Hi people I was windering if people who are studying english PHD what were theoral exams and courses like I am heavily cosnidering it after I go to college
You usually take oral exams after completing your coursework, year three or four. You pick three "areas" and each covers a period or genre. I did American 1865-1950, Contemporary American, and British Victorian. I had to read and know 25 books per list. I was then grilled by my committe for the orals. It's not for the faint of heart and usually takes a year of preparation. I was able to register for reading hours to prepare.
Some theory will probably be on all of the lists. Also, I forgot to mention that we had to write timed essays ("sit downs") for each area, then "defend" those essays as part of the oral exam. It varies by program, as the poster below mentions.
Something I want to emphasize to you and anyone else considering a PhD program: the coursework in most PhD programs isn't as important as the exams and diss; or, another way of putting this, the point of a PhD is to see how well you work and produce on your own, not how you perform in traditional classes. I didn't step foot in a regular classroom after year 2.
It's going to vary some by institution. Mine was 33 hours of courses post-MA, with at least 12 hours in my primary specialty and 9 hours in my secondary. The courses were typical grad-level courses.
My comps were: primary specialty only (I did literary theory) = a reading list of 50+ books (all theory/philosophy, no novels), a 3-hour onsite exam (6 out of 8 questions), a 72-hour blind 22-25 page essay (looking at the essay prompt started the 72-hour timer), and a 90-minute oral exam where they tore apart everything I had said and done on the other two parts. I did mine in Fall, so I had about 9 months to prep after taking my last class.
After passing comps, it was the dissertation and defense (with a "novel argument that significantly contributes to the field").
Oral exams were very intense to prepare for -- I had two lists: Modernist novels and media theory. I read about 70 novels for list 1 and had about as many books on the second list, though I didn't read all of those in their totality. I did exams during COVID and it was an incredibly lonely time. I can imagine it would be different now, but it's really just a discipline / focus game, and it made me feel crazy.
Coursework was not so hard, though in the second year of my program we started teaching, so learning to do coursework / teach / start to prepare for oral exams was also very hard.
Orals are strange, because rarely will anyone fail them, but they are simultaneously the most stressful period of the PhD. I’d be curious to know if ppl here know people who failed their orals/comps. It was unheard of at the institutions I went to.
You usually take oral exams after completing your coursework, year three or four. You pick three "areas" and each covers a period or genre. I did American 1865-1950, Contemporary American, and British Victorian. I had to read and know 25 books per list. I was then grilled by my committe for the orals. It's not for the faint of heart and usually takes a year of preparation. I was able to register for reading hours to prepare.
do you think this would be theoretical stuff if one was working in the area of media studies (but still studying in an english program)?
Some theory will probably be on all of the lists. Also, I forgot to mention that we had to write timed essays ("sit downs") for each area, then "defend" those essays as part of the oral exam. It varies by program, as the poster below mentions.
Something I want to emphasize to you and anyone else considering a PhD program: the coursework in most PhD programs isn't as important as the exams and diss; or, another way of putting this, the point of a PhD is to see how well you work and produce on your own, not how you perform in traditional classes. I didn't step foot in a regular classroom after year 2.
thank you!
It's going to vary some by institution. Mine was 33 hours of courses post-MA, with at least 12 hours in my primary specialty and 9 hours in my secondary. The courses were typical grad-level courses.
My comps were: primary specialty only (I did literary theory) = a reading list of 50+ books (all theory/philosophy, no novels), a 3-hour onsite exam (6 out of 8 questions), a 72-hour blind 22-25 page essay (looking at the essay prompt started the 72-hour timer), and a 90-minute oral exam where they tore apart everything I had said and done on the other two parts. I did mine in Fall, so I had about 9 months to prep after taking my last class.
After passing comps, it was the dissertation and defense (with a "novel argument that significantly contributes to the field").
Oral exams were very intense to prepare for -- I had two lists: Modernist novels and media theory. I read about 70 novels for list 1 and had about as many books on the second list, though I didn't read all of those in their totality. I did exams during COVID and it was an incredibly lonely time. I can imagine it would be different now, but it's really just a discipline / focus game, and it made me feel crazy.
Coursework was not so hard, though in the second year of my program we started teaching, so learning to do coursework / teach / start to prepare for oral exams was also very hard.
Orals are strange, because rarely will anyone fail them, but they are simultaneously the most stressful period of the PhD. I’d be curious to know if ppl here know people who failed their orals/comps. It was unheard of at the institutions I went to.