Comprehensive Exams for M.A. in Spanish

Students in their final semester of coursework for the M.A. degree may take the comprehensive exams. Usually, students take exams during the twelfth week of spring semester of their second year of the program (April 2024). If a student wishes to postpone the exams, they will need to petition the Spanish graduate faculty through the graduate advisor. If the petition is granted, the student will need to register for at least one hour only during the semester in which they plan to take the exam.

Comprehensive exams assess student achievement of learning outcomes listed on p. 5 of this Handbook. Students should consult regularly with their mentors for advice on preparation beginning in the first semester of the program. In addition to coursework, it is the responsibility of the student to prepare all readings from the list and contextualize them historically, this includes consulting the suggested readings, thoroughly reading all texts and selections - whether they are covered in class or not. Questions on both the written and oral exams may come from any part of the Reading List in addition to any materials covered in your four semesters of class work. All areas are of equal importance.

Graduate faculty will sit on committees and represent the areas of: Peninsular literature, culture and history; Latin American literature, culture and history, Spanish / Applied linguistics. By mid-semester the Spanish graduate faculty will finalize the committee chairs. The Graduate Advisor will then form a committee to compose a draft exam and circulate it for comments.  Once the faculty is satisfied with the exam, the Graduate Advisor will photocopy the exam questions and bring hard copies on the days of the exam.

Procedures

Prior to the written exam, the chair of each M.A. committee will consult with the student and the other members of the committee to set up a date and time for the oral exam. The oral should be scheduled for the week following the written exams in order to give faculty time to read and evaluate the written parts. Each committee chair will reserve a room through the University Registrar (scheduling@ohio.edu).

Committee members will read and evaluate responses in all areas of the exam, not just their specialization and share impressions via email. In cases where the committee considers the written exam unacceptable, the student will not progress to the oral exam and will receive an evaluation of "retake" or "fail" (see below). Before the oral, students are encouraged to meet with their committee chair, who will share appropriate advice or information from the committee. Students may also consult with other committee members prior to their oral exams. Any of the committee members may share the questions and a student's answers from the written exams with the student.

Before the oral, the committee chair should print out or pick up a copy of the exam evaluation sheet from the graduate chair and be prepared to provide the student with a clean copy of the reading list. A fillable electronic form is also available. The oral exam will last one hour and will serve several purposes: to test the student鈥檚 familiarity with works not covered on the written exam (including questions not chosen from the written), confirm understanding of pertinent vocabulary, general concepts and movements, and to test his or her ability to engage in dialogue in Spanish.

At the end of the oral, the committee asks the candidate to leave the room while members deliberate and assign an overall evaluation of the student鈥檚 combined performance on the written and oral exam.  Through discussion, the committee should come to a consensus. If consensus is not possible, a simple majority determines the outcome. Committee members just vote with a YES or NO. Abstentions are not permitted. The committee informs the student immediately of that outcome. The committee chair fills out the exam results form, the committee members sign it, and the committee chair submits it to the Graduate Chair for his or her signature. The Graduate Chair will file a copy of the signed form with the Chair of the department.

Comprehensive Exam Outcomes

Students will be evaluated solely on their performance on the exam; performance in classes is independent from performance in the comprehensive exams. Exams are conceived as one unit composed of written and oral portions.

Upon review of the work produced in the exam, the faculty committee will make one of the following decisions:

  1. Pass
  2. Retake (The retake exam requires a completely new committee and takes place at least 6 months after the first attempt.)
  3. Fail (students who are unsuccessful on the retake)

Reading List for Comprehensive Exams, Spring 2025

Literatura espa帽ola

IMPORTANTE : Cualquier material visto en clase puede ser parte de los ex谩menes de grado. Los candidatos deben tambi茅n considerar que pueden encontrar preguntas de toda la lista, aun cuando esas lecturas no hayan sido cubiertas en las clases o aun cuando el/la candidato/a no haya tomado alguna de las clases ofrecidas.

Se recomienda consultar historias literarias y/o antolog铆as de la literatura peninsular para orientar las lecturas.  Hay varias en la biblioteca Alden, entre las que encontrar谩n:

  • Carlos Alvar, Jos茅-Carlos Mainer, Rosa Navarro: Breve historia de la literatura espa帽ola (1997)
  • David T. Gies: The Cambridge History of Spanish Literature (2004)
  • Felipe B. Pedraza Jim茅nez, and Milagros Rodr铆guez C谩ceres: Manual de la literatura espa帽ola (1981)
  • Chris Perriam, et.al. A New History of Spanish Writing: 1939 to the 1990s. Oxford UP (2000x)
Obras
  • Cantar de M铆o Cid (siglo XIII)
  • Fernando de Rojas: Celestina (1499)
  • Lazarillo de Tormes (1554)
  • Miguel de Cervantes: La gitanilla (1613)
  • Tirso de Molina (1579-1648): El burlador de Sevilla
  • Garcilaso de la Vega (1500-1536): Soneto XXIII 鈥淓n tanto que de rosa y a莽ucena鈥, Soneto XI 鈥淗ermosas ninfas鈥︹ [En Renaissance and Baroque Poetry of Spain de Elias Rivers]
  • Luis de G贸ngora (1561-1627): 鈥淢ientras por competir con tu cabello鈥, Letrillas XIX, XXIII, Romancillo XLIX (En Renaissance and Baroque Poetry of Spain de Elias Rivers)
  • El Duque de Rivas: Don 脕lvaro (1835) o Jos茅 Zorrilla: Don Juan Tenorio (1844)
  • Gustavo Adolfo B茅cquer: Rimas (1871). Seleccione 3 de 12 rimas: IV, V, VII, VIII, XI, XIV, XXV, XXXIV, XL, XLII, LIII, LXXIII
  • Emilia Pardo Baz谩n: Los pazos de Ulloa (1886)
  • Antonio Machado (1875-1939): 鈥淐ampos de Soria鈥 y 鈥淎 Jos茅 Mar铆a Palacio鈥 de Campos de Castilla (1912)
  • Luis Cernuda: 鈥淰ereda del cuco鈥, 鈥淎plauso humano鈥, 鈥淥tros tulipanes amarillos鈥 y 鈥淯n espa帽ol habla de su tierra鈥 enLa realidad y el deseo (1924-1962). [En Cernuda, Luis. Antolog铆a Po茅tica]
  • Miguel de Unamuno: Niebla (1914) o San Manuel bueno m谩rtir (1931)
  • Federico Garc铆a Lorca (1898-1936): "Sorpresa" de Poema de cante jondo (1921); "Romance de la luna, luna" y "Romance son谩mbulo" de Romancero gitano (1928); "La aurora" de Poeta en Nueva York (1930)
  • Antonio Buero Vallejo: Historia de una escalera (1949)
  • Camilo Jos茅 Cela: La familia de Pascual Duarte (1942) o Luis Mart铆n Santos: Tiempo de silencio  (1962)
  • Javier Cercas: Soldados de Salamina (2001); o Dulce Chac贸n: La voz dormida (2002)
  • Paloma Pedrero: La llamada de Lauren (1987); o Juan Mayorga: 1陋 escena de Animales Nocturnos, 鈥淓l buen vecino鈥 (2003)

Literatura hispanoamericana

Se recomienda consultar varias historias literarias y/o antolog铆as de la literatura latinoamericana para orientar las lecturas.  Hay varias en la biblioteca Alden, entre las que encontrar谩n:

  • Jos茅 Miguel Oviedo: Historia de la literatura hispanoamericana (4 tomos) (1995, 2002)
  • Jacques Joset: La Literatura hispanoamericana (1974)
  • David W. Foster: Handbook of Latin American Literature (1992)
  • Raquel Chang-Rodr铆guez y Malva E. Filler: Voces de 贬颈蝉辫补苍辞补尘茅谤颈肠补 (5a edici贸n: 2017)
  • John Garganigo et al: Huellas de las literaturas hispanoamericanas (2002)
Obras
  • 鈥淰oces amerindias: los mayas, los nahuas y los quechuas鈥. De Voces de 贬颈蝉辫补苍辞补尘茅谤颈肠补.
  • Crist贸bal Col贸n: Diario: 鈥淚ntroducci贸n鈥 y entrada del 鈥11 de octubre de 1492鈥 (1492) y 鈥淐arta a Luis de Santangel鈥 (1493).  De Voces de 贬颈蝉辫补苍辞补尘茅谤颈肠补: entradas de Crist贸bal Col贸n, Bartolom茅 de Las Casas, Bernal D铆az del Castillo y El Inca Garcilaso de la Vega y Alonso de Ercilla.
  • Sor Juana In茅s de la Cruz: 鈥淩espuesta a Sor Filotea de la Cruz鈥 (1690) y sonetos, de Poems, Protest, and a Dream. Penguin Classics.
  • Jos茅 Mar铆a Heredia: 鈥淣i谩gara鈥 (1824) y Gertrudis G贸mez de Avellaneda: 鈥淎l partir鈥 (1836) y 鈥淎 脡l鈥 (circa 1851)
  • Jos茅 Hern谩ndez: Mart铆n Fierro (Parte I) (1872)
  • Rub茅n Dar铆o: Prosas profanas (1896)
  • Jos茅 Mari谩tegui: Siete ensayos de interpretaci贸n de la realidad peruana (1928)
  • Horacio Quiroga: 鈥淓l hijo鈥 M谩s all谩 (1935); Luisa Bombal 鈥淓l 谩rbol鈥 (1941); Jorge Luis Borges: 鈥淟a muerte y la br煤jula鈥, Ficciones (1944); Julio Cort谩zar: 鈥淐asa tomada鈥, Final del juego (1956); Juan Rulfo: 鈥淓s que somos muy pobres鈥, El llano en llamas (1953)
  • Gabriela Mistral: 鈥淟os sonetos de la muerte鈥 (1922); Xavier Villaurrutia: 鈥淣octurnos鈥 (1938); Alfonsina Storni: 鈥淭煤 me quieres blanca,鈥 鈥淐uadrados y 谩ngulos,鈥 鈥淧eso ancestral,鈥 鈥淗ombre peque帽ito,鈥 鈥淓l hijo鈥 (1918, 1919, 1938); y Pablo Neruda: 鈥淲alking Around鈥 y 鈥淧oema 20鈥 (1924, 1935).
  • Alejo Carpentier: El reino de este mundo (1949)
  • Rosario Castellanos: 叠补濒煤苍-颁补苍谩苍 (1957)
  • Gabriel Garc铆a M谩rquez: El coronel no tiene quien le escriba (1963) o Cr贸nica de una muerte anunciada (1981)
  • Manuel Puig: El beso de la mujer ara帽a (1976)
  • Sabina Berman: Entre Villa y una mujer desnuda (1993)
  • Mario Vargas Llosa: La fiesta del chivo (2000)
  • Sof铆a Segovia: El murmullo de las abejas (2015)

尝颈苍驳眉铆蝉迟颈肠补

隆OJO! Habr谩 preguntas espec铆ficas de los materiales cubiertos en estos textos, as铆 es obligatorio leer los siguientes textos.

  • Hummel, K. (2014). Introducing Second Language Acquisition: Perspectives and Practices. Malden, MA: Wiley
  • Mu帽oz-Basols, Javier, et al. Introducci贸n a la ling眉铆stica hisp谩nica actual: teor铆a

          y pr谩ctica. Routledge, 2017.

  • Pharies, D. (2015). Breve historia de la lengua espa帽ola, 2陋 ed. Chicago: The           University of Chicago Press. *La primera edici贸n de 2007 tambi茅n vale.

Civilizaci贸n y cultura

隆OJO! Habr谩 preguntas espec铆ficas de los materiales cubiertos en estos textos, as铆 se recomienda leer en detalle los siguientes textos. Todas y cada una de esas partes constituyen el n煤cleo de estos ex谩menes. Declarar, por ejemplo, que 鈥渘o s茅 nada de arte鈥, es inaceptable.

Para esta secci贸n del examen, se debe conocer la historia, las costumbres, el arte, la geograf铆a, la pol铆tica, etc. de los dos continentes.

Visi贸n transatl谩ntica, que conecta la historia de los dos continentes desde un punto de vista personal e hispanoamericano:

  • Fuentes, Carlos, El espejo enterrado (edici贸n de 1991 con ilustraciones - ver Bb)
贰蝉辫补帽补:
  • Mu帽oz, Pedro M. y Marcelino C. Marcos. Espa帽a ayer y hoy. (2010)
  • Pel铆culas: Ver y analizar 2 de las siguientes
    • Un perro andaluz (Luis Bu帽uel/ Salvador Dal铆, 1929)
    • Surcos (Jos茅 Antonio Nieves Conde, 1951)
    • Bienvenido Mr. Marshall (Luis Garc铆a Berlanga, 1952)
    • Matador (Pedro Almod贸var, 1986)
    • La lengua de las mariposas (Jos茅 Luis Cuerda,1999)
    • El laberinto del fauno (Guillermo del Toro, 2006)
    • 笔补麓苍别驳谤别 (Agust铆n Villaronga (2010)
贬颈蝉辫补苍辞补尘茅谤颈肠补
  • Garc铆a Canclini, N茅stor. Consumidores y ciudadanos: conflictos multiculturales de la globalizaci贸n (1995)
  • Pel铆culas: Ver y analizar 2 de las siguientes pel铆culas
    • Tambi茅n la lluvia (Ic铆ar Bolla铆n, 2020)
    • Tu mam谩 tambi茅n (Alfonso Cuar贸n, 2001)
    • Voces inocentes (Luis Mandoki, 2004)