Career Opportunities
The major in English provides strong preparation not just for graduate study in English or American Studies, but for graduate work in journalism and communications, for professional study in law, business, and medicine, and for careers in teaching, publishing (editing and writing for publishing houses, government offices, house journals), public relations and advertising, radio and television. Regardless of the career being planned, students are encouraged to avoid both over-specialization on the one hand and random selection of courses on the other. With his or her advisor, a student is expected to develop a course of study suited to personal objectives. Some of the following broad suggestions might be helpful in planning the major.
Law, Business, or Publishing
Students who plan careers in law, business, or publishing would do well to
include courses in advanced composition; writing and communications skills
are essential in these areas and should be developed as fully as possible.
Courses in literary criticism should not be scanted, however: professional
analytic skills — deduction, induction, reasoning by analogy — can
be honed effectively by the careful practice of literary interpretation. These
students might also want to consult offerings in the Business School, Economics
Department, and Political Science Department.
Communications and Journalism
For careers in communications or journalism a good undergraduate background
would include courses in advanced composition (E Comp 311 and 312). Students
might also want to consult offerings in Communications and Journalism in
University College (credit toward the major to be determined by the
Department). Valuable
experience can be gained through an internship in journalism/communications
(see E Comp 298), which would help a student determine the desirability
of a particular field or environment. Although internships do not count
toward
the major (since the kind of work done varies considerably), a project
that involves extensive composition can be proposed as E Comp 500 and,
if approved
by the Director of Undergraduate Studies, will count toward the major.
Additional information concerning internships is available in the English
Department Office.
Teaching in Secondary Schools
For students who plan careers as teachers of English in secondary schools,
American Literature in the 321-322 series or a selection from the department's
400-level courses in American Literature are strongly recommended because
they introduce texts frequently used in high school teaching and because
they will
fulfill part of the Missouri certification requirement for 6 units of
American literature. Work in advanced composition (for example, E Comp
311 or 312),
in practical criticism (E Lit 301E), and in linguistics and the history
of the English language (Linguistics 172, 201, E Lit 471, 472) will
also be
useful. Since the high school teacher can look forward to teaching Shakespeare
one
day and a modern novel the next, a broad selection of courses in English
and American literature is desirable. Detailed information about the
credential program may be obtained from the Graduate School of Education,
McMillan
221, 935-6776.
Graduate Work in English
The best preparation for graduate work in English (or related fields
such as Literature and History or Comparative Literature) is a strong
background
in
literary genres, historical periods, critical approaches to literature,
and major authors. Students preparing for graduate work should take
as many 400
level courses as possible, master at least one foreign language and
take course work in related fields such as History, Philosophy, Classics,
Art and Archeology.