The M.A. exam offers students a chance to demonstrate two educational achievements:

• an adequate knowledge of relevant reading-list texts
• an ability to construct well-organized, adequately sophisticated arguments involving those texts

Comprehensive Examination Format
Hours:
• The four-hour examination is given twice annually, in the fall and spring semesters

Questions:
• Candidates select two questions from a set of 4 or 5 and complete them during the 4- hour exam. Each question requires reference to at least one text from the candidate's registered emphasis.

Committee membership:
• Examination committees for each emphasis will include two persons from an emphasis and one person from outside the emphasis. Committees are established each semester.