English Major Guidelines

English Majors: Preparing for Graduation and a Career

Please follow these guidelines to ensure the best chance of meeting your desired graduation date and your career goals.

Look Ahead

Peruse course offerings for future semesters. Some classes are only offered once every two years. It is your responsibility to plan ahead to ensure timely completion of your curriculum.

Special note:

  • If you have chosen a literature concentration or the Writing and Publication concentration, you must declare a minor along with your English Major. If you have questions about a suitable minor, please speak with your advisor.
  • Students earning their first degrees in English Education should print out and read A Guide for the UNG English Education Major (PDF).

Save Your Papers

Your senior Portfolio, which you will create in your senior capstone class (ENGL 4901, 4880 or 4890), will require copies of:

  • An essay from pre-college or freshman year
  • A substantial (5-15 pages) literary analysis paper (from an upper-level literature course)
  • A substantial (5-15 pages) paper on how language makes meaning (from ENGL 3130, 3160, 3020, 3050, or 3010) 
  • Another substantial paper from English coursework.

At least one of these last three papers must demonstrate proficiency in scholarly research and documentation.

Complete Prerequisite Courses

Completing these courses with a B or better is required for enrollment in upper-level English courses.

  • ENGL 2050 Standard English Grammar
  • ENGL 2230 Intermediate Composition
  • At least one ENGL 2100-level Literature Survey

Choose 2-3 Academic Mentors and Develop Those Relationships

These mentors should be professors in your major and/or minor. You will need guidance through your program. Upon graduation you’ll need letters of recommendation to graduate school or for job applications.  To these ends, your mentors will offer a helpful resource. 

Be sure your mentors:

  1. are favorably impressed with your efforts and performance
  2. know you well enough to be able to promote you in a letter.

Begin developing these relationships by the end of your sophomore year! Here is a list of the faculty in the Department of English.

Career Services 

Visit Career Services by your sophomore year, and attend their workshops during your sophomore, junior, and senior years.  The Career Services Office is located in the Stewart Center on the Dahlonega Campus.

Plan of Study

Have your Plan of Study completely filled out and signed so that you can submit it to the Registrar's Office before you reach 90 hours. Failure to complete and submit this form by 90 hours will result in a hold on your registration. You can find your English major plan of study as a link on the designated degree page.