M.A. candidates will prepare two reading lists: a general list comprised of texts read in the course of study toward the MA and a speciality list on a topic approved by the exam committee well in advance of the exam.

The German MA exam supposes a general familiarity with German history (including literary history) that students should acquire independently in the course of their studies. Students should reflect this historical and contextual familiarity in their work in seminars and in the responses to the MA exam. M.A. students should be familiar with the biographical details and historical context of authors, texts and movements treated in their seminars or in previous German courses.

Required Texts:

Historical Overview and Reference Works

• Schulze, Hagen. Kleine deutsche Geschichte. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1998.
• Frenzel, Herbert A. and Elisabeth Frenzel. Daten deutscher Dichtung: Chronologischer Abriß der deutschen Literaturgeschichte. München: DTV, 2004. Vol. 1: Von den Anfängen bis zum Jungen Deutschland and Vol. 2: Vom Realismus bis zur Gegenwart.
• von Wilpert, Gero. Sachwörterbuch der Literatur. Stuttgart: Kröner, 2001.

Poetry

• Echtermeyer, Ernst Theodor and Benno von Wiese. Deutsche Gedichte von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart. Berlin: Cornelsen, 2010.

General Reading List: Students are required to keep a list of texts read in their various graduate courses. These texts will be the basis for the general part of the exam.  

Specialty List: Based on a topic selected by the student and approved by the committee, this list is defined in consultation with the exam committee. The final version of the list must be approved in the semester before the exam.