Things to keep in mind when applying for MA in English

(most of the examples are about English literature)

When you want to apply for MA you need to keep the following in mind (besides your own
knowledge and experience):
1-Check if the professors that are going to teach you in the University are the same of the
previous MA course. This will be very helpful to get the syllabus from the previous course's
students to collect sources before the course starts. Because during the courses you won't be
having a lot of time. But be careful sometimes professors change their syllabi.
2-If possible collect and solve some previous years questions. Concentrate on the questions of
the university that you are going to apply for.
3- After step 2, try to check what is the best answer for the questions (MA candidates in your
university might be helpful). In the MA process the professors won't go easy on you. So try to
figure out whether the question requires brevity or length.
4- Few clues to make your answer better:
(A)- In most cases: if the question is brief, the answer should be in details. However, there are
exceptions.
(B)- We all know the essay questions, It does NOT demand brevity. Yet you should be careful not
to write about unneeded info.
e.g. If the question is about Shakespearean Drama, do not write about his sonnets, UNLESS you
make a connection between the two. (You can say - some of his plays contain sonnets like sonnet
...... from his play ______ )
(C)- In essay questions organize your ideas and divide your answer to:
# Introduction: a general discussion, essential information ....etc. It should be brief somehow.
# Body: that is the most important part of the essay and the answer to the question in details. It
should be reasonable and justified:
e.g. You can't just say Shakespeare is the greatest playwright, you need to prove it (You can
prove that by saying he has written 37 plays that are famous and most of them are performed till

nowadays on stages all over the world) or (You can prove that by saying he has a great impact on
other writers) or whatever information you have.
# Conclusion: most of us think that a conclusion is a summary of the previous info we mentioned
before, while it is not. It is the outcomes of the work, what we have discovered and realized
through reading and writing these information.
-Note: you should NOT write 'Introduction', 'Body' or 'Conclusion' words in your essay, they
should be in your mind.
(D)- In essay questions:
i.
ii.
iii.

Divide your answer to paragraphs and leave a space before the first sentence in each
paragraph.
A paragraph should not discuss lots of ideas. Each paragraph should discuss a new idea,
unless it is too short; then combine it with another of its type.
When you write the name of a writer in a paragraph, you can write he or she referring to
the writer, but you should not write he or she when moving to a new paragraph.
e.g.
Paragraph 1: Dickens is a Victorian novelist, he wrote Hard Times....... (Preferable)
Paragraph 2: Dickens is considered as a major English novelist....... (Preferable)
Paragraph 2: He is considered as a major English novelist....... (Not Preferred)

(E)- Pay attention to spelling, grammar and punctuation, it shows your writing skills and makes
your essay (writing) look academic. If you cannot remember a word or its spelling use another
word or expression. Keep the following in mind:
# Underline:
-The book titles: e.g. An Outline of English Literature.
The titles of the plays, novels and long poems: e.g. Hamlet, The Great Gatsby, Beowulf.
# Inverted Commas " " :
Put the title of the short stories, short poems and essay titles between inverted commas: e.g.
"The Black Cat" , "The Tiger" and "The Three Voices of Poetry".
# Capitalization: Capitalize the first word of the title, and the significant words in the titles (but
not all)= Nouns and verbs (mostly): e.g. How to Write an Academic Essay.

# Author's name: mention the name of the author when you write or quote from his book: e.g. In
Modern American Drama C. W. E. Bigsby says (states, shows, argues....etc)........ or, Bigsby says
(states, shows, argues....etc).......... in his book Modern American Drama.
(F)- Avoid using the personal pronouns (I, me , we) referring to yourself and/or giving your
opinion, in writing.
Instead writing:
- "I think.....".
- "If we observe.....".
- "........ to me".
You can write:
- "One might think....." , "It is thought ....." etc.
- "Observing ......" , "The reader(s) can observe ......." etc.
- "....... to the reader" , "...... for the audience" etc.

Things to keep in mind after being accepted

1- Not to frighten you but you really need to study a lot. Studying will be the most important
thing in your life during the courses.
2- If your college or university has a library, go there and check the sources. Try to find a way for
borrowing books.
3- Check out bookstores in your city. If you have a credit card, order some books from the
websites in a pdf form or in hard copies.

Furthermore
Check these websites:
- http://en.bookfi.org (free books)
- Academia.edu (lots of free essays) You need to make an account there.
- ivsl.org (lots of free essays) But You have to be a part of the university course to get access.
They will call you for information; after registration.
-http://www.iasj.net/iasj?func=browse&uiLanguage=en

Compiled by: Aryan N. Hassan

MA in English Literature - Modern American Drama.
Academia: https://independent.academia.edu/AryanNHassan
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/ANHExtra