Exams
The First Examination
The First ("Comprehensive") Examination - often referred to as "the Comps" is taken by all students before the beginning of the second year of study in the Program. This Exam tests student reading skills, as well as the extent and particularity of students' knowledge about the range of literature and criticism in English. All students, regardless of educational background, are required to take this exam at the end of their first year of study. This all-day exam is usually scheduled for the Friday of the third week in August; the APO will announce the exact exam date at least 4 months in advance.
The examination consists of four sections (divided into two parts). Students arrive with the first section already prepared, they take the second and third sections in the morning (from 9:00 to noon), and section four in the afternoon (from 1:30 to 5:30), on a single day. Students will not be permitted to sit for the written examination if they do not bring Essay I-A (the "passport essay") to the testing room. Results are available within three weeks and before each semester's deadline for filing for a change in registration level.
Information about examination dates is available in the office and is distributed via e-mail. Each examination is read by three members of the doctoral faculty, who award grades of pass or fail to each section of each part. When their judgment is not unanimous, the section(s) in question will be read by an arbitration committee and the EO; the same is true of any section that all three readers grade a failure. Students must retake any section of the test they fail, but they need not repeat sections they have passed. The retake day is usually scheduled for the Friday of the third week in January; the notification letter will contain an exact date. Students who fail the Comprehensive Examination twice will usually be asked to withdraw from the Program. Readers may pass particularly distinguished examinations "with distinction," a notation, reserved for work that is uniformly excellent, that appears on the student's official transcript.
Students may best prepare for the Comprehensive Examination by taking a wide variety of courses; many also form study groups, meeting during the months before the August test date. Most student groups make up practice exams and discuss the readings; they also offer helpful moral support during the months before the exam. In 2000, a truly invaluable guide to the exam was created English Program students. "Comprehending the Comprehensives" contains study suggestions, and sample questions and answers.
The Second Examination
Students more thoroughly demonstrate their powers of discernment, analysis, and eloquence on the Second Examination, commonly referred to as "Orals." Students take this exam after they have completed all their course work (they are also encouraged to meet the dual foreign language requirement beforehand).
This is a two-hour examination in three fields, administered by a committee of three professors. All examiners must hold appointments to the doctoral faculty in English at The Graduate Center; any exceptions - for a student doing interdisciplinary work, for example - require the Executive Officer's approval. Students take the Second Examination within one year of completing all their course work and meeting other Program requirements.
In planning for the Second Examination:
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Decide upon three fields of inquiry. A field list may be organized around a genre, a historical period, a major author or set of authors, or a theoretical approach. Fields should be broad enough to constitute the framework for an undergraduate course, and focused enough to provide a basis for advanced scholarly research. Make lists of primary and secondary sources that seem appropriate to each field. In order to ensure scholarly and professional range, the student should avoid overlap among the lists. Talk to as many members of the Program as possible, students as well as faculty, about topics, fields, reading lists, and appropriate faculty members who might direct the dissertation and/or sit on the Examination Committee. Take advantage of faculty office hours.
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Ask a member of the faculty, probably the person who will serve as Dissertation Supervisor, to chair the Examination Committee and to offer advice in refining the field lists. Some students work successfully with professors without having taken their seminars, but most members of the faculty will want to see evidence of a student's ability to write research papers if they have never had that person in class.
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Choose other examiners with the assistance of the Committee Chair, and ask for guidance in establishing the final reading lists. Each examiner must approve his or her field list and sign the contract. Ideally, examiners should be familiar with the other two lists before signing off on their own. The Chair of the Examination Committee must review the contents of all lists before signing off as chair. The completed lists and signed Second Examination Contract must be submitted to the Assistant Program Officer at least six weeks before the examination date. The Executive Officer will contact the student if there is any objection to the lists. At the examination itself, each of the three examiners is normally allotted 40 minutes to ask questions based on the list he or she supervised. Students may begin the examination by commenting briefly on their choice of readings and the relationship of the three topical lists to each other. Immediately following the examination, the Committee members consult and award the student one of three grades: pass, pass with distinction, or fail. The mark of distinction requires an outstanding performance on all the constituent parts; a notation of this honor appears on the student's official transcript. A student who fails the examination, or one part of it, must retake the relevant section(s) with the same field lists and examiners(s). Students who wish to make any changes must secure the approval of the Executive Officer.