The exam vets spoke first.  Gina Valentino had 5 tips to give:

1. talk to your examiners in their office hours.  Ask them what they expect from the exam.
   
   
2. Confidence…SHOW IT!  Be sure to be aware of your nervous habits and curb them.
   
   
3. Synthesize the material…cross-reference the texts.  Show off your knowledge!


4. Be able to deflect questions.  If you draw a blank on a text, speak about another text that you can talk about and relate to the question.  Don’t be afraid to admit you are drawing a blank.


5. Dress comfortably.

Laura Szanto had these comments to make:  Don’t look at lists as un-related, be sure to cross-reference texts.  Check out the written exams from the old format 1^st qualifying exams (copies in Dana’s office).  Be sure to participate in the Mock Exams (contact Steve Deng about these) and get used to hearing your voice.   Also, for each reading list make a themes list and have one text that you can always go to and draw from.

Tassie Gniady stressed that if you are confused by a question you can always ask for clarification or say “I think what you are asking is…”.  She also stressed knowing the history and context behind each list.  She agreed with Laura that the Mock Exam is a huge help and for her, was actually harder than the real exam.   It gave her excellent preparation.  She said that it was important to have at least one sentence to say about each text and author.

Next the faculty examiners spoke.  Porter Abbott said that the exam has evolved from a written exam in 3 areas that was taken home by the students and took all day to complete.  They found that it went into too much depth and decided that more breadth was needed and historical contexts were important.  The oral exam was instituted three years ago that is a mix of both comparative and specific questions.  Porter stressed to the students present that they know more than they think they know, however the anxiety produced by studying for the exam tends to make one think they don’t.

Shirley Lim made the distinction that the 1^st qualifying exam is thought of as shallow and broad while the 2^nd qualifying exam is to show depth of reading and thinking.  She pointed out that it is ok to draw a blank 2 or 3 times however if you do it too much you will fail the exam.  The contradiction in this exam is that the faculty want to see that you have broad knowledge and know connections between the fields but you are also expected to show the close reading you have done by knowing specific scenes and characters in the texts.  She suggests that you know 2 specific passages in each text  and be able to use them to show close reading of the texts.

She stressed that this is not just a hurdle to get over but a skills oriented exam that will help you with job and fellowship interviews where you have to retrieve information in a quick and interesting manner.

Maurizia pointed out that this is a special moment where you take your expertise and make connections with it and she urges all students taking their exams in General Theory and Genders to come in and talk with her during her office hours.  She also mentioned as Shirley did that it is ok to say “I don’t know” a couple of times but not much more than that.

Julie Carlson pointed out that in terms of studying you should be done with your reading 2 weeks before the exam.  You can review your readings after that.  As well as thematic lists she suggests having formal lists.  She felt that it was helpful for examinees to take texts that are dramatically opposed to each other and link them with a text in the middle.  She stressed that whatever makes you feel less tense…do it!  The examiners want you to be comfortable.

Porter talked about how important comparative thinking is.  If you’re dealing with similar texts some of the most important aspects of those texts are the differences and how far you can go with those differences.  Be interesting in short bursts due to the time constraints.

Eye contact is not just good in terms of making a good impression on the examiners…it also makes the student feel more in control of the situation.

Shirley mentioned that as soon as you get on a roll and know what you are talking about and feel comfortable, you will be asked to move on as it is a comprehensive exam that covers such a wide area.

Dana will be collecting responses from exam veterans on their experiences, both positive and not so positive and will be giving it to the examiners before the exams so that they can see what worked for the examinees and what didn’t.