette
Wannamaker
EMU Home | Contact
EMU | Site
Map | Directories
| Calendars
| My.emich | Search
