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MA Comprehensive Exam

Culminating Activities for Students Using Old (pre-Spring 2012) MA Requirements

Students who started their MA program in English prior to the Spring 2012 term and have been continuously enrolled may choose to use the old MA culminating activities to complete their degree requirements.

For more information on the old MA culminating activities, click here.

Resources

Adobe Acrobat Logo MA Culminating Activities booklet

Adobe Acrobat Logo Completing the 2-Unit Thesis/Project

University Library: Thesis and Project Guidelines

Office of Graduate Studies and Research

English MA Comprehensive Exam

The MA Comprehensive Exam in English can be taken in any one of the following exam areas (see required reading lists below):

  • American Literature: Beginnings to 1860; 1860-1914; or 1914 to present
  • British Literature: Medieval; Renaissance; Restoration and Eighteenth Century; Nineteenth Century; or Twentieth Century
  • World Literature in Translation: Classical; Middle Ages-1600; 1600-1800; 1800-1900; 1900-1945; or 1945-Present
  • Postcolonial and Anglophone Literatures: Contemporary Period 1947-present
  • Composition, Rhetoric, and Language

At least two quarters before they sit for the Comprehensive Exam, students must select their examination area and inform the Graduate Studies Committee of their choice.

Students will write two three-hour exams: one exam on a historical period selected from the list above and one exam on a specific text from the same historical period selected in advance by the Graduate Studies Committee in consultation with faculty members specializing in the period.

Students opting to take the Comprehensive Exam in the Rhetoric, Composition and Language area will write two three-hour exams: one exam derived from readings on the Rhetoric and Composition list and one exam derived from readings on the Language and Literacy list.

Students are allowed three attempts to pass each part of the Comprehensive Exam. NOTE: Once a Comprehensive Exam is attempted, students cannot make a program change to another culminating activity.

A passing exam will demonstrate a student’s ability to convey a deep understanding of a particular period or area and to develop sophisticated textual analyses.

Standard Reading Lists for the Comprehensive Examination

American Literature: Beginnings to 1865

American Literature: 1865-1914

American Literature: 1914 to present

British Literature: Medieval

British Literature: Renaissance

British Literature: Restoration and Eighteenth Century

British Literature: Nineteenth Century

British Literature: Twentieth Century

Composition, Rhetoric, and Language

World Literature in Translation: Classical

World Literature in Translation: Middle Ages to 1600

World Literature in Translation: 1600-1800

World Literature in Translation: 1800-1900

World Literature in Translation: 1900-1945

World Literature in Translation: 1945 to present

Postcolonial and Anglophone Literatures: Contemporary Period 1947-present

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Last Update: 10/30/2012