THE WRITTEN COMPREHENSIVE EXAM FOR THE MASTER'S DEGREE IN ENGLISH

NEW COMPREHENSIVE EXAM (takes effect Spring 2012)

***Students in the comprehensive exam track of the M.A. or M.S. program will continue to take the old exam through Fall 2011, but students planning to take the exam in Spring 2012 or later will be taking the new model of the exam.  Both exams are described here, the new model first, followed by the old model.***

M.A. and M.S. students who select the comprehensive exam option complete 36 semester hours of coursework and take the written comprehensive exam.

ELIGIBILITY: Applicants for the examination must be matriculated students who have completed or are currently enrolled in courses that will enable them to complete thirty credits with a 3.0 average.  M.A. candidates must have completed the language requirement.


REGISTERING FOR THE EXAM: Students register for the exam by completing a Comprehensive Exam Registration form in the first three weeks of the semester before the semester in which they plan to take the exam (ie. if you plan to take the exam in May, you register for it the previous September; if you plan to take it in December, you register for it in January or February).

If a student registers for but does not take the exam in a given semester, s/he may register ONCE more, and only once more.  Students must notify the Graduate Coordinator in advance of the scheduled exam from which they plan to withdraw in order to be eligible to reregister.


STRUCTURE OF THE EXAMINATION: The examination is based on a reading list that includes ten primary texts; one is always theoretical and one is always a collection of lyric poems.  Each primary text on the list is accompanied by one required and three recommended secondary texts (generally essays or book chapters, not books).

On-Campus Component
For each part of this three-hour component of the examination, two questions will be given. The student selects one question from each part to answer.  The English Department Comprehensive Exam Committee, in consultation with the English graduate faculty, is responsible for making up questions for the examination.  
Part 1:    an applied theory question (answer one of two questions-one hour)
Part 2:    a close reading of a poem (answer one of two questions-one hour)
Part 3:    a comparative question, addressing three texts from the list.  The focus of this question might be formal, historical, thematic, ideological, or a combination of the above (answer one of two questions-one hour).  None of the three texts discussed in this question may be the one students selected for their literature review (see below), to ensure discussion of more texts on the list.

Take-Home Component-Literature Review
Each student taking the exam in a given semester selects one of the primary texts on the list and reads both the required and the supplementary secondary sources, using these sources as a starting point to prepare an overview of the critical conversations about that primary text. The secondary sources that accompany each primary text serve as a starting point for the literature review, but students are responsible for reading an additional six sources (for a total of ten sources) as they prepare this exam question.  It is due four weeks before the day of the exam (see below for deadlines).


EVALUATION OF THE EXAMINATION: Exams are read by the English Department Comprehensive Exam Committee. Exams may be awarded grades of distinction, high pass, low pass, or failing. 
In evaluating examinations, the committee will be guided by the following considerations: the essays must respond to the specific demands of the exam questions and must reflect sound knowledge of the works and ideas being examined. The entire exam should demonstrate the mastery of standard essay-writing practices. The Committee transmits two copies of the Graduate Program Comprehensive Report to the Dean of the Graduate School, who then sends one to the student and one to the Records Office.

If a student fails the exam once, s/he may ask the English Department Comprehensive Exam committee for the opportunity to retake the exam by writing a letter of petition.  Barring extraordinary circumstances (for instance, plagiarism), such petitions will be granted. Students who fail the exam a second time will be dismissed from the program.


IMPORTANT DATES FOR THE EXAMINATION:
Spring 2012
•Register to take the exam by Monday September 19, 2011
•Turn in two hard copies of the Literature Review by Friday March 30, 2012
•Take Exam on Saturday April 28, 2012

Fall 2012
•Register to take the exam by Wednesday February 8, 2012
•Turn in two hard copies of the Literature Review by Friday November 2, 2012
•Take Exam on Saturday December 1, 2012


OLD MODEL (in effect through Fall 2011)

M.A. and M.S. students who select the comprehensive exam option complete 36 semester hours of coursework and take the written comprehensive exam. 

ELIGIBILITY: Applicants for the examination must be matriculated students who have completed or are currently enrolled in courses which will complete thirty credits with a 3.0 average. M.A. candidates must have completed the language requirement. If the applicant's record is not filed in the English office, the applicant should request that the registrar's office send a transcript to the chairperson.

APPLICATION FOR COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION: After consulting with the member of the English Graduate Faculty he/she wishes to have as his/her comprehensive advisor, the student should make a formal request for the advisor by filing with the chairperson of the department an advisor assignment form, available in the English office. The student provides the advisor with a list of courses he/she has taken in his/her area of concentration as well as a list of professors he/she has worked with. Working with those lists, the advisor chooses the member of the examining committee responsible for making up Part II of the comprehensive while the chairperson selects the member responsible for Part III. The chairperson adds the names of the second and third examiners to the advisor assignment form, retaining the original and sending copies to the applicant, comprehensive advisor, second and third examiners, course advisor, graduate coordinator and the English office file. If a comprehensive advisor or a second or third examiner is unable to continue to serve, the chairperson appoints a replacement.

SUBJECT FOR SPECIFIC STUDY: In consultation with the advisor, the student selects a subject for specific study and research on which he/she will be examined in one section of the examination. He/she chooses a subject from the literary period or periods in which he/she has developed an area of concentration in his/her graduate work either through the planned program or through electives.  The advisor and student make up a reading list which the student uses in the examination--a reading list containing no more than 15 primary titles and five secondary titles. When his/her specific study and research have been completed, the student prepares a summary statement and an annotated bibliography of the project completed. Three copies of the statement and bibliography--one for each member of the examining committee--are submitted to the advisor a month before the date of the examination.

THE WRITTEN COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION: The examination is designed as a three-hour examination although the student may take somewhat longer if he/she so desires. It will be divided into three parts:

1. one hour is devoted to the subject chosen for specific study (see above);

2. one hour is devoted to general questions on the literary period from which the subject for specific study was chosen. The chronological boundaries of the literary period are determined in consultation with the member of the examining committee responsible for preparing questions for this part of the examination. The student is expected to be familiar with representative works by the major authors of the literary period. There may be a relationship between the questions in Part I and Part II: i.e., the subject in Part I may be applied in another context in Part II;

3. one hour is devoted to general questions relating to the work done in the student's area of concentration, the student choosing three specific courses from the area of concentration he/she wishes to be examined upon. Again, the student is responsible for representative works by the major authors in three courses. The questions in Part III are not related to questions in Part I and Part II; i.e., questions will exclude any reference to the subject in Part I or its implications in Part II.

The advisor, after consulting with the student, will set the time and place for the examination. A copy of a typical examination is kept on file in the office of the English Department for the student to consult.

The student is asked to make an appointment with the other members of the examining committee to establish general guidelines for the student to follow in preparing for Part II and Part III of the comprehensive examination. The student may also be asked to become familiar with additional bibliographical sources not necessarily those which appeared in the annotated bibiliography submitted for Part I.

FORMAT OF THE EXAMINATION: For each part of the three-hour examination, three questions will be given. The student selects one question from each part. The advisor is responsible for making up questions for the first part of the examination; the other members of the examining committee make up the remaining questions.

EVALUATION OF THE EXAMINATION: A grade of distinction is awarded when all the examiners agree that the scholarship and writing on the examination reflect unusual merit. A grade of passing will be awarded when all the examiners agree that the three parts are of at least low passing quality. At the discretion of the committee, an applicant may be permitted to retake one failed section of the examination (with new questions) within a month if the other two sections of the examination are satisfactory. A final grade of failing is given when the examiners agree that the three parts are not of at least low passing quality. After failing, an applicant must wait one semester before reapplying to take the comprehensive.
In evaluating the examination, the committee will be guided by the following considerations: the essays must respond to the specific demands of the exam questions and must reflect sound knowledge of the works and ideas being examined. The entire exam should demonstrate the mastery of standard essay-writing practices. The advisor transmits two copies of the Graduate Program Comprehensive Report to the Dean of the Graduate School who then sends one to the student and one to the Records Office.

DEADLINE DATES FOR THE EXAMINATION: (scheduled approximately two and a half months following the initial conference):

January Graduation--Initial conference with advisor: September 15; Submission of statement and Bibliography: October 30; Last date for examination: November 30

May Graduation--Initial conference with advisor: January 30; Submission of statement and Bibliography: March 15; Last date for examination: April 15.