For complete information about the Honours programme and requirements, please see the Honours booklet or talk to Honours Co-ordinator Dr. Jane Magrath. A summary is given below.
Admission
The permission of the English Department is required before a student enrolls in Honours English. The admission requirement is an overall average of at least 75% in all prior English courses. Admission to the program will be competitive, and because the demand for the program will likely exceed the resources available at the Department, not all applicants who meet the formal admission requirements will be accepted in the Honours program.
Prerequisites
English 121, 122, 204 and 296
Course Requirements
An Honours English student must complete 126 semester hours of credit, including the prerequisite courses and the following minimal requirements in English:
| Category | Hours Required |
| Medieval Literature | 3 |
| Shakespeare and one other Renaissance course | 6 |
| Eighteenth-Century British Literature | 3 |
| Nineteenth-Century British Literature | 3 |
| Modern and Contemporary Literature | 6 |
| Canadian Literature | 3 |
| American Literature | 3 |
| English Language and Linguistics | 3 |
| Literary Theory | 3 |
| Two 400-level Courses | 6 |
|
Honours Tutorial Graduating Essay |
3 3 |
| Three additional English courses at the 300 and 400 levels of which at least one must be on British Literature before 1900 | 9 |
The Honours Essay
Each Honours English student is required to write an essay of 8,000-10,000 words on a subject selected by the student and approved by the English Department. Students must complete English 496 before beginning 497. The essay will be written under the supervision of a member of the English Department and assessed by a three-member committee consisting of the supervisor, a second reader from the English Department, and an outside examiner, usually from another academic department of the University. This committee will hold a discussion of the essay with the candidate and subsequently assign a grade.
Grades Requirement
The Honours English candidate will be required to maintain an average of at least 75% in required English courses and an average of at least 70% in all courses submitted for the degree.
