Evaluation of Exit Exam Performances
The Samford English Department recognizes three levels of performances on the English major exit exam: pass with distinction, pass, and fail. We also may invite students back who, for some reason (because we start late or get stuck on one topic), have not been able to demonstrate competence. Being asked to return of a portion of any part of the exam constitutes a failure of that section. Below are general criteria for pass, pass with distinction, and failure. These are general criteria and not objective categories. Ultimate success or failure depends on faculty judgement of student performance.
Category: Pass with Distinction
Students who pass with distinction will likely demonstrate all of the strengths listed in pass with hardly any weaknesses. What is distinctive, however is the superior quality of their performances. They may show a depth of sensitivity to literature that makes their responses exceptional; they may display affinities to works and poets and genuine appreciation for periods and movements in literary history. They may well be intellectually invigorated by the examination experience and seem to be enjoying the occasion with spirited motivation. They may seem to be filled to the brim with their knowledge and love of the literature. We the examiners will likely be grateful be grateful for their performances and feel among equals. We shall know in our hearts that these students have performed with distinction, and we shall assume that in the future, whether they enter the teaching profession immediately or proceed to graduate school, they will distinguish themselves and bring honor to themselves and to us.
Category: Pass
The student should perform in the 80th and above percentile in all the following areas of competencies:
1. Information: the student should apparently have read all the texts in all the areas in which they are being examined and should have ready retention of each work. The student should know the historical, cultural, and intellectual contexts of each work as representative of a time, a genre, and a world view. Students should be able to provide on command some specifics from all the works and no less than 80% from works on which they focus their discussions and summaries.
2. Comprehension: the student should be able to use the language of critical approaches to demonstrate analytical aptitudes and intellectual perspicuity in the discussion of literature. The student should show a clear grasp of themes; of patterns of implications (meaning) in forms, in figurative language, in narrative, descriptive, and expository structures; of contextual allusions and references; of poetic and fictional strategies. The student should also be able to trace threads of content and technique through multiple texts and to apply philosophical,, political, theological, and social education to the illumination of literary texts. A passing student performs at a competent level, demonstrating that, despite gaps and spots of indecisiveness, they understand what is required of the profession of literary studies. They should be able themselves to recognize their strengths and weaknesses.
3. Test-Taking Aptitudes: the student should be able to present with confidence and composure. He or she should demonstrate the virtues of oral communication. When pressed, the successful student should be able to confess uncertainty and to offer alternative responses, directing discussions always toward strengths. (This approach should not become an escape strategy and should be used sparingly.) The student should, however, appear comfortable with the exposure of his or her weaknesses as long as they apparently recognize high standards for themselves.
Category: Failure
A student may fail the oral exam for one or more of the following deficiencies:
1. Information Deficiency: the student knows somewhat less than 80 percent of the primary material in specifics of content. Examiners' concerns: does he/she not know specific knowledge or not know how to demonstrate specific knowledge?
2. Comprehension Deficiency: the student seems unable to demonstrate experience in processing thematic approaches, n explicating themes, and in tracing historical, social, and intellectual patterns in specific works and fields of works. The student may seem unable to understand the theme or unable to recognize its possibilities within a specific work or period. He/she may hesitate, may have false starts, may ignore obvious and essential relevancy and implications. To the examiner, however, the problem will appear to be a lack of thoughtful reading of the literature, or worse, a deficiency in discipline acculturation. (A student will never pass who has a serious deficiency in discipline acculturation; we shall always try to identify other kinds of deficiencies, such as a deficiency in preparation.)
3. Test-taking Deficiency: the student seems unable to use the occasion to demonstrate his/her knowledge and preparation, a personality inhibition that can be severely limiting if not totally debilitating. We have seen students freeze up or muddle through the exam as if they were incapable of functioning under the pressure of the oral. For these students, we might request that they present themselves for another session, perhaps giving them additional time.
4. Failing to show up for the exam or postponing the exam will also constitute a failure.
Requirements for Retaking the Oral Examination
A student may fail one section of the oral exam without failing the entire exam. If a student fails as individual section of the exam, he or she will be required to retake the oral exam in that section. A student has a total of three opportunities to pass the oral examination in total in order to graduate. If a student is unable to pass the oral examination, he or she will be required to return in a subsequent semester and begin the process anew. If a student fails, he or she should meet with the professor of the Capstone course to make arrangements for retaking the exam. As mentioned above, if a student fails to show up for the scheduled exam, or needs to reschedule, such an absence constitutes a failure.
