I've got two M.A.s, and about to file a dissertation, completing my Ph.D.
You can probably get most of your information by looking at grad division/English department Web sites.
Generally speaking, you take courses and at about two years you take some combination of exams and a thesis to earn an M.A. This usually includes learning at least one living foreign language.
You take more courses and another set of exams, usually tied to your specialty and your proposed dissertation topic, and you usually have to prove mastery of at least one more living language, at about another two years, give or take six months.
Then you write the damned dissertation; this may take years. Or you may finish the whole thing inside of four or five years, the general goal for a Ph.D.
You may have to defend the dissertation orally.