Bachelor of Arts in English (Aiken)

The Bachelor of Arts with a major in English is designed to be flexible enough to provide the student with an adequate background for graduate studies in English or preparation for such professions as law, medicine, the ministry, advertising, communications, technical writing, and library science.

Students will develop not only the ability to derive meaning from what they read, particularly literary texts, but also the ability to write analytically about literature and its history. Derived from this are the following five objectives:

Students will demonstrate the ability to do a close reading of genres (e.g., poetry, fiction, drama, or film);
Students will demonstrate a general knowledge of major move - ments, periods, and authors in British and American literature;
Students will demonstrate a working knowledge of literary terms;
Students will demonstrate the ability to understand literature in its cultural context;
Students will demonstrate the ability to locate, read, understand, and apply literary criticism and scholarship; and
Students will demonstrate the ability to write analytically and articulately about literature, offering evidence of clarity, coherence, and style.

International freshman applicants must be high school graduates (students that have the equivalent of a diploma in the United States).

English proficiency is measured through the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). A score of at least 550 on the paper based exam or 77 on the internet based TOEFL is required. USC also accepts the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or the PTE Academic Test. Students must score at least a 6.5 on the IELTS, or at least a 53 on the PTE.