19 Preliminary Exam Areas
The following are the Preliminary Exam Areas which have been approved by the department. Depending on the availability of faculty, it may not be possible to arrange exams in some of these areas; students should consult with the Graduate Advisor before deciding on an exam area.
Students have the option of proposing a custom exam for one of their two exam areas. See the overview page for more information and reach out to the Graduate Advisor with any questions.
Preliminary Exam Areas
I. Old and Middle English
II. Early Modern (1500–1660, including Milton)
III. Restoration and Eighteenth-Century British Literature
IV. Nineteenth-Century British Literature*
V. Twentieth-Century British Literature
VI. American Literature to 1910
VII. American Literature: 1880–Present
VIII. Criticism and Critical Theory
IX. Composition, Language, and Rhetoric**
a. Rhetoric
b. Composition Theory and Pedagogy
X. Film Studies
XI. Anglophone Literature
*Romanticism and Victorianism are consolidated into this overall period.
**Students may choose to be examined in IX.a or IX.b only.
Reading Lists: Students will work with their examiners to identify 25-30 books/readings that they will focus on for each exam area.
A student who fails a preliminary exam in one area may choose to change fields before re-taking the exam in the failed area, but will be given only one chance to pass an exam in the new examination area and cannot re-take the exam in the failed area. If the student who has failed a prelim opts to re-take an exam in the same area, the second exam will not be identical to the first. A student who fails a preliminary exam twice will not be able to advance to candidacy or continue in the program.
