MA Assessment Exam

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Dr. April Shemak, MA Director. MA Assessment Exam.

[Audio] We are meeting to discuss the upcoming MA Assessment Exam. I am Dr. Shemak, the director of the MA program. Please excuse my computerized voice. I have health issues that make speaking difficult, so I will have my computer do most of my speaking for me today. I apologize for the narrator's voice. It's a little too " game-show-host" for me, but it was the best option!.

[Audio] This is the description of the Graduate Assessment Examination from the MA Handbook (which is available on the Blackboard English MA organization that you are enrolled in. Examination Dates During the August MA Program Orientation, the Graduate Director will present all incoming graduate students, including those who began in the preceding spring and summer semesters, with a list of ten " touchstone texts," selected in consultation with the MA faculty assigned graduate courses during the ensuing academic year. Students will have eight months to master these texts and to familiarize themselves with both the historical contexts in which they were produced and the major trends in current scholarship on each of them. The examination will be administered on the first Saturday of the following May. Examination Areas The ten titles are selected from the full history of literature written in English, both non-traditional and canonical, and represent a range of genres and perspectives; the list will include poetry, drama, and prose (both fiction and non-fiction), and may include cultural studies, literary theory, linguistics, or histories of the English language. The exam questions will ask students both to address the exceptional qualities of each text and to synthesize a comparative argument, drawing connections across the diverse texts. For this reason, it is important that all MA students complete both ENGL 5301 Methods of Graduate Research and ENGL 5302 Literary Theory before taking the exam..

[Audio] Preparing for the Graduate Assessment Examination Students should notify the Director if they do not intend to take the Graduate Assessment Exam in their first year; it is assumed that all incoming students will take the exam at the end of their first year. Students should acquire editions of each of the texts (where possible, a current scholarly editions); faculty will recommend editions and may recommend important works of criticism..

[Audio] While the faculty will organize events, it is also advisable for students to form study groups and develop diverse ways in which to engage with the texts. While the faculty may and will discuss the works on the list, they are not to tutor individual students on works on the list—it is the student's responsibility to use the methods and theories learnt in ENGL 5301 and 5302 to master the texts. Students should prepare a dossier of notes and materials for the exam, which should include extensive notes, bibliographies, and précis; the exam is open- book but you will not be permitted to use online files or the internet during the exam. While the faculty will organize events, it is also advisable for students to form study groups and develop diverse ways in which to engage with the texts. While the faculty may and will discuss the works on the list, they are not to tutor individual students on works on the list—it is the student's responsibility to use the methods and theories learnt in ENGL 5301 and 5302 to master the texts. Students should prepare a dossier of notes and materials for the exam, which should include extensive notes, bibliographies, and précis; the exam is open-book but you will not be permitted to use online files or the internet during the exam..

[Audio] This is a take-home exam—you will receive is about 5 PM on Friday, May 6th and need to submit it to me at aas004@shsu.edu by 10 AM the following MONDAY, May 9th.

[Audio] Study Tips Look for common themes-- Identity and Race, Class, Gender, Sexuality, Ethnicity—how do these things impact theme and form? For example, if you are looking at a text authored by a white man, conder how women and/or non-white and/or LGBTQ characters are represented in the text. Demonstrate that you have an understanding of the critical scholarship about a text You will need to examine at least five of the ten texts in your essay. The exam questions will state which texts are required to be included in your essay. Pace yourself so that you are writing about 2 pages/text. Each text should be given the same amount of space—do not spend all of your time on one or two texts and a small amount on the rest (that will make it seem as though they are "tacked on" rather than integrated in your analysis). have a thesis statement for your essay—remember that you need to make an argument and you'll need to include all of the parts of a complete essay (don't forget an introduction and conclusion!!) give specific examples from the text to support your argument—include quotations and page numbers read the scholarship about each text—refer to it in your essay—know who the major scholars are. Some have case studies, or Norton critical editions, MLA Approaches to Teaching series, critical introductions, critical c companions are things that come to mind..

[Audio] STUDY TIPS CONTINUED know the field that a text is a part of— U.S. Ethnic, British, postcolonial, etc. know time period in which a text was written (is a text contemporary American, 16th century British, etc.) know the genre of a given text ( prose fiction novel or short story, poetry, graphic novel, slave narrative, restoration drama, etc.).