The M.A. Examination, required of all Literature Track students, is a capstone accomplishment reflecting the general Master’s in English offered at Rutgers-Newark. The exam is held over two days during the same week in March, three hours each (with an extra half-hour to check over one’s work). The dates are set by the M.A. Exam Committee in consultation with students. Given Graduate School deadlines for graduation, usually this turns out to be the week after Spring Break. In 2005 we will offer both the traditional type of exam (“Plan A”) and an experimental alternative (“Plan B”) in which the student is tested on an individualized list on Day Two. All students are responsible for a broad range of readings, and the two types of exams are designed to be commensurable. Prospective exam-takers should try to attend the Q&A session usually scheduled in September.

THE COMMON READING LIST

Both Plan A and Plan B test knowledge of a representative selection of English, American, and Anglophone literature on the Common Reading List. The list undergoes modifications every 2-3 years so that no single “canon” solidifies. The List for 2005 is available outside Hill 504 or on line. Questions can be addressed to <ma-exam@andromeda.rutgers.edu>.

The aim of testing on a required list is to give all literature students opportunities (1) to acquaint themselves with some writers and works they have not studied in classes and to delve further into others they have; (2) to consolidate their learning in our program, especially by comparative and cross-historical analysis of literary developments and patterns; (3) to study independently; and  (4) to experience the solidarity of a common testing experience.  Prospective exam-takers often form study groups in the preceding summer.

The Common List is divided into four sections of 15-18 authors each:

Literature Before 1660

English and American Literature, 1660-1818

English and American Literature, 1819-1900

Literature in English Since 1900.

All students are responsible for roughly 50 authors.

Plan A tests on 3 sections of the List, including at least one pre-1819, on both exam days.

Plan B tests on 2 sections, on Day One only, that are distinct from the student’s individualized reading list. One of these sections must be literature pre-1819, except in cases described below in “Rules.” On Day Two the Plan B student is tested on his/her own list of 15-18 authors.

DECLARATION OF INTENT

Students are urged to seek faculty advice about the advantages and limitations of both examination plans in order to determine which is best for their education in completing the Program and for their career goals.  In some cases Independent Study, Advanced Readings, or a Thesis is more appropriate than a Plan B exam for a desired specialized course of reading. No notation is made on the final transcript about which exam plan has been followed to complete the degree.

All Literature Track students must file a Declaration of Intent form with the Graduate Director by October 1 or sooner, stating whether they will be taking Plan A or Plan B the following spring. This form is available outside Hill 504. On it the Plan B student also submits the individualized reading list he/she has worked out with a faculty committee along with a written rationale (see “Plan B Rules” below). For Plan B the form must be signed by both committee members and the Program Director. As explained below, permission to do Plan B is not automatic.

Important: Students and faculty must follow due dates and exam guidelines. Decisions about what the student will be tested on, finalized well in advance, must be adhered to. Continued tinkering with the individualized reading list beyond Oct. 1 will not be permitted.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EXAM

The exam is given in three-hour sessions on two days within the same week.

Day One: All literature students face the same 3-hr. exam questions on the Common Reading

List and write 6 half-hour essays. They will be given 6 choices for each section.

Plan A students answer 2 questions in each of 3 sections of the List (at least one pre-1819 section and two other sections of their choice). 

Plan B students answer 3 questions in each of 2 sections of the List that are historically distinct from their individualized list.  One of these sections must be literature pre-1819, except in special cases described in “Rules.”

Day Two: All students write 3 hours of essays. Some essay questions are open as to works discussed and approach taken; others offer authors or titles to choose among.

Plan A: one 1-hr. and one 2-hr essay (5-6 question choices for each).

> These two broad essay questions are designed to elicit connections and comparisons between works from distinct historical eras and contexts.

> In at least one, the student is expected to demonstrate his/her ability to engage different theoretical approaches to literary works.

> As far as possible given the subject matter, exam essays should incorporate a diversity of male and female authors, ethnicities, and colonial/post-colonial contexts or Commonwealth countries.

> The student is to avoid repeating material on Day Two, or from Day One to Day Two. This does not rule out mentioning the same work on both days or more than once. As always, other works on/off the Common List may be brought in to strengthen an answer. Students may use an unmarked copy of the List at the exam.

Plan B: one 1-hr. essay and either one 2-hr. essay or two 1-hr. essays; or two 1.5 hour essays. For each, there will be at least 3-4 question choices.

>  In at least one essay, the student is expected to demonstrate his/her ability to engage different theoretical approaches to literary works.

> In at least one essay, the student is expected to make connections and comparisons between works from distinct historical eras and contexts.

> As far as possible given the subject matter, exam essays should incorporate a diversity of male and female authors, ethnicities, and colonial/post-colonial contexts or Commonwealth countries.

PLAN B RULES

1. Formation of a faculty exam committee: The student considering Plan B must secure two graduate faculty members to serve. Normally they should be sought out no later than the end of the spring semester prior to the next year’s exam. Faculty will lay out the advantages and limitations of both plans to help the student determine which is best for his/her education in completing our program and for his/her career goals.

If a faculty member declines to serve, the student may seek out another. In rare cases, a student might not be able to do Plan B–e.g., when what the student proposes to be tested on is not well thought through or inconsistent with Program exam guidelines, too specialized, or beyond the expertise of faculty members; or when two cannot be found or one is on sabbatical.

2.  Responsibilities of the faculty committee: Both faculty are involved in advising the construction of the individual list, approving it, writing the exam, and grading it. At least two conferences with both faculty should be scheduled. They are not expected to do independent study around the individual reading list.

a) Working out the list. Well before Oct. 1, both faculty review the reading list the student proposes and help him/her refine it according to student needs and interests as well as Program guidelines (see “List Checklist” below). Students should ask whether there are important works in a subject area or era he/she has not thought of; other essential authors for the subject; must-read critical, biographical, or historical material (which may or may not be listed); or issues about different editions or translations. Ultimately the individual list will be 15-18 authors, although more than 15-18 works. It should not be dominated by works the student has already read or duplicate a course syllabus.

b) Thinking through the list’s rationale.  The individualized list should have some coherent reason for being and be related to the aims of the Program. Once a list is agreed on, the student produces a substantial paragraph or two explaining why he/she wants to be tested on these authors and works, how they seem related to each other (as a whole or in groups), why they are important, and how this exam study usefully supplements his/her course work. This statement on the Declaration of Intent form should reflect mature thinking, imagination, cogency, and accuracy.

c) Signing the Declaration of Intent form.  The faculty committee cannot sign it if correct titles, editions, and publication dates are not supplied. It is the student’s responsibility to submit the completed, signed form for the Director’s signature by Oct. 1.

d) Helping the student decide which two sections of the Common Reading List to study for the exam.  As noted above, for the Plan B student these sections on the Day One exam must include one before 1800 and be historically distinct from the individualized list. Should this list be situated in an era pre-1800, or reach across eras (e.g. history of the novel), the faculty committee will make the judgment call about which sections are appropriate for the Day One exam. This decision should be made as early as possible to allow for maximum study time.

e) Writing and grading the Day Two exam: Both faculty on the committee write questions tailored to the student’s reading list. and collaborate to produce a coherent exam. While all Day One exams are blind-read by two faculty members, Plan B exams for Day Two obviously cannot be blind-read by the student’s faculty committee.

For both Plans, every question is graded and the exam given an overall score of High Pass, Pass, Low Pass, Fail. Disagreements are resolved by a third reader.

3. List Checklist for Plan B: In order to make Plan A and Plan B exams commensurable, the individualized list should be comparable in size to one section of the Common Reading List. This means 15 to 18 authors (but more than 15-18 individual works).

The publication date for each item and, where necessary, the edition used (e.g., which text of Frankenstein?) or the translator must be supplied on the Declaration of Intent form. Short poems can be cited to the collection(s) being used and given that date on the list.

Required features

> Some author entries will list more than one work, as on the Common List: e.g., several novels, an ample selection of the poems, several short stories or a poetry collection, a novel plus a short story; a literary work plus a relevant essay or two by the author or someone else, imaginative work plus theoretical writing by the author or a (auto)biography or historical study relevant to the author.

> All are to be different authors from different eras than those the student is studying on the Common Reading List for the Day One exam.

> Like the Common List, the individualized one should be aim to diverse, including more than one genre, both male and female writers, and (as far as possible given the subject matter) writers from more than one ethnic group, colonial or post-colonial context or Commonwealth country.

> The list should be constructed with cross-historical connections and comparisons in mind between works and authors from distinct eras and contexts. (More than one possible historical comparison/contrast, or pattern of literary influence or genre development, should be built into the list.)

 Optional

 > An item or two of critical theory (such as several essays or chapters; a book; several books). Theory work by an author already on the list cannot be numbered separately. In any case, all students are expected to demonstrate the ability to take different theoretical approaches to literary works on the exam, as noted above.

 > Reading history and (auto)biography is encouraged as part of exam preparation. In some cases it would be appropriate to put such a work as an separate item on the list.