Department of English

Please read this page in its entirety. It is the student’s responsibility to meet the deadlines for submitting material and scheduling the exam.

All students, including those not writing a thesis, are required to pass the oral exam. The purpose of requiring an examination for the master’s degree is not so much to test specific knowledge as to encourage breadth in a student’s studies.

The oral exam takes place in the student’s second year of study, after more than half of the student’s coursework is completed, and before writing the thesis. (See the Oral Exam Deadlines, below, for specific dates.) The exam process begins with an independent study project (non-credit), and culminates in a two-hour oral exam with two faculty members.

The purpose of the project is to draw together material that the student has studied and to extend that learning in new directions. This can mean (1) adopting a new critical perspective on material already studied in several different seminars or (2) taking an already familiar critical perspective and developing it further by studying it in relation to new texts. Students may focus on any issue that seems to the student and his or her examiners to qualify as a topic for extended study.

Students who propose to write a thesis find in the oral exam an opportunity to begin their reading, research, and thinking. Please note, however, that the scope of the exam is intended to be far broader than the topic of a thesis. Independent study for the exam should provide a broad background of texts and theories within which a student can isolate his or her thesis topic.

ORAL EXAM GUIDELINES

1. To initiate the oral exam process, the student should meet with the Director of Graduate Studies at the beginning of the fall semester, at the latest by September 10, in order to identify a topic and an Exam Committee of two faculty members. The student will need to secure the Director’s approval of the Exam Committee, and secure approval of the topic from his or her Exam Committee members.


2. In consultation with both members of the Exam Committee, the student should develop an oral exam prospectus, including a reading list. (See detailed descriptions below.) The prospectus and reading list should be submitted to the Exam Committee, along with the Oral Exam Prospectus Form, for approval.


3. Once the final draft of the prospectus has been approved by both members of the Exam Committee, the prospectus and signed Oral Exam Prospectus Form should be submitted to the Academic Coordinator by the appropriate deadline (see below), for review by the Director of Graduate Studies. The Director will review the prospectus and, if approved, sign off on the Prospectus Form.


4. Once the prospectus has been approved by the Exam Committee and the Director of Graduate Studies, the student enters the reading period, which lasts a minimum of six weeks. Students should continue to work in consultation with both members of the Exam Committee.


5. During the reading period, the student should schedule a meeting with his or her Exam Committee (at least two weeks before the exam itself) to determine the time and place of the oral exam. At this meeting, the exam procedures and agenda should be discussed in detail. The student should then contact the Academic Coordinator to confirm the exam date and reserve the Conference Room (if desired).


6. Shortly before the examination, the student should pick up an Examination Report Form (required by the Graduate School) from the Academic Coordinator, in 306 New North, and submit it to the Committee at the beginning of the exam. Once the exam is over, the Committee will deliberate immediately and then inform the student of its evaluation: Fail, Pass, High Pass, Pass with Distinction. It is the student’s responsibility to submit the signed Examination Report Form to the Academic Coordinator at the end of the exam.


7. Two weeks after passing the oral exam, students intending to write a thesis should submit the Thesis Proposal Form to the Academic Coordinator.

Students must be registered for course work, Thesis Research, or Continuous Registration during the semester in which they plan to take their oral examination.

EXAM REQUIREMENTS

Oral Exam Prospectus: should be titled, and should be no more than five (double-spaced) pages. The prospectus should be a pointed, coherent, well-articulated proposal to study a topic in some depth; it should concretely and in detail define the topic, set its boundaries, make clear the critical issues and debates surrounding the topic, pose the important questions that the student wants to study, and specify the contribution the student hopes to make in the course of study. It is a proposal to engage in independent study and research. It is not the end of the process, but the beginning; as a prospectus, it looks forward to the culminating moment of the project, the oral exam, at which time the student will present his or her conclusions.

Reading List: provides a list of works on which the exam will focus. This reading list is not a comprehensive bibliography of the topic; rather, it is a list of significant works that the student will study. These works will form the basis of the student’s presentation during the oral exam, and the question and answer period following the presentation. The list should be approximately 2 pages in length, and commonly includes essays, book-chapters, and entire books; the list should be current, reflecting the most recent scholarship on the topic; list all authors alphabetically, in standard bibliographical form. (Do not create different sub-headings.) The reading list is to be submitted with the Oral Exam Prospectus. Sample oral exam prospectuses/reading lists from previous years are available from the Academic Coordinator in 306 New North.

DEADLINES for students wishing to graduate in May:

September 10: deadline for meeting with the Director of Graduate Studies to have exam topic and committee approved.

October 14: first deadline to submit the approved Oral Exam Prospectus and Oral Exam Prospectus Form to the Academic Coordinator. Students who submit the approved prospectus and form by this date shall take their exam between December 1 – December 15 (but no later than February 15).

December 1: second, alternate deadline to submit the approved Oral Exam Prospectus and Oral Exam Prospectus Form to the Academic Coordinator. Students who submit the approved prospectus and form by this date shall take their exam between January 15 – February 15.

EXTENDED DEADLINE for students wishing to graduate in August:

March 16: third deadline to submit the approved Oral Exam Prospectus and Oral Exam Prospectus Form to the Academic Coordinator. Students who submit the approved prospectus and form by this date shall take their exam between May 1 - May 15.

Students graduating in August are still expected to initiate the Oral Exam process in the beginning of their second year of study, and must meet the September 10 deadline for approval of the Exam Committee and prospectus topic.

If one of the above deadlines falls on a weekend, then we move forward to the next business day.

These deadlines reflect two requirements: 1) a minimum reading/research period of 6 weeks between the date on which the oral exam prospectus has been finally approved and the date on which the oral exam occurs; 2) a three-month writing period between the date on which the oral exam is passed and the date on which the thesis is completed.

To ensure fairness to all students, these procedures (including all deadlines) must be strictly adhered to. Students with any questions should consult the Academic Coordinator and/or the Director of Graduate Studies.