Near the completion of requirements for the M.A. degree, the student is given an examination by an examination committee, which is appointed by the chairperson of the Department and the graduate director after consultation with the student. To be eligible for the examination, the candidate must have satisfied the Departmental foreign language requirement, virtually completed course work, and (if following the thesis option) finished at least a first draft of the thesis.
It is the obligation of the candidate to advise the chairperson of the Department or the graduate director that he or she plans to take the examination; this must be done at least one month before the date of the examination. The student should also consult with his or her advisor.
The M.A. candidate may state a preference for one member of the graduate faculty in German to serve on the three-person examination committee. Under the thesis option the examination committee will normally be chaired by the thesis advisor.
The student will be admitted to the oral examination after passing the written examination. Under the thesis option, a defense of the thesis will also be included as part of the oral examination.
For the student's official University record, the examination committee will report one of three grades: Honors, Satisfactory, Unsatisfactory.
For the Departmental file, they will report one of four categories:
The grade for the degree examination will be based solely on the oral examination (Honors, Satisfactory, Unsatisfactory). The written examination serves only as a qualifying examination for admission to the oral examination.
The examination committee is expected to make a recommendation regarding admission to the Ph.D. program in the Department. The entire Departmental graduate staff, however, is responsible for determining whether or not a student who has passed the M.A. examination shall be permitted to go on for the Ph.D. It will take very seriously the committee's recommendation, but will also take into account the student's grades and graduate instructors' written evaluations of term papers completed in courses. Ordinarily, a minimum 3.5 grade average (on a 4-point scale) is required of Ph.D. aspirants.
The M.A. exam is given three times each academic year: (1) at the beginning of the academic year (in August); (2) at the beginning of the Spring semester (in January); and (3) at the end of the academic year (in March). No examinations are scheduled in the summer. Candidates repeating the M.A. examination shall normally be required to adhere to the regular examination schedule as described above.
Sequence of examination parts: The written examination for the M.A. degree will be given in one part consisting of two sections (or one section for the thesis option). The oral examination is scheduled as early as possible after the written examination.
Guidelines for the Examinations
A graduate examination may be canceled by a student up to twenty-four hours in advance of the scheduled time. In the event of a late cancellation, the graduate faculty must give express permission to reschedule the examination.
Sample copies of an examination are available upon request from the graduate director.
THE M.A. EXAMINATION (non-thesis) CONSISTS OF:
1. A written examination on literature (4 hours) limited to the M.A. Required Reading List (Appendix F) and consisting of two sections:
1.1. An interpretation of a text chosen from a selection representing three different genres and periods. The interpretation should place the work in the context of its period ( 2 hours).
1.2. An essay in literary history. There will be a choice of four such questions, each addressing a different period which is not represented by texts for interpretation (see section 1.1 above) (2 hours).
This written examination also serves as a language proficiency test. The candidate must write one of the two essays in German, the other in English.
In order to be admitted to the oral examination the candidate must have passed both sections of the written M.A. examination.
2. An oral examination (90 minutes). The basis for the examination is a reading list prepared by the candidate consisting of 15 representative prose/dramatic works and 10 poems from the Required Reading List and 5 prose/dramatic works and 5 poems of the candidates choosing.
THE M.A. EXAMINATION (thesis) CONSISTS OF:
1. A written interpretation of a text chosen from a selection representing three different genres and periods. The interpretation should place the work in the context of its period (2 hours).
This written examination also serves as a language proficiency test. The candidate must write the essay in German (or English if the native language is German).
In order to be admitted to the oral examination the candidate must have passed this section of the written M.A. examination and submitted a complete preliminary version of the M.A. thesis to the examination committee.
2. An oral examination (90 minutes). This exam will consist of a thirty-minute defense of the M.A. thesis and a one-hour general examination based on a reading list prepared by the candidate consisting of 15 representative prose/dramatic works and 10 poems from the Required Reading List and 5 prose/dramatic works and 5 poems of the candidates choosing..
An unsatisfactory performance on an individual section of the examination requires that the student pass a second examination on that
individual section. The Department will permit one reexamination of the written sections failed as well as one reexamination of the oral part.
For a reexamination of a section or the entire written examination in March, students will be given one of three dates, as determined by
the examination committee:
The examination committee will determine the appropriate option after consulting with the student and report the date for the reexamination to the Graduate Committee.
After completing the M.A. examination, the examination committee makes a recommendation to the graduate staff regarding the candidate's potential for doctoral work. The graduate staff's majority vote determines admission to the Ph.D. program.
THE M.A.THESIS
The candidate choosing the thesis degree option should complete an extended piece of research, working closely with the graduate faculty member who will direct the thesis and sign the title page. A proposal for an M.A. thesis is approved by the thesis advisor and requires no committee approval. The completed thesis, however, requires the approval of the entire examination committee, which also serves as the thesis committee. One of the three members, apart from the advisor (and chairperson) should be competent in the particular field of the thesis, and at least two members of the committee shall be from the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures.
All graduate students are expected to write one major term paper each semester. With the approval of the professor concerned, a student may expand one of the term papers into an M.A. thesis during the final semester of work in the M.A. degree. A maximum of 3 hours in GERM 899 for the revision of the paper into an M.A. thesis will be allowed. An M.A. thesis should have a maximum length of 50 pages.
A complete preliminary version of the M.A. thesis must be submitted to the examination committee with the student's reading list no later than 2 weeks prior to the oral examination for the M.A. degree.
In addition to the copies of the M.A. thesis required for the Graduate Division of the College, one bound copy must be turned in to the Department.
At least three copies of the final version of the thesis must be signed by the thesis advisor before binding. Two unbound copies must be deposited in the Graduate Division, plus a $25.00 binding fee, not less than one month before the date on which the degree is to be conferred. The third copy is kept by the Department.
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