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Department of English
Master of Arts in Literature

Comprehensive Exam Overview

The Comprehensive Examination consists of two items:

1) the General Examination,

2) a Thesis Defense, or (for students not writing a thesis) an Area Examination.

A. The General Examination is offered only three times a year:

  • the first Saturday in October
  • the first Saturday in February
  • the first Saturday in June

B. A sign-up notice will be emailed to all M.A. students two weeks before the planned test date. You may also contact the graduate assistant, Maddie Richards, at malit@txstate.edu or 512.245.3283.  

C. The Exam will be held in person in the FH G14 computer lab. If there is a reason to hold it remotely, students will be notified when the announcement to sign up is sent out. 

Students will have two hours to complete each of the two parts (Analysis and Synthesis) of the General Examination, with an hour-long lunch break between the parts. When they write, they will not have access to any sources other than the dictionary built into Microsoft Word. 

The Department will accommodate students who have diagnosed disabilities, documented through the University's Office of Disability Services, that affect performance on timed, written examinations.

D. Each Examination will be identified to the faculty readers by the student’s University ID number only. Faculty will rate each of the two sections as Passing with Distinction, Passing, or Not Passing. An evaluation of Passing with Distinction will be granted only to exceptional performances and will be awarded only by unanimous decision. A Passing essay demonstrates learning in the discipline; familiarity with appropriate literary terminology and methods of analysis; and clear, coherent writing. For a student to pass the General Examination, two members of the Graduate Faculty must evaluate both parts as at least Passing. Students who must retake one or both parts of the examination may sign up for the next regularly scheduled test date.

E. The Graduate Advisor will report the results to the student and the chair of the student’s oral or area examination.

 

II.  The Thesis Defense (Thesis-Track students)

The student and a committee of three graduate faculty members will work out details for the administration of the Defense. During this one-hour oral examination, students who have elected to write a thesis will answer questions, concentrating on the thesis, posed by the committee. A student with a Minor or an Area of Emphasis (Cognate) involving another discipline may choose to include a faculty member from the other Department as the third member of the committee. A student with an Area of Emphasis developed entirely in English may select all members of the committee from English graduate faculty. With the student’s approval, observers may attend the Defense.

To complete the Comprehensive Examination, a thesis-track student must pass both parts of the General Examination and the Defense.

See detailed Thesis Guidelines here

 

The student and a committee of three graduate faculty members will work out details for the administration of the Examination. All students using this option will have at least nine English courses, making it certain that all may identify an Area of Emphasis (at least two courses related by period, subject, or genre). A student with a minor or an Area of Emphasis (Cognate) involving another discipline may choose to include a faculty member from the other Department as the third member of the committee. A student with an Area of Emphasis developed entirely in English may select all members of the committee from English graduate faculty.  

The student will work with the committee chair to draw up a tentative reading list of primary and secondary works related to the Area of Emphasis. The chair will confer with the other committee members and seek their approval of the list. The chair will return a copy of the approved list to the student. 

During the Examination the student will respond as directed to one or two essay topics from a choice of several. Committee members outside English may contribute to the development of these questions, or they may elect to write a separate essay question. All three committee members will read the Examination and evaluate it as Passing with Distinction, Passing, or Not Passing. 

To complete the Comprehensive Examination, a non-thesis student must pass both parts of the General Examination and the Area Examination

See detailed Non-Thesis Guidelines here

 

IV.  Appeals

Students will have one opportunity to retake all or any part of the examination once. Students who wish to appeal a non-passing grade after a second attempt must address their concerns to the Department Chair.

(updated 03/23/10)