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WRITING AT RUTGERS

● The Writing Program

● The Writing Center

● Writing Across the Curriculum

MAP OF THE WRITING TRACK

"FOR CURRENT STUDENTS ONLY"

The English M.A. at Rutgers-Newark, a 30-credit program (10 courses), offers a Literature Track and a Writing Track, in which one can advance in one’s craft while studying literature on the graduate level. Students invited to join this track take five 3-credit courses in writing and five 3-credit literature courses. Our standard is face-to-face classes rather than Distance Learning. A Portfolio of the student’s finished work, along with a written Publication Plan, is an exit requirement. No foreign language or comprehensive exams are required of Writing Track students.

The Faculty:

The courses are taught by published writers on the R-N English faculty and other professionals drawn from the Metropolitan area. One advantage of studying in the English M.A. Program at Rutgers-Newark is the prospect of recommendation letters, introductions, and publication advice from these seasoned teachers.

The Students:

People prefer the Writing Track for many reasons. Some students simply desire to develop their talents in the disciplined environment of regular writing classes. Others seek to enhance their options to teach creative writing in high schools or community programs, or advance their careers in various communications fields, including magazine and newspaper work, editing, and professional writing or teaching in corporate and non-profit settings. While in the Program, some decide to pursue more advanced degrees in writing or literature. Although expertise and experience vary, members of the writing classes are serious about their craft. In the 500-level courses, one can expect to find fellow students who have not published but have circulated their stories, poems, novels, or plays among friends, and others who have publications or are already launched in writing-related careers. In workshop-style classes of 10-15, this mix enables lively exchange about student work from a representatively broad audience.

The Courses:

Students in this track benefit most by taking writing and literature courses together throughout their program, rather than doing the writing first, literature later. (Non-matriculated students planning to apply to the degree program should plan their courses with these expectations in mind.) The five required literature courses may be chosen from any of the Program’s offerings in literature, theory, or genres (see below). One must be a theory course: 503 (Introduction to Graduate Literary Study), 506 (Rhetoric, Theory, and the Teaching of Writing), 508 (Critical Theories), or a specialized theory course offered under Topics in Literature. The five required writing courses may be selected from the lists below. Detailed descriptions of current Program offerings are available on the English Department web site and in paper in a rack outside Hill Hall 504.

Fiction writers begin with 517 and follow with 518. In these classes, students may work in other prose genres as well. Poets and others may take the several poetry courses. In the 600-level courses advanced Writing Track students refine continuing projects, in any genre, and often launch new ones. Those who plan to graduate the following spring are advised to register for 617 the previous fall, where they can work with the professor on revising the Portfolio and the Publication Plan (see below).

Writing Courses:

Creative Writing: Prose (517, fall)

Creative Writing: Prose (518, spring; prerequisite 517 or professor’s permission to register)

Creative Writing: Poetry (519, 520)

Screen writing (526)

Introduction to Publishing and Editing (531)

Publishing and Editing Internship (548; prerequisite 531) *

Writing for Business and the Professions (537, 538)

600-level

Advanced Fiction Writing (617, fall–for advanced Writing Track students; literature students by professor’s permission only)

Problems in Advanced Writing (618, spring–for advanced Writing Track students; literature students by professor’s permission only)

The Nonfiction Novel (523)

Poetry for Poets (524)

Fiction for Fiction Writers (525)

Biography, Autobiography, Memoir (527)

Note: The "genre courses" are counted as "writing" courses for Writing Track students who take them, "literature" courses for Literature Track students unless different arrangements are made with the professor at the start of the course. Some assignments are designed with these differences in mind.

Advanced Professional and Technical Communications (ENG 601)

Cultural and Technological Change (ENG 603)

Professional and Technical Editing (ENG 624)

Up to two of the Writing Track electives (6 credits) may be chosen from these offerings in the M.S. in Professional and Technical Communication Program at New Jersey Institute of Technology, across the street from the R-N campus, with the permission of both graduate directors. 601, which requires advanced computer skills and gives training in WebCT, the common software environment at NJIT, is the "prerequisite or corequisite" for the other courses and is offered through Distance Learning. The second MS PTC course may be taken for degree credit by R-N English students only when offered in a traditional classroom format. The R-N Registrar supplies Rutgers numbers for these NJIT courses so that students may enroll in the usual manner, without having to cross-register or transfer the credits. See <http://www.njit.edu/MSPTC/curriculum.html> for all their course descriptions. MS PTC Director Dr. Nancy Coppola can be reached at 973-596-5726 or coppola@njit.edu.

More Course Options:

Admission to the R-N Graduate School entitles one to take classes in other graduate programs across the University. Normally only English courses (coded 350 or 352) count towards the English M.A. at Newark, although courses in fields such as History, Liberal Studies, or Comparative Literature, can be designated by the Director as options for English degree credit. Rutgers Camden hosts an annual summer writing conference with workshops for graduate writing credit. All such plans should be cleared with the Director.

Admission to the Writing Track:

(1) Application – Application forms are online at http://gradstudy.rutgers.edu. All supporting materials are sent to Admissions (see below for address). Applicants to the English M.A. Program indicate this preference in the Personal Statement, explaining their experience and accomplishments to date in creative and/or professional writing, preferred genre(s), literary influences, motives for graduate study of writing and literature together, and expectations of how the R-N Program will advance the student’s aims. This statement, three Letters of Recommendation, transcripts, and GRE scores (Verbal and Analytical Writing) should also give evidence of the applicant’s capacities for graduate-level literary study and academic research. The Writing Track application must also include two writing samples, sent to Admissions:

Please note that the Program does not accept e-mailed writing samples. Literature Track students who wish to shift into the Writing Track, or who want to do both tracks, submit their creative writing sample after taking several writing courses here and with an amended Personal Statement to the Director for a decision on the request.

(2) Acceptance – If the screening committee (the Director and writing faculty) judges the work substantial and promising, and the other parts of the application confirm the applicant’s fit with the academic program, a formal invitation to join the Writing Track is usually extended with the Offer of Admission. Occasionally it makes sense for the Program to delay the decision until after the student has completed several writing and literature courses here and submits to the Director a new or revised writing sample along with a fresh statement of intent.

The Portfolio Reading Committee:

Every Writing Track student has two faculty readers. The Primary Reader gives feedback on manuscripts and writing plans throughout the student’s program in periodic face-to-face conferences. Both readers assist in the construction of the Publication Plan, set guidelines for the presentation of the Portfolio, and make final written assessments of this body of work.