UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGES, LITERATURES & CULTURES

MASTER OF ARTS IN FRENCH
I. General Requirements
(Effective Fall 2000)

1. Hours: All candidates for the M.A. will complete a minimum of thirty hours of graduate credit, exclusive of FREN 776/777. A minimum of fifteen of those hours must be on the 700-level or above, exclusive of thesis credits. No more than six thesis credits may be counted toward the degree. A thesis is required for the M.A. degree.
2. FREN 511 is required of all graduate degree candidates in literature. Those choosing the Linguistics option must take LING 600, FREN 516 and FREN 517.
3. Cognate: With the permission of the Graduate Director, students may take as part of their M.A. program one three-hour graduate course in linguistics, comparative literature, English, or another foreign language.
4. Language reading requirement: Candidates must satisfy the reading requirement in one language other than French and English. The language reading requirement must be satisfactorily completed before the candidate will be admitted to take the comprehensive examination or register for thesis credits.
5. The program of study must be filed no later than the end of the second semester of graduate study.

II. Comprehensive Examination

1. Written and oral comprehensive exams, based on a reading list, will be administered once a semester on dates to be announced by the graduate director. They will not normally be offered during the summer session.
2. Each candidate will choose four of the following nine fields on which to be examined:
   • 16th Century
   • 17th Century
   • 18th Century
   • 19th Century
   • 20th Century
   • Francophone Literature from Africa and the Caribbean
   • Francophone Literature from Quebec
   • Linguistics
   • Film
3. The graduate faculty will prepare and rule on the exam. The written exam, which must be written in French, will consist of two parts, each of which will last two hours. The graduate director or his/her designate will monitor the exam.
   • 120 objective, short-answer questions, 30 for each of the 4 areas chosen by the candidate, of which the candidate must choose 100 (25 per category) to answer. The objective sections may be scored by the graduate director or by any of the area specialists. The candidate must achieve the minimum passing grade of 80% in all four areas.
   • One essay selected from 2 questions drawn up by a committee of area specialists in the categories selected by the candidate. Questions may concern one or more of the four areas prepared by the candidate. The essay will be scored by the committee members who drew up the questions; the minimum passing grade is 80%.
4. Any candidate failing to pass either Part I or Part II will be required to retake and pass the failed part before proceeding to orals. Candidates may choose to retake failed exam part or parts during the same semester as the original exam or during the semester following, with scheduling determined by the graduate director. If the second examination is failed, the student will no longer be a degree candidate.
5. A one-hour oral exam may be taken only after the written exam has been passed. If all or any part of the oral exam is failed, it cannot be retaken until at least two weeks after the original exam, and it must be retaken prior to the next administration of the written exam. A candidate failing the oral exam a second time will no longer be a degree candidate.
6. It will be the responsibility of the graduate director to inform each incoming M.A. candidate as to the format of his/her exam.

III. Thesis

The topic of the thesis is to be chosen by the candidate in consultation with the professor especially competent in the area of the candidate's choice. The candidate chooses the second reader in consultation with the thesis director. A thesis project form, co-signed by the director and the second reader, must be filed with the Graduate Director no later than the last day of classes of the semester in which the comprehensive examination is passed.

There will be a final oral examination in the form of a defense of the thesis. This defense may not be scheduled until after the successful completion of the written comprehensive examination. The defense committee will be composed of the two readers.

Two copies of the thesis signed by the readers must be filed with the Graduate School. No abstract is required for the M.A. thesis. An additional copy of the bound thesis is to be filed with the Department. This copy will be in the Office of the Graduate Director. It is at the discretion of the student to supply a copy for the major professor(s).

IV. Program of Study

All degree candidates must file an official program of study with the Graduate School prior to the projected semester of graduation. It is the individual student's responsibility to complete the forms and obtain the necessary signatures.

1. Language reading requirement before the completion of no more than eighteen hours of course work.
2. Early in the second semester, and no later than the end of the second semester, submit program of study form to the Graduate School.
3. Application for degree.
4. Comprehensive examination must be completed at least fifteen days prior to the end of the semester of graduation, and before the thesis approaches final form.
5. File thesis project form with the Graduate Director.
6. File copies of the thesis with the Graduate School and the Department as indicated above.