A letter to English majors taking the Capstone Course
Capstone Students:
I want to explain the Capstone course, so that you can study for orals during Jan-term if you'd like.
As you know the Capstone professor administers the Oral Exams because s/he has all of the graduating seniors together in one place. However, orals are NOT part of the Capstone Course. You are responsible for your own oral exam studying and performance. If you'd like to form into study groups and ask certain professors to meet with you to dicuss their fields, I think it would be a good idea. Professors are glad to discuss literature and literary periods with you. It would help you if you've studied the field a bit first, so you could ask questions to fill in your knowledge gaps. All of us are available for appointments; please make them as early as possible.
You've known since you declared your major that you have an orals requirement. What you've read from the list and how much you've studied thus far is an individual matter. It's a major requirement, not a course requirement. Your orals grades are not averaged into your Capstone grade.
The content of the Capstone course belongs to you and the professor as does any other English course. We've designed the Capstone so that majors can branch out into literature from other countries; you test your reading, research, writing, discussion and presentation skills as you approach new literature. This is your chance to shine, to pull everything you've learned and present it to each other and to your professor. The Capstone course, more than any other, is what you students make of it.
Good luck,
Nancy Whitt, Chair, Department of English
