What Is the Written comprehensive Examination?

This question is perhaps best answered first by what the exam sets out to do.

Part of the ideal of a graduate English program like ours at Sam Houston State University, aside from making an independent critical thinker and scholar of you, is to expose you to a broad range of literature and to broad issues of language and writing. Aiming at both critical independence and comprehensive understanding of literatures and language, the program prepares you for further graduate schooling, enriched secondary teaching, and junior college teaching, depending upon your inclinations and aspirations.

With a Master’s in English from Sam Houston State University, you should have extensive familiarity with British and American literature and a solid understanding of how to approach the literature. You may also have preparation in a writing discipline that prepares you more specifically for a profession in writing or editing.

To assure the English graduate faculty and the University that you have, in fact, achieved this level of preparation and expertise, the MA comprehensive examination requires that you demonstrate your broad understanding of literary “periods,” critical theory, and writing disciplines, in various combinations, and your mastery of specific defining or representative works within those areas. In taking on a question in the area of 19th-century American literature, for example, you might be expected to demonstrate a general understanding of literary realism (its roots, its general development in various works of the age, and its legacy) and then to demonstrate the specific ways in which a novel like James’ The Portrait of a Lady represents that development. Or you might be asked to make an argument about evolving attitudes toward nature. In responding to a question about the use of reason in the 18th century, you would be expected to show that you know the general debate about the definitions, virtues, and limitations of reason and then to demonstrate your understanding of that debate with a very close reading of a work like Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” or Hume’s “Of Miracles.”

The “comps” demonstrate that you have a broad graduate-level understanding of a body of literature and ideas, that you have the critical intelligence necessary to make significant arguments about that literature and those ideas, and that you have developed a critical idiom/vocabulary sophisticated enough so that you can articulate those arguments convincingly to a reasonably well-educated audience. The written comps, then, examine not just your ability to sit down and write an essay but also your ability to sift through bodies of writing, see connections among works and concepts, and make sense of—make well-reasoned and well-defended arguments about—the language and literature.

The whole process can be quite “nervous-making,” but please keep the larger goals of the program in mind: A Master’s degree is an important and meaningful achievement; it’s not supposed to be easy. While we are all here because we love literature, language, and ideas, we aren’t necessarily supposed to be comfortable, are we? So the kind of academic terror that you feel in preparing for and sitting for the comprehensive exam is both understandable and, perhaps, necessary. That having been said, if you have conscientiously followed the program guidelines for coursework and not tried to sidestep hard work in the process, have read sufficiently beyond your classwork in the examination areas, and have carefully considered connections between and among works and writers as you prepare for the exam, you will not only pass, but will do so with great credit.

Format of the Written Comprehensive Exam

The comps examine you in three broad areas of literature and language. You choose the three areas, from the following list:

• English Language
• Early and Middle English Literature
• World Literature (one of the following): Emphasis in the Classical Tradition or Emphasis in World Literature in English (Postcolonial)
• Theory and Practice of Composition and Rhetoric
• Technical and Professional Writing
• Renaissance and 17th-Century British Literature
• Restoration and 18th-Century British Literature
• American Literature before 1800
• 19th-Century British Literature
• 19th-Century American Literature
• 20th-/21st-Century British Literature
• 20th-/21st-Century American Literature

To assure breadth of reading and understanding, one area must be in British literature, and one must be in American literature. One must be a pre-1800 literature area, and one must be a post-1800 literature area. So, for example, you could choose the following three areas:

English Language
Early American Literature (satisfies both the American and the pre-1800 requirement)
19th-Century British Literature (satisfies both the British and the post-1800 requirement)

Because they are comprehensive, areas typically comprise more than one discrete topic or literary “period.” So, for example, a student sitting for the English Language examination would be expected to have a graduate-level understanding of English linguistics, grammar, and history of the language. A student sitting for the 19th-century British examination would be expected to know both Romantics and Victorians.

When you sit down to take the exam, you will get a set of three questions for each area; you will choose one for response. You have two hours to address each question. You may either use a word processor or write your essays in blue books.

The system for writing and reading the examinations is “double-blind”: Both you and the graduate faculty members who read and evaluate the exam essays will remain anonymous.

Frequency of the Written Comprehensive Exam

The exam is offered three times annually, on the third Saturdays of February, June, and October. The dates for the 2008 exams are

February 16, 2008
June 21, 2008
October 18, 2008

When Should I take the Exam?

The simple answer is, “When you feel ready” (but as long as you do so within the six-year limit for completing the degree, of course). Readiness in this case implies that you’ve had enough coursework and done enough independent reading so that you are confident that you have a comprehensive understanding of the three areas and can make graduate-level arguments about the literature and language. Most candidates take the exams during their final semesters.

Some Requirements for Taking the Written Exam

You must have satisfied any conditions determining your acceptance into the English MA Program so that you are a regular admission student in good standing.

You must be an MA candidate; in other words, you must have filed a Declaration of Major.

Because you are using University resources in taking the written comprehensive examination (in this case, the human resources who will construct, administer, and read the exam), you must enroll (and stay enrolled) at the University during the term in which you sit for both the written and oral examinations.

Declaring your Intention to Take the Comprehensive Exam

Submit to the Director of Graduate Studies in English a Declaration of Intent Form. The form asks that you fill in some vital statistics, circle the date of the exam that you plan to take, designate the three areas in which you wish to be examined, and sign your name.

You must submit the form in the term prior to that in which you sit for the examination. Keep in mind that the earlier you sign up, the more time that you will have for preparation.

Reading Lists

Having submitted the declaration form, download the reading lists for the three areas. Click on each title below for a link to the reading list:

• English Language
• Early and Middle English Literature
• World Literature (one of the following):
  Emphasis in the Classical Tradition
  Emphasis in World Literature in English (Postcolonial)
• Theory and Practice of Composition and Rhetoric
• Technical and Professional Writing
• Renaissance and 17th-Century British Literature
• Restoration and 18th-Century British Literature
• American Literature before 1800
• 19th-Century British Literature
• 19th-Century American Literature
• 20th-/21st-Century British Literature
• 20th-/21st-Century American Literature

Because they represent current developments and interests in the field, these reading lists are fluid, changing slightly from time to time. The Graduate Director will download the three area lists that are posted on the date of your declaration form. You are responsible for works on the lists as of that date; you are not responsible for any works that are posted after that date.

Preparing for the Written Comprehensive Examination

The best inspiration comes from the best preparation. So as you consider sitting for the written comprehensive examination, keep in mind the following guidelines for preparing:

• Begin preparing early: Download the appropriate reading list for each area immediately. You cannot study for a question overnight, so start several months in advance by constructing a manageable schedule for reading and reviewing. Allot a certain number of hours weekly for this enterprise. Stick with this schedule: The prize in graduate school goes to those who are both brilliant and steady.

• Consult a graduate faculty member who specializes in a certain area. Usually she or he will suggest strategies for taking the exam. (For area experts, see Graduate English Faculty: 2007-2008.)

• Learn or review the facts about the age or subject and about the works. Yes, you should know the names and dates. These are not at all trivial. Without an understanding of such facts, you may very well, like an MA student of years ago, make the creative, but, alas, anachronistic claim that Shakespeare influenced Chaucer.
  
  
• Review key questions, problems, themes, and methods under consideration in critical discussions about the area of study. And as you review and read anew, consider the qualities—intellectual, aesthetic, and political, for example—and techniques that characterize the areas under question.

• Look for broad aesthetic and cultural developments over a literary age and important cohesive principles in a writing discipline or linguistic area, but also know certain representative works in great detail. Consider carefully how these works define the developments in question. Be prepared to discuss them in sufficient depth.

• Do not rely exclusively on class lecture and discussion notes. While a good survey of literature and a creative or professional writing class should give you some sort of comprehensive understanding of a subject, constraints of time—and sometimes the interests and temperament of a particular professor—often determine the scope and depth of studies in a class. The exam requires that you demonstrate your mastery of a study area, not your mastery of a class. So you should plan to do supplementary reading in the field or take more than one course in the area, or both. (You may also feel confident enough to choose an examination area in which you’ve never had coursework.)

How Well Do I Need to Know Works on the Reading Lists?

You should certainly have read all of the works on a core list and have some idea of how all of them fit together. You should know a handful of works very well (to the point at which you can quote from them), especially those that seem seminal to the age or to the language or writing focus.

Do I Need to Know Secondary Works in the Area?

Although no question would ever require that you have read a secondary work, you should, as demonstration of your graduate-level understanding of the literature and language, be able to situate your argument within the critical contexts. Certainly any essay awarded the coveted high pass would be able to do so.

So in preparing for the exam, you might consult some of the prominent critical works. Let’s say, for example, that you are taking the 19th-century British literature exam, which requires that you know both the Romantics and the Victorians. A classic secondary work that you may want, at least, to look at is M.H. Abrams’ The Mirror and the Lamp, which maps the shift between mimetic and expressive modes of literary discourse. Or if you are taking the exam in 20th-century British literature, you might have a look at Irving Howe’s The Idea of the Modern. (For certain examination areas like English language or the theory and practice of rhetoric and composition, the brunt of your preparation comes effectively from secondary works.)

Graduate faculty area specialists will also be able to make suggestions about secondary readings. But keep your preparation in perspective; don’t overburden yourselves with an impossible list of such works.

Who Writes the Exam Questions?

The area questions come from a bank submitted by area specialists among the graduate faculty and accumulated over the years from previous exams. Every exam question in this bank has been reviewed by a Graduate Studies Committee of five faculty members to make sure that it is both comprehensive and fair.  

When the Graduate Director puts together the exam specifically for you, he or she chooses the area questions more or less at random from the bank. “More or less” because the Director tries to offer a broad range of possibilities so that you can find a question that will play to your own strengths and interests and tries to avoid any questions that duplicate focuses or approaches. 

Sitting for the Written Comprehensive Examination

You will have two hours to answer each of three area questions. The exam poses questions carefully designed so that you can manage them within the allotted time, provided that you prepare well. The questions are such that you will be asked not only to demonstrate your broad understanding of developments and issues in the study area, but also to demonstrate that you can apply this broad understanding to your close reading of a handful of central texts.

You will be allowed to write your responses in blue books or use a word processor. More specific practical instructions are provided at the time that you apply to take the examination. In the meantime, however, you may wish to look at the Examination Instruction Sheet.

Some modest suggestions for managing your response follow:

1. For each examination area, you will be given three questions; you respond to one. First, read cursorily through the possible questions. While you should be prepared to answer any one of them, look for the one that seems best suited to your interests and preparation and that invites you to use as examples those works that you know best.
   
   
2. Pay careful attention to the language of the question. Consider not only what debates, issues, and themes that it asks you to address, but also the approach and structure that it expects of your response. Look for any keywords that indicate these expectations, if they exist. Does the question ask that you compare and contrast works? analyze them? explain or trace a certain development? The graduate faculty who read your exam will consider first how successfully you did what the question required you to do.
   
   
3. Be flexible, so that you are able to answer the question that is asked and not some hoped-for or imagined question. (This is as much a plea as it is good advice.)
   
   
4. Manage your time well. Give yourself a few moments to consider how you will develop the response (you might even jot a quick outline on a back page of your bluebook or a piece of scratch paper), then begin writing steadily enough so that you can finish the response in the allotted time and, while doing so, maintain a good balance between levels of generalization and specificity in your answer.
   
   
5. Write an introduction, with a significant thesis that appears at the end of that introduction. Forgive our being formulaic here—but write an introduction, with a significant thesis that appears as the final sentence. Write an introduction, with a significant thesis that appears as the final sentence.
   
   
6. “Stay on task.” Keep your focus on the specific question. Do not stray to another question or another issue. Of course, you cannot say in two hours everything that there is to say about a particular issue or debate. If you love your subject as much as an individual taking a Master’s degree should, you will want to show off how much you know. While the graduate faculty appreciate this enthusiasm, for the written examination you must control and restrain your response by writing concisely and sparely.
   
   
7. Make your response significant: Avoid plot summaries or guidebook introductions to the works. Your readers will know the works and know the plots; what they want to know are your ideas about the works. In answering the question, make an argument that demonstrates your familiarity with the texts and your graduate-level ability to reach critical conclusions about works of literature or the writing discipline.
   
   
8. In order to establish and maintain your critical authority, so that your reader attends to your brilliant argument, write clearly and correctly, in an idiom befitting graduate-level writing about literature and language. Give yourself a few minutes at the end of the two hours to proofread your response.

Who Grades the Written Exam?

Two anonymous graduate faculty members, working independently, grade each exam essay; each assigns it a pass, high pass, or fail. Both readers report their evaluations to the Graduate Director.

If the two primary graders disagree, the essay goes to a third anonymous grader who serves as a tie-breaker (this third reader has no information about how the other two graders evaluated the essay).

Faculty graders, who rotate from term to term, read examination essays across a range of areas.

How Do I Get the Results of My Written Exam?

When all exam essays have been read and all disputes settled, the Director of Graduate Studies in English will inform you of the results in writing. The reading process typically takes two weeks. Please—please—do not ask the Graduate Director for results of your (or, worse, anyone else’s) exam before then. This requires a little patience and restraint.

What If I Fail an Exam Area?

If both primary graders agree in failing an essay or the tie-breaking third reader fails the essay, you have one opportunity to retake that section. You must retake the section(s) at the very next sitting of the exam. You must file a declaration of intent to take the exam form for your retake, as you did for the initial attempt. You must enroll (and stay enrolled) at the University during the term in which you sit for the retake.

There is no stigma attached to failing an area question, and your transcript will not record such a failure. Should you fail an area question a second time, however, you may not retake the examination a third time without review by the Graduate Studies Committee, the Chair of the Department of English, and the Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

What Is the Oral Exam?

All English MA students take some sort of oral examination before graduation. For thesis students, this examination is an oral defense of the thesis; for non-thesis students, the exam is an oral comprehensive. A candidate sits for the oral comprehensive after she or he has passed all three sections of the written exam; the exam covers the same three areas. Three area specialists are appointed by the Graduate Director to conduct the exam.

A candidate has some choice of the date and time of the oral comprehensive: There’s a form that one fills out after completing the written exam to indicate these. But the Dean’s Office has a deadline for completing the exam; this date changes from term to term.

For further information, see The Oral Examination.

For Further Information

The Director of Graduate Studies in English typically offers comprehensive examination prep sessions twice annually. Be on the lookout for announcements.

Consult the booklet The Graduate Comprehensive Examination in English, available from the Graduate Director. This guide supplies all the information necessary for applying and preparing to take the exam, sample forms, and sample essay questions and responses.

Addendum
Students who suffer from “test anxiety” or another debility that materially affects their ability to take an examination of this sort must provide formal documentation of such a condition from Student Services.