Those earning an English literature degree can find employment in a number of fields requiring expert knowledge of literature or the English language, including work at a publishing company. Entrepreneurial English literature majors could even start their own magazine. Those with a master's or doctorate could teach at secondary schools or universities.
To become an English literature major, you must complete a high school diploma or General Equivalency Diploma and get accepted into a university offering a degree in English literature. If you're applying to a graduate program, you'll need a bachelor's degree and your scores from the Graduate Record Exam, or GRE. You will also need two or three letters of recommendation and a statement of purpose which outlines your goals.
When you first get into the degree program, you will spend your freshman year taking core courses such as math, foreign language, biology, English composition and history. After you enter your sophomore year, you'll start taking more degree-specific courses. If you're in the graduate program, you'll prepare a thesis paper which you will verbally present before a committee prior to graduation.
Every school is different, but in general you will take courses in American literature, African-American literature and literature from certain literary movements such as modernism. For example, you may take a course that deals specifically with the Harlem Renaissance writers or literature that deals with the antebellum South.
When choosing an English literature degree program, visit the schools' websites and compare the curriculums. You should look at the courses and see if they fit your career goals. It's also good to visit campuses and meet with key professors and the head of the English department to get a better idea of what to expect if you were to enroll in the program.